March 31, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
The county commission failed to take up a vote Monday night, March 25 on whether to go on record opposing Governor Bill Lee’s proposed “Education Freedom Act” voucher plan.
Seventh district commissioner Beth Pafford made a motion to add the issue to the agenda for consideration under new business but during a roll call vote it failed to receive the seven votes needed. Commissioners Pafford, Tony Luna, Greg Matthews, Andy Pack, Daniel Cripps, and Tony (Cully) Culwell voted to add it to the agenda, but Commissioners Larry Green, Glynn Merriman, Jeff Barnes, and Sabrina Farler voted no. Commissioners Myron Rhody, Susannah Cripps Daughtry, and Tom Chandler were absent.
Pafford, who is also a local educator and opposed to the Governor’s voucher proposal, first raised the issue during a committee of the whole meeting of the county commission on Thursday, March 21.
“This is a huge issue because public schools are the heart of any community, especially rural communities, and having good public schools are important to the present and future of any community. We all benefit when everybody gets an education and right now the way that freedom act is private schools don’t have to take kids with special needs or keep kids for any reason. They don’t have to meet certain standards on state tests,” said Pafford.
The resolution was similar to what Cumberland County had adopted earlier in March.
“Be it resolved that the County Commission holds that Tennessee tax dollars should support public schools or other public entities; and diverting any Tennessee tax dollars shouldn’t be an option to pay for private school tuitions … The County Commission is opposed to diverting any Tennessee tax dollars to pay for private school tuitions and urges the Tennessee General Assembly to also oppose this use of Tennessee tax dollars”.
Under Lee’s plan, the state would create a new tier of school vouchers called “education freedom” scholarships. The first year of the program would cost $144 million to offer 20,000 scholarships to Tennessee families. Half of those scholarships would be available to families who meet certain income requirements, while the rest would be open to anyone, according to the Associated Press.
Lee proposes to give each recipient $7,075 this fall, which would cover about 62% of the average $11,344 cost of attending a private school in Tennessee, according to Private School Review.