A crowd in a Cordell Hull Legislative Building committee room expresses displeasure with Gov. Bill Lee’s 2024 school voucher plan (Photo: John Partipilo)
While everyone was still waiting for Vice President Kamala Harris’ concession speech on Nov. 6, Gov. Bill Lee wasted no time announcing the identical bills filed by state Senate and House majority leaders for a new universal school voucher program. There’s nothing like the cold shower of school choice to snap me out of whatever post-election malaise I felt for a few short hours. One piece of the new voucher legislation, particularly, brought back those old, fightin’ feelings from a few years ago at warp speed.
Without diving too deep into the details of the many reasons that Lee’s original voucher plan died a slow death in the last session, it’s always good to stop and reflect on why Lee couldn’t get a supermajority to follow him in lock-step and provide thousands of dollars of educational freedom to families across the state.
Along with being grounded in segregationist principles, vouchers takepublic taxpayer money and funnel it to privately run organizations with almost no accountability.
Voucher programs also fail to consider the selection processes of private and independent schools and the nuanced social dynamics that accompany a public-to-private school transition for a student.
And, while vouchers will be available to students with disabilities, most private schools aren’t set up to meet the needs of that student population without the funding of federal dollars that public schools receive — one of several examples of inequity found in the weeds of school choice. In the end, Lee’s voucher bill failed last May because of another inequity:the impact vouchers would have on small, rural districts.
None of those deficiencies had me ready to fight last week, though. The proverbial slap in the face that had me seeing red was Lee’s $2,000 concession to teachers for holding our noses and swallowing the manure being force-fed to us. The one-time bonus accompanying the bill is like pouring a little sugar on a bowl of dog food and telling teachers they’re eating pecan pie. By the time school districts and teachers see the ramifications of a full-blown voucher program across the state, that $2,000 will have been spent a thousand times over. Some teachers receiving the one-time payment may not even have the job they have now due to student enrollment deficiencies in smaller districts if families elect to take the subsidized $7,000 vouchers, pool their money, and open their own private school.
I’ve been involved in public education for over two decades, and I can’t remember a more challenging time to be a teacher. Public school teachers must meet the unrealistic demands of standardized testing, navigate bone-headed legislation based on those standardized tests, and engage a generation of students dealing with an amount of stressors that previous generations didn’t have to face.
On top of those challenges, teachers have to make sure their doors are locked in their classrooms every day, help check student bags to make sure no weapons are found in them and sit through active shooter training multiple times a year because our Republican legislators didn’t have the guts to have honest conversations about who should and shouldn’t have access to a weapon.
Three years ago, Lee gave correctional officers across the state a 37% raise to increase their starting pay to $44,500. This starting salary eclipsed most Tennessee school districts’ starting teacher salaries, and professional educators are required to have a college degree, pass multiple licensure tests, and complete a set amount of professional development hours each year to keep their license. Correctional officers are not required to do any of that. As much as Lee has talked about his appreciation of teachers, his words have never come close to matching his actions.
The average yearly salary of a public school educator in Tennessee is around $55,000. After that has been adjusted for inflation over the last 10 years, Tennessee teachers make 10% less than in 2014. On top of that, the average salary of a Tennessee teacher ranks 44th out of 50 states. But, hey, here’s $2,000. Don’t spend it all in one place.
I wasn’t surprised when Lee rolled out his new voucher plan last week. I wasn’t surprised to see dark money groups pipe up on social media. I was shocked, however, that Lee would have the audacity to offer teachers a one time incentive (before taxes) as some sort of pacifier to quiet our fussing. He might as well just give us 30 pieces of silver and a kiss on the cheek.
I’m awake now and ready to fight. Don’t worry about getting my gloves. They’re staying off for now.
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