Tennessee lawmakers are returning to Nashville Tuesday to reconvene a 113th General Assembly that adjourned in April with more attention for its controversies than legislative accomplishments.
The next few months of the session could bring more turmoil, with Governor Lee’s proposal to allow families across the state to use public dollars to attend private school along with the forthcoming Joint Working Group’s recommendations on potentially rejecting federal education dollars.
Lawmakers also will debate a host of new classroom-related bills involving artificial intelligence, pride flags, and giving families opportunities to monitor their child’s school experience.
Education Scholarship Freedom Act
Governor Bill Lee’s Education Scholarship Freedom Act is arguably the most talked about issue heading into the legislative session.
The Governor announced his proposal in November to offer 20,000 first-come, first-serve taxpayer-funded scholarships to help Tennessee families send their children to private schools.
The program expands upon the framework of the existing Education Savings Account (ESA), providing families with $7,075 to cover private school tuition, fees, uniforms, textbooks, computers, and transportation. Under the plan, half of the scholarships would go to disabled students, economically disadvantaged students, or those already eligible for the existing ESA pilot program.
“We need to make sure that every child finds the right educational opportunity that fits their individual needs,” said Governor Lee in November. “Parents know best what’s best for their child as it relates to education.”
The bill is likely to face strong opposition from Democrats including Senator London Lamar, D-Memphis, who said the Governor’s proposal would further separate poor families from rich families.
“Vouchers are a scam. They steal public tax dollars from our neighborhood schools and give them to wealthy families’ credit coupon system for their private school tuition. What we’ve seen is an opportunity to separate rich families from poor families,” said Lamar.
Multiple Republican leaders have expressed support for the Educational Scholarship Freedom Act but one question that will likely be a key part of the debate is whether students taking part in the program will have to take the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP), as students in the current ESA program do.
Tennessee House Education Administration Chair Mark White, R-Memphis, is among those supporting adding that requirement to the legislation.
To Reject or Not to Reject Federal Dollars
The possibility of the state rejecting federal funds is also likely to be a highly publicized issue.
The Joint Working Group on Federal Education Funding held multiple hearings in November. Members plan to submit a report and recommendations to House and Senate committees by the start of the session.
Some Republican lawmakers expressed interest in rejecting the funds to avoid compliance with the federal requirements that come with the funding but one key GOP leader, Senator Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, has said he doesn’t expect the state to actually reject federal dollars.
Senator Lundberg chairs the Senate Education Committee.
Other Bills Filed Early
So far at least, lawmakers have filed fewer education related bills in advance of the session than usual but several are already getting attention.
One of them comes from Representative Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, who’s proposing prohibiting traditional and public charter schools from displaying flags, including pride flags, in the classroom that are not the United States flag or the Tennessee state flag.
Bulso has said he was encouraged to file the bill by parents in Williamson County and a school board member who were all concerned about “political flags.” The topic of whether pride flags should be in classrooms has received considerable debate in Williamson County in recent months.
Representative Bulso is also proposing a bill to allow parents of children in a public charter school or a school operated by a local educational agency (LEA) to file a civil action against the school if the school is not enforcing the Age-Appropriate Materials Act of 2022, which was passed to scrutinize and further regulate books in traditional school libraries.
Another bill receiving attention comes from Representative Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, who’s proposing requiring every university and K-12 school in the state to develop a policy for how artificial intelligence (AI) will be used. As AI rapidly grows in the daily lives of people, Representative Cepicky believes that Tennessee classrooms will need rules and guidelines to navigate the new change.
Special Session on Public Safety
It’s also possible some lawmakers will want to revisit legislation that didn’t pass during last year’s special session on public safety. Governor Bill Lee called for the special session in August to address gaps in public safety and he opened the door for lawmakers to pass a temporary mental health order of protection law, sometimes called a “red flag law.”
The General Assembly opted against approving significant mental health reforms and instead passed just four pieces of legislation.
House members were more interested in passing additional legislation than their Senate counterparts, voting for dozens of bills. It remains to be seen if members plan to re-introduce those bills.
