Tennessee Democrats continued their push for the resignation of Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds Monday, announcing a bill that would allow lawmakers to impeach her for failing to met the necessary qualifications.
Representative Caleb Hemmer, D-Nashville, and Senator Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, are co-sponsoring a bill that would require a Commissioner of Education in Tennessee to reside in the state and provide a process for the legislature to impeach a commissioner for cause.
“The Commissioner of Education is the one person in Tennessee state government who we actually legitimately count on to have children’s interest at heart. We don’t have that much ability to ensure that happens, but we can and have required that the commissioner be an educator themselves that have actually been in classrooms, that they’re capable of teaching children, that they know what that’s like, that they have some appreciation of what families and teachers and students are going through before they start taking on an administrative role,” said Yarbro. “Ensuring that the person who is that role is a teacher and someone who lives in Tennessee is certainly not too much to ask.”
Last month, the Democratic Caucus called for Reynolds to resign, claiming she wasn’t qualified to teach in Tennessee, a requirement of the office. Hemmer and Yarbro joined other Democrats in a press conference Monday to claim Reynolds’ lack of residency and qualifications should disqualify her from serving as Commissioner.
Governor Bill Lee appointed Reynolds to serve as commissioner in May following the resignation of former Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn.
At the time, Reynolds served as the Vice President of Policy for school reform organization ExcelinED. She has previously served as the deputy legislative director for then-Governor George W. Bush, Special Assistant in the Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs for U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, Regional Representative for U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, and Chief Deputy Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency.
Governor Lee has continued to express strong support for his Education Commissioner, despite questions of her qualifications from Democrats.
“Commissioner Reynolds’ credentials and professional experience qualify her to serve as TDOE commissioner and we’re proud of the work she’s doing to accelerate academic achievement and support all Tennessee students,” said Governor Lee’s press secretary in a statement last month. “Additionally, though not explicitly required by statute, Commissioner Reynolds is currently enrolled in the UT Martin Education Preparation Program (EPP) to expand upon her previous experience.”
The Democratic caucus says Governor Bill Lee brought Reynolds here to push the Education Freedom Scholarship Act, often called a voucher program, that would allow parents the ability to send their children to private schools using taxpayer dollars if approved by the Tennessee General Assembly.
Democratic lawmakers have been strong opponents of the proposed legislation, saying it will have a negative fiscal impact on public schools.
Representative John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, called the proposal a “scam.”
“I think she’s a short-termer, I think she knew she’s a short-termer. She probably knew coming into it. She’s here for one purpose, to pass a voucher scam and we’re the only things standing in the way and we’re going to stay in the way. We cannot allow this to pass and we’re going to be conveying this,” said Clemmons.
The House K-12 Subcommittee will begin discussing the Education Freedom Scholarship Act this afternoon.
