Monday morning Representative Sam McKenzie, D-Knoxville, took to social media to attack his August primary opponent Dr. Dasha Lundy, and continue a narrative that he’s used during the campaign claiming to be the most pro-public education candidate in the House District 15 race.
“I have been one of the strongest advocates and defenders of Public Schools in the legislature,” wrote McKenzie on X and Facebook.
Representative McKenzie’s voting history does give his opponents ammunition to question that claim, as he voted against arguably the most impactful piece of public education legislation in years in 2022.
The Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) Act changed the way Tennessee funds public schools to a more simple “student-based” formula similar to what most states including California, Texas, and New York use. It also included a billion new dollars for public education and provided extra resources for literacy, career and technical education (CTE), tutoring, and teacher raises.
TISA enjoyed rare bi-partisan support, with Democratic Leader Senator Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, and Caucus Chair Senator London Lamar, D-Memphis supporting it along with progressive organizations the NAACP Tennessee State Conference and the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIIRC).
Representative McKenzie joined with the 24 Representatives, who voted against the legislation, including former Republican Representative Terri Lynn Weaver who lost her seat in part because of the vote.
This year McKenzie used his position on House education committees to oppose another bill designed to improve the facilities historically disadvantaged public charter school students attend. A recent report by the Tennessee Charter Center found 86 percent of the public charter school students in McKenzie’s home county are students of color and nearly half are economically disadvantaged.
In committee meetings McKenzie mischaracterized the legislation as providing public charter schools with the ability to make school districts sell property district leaders want to keep. The legislation had no provision requiring any school district to sell property.
“There’s no clear definition of a percentage or a time period that is being used or not used that give me a good feeling that we’re not going to take over some facilities where that LEA (local education association) may have plans for it,” said McKenzie mischaracterizing the bill in committee.
In contrast, McKenzie’s opponent Dr. Dasha Lundy has been a vocal supporter of students of color, including those attending public charter schools. Dr Lundy is a current Knox County Commissioner and helps lead the Women, LLC of Knoxville, a group that aims to provide economic resources to black business owners.
In a recent debate, Lundy explained why she supports providing parents the ability to choose to send their kids to high-quality public charter schools.
“If I had to support anything that comes up with education, it’s just making sure that the kids in my district are learning,” said Lundy. “We all know there’s disparities in how our kids are treated differently with discipline rates and suspension rates, so just making sure they have a choice is more important to me because I want that kid to be educated, empowered so they can grow and transform that community.”
The winner of the House District 15 Democratic primary will be favored over Republican challenger Justin Hirst in the November general election.
