House subcommittee approves investments benefitting private school families and teachers

Members of the Tennessee House K-12 Subcommittee moved two bills forward Tuesday that invest education dollars into vastly different areas.The first would benefit families who are hoping to receive financial assistance for private school through the Education Savings Account (ESA) program.Tennessee passed the ESA in 2019 to allow lower income families in Davidson or Shelby County to use state and local dollars to help cover private school expenses like tuition and fees. A bill to add Hamilton County to the program is also moving through the House.Under the ESA, students must be enrolled in a Tennessee public school for one full year prior to enrolling in a private school.Madison Representative Chris Todd worries that rule will create an issue for some families who left public-school earlier but couldn’t apply for the ESA because legal challenges delayed the program’s implementation until this current school year.“Some families have left their public school during these three years. Lower income parents that have left their public school during these three years have doubtless done so because they felt like they had no other choice,” said Representative Todd.Todd is proposing legislation to help those families by expanding ESA eligibility to qualifying students who attended a public-school during school years 2019/20 through 2021/22.The Senate version of the legislation passed last month.“This is bill is fundamentally about fairness,” said Representative Todd. “This has already been funded and so this is really I think doing what’s right by these students that were affected by these lawsuits.”The House K-12 Subcommittee approved Todd’s legislation on a voice vote, and it now heads to the Education Administration Committee.

Teacher Raises Finding Support

Subcommittee members also approved Governor Bill Lee’s proposal to increase teacher salaries.The legislation would set the schedule to raise the salary from $42,000 to $50,000 over the next four years:

• $42,000 for the 2023/2024 school year.
• $44,500 for the 2024/2025 school year.
• $47,000 for the 2025/2026 school year.
• $50,000 for the 2026/2027 school year.

The legislation also would prohibit school districts deducting dues for employees’ organizations, including the Tennessee Education Association.“This bill is the beginning of improving the working climate for our teachers by improving the teacher’s salary and ending the practice of government subsidized dues deduction,” said Covington Representative Debra Moody.Knoxville Representative Sam McKenzie questioned the need for the section of the bill related to dues though he also said the raise for Tennessee teachers is needed.“We have been for far too long underpaying our teachers and this is a great step towards paying them. Just that piece, towards putting that money in their pockets and treating them more as professionals,” said Representative McKenzieThe bill now goes to the Education Administration Committee for approval.