Three competing plans to allow students to attend private school with public dollars come with vastly different testing requirements

When Governor Bill Lee announced his Education Freedom Scholarship Act last year, he made it a point to say the Tennessee General Assembly would work out some critical details like whether participating students will have to take state assessments.That decision has led to three different versions of the Governor’s basic proposal to let up to 20 thousand families use public dollars to attend private school. The question about state assessments is a key difference in each.The Governor’s plan essentially expands on the framework of the existing Education Savings Account (ESA) pilot program that’s in place for families in Davidson, Shelby, and Hamilton County.  The ESA requires students to be assessed annually through the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP), though the Governor’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act leaves out that requirement.It's one of the key changes Senate Education Administration Chair Jon Lundberg, R-Brisol, hopes to make with the Senate’s version of the Act.Lundberg’s version would require students taking part in the program to take assessments on the following schedule:

• Students in grades third through eleventh would take an annual standardized test.
• Third-graders would take the TCAP English language arts (ELA) test.
• Eighth-graders would take the TCAP math test.
• Juniors would take an examination to assess their readiness for postsecondary education, such as the ACT or SAT.

The testing proposal would differ from what public school students in Tennessee currently take.The state requires public school students in third through eighth grade to take the TCAP assessment in ELA, math, and science every spring.  Students in grades sixth through eight additionally take an annual social studies TCAP assessment.High school students take End-of-Course Assessments in English I, English II, Algebra 1, Algebra II, Geometry, Integrated Math1, Integrated Math II, Integrated Math III, Biology, and U.S. History and Geography.Senator Lundberg told members of the Senate Education Committee Wednesday that he doesn’t want these assessments to drive private school curriculum. Instead, he said he’s proposing them because lawmakers will need the assessment data to determine if the Education Freedom Scholarship Act is working.“We wanna test,” said Lundberg. “It is for our reporting because frankly in three to five years, this body will need to come back and frankly take a look and say what’s working well, what’s not working well. I think that data collection is important.”Lundberg’s proposal received pushback from Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, who asked why the state wouldn’t take the additional step of using the testing to hold students participating in the Education Freedom Scholarship Act to the same accountability standards public school students have, like the Third-Grade Retention Law. Under that law third-graders who don’t test proficient, face additional requirements to advance to the fourth and fifth-grade.“So why are we not saying, you take public dollars, align your curriculum to what our public schools do, and you take the same public testing,” asked Akbari. “My concern is that there’s no intervention. Like with third-grade retention, we get those TCAP scores, we have an intervention. We say look the child is not achieving as we would like. They are not achieving literacy rates that we would like so we’re going to intervene and have extra programming.”The Senate Education Committee will vote on Lundberg’s plan next week. Lundberg’s proposal would also enable all students to enroll in schools located outside of their district and make funding changes.

House plan reduces testing for public school students

The House version of the Education Freedom Scholarship Act doesn’t include Senator Lundberg’s proposed assessments for private school students taking part in the program and instead, reduces the number of test regular public-school students take.Under the House plan:

• Students in grades third through ninth would receive a statewide standardized assessment in ELA and math each year.
• Students would receive a statewide standardized assessment in science once in grades third through fifth, once in grades sixth through ninth, and once in grades tenth through twelfth.
• Students would receive a statewide standardized assessment in social studies once in grades sixth through eighth.

“Public schools have asked that we reduce the burden on teachers. We have been listening to our teachers and our superintendents and to our students all across the state,” said Representative Mark White, R-Memphis, when presenting the House plan to the House K-12 Subcommittee Tuesday. “We are lowering the number of tests required on our public schools, returning more hours into the classroom.  We continually hear if I just had more hours to teach.”Accredited private schools and those approved by the State Department of Education are required to take annual standardized achievement tests in ELA and math in grades third through eleventh and the House proposal would include provisions to allow the state to access that testing data.The House plan would require schools participating in the scholarship program to be operating in Tennessee for three years. It would also provide new instructional support for teachers, increase the state's share of educator insurance plans, and provide more funds for small school districts.Multiple representatives pushed back on the House plan complaining that they weren't provided ample time to review it. Representative Sam McKenzie, D-Knoxville, was among them.“I need to vet this,” said McKenzie. “We got this amendment dropped on us. So that’s where we are. My concerns are significant."The House K-12 Subcommittee advanced the bill on a 6 to 2 vote with two Republicans present and choosing not to vote.  It now goes to the House Education Administration Committee for discussion next week.