East Tennessee House candidate Jason Emert has a very personal reason for supporting Governor Bill Lee’s universal school choice plan to let families use public dollars to send their children to private school.¶
Emert says when he was a child his parents used their own resources to switch him to another school district. He points out many families don’t have the money to do the same.¶
“We shouldn’t deny kids who either feel like they’re in the wrong place or unfairly targeted or if parents want to have the power to move their kids to a better place for them and their families,” said Emert. “I have seen the power of school choice up close and personal. I have lived it and I think it is wrong to deny kids who are economically unfavored to do so simply because they can’t move, they can’t pay tuition. To me I think that’s a moral failure to be against that. We’re sentencing kids to failure by keeping them in these arbitrary designed school boundaries based on zip code alone.”¶
Emert’s vocal support for universal school choice helped earn Governor Lee’s endorsement in the open House district 20 race, where he faces county commissioners Tom Stinnett and Nick Bright in August’s Republican primary. Neither Stinnett nor Bright expressed the same level of support for the Governor’s plan at a recent debate.Former State Rep. Bryan Richey, R-Maryville, left the seat open for challengers this year when he opted to run for State Senate and much like other open House races, universal school choice has taken on added importance.¶
The topic itself has divided opinions statewide, with opponents of the governor’s plan, sometimes referred to as “school vouchers,” making the case the plan will take away money school districts need. Emert pushes back on that argument, saying school districts are causing their own financial challenges by creating administrative positions and making it more difficult to raise teacher salaries.¶
“It’s not the vouchers taking money from the classroom, it’s the school district (that's) creating positions,” said Emert. "The proliferation of administrators and staff has completely undercut funding in education. I think we have to reign that in.”¶
Deep Ties in Blount County¶
House District 20 encompasses parts of Blount County, including Maryville.¶
Emert’s family has lived in the county for eight generations and four of those have served in the United States Air Force. Emert himself is an Air Force Captain serving as the deputy staff judge advocate for the Tennessee Air National Guard.¶
He credits military service with making him a better leader and says he chose to run for the State House because he didn’t feel other candidates would fight for the issues he’s passionate about, which also include property taxes.¶
If elected, Emert wants to pass legislation that will put a cap on property taxes statewide. Neither of his two primary opponents supports the plan, but Emert says it only makes good business sense.¶
“We’re one of only four states in the country that doesn’t have a cap on the property tax percent increase year over year. To me that is anti-business,” said Emert. “If local municipalities want to increase the taxes, let’s figure out in the state legislature what makes sense at a percentage level. We shouldn’t increase 20 percent one year, or 30 percent the next year. We have to have a year over year expectation of what those costs should be, the built in costs for businesses and how they can invest because ultimately, they’re going to invest them back in the communities. And if they’re uncertain about the taxes they’re going to have to pay, they’re going to be less certain about investing in the people of that community.”¶
The winner of the House District 20 Republican primary will be heavily favored over Democratic candidate Karen Gertz in November.¶
