Governor pulls plug on Education Freedom Scholarships and vows to revisit the plan next year

Governor Lee unveiling the Education Freedom Scholarship Plan (Photo by Governor Lee)

Governor Lee unveiling his Education Freedom Scholarship plan (Photo by Sky Arnold)

Governor Bill Lee conceded that there’s no pathway for his signature education bill to pass this session and vowed to bring back the Education Freedom Scholarship plan next year.

On social media Monday morning the Governor expressed his gratitude to supporters of the plan to allow parents to utilize taxpayer dollars to send their children to private school and his disappointment in pulling the plug on it.

“I am extremely disappointed for the families who will have to wait yet another year for the freedom to choose the right education for their child, especially when there is broad agreement that now is the time to bring universal school choice to Tennessee. While we made tremendous progress, unfortunately it has become clear that there is not a pathway for the bill during this legislative session,” said Governor Lee. “It’s very simple — this is about every Tennessee student having the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their zip code or income level, and without question, empowering parents is the best way to make sure that happens.”

Governor Lee unveiled the Education Freedom Scholarship plan to much fanfare last November in an event with Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.  Its design would expand on the existing Education Savings Account program that’s available to families in Davidson, Shelby, and Hamilton County and offer families across the state more than $7 thousand each year to send their children to private school.

The Governor chose to leave many of the specific details of the plan up to the Tennessee General Assembly and that’s where it ran into disagreement.  Leaders in the House and Senate proposed vastly different plans and could not agree on a path to reconcile those differences before session ends this week.

Senator Jeff Yarbro (Photo by Tennessee General Assembly)

Adding to the challenge, some Republicans were openly hostile to the plan while Democratic lawmakers remained unified against it all session saying the so-called “vouchers” would drain money from local districts.

Senator Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, was among those cheering the plan’s defeat Monday.

“This is a huge and well-earned victory for Tennessee families, educators, and communities. The vouchers bill is dead because people from both sides of the aisle and from every part of the state showed up, spoke out, and did the work to kill it,” said Senator Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville.

By committing to bringing the issue back next year Governor Lee almost assuredly makes “vouchers” an important issue for the August state primary.  Every House seat is up for re-election along with 16 Senate seats.