Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee expects a school choice 'revolution,' with parental rights a key 2024 election issue

 Tennessee Governor Bill Lee says his state is leading a "revolution around school choice in America right now" as a $400 million bill to reform public school achievement testing and enact universal school choice advances in the state legislature. Looks at the form, is getting involved in it.

Lee, who is also chair of the Republican Governors Association this term, said the issue of school choice has resonance nationally beyond just Tennessee during the 2024 presidential election year.

The governor explained in an interview with Fox News Digital that school choice, for him, "is really about freedom," noting how issues like COVID-19 vaccines, books in public school libraries, and classroom instruction. Regarding “left and right parenting,” I have very strong opinions about what it should look like.”

“The only way to resolve those differences is to give parents choices so that they don't have to commit to something that, you know, some teacher or some classroom or some library or some academic school district believes. That's what they should be doing," Lee said. "Not just elected officials, but all of us Americans recognize that education is one of the highest priorities when it comes to the issues Americans care about. "

"This is not a choice between school choice and public schools. We have a strong commitment to improving our public school system in this state. The vast majority of our children will receive an education in our public schools, even years after our proposed Selective initiatives are in place as a matter of law," the governor said, responding to criticism that the proposal would divert resources from Tennessee's underfunded public schools. "We need the best public school systems. They need to be well funded. They need to be innovative and creative and be part of the law."

Lee said he has seen an increased understanding among conservatives, but also among Americans in general, that parents should be given the ability to influence what happens in their children's education. He credited the pandemic, when remote learning gave parents information about the inclusion of gender and racial ideologies in public school curriculum, as well as keeping children out of classrooms, for the loss of learning as parents years later. Used to look for options to play catch-up. ,

He said, "I believe that in this country, especially among conservatives, there is a push to understand how important freedom is – freedom in education, freedom in health decisions, freedom in what we do for our jobs. are its freedom." "We talk a lot about Tennessee being a place where people have access to opportunity, security and freedom. And as it relates to education, it's an Education Freedom Scholarship Act. And we really Let's hope it will be passed in the state in the next few weeks."

Despite some objections from state Democrats, Lee's proposal, known as House Bill 1183, advanced through the state House Government Operations Committee and was recommended to the state House Finance Subcommittee last week. Because Lee has overwhelming Republican majorities in both the Tennessee House and Senate, he said he expects a version of the legislation to pass once the final provisions are agreed upon between the chambers.

The current version in the House would increase payments for teacher health insurance from 45% to 60% — a measure aimed at helping rural districts retain quality teachers, as well as $75 per pupil for school facilities and maintenance and increases The infrastructure is to provide payments. State funding for students in smaller and less populated school districts, The Tennessean reports. It also allows teacher and principal evaluations and state-mandated student testing to be conducted less frequently.

The related version of the legislation in the state Senate, SB 0503, is estimated to cost about $250 million less than the House proposal. But the upper house version would focus primarily on creating the Governor's Education Freedom Scholarship Program and opening up inter-county school enrollment. It does not include the House bill's provisions on changes to teacher health insurance, evaluation and testing requirements.

As the governor noted, school choice initiatives passed last year in states like Arizona, Iowa, Oklahoma and Arkansas, and more recently in Wyoming and Alabama. It's also gaining momentum in Kentucky, North Carolina and Georgia, Lee said, and there are multiple phases of school choice in Florida and Indiana. Although it varies by state, Lee said his common premise is that "parents know best."

Tennessee Government. Bill Lee announces statewide school choice proposal: 'There's more work to do'

In states like Texas, Lee said, opposing school choice has cost candidates elections.

Tennessee has the fastest-growing population and one of the top-performing economies among all 50 states in recent years, Lee acknowledged, explaining how the influx of families impacts school choice.

Lee said, "We need to give parents more options. And when we do that, kids will have a lot more options to succeed. And at the end of the day, that's what it's all about." "It's not really political, even though it's a very conservative issue. But hey, look at the states where Democrat governors are still passing that option, because Americans are beginning to believe that it's bad for kids and our country. It's about the future of America and we must do everything we can to challenge the status quo and get better outcomes."

Lee said he first proposed school choice legislation five years ago during his first legislative session, which passed in some of the state's largest counties, and he has been working to expand it since then.

He announced the statewide initiative in November, an unusual move to provide stakeholders and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle more time to consider the issue before the start of the legislative session. Long before becoming governor, Lee said he ran a non-profit. At Risk Inner City Youth Program. There he met a child with whom he met weekly for several years.

Lee said that the child, whose mother was in prison and who never knew his father, was failing in every subject when he first met him. Over time, Lee said, the boy improved, and Lee worked with the child and his grandmother to find a charter school option for him outside the neighborhood where he grew up.

"The fact that it's an election year and Republican primary voters approve of school choice by an overwhelming margin has an impact on what's going on. Legislators understand that they know their voters want it. I "That seems to be one reason why you're seeing such a move in this direction. It's not just an ideological idea," Lee said. "For me, it's much more than that. This was a practical reality that I saw 15 years ago. But at the same time, it's an issue that if you're a representative, and you're representing constituents, your constituents Want options."

Just ahead of the one-year anniversary of the March 27, 2023, shooting deaths of three children and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, Lee said that while this legislation does not focus on the issue, Tennessee is “tragic and "It's saddening to know how important it is that we protect our schools, and our legislature responded in a way that made our schools safer."

“And I suspect on public safety, and particularly around children in schools, this conversation should never stop in the state,” he said, noting how the state legislature passed a comprehensive bipartisan school safety legislative package last year. which provided funding for school resources. officers in every school, and have continually made add-ons that have strengthened school alarm systems.

Following the bloodshed at Covenant School, the Biden White House supported three Democratic state lawmakers, known as the Tennessee Three, who joined protesters in disrupting a legislative session at the state Capitol in protest of gun control .

One of those lawmakers expelled and reinstated amid last year's controversy, Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, recently took issue with a provision in the House version of the governor's school choice proposal that bars non-U.S. Would exclude citizens from education freedom scholarship. Voucher program, The Tennessean reported.

Jones cited the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Plyler v. Doe that prevents states from withholding school funding to educate the children of illegal immigrants. Rep. Scott Sepicki, R-Culeoka, said the bill would allow any student to enroll in any public school regardless of immigration status, but lawmakers could still set limiting factors as to who receives "public benefits." Could, such as Lee's voucher program.