Claiborne Thornton, president of the Tennessee Home Education Association, said Governor Bill Lee did not consult with homeschool families before crafting his universal school choice bill, which is currently undergoing debate in the Tennessee General Assembly.
“The bill, the way it was written, the way it was crafted, was without any consultation from any homeschoolers,” Thornton explained on Tuesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Thornton said particular objections to the bill surround the Tennessee Department of Education’s role in facilitating the program.
“The way the bill is crafted, the way the bill is written, the only school that can enroll a student and receive the scholarship is a private school. The way the bill is written, the Department of Education will have to have a contractual relationship with that private school in order for that school to be able to enroll any student receiving the money. The Department of Education will have a contractual relationship, punishable with felony violations for violating, with any family that receives that money,” Thornton explained. “The family does not receive a penny. They receive an electronic wallet that can only be spent in one place, and that is at the school in which they’re enrolled. It can only be used to purchase one thing – items that are pre approved by the Department of Education.”
“So you have a single vendor that you can go to and you have a contract. The contract is not in the bill. The contract will be rewritten by the Department of Education potentially every year,” Thornton added.
In addition, Thornton noted how the bill would allow the Tennessee Department of Education to accept private funds to fund the program, potentially leading to the program being influenced by outside entities.
“The department may receive money from private sources to use for this. It doesn’t say that they are receiving. I’m not sure that we have any vehicle to identify what funds they are receiving, but the department may receive private funds and I’m sure you’re aware that as a matter of tax law, gifts made to government entities are considered tax deductible,” Thornton explained. “So there’s the potential that the department is receiving money from some individual or individuals to help fund this or to influence the department in favor of doing this.”
Thornton also said it is unusual for the Tennessee House of Representatives to have included the governor’s school choice voucher program in an omnibus-type bill.
“It’s really unusual for the House to come up with an omnibus bill because section one is the governor’s bill, sections 2 through 49 you have to deal with other matters. Those other matters deal with things like insurance and other things like that and some house cleaning on a bunch of different things. But the governor’s bill is section one of the house version,” Thornton said.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
