The Lakeland School System (LSS) is joining the loud chorus of suburban entities asking the state to reject Gov. Bill Lee’s proposed Education Freedom Scholarship Act that would expand voucher use across the state.

On Monday, Dec. 11, the LSS Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution opposing the legislation. The Lakeland resolution is modeled after one passed recently in Collierville.

Memphis suburban school districts united in opposition to vouchers

Lee announced his plan in late November to extend vouchers giving students the option to use taxpayer dollars to attend private schools. 

“Part of the reason that our board is bringing forth this resolution is the fact that this is not an evidence-based program,” said Michelle Childs, the LSS board’s legislative liaison.

School officials worry the idea could decrease funding for public education. There also is the question of whether private schools — receiving state money — must follow the same mandates and meet the same standards set for public schools.

Childs noted that only two states, Indiana and Louisiana, use the same standardized tests for public and private schools, and the children attending private schools using vouchers did worse on those tests. A pilot program involving a few districts in Tennessee is reflecting the same trend.

She also noted that the estimated cost of a school voucher program in Arizona has ballooned to $900 million, far more than $30 million budgeted in 2022.

Governor calls school voucher plan ‘freedom,’ while opponents call it ‘a scam’

“Basically what’s happened is you’re shifting the cost of private education students to the taxpayers,” Childs said.

Under Lee’s plan, the state would earmark 10,000 vouchers for up to $7,000 apiece next school year. Students with disabilities, students who meet eligibility requirements for the existing voucher program and students with family income below 300% of the federal poverty level would qualify for the money. 

“A lot of the students who are not eligible for private schools are the ones with the greatest needs that we serve. So anything that takes funds away from those students we oppose strongly,” LSS Superintendent Ted Horrell said. “We need more funds, in fact, to educate those students.”

The board also expressed its dismay with the new A-F district report cards grades that will be released to the schools today, Dec. 12, and made public on Dec. 21.

“Our board has taken a position against A-F letter grades in the past,” Horrell said, adding: “I do not think it’s good policy that accurately reflects the quality of the education happening in schools.” 

Bill Lee pushes for statewide school voucher expansion, no income limits

The A-F district grade level legislation was passed in 2016. The designation was delayed several times and is just now being put into practice, but only for public schools.

Childs and board member Jeremy Burnett voiced their displeasure with how the rubric for determining a district’s letter grade was changed just last month.

“To change these metrics at the last minute knowing that they already have the data in hand, they changed the metrics to tell the story they wanted to tell,” Burnett said. “I would wonder out loud, did the Department of Education follow the law in coming out with these new metrics?”

Board member Deborah Thomas cautioned Lakeland residents to not believe what they might see when the letter grades are released.

“Everything I’ve seen suggests that everyone’s schools are going to score poorly. So the arrival of this A-F (grade) and the vouchers makes it look like, ‘We’re going to show you how bad your public schools are, and we’re going to give you this money to get out of them,’” she said.

Nashville, Shelby County withdraw challenge to Tennessee private school voucher law after long fight

The remainder of the annual school report cards will not be published until January, so the contextual data that would explain a district’s letter grade will be not be initially available.

“It’s kind of par for the course with what we’ve seen with this implementation,” Horrell said. “We don’t believe in the school letter grades. ...So as far as I’m concerned, there won’t be a lot of discussion on the actual grades once they are released.”