Day: April 27, 2017

School Voucher Bill Pushed To Next Year

Wendy Wilson

Tennessee supporters of school vouchers will have to wait until next year for another shot at legislative approval. Rep. Harry Brooks (R-Knoxville) on Wednesday deferred his bill to next year. The proposed legislation was sponsored in the Senate by Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown). Vouchers allow students to attend private schools with taxpayer money. Supporters have been trying for seven years to get vouchers approved in Tennessee. This year’s bill would have allowed for a pilot program in Memphis. Voucher proponents say they empower parents to make educational choices for their children. Critics of vouchers say they drain money from public schools and violate the separation of church and state when children choose to attend religious schools. Chalkbeat reports: Many advocates had thought that limiting vouchers to Memphis would give this year’s proposal the support needed to become law, winning over wary lawmakers from elsewhere in Tennessee. They also hoped to benefit from national attention to private school choice efforts. President Donald Trump and his education secretary, Betsy DeVos, have both used their platforms to advocate for vouchers and similar programs. But in the end, disagreements over how private schools should be held accountable for academic results — as well as legislators’ exhaustion after…

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The $250 Million Education Bill the Democrats Reportedly Want in Return for IMPROVE Act Support is Still Alive

Laura Baigert

  Twenty-three of the 25 Democrats in the House voted for Gov. Haslam’s gas tax increasing IMPROVE Act last Wednesday,  amid rumors of a $250 million deal made between Governor Haslam and House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley) in a quid pro quo tradeoff: Democrats vote for the governor’s bill, the governor backs House Bill 841, sponsored by Fitzhugh, which appropriates $250 million from excess state tax revenue over-collected in fiscal years 2015-16 and 2016-17 to spend on education in the K-12 Block Grant Act. Democrats would have been expected to oppose the gas tax increase, given the many arguments that the IMPROVE Act’s tax cuts went largely to a handful of businesses, not middle class and working class voters who comprise the traditional Democratic constituency. The higher cost of living for middle class and working class voters resulting from the increased prices for food and other staples of life resulting from higher diesel taxes paid by trucking companies will likely not be offset by the small reductions in the sales tax on food. HB 841 was on the agenda for the House Finance Ways & Means Subcommittee meeting scheduled for Wednesday, April 26, but Leader Fitzhugh said the plan is…

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Pew Research: Number of Illegal Immigrants from Mexico Going Down, Number from Central America and Asia Going Up

Wendy Wilson

The number of illegal immigrants from Mexico is down, while the number from Central America and Asia is increasing, according to a new Pew Research study. Overall there has been a slight decline in the total number of illegal immigrants living in the U.S, with the number in 2015 falling below the total at the end of the recession for the first time. The number dipped from 11.3 million in 2009, the last year of the recession, to 11 million in 2015. The figure includes those who enter the country illegally as well as those who overstay visas. Some critics have challenged the total number in recent years, saying it’s probably far above 11 million. However, the Pew Research Center notes that some illegal immigrants are deported, others leave voluntarily or convert to legal status, and some die. The total number is still more than triple the size of the illegal immigrant population in 1990, when it was about 3.5 million, according to the Pew Research Center. It rose dramatically to 12.2 million in 2007 before dipping during the recession. Long the largest group among illegal immigrants, Mexicans now represent a lesser share of the overall illegal immigrant population than they…

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Siloam Health Chooses Not to Help Stop Female Genital Mutilation in Tennessee

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Working in partnership with Catholic Charities’ TN Office for Refugees, Siloam Health Care Services, Inc., headquartered in Nashville, serves as the Statewide Refugee Screening Coordinator for Tennessee and provides the initial domestic medical screening for refugees resettling in Middle Tennessee. Siloam also contracts with Christ Community Health Center in Memphis, and Cherokee Health Systems in Chattanooga and Knoxville to provide the medical screenings in East and West Tennessee where federal resettlement contractors are bringing refugees. Siloam has confirmed to the Tennessee Star that they do not screen for FGM as part of a refugee’s initial exam, and because Siloam says they don’t provide follow-up primary care for the refugees, they have no idea what the “actual prevalence of FGM among refugees” might be: Performing a pelvic exam is not a routine part of that first exam.  For that reason we can’t comment on how prevalent FGM is among the refugees that we screen.  Follow-up care (continuity of care or ongoing primary care) is with local TennCare practitioners in the county, so the actual prevalence of FGM among refugees may be known by others in our community. However, Siloam’s January 29, 2017, Facebook post expressly acknowledges the continuing medical-patient relationship with “many” of the refugees who…

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