State Rep. Bo Mitchell, D-Nashville, is gearing up to defend proposed legislation he filed last year that, if enacted into law, would take away the Education Savings Account bill that passed last year.
Mitchell did not return repeated requests for comment on the matter Monday.
But according to the Nashville-based TNLedger.com, everything is still a go, and Mitchell’s bill has at least 19 co-sponsors, all Democrats.
The ESA Pilot Program passed through the state legislature during the first session of the 111th General Assembly in 2019, and it was the signature piece of legislation of then newly-elected Republican Gov. Bill Lee.
As reported, Lee talked about education choice on the campaign trail as something that was on his heart due to his personal experience mentoring a young man.
While there were many iterations of the bill as it made its way through the legislative process, largely to gain as much support as possible, Education Savings Accounts were enacted as a Pilot Program under Tennessee Public Chapter No. 506.
The Program is voluntary, and its enrollment is limited to a total of 5,000 students in the first year and increasing by 2,500 students per year to a total of 15,000 students in the fifth and subsequent years of the program. The enrollment level will not increase to the next level unless and until 75 percent of the maximum number of students have enrolled in the Program.
Eligible student participants must, among other stipulations, have documented evidence of a household annual income that does not exceed twice the federal income eligibility guidelines for free lunch.
The ESA Pilot Program is also limited in its scope to the two districts of Metro Nashville Public Schools and Shelby County Public Schools, both of which meet the criteria of having 10 or more priority schools and among the bottom 10 percent of schools.
The Tennessee Department of Education Report Card tracks the percentage of students performing on grade level through TNReady or TCAP state exams, as well as other performance indicators.
Strong opposition to last year’s school choice bill came from the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents and the Tennessee School Board Association, both of which are funded by membership dues paid for by taxpayer dollars. The latter has more than $5 million in assets and paying its top executives nearly a half million dollars, as The Star reported.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Bo Mitchell” by Bo Mitchell and “Gov Bill Lee Visits Class” by Gov. Bill Lee.
I don’t know a thing more after reading this article than I did before I read it.