Governor Bill Lee confirmed in a Monday press conference that he is “engaged” with Republican candidates to determine their stance on school choice following the defeat of his Education Freedom Scholarship Act, which would have provided 20,000 Education Savings Accounts for Tennessee students.
Lee said he has “met with several candidates, some who are in open seats; some who are incumbents,” with the governor specifically asking the candidates for their stances on “what I’m talking about is education freedom and choice for parents.”
The governor explained, “I want to know where new candidates stand on that issue because it’s so important to me, so you’ll see me talking to candidates.”
Lee said he intends to “find out everything about all the candidates in a particular district,” including their stance on school choice, to help him “understand who I can be most supportive [and] most helpful to” ahead of the primary elections on August 1.
While Lee’s school choice program failed during the 2024 legislative session, with the governor officially admitting defeat in April, his latest remarks come amid speculation he could revive the plan in 2025.
Acknowledging the defeat of his proposal, Lee previously stated, “While we made tremendous progress, unfortunately it has become clear that there is not a pathway for the bill during this legislative session.”
He added, “I also want to thank the speakers and leaders of both chambers for their commitment to pursuing education freedom next year.”
The news that Lee is now vetting Republicans to determine their position on school choice comes after Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition Executive Director Aaron Gulbransen, who formerly reported for The Tennessee Star, predicted Lee’s proposal would be approved by lawmakers in January 2025 during a recent appearance on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“The General Assembly is going to pass school choice next session. All of the kinks are going to be worked out,” said Gulbransen. “I believe we will have a final bill before the General Assembly session starts.”
Gulbransen added, “I do believe we will have a final bill, or as close to a final as you can have without it being officially final, but there will be a bill that will be agreed upon before the General Assembly session in 2025 starts.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Bill Lee” by Bill Lee.
Give people a choice and problem solved. Rinos won’t do that.
Hmmm….making offers they cannot refuse? Parents have school choice already. What choice do they not have? Why not be honest……the state has failed at educating its children. Money is not the problem and money is not the solution. It is a false choice and 10 years from now they will be trying another scheme but they NEVER want to do the hard work of FIXING the real problem. IF there is a private, religious or public school that has great results wouldn’t it make sense to research what they are doing and implement that in all of our schools. Getting out from under the grip of the government is also another thing we need to do. I guarantee if we got out from the grip of federal government and got back to implementing real classical education and back to basics we would save money not lose money. There is so much waste in our school system and other parts of our state government that losing that money would end up being a win in several ways. Parents already have choice but now the politicians that think vouchers will win them elections or better positions want the tax payers to pay for their choice. Our state Constitution clearly states we are to provide a FREE PUBLIC EDUCATION. This is offering tax payer paid choice to only some students and that is not a solution. And make no mistake….1. TN STILL has Common Core 2. the core objective of CC was to educate ALL children using the same system 3. vouchers is how they will eventually suck private and religious schools into the same system used in the public and charter schools. No matter what the Governor and legislators say they are either clueless or they are lying. Remember these are many of the same people that sold our children out for $500 million when they agreed to the CC state standards that were not even written when TN agreed to implement them. The money meant more to them than our children. Me and many others warned legislators that 10 years after CC was implemented we would find our children got the short end of the stick and here we are right where we predicted they would be. Common Core was a global program not just implemented in the US and like I said its objective is to get ALL children into the same system…..there can be no outliers and that is why those behind the curtain are pushing vouchers. Just look at who is pushing this in TN. American Federation for Children (Betsy I LOVE COMMON CORE DeVos). Lee’s campaign and administration Policy Director was part of that organization and he worked for Lee until last August. I am sure pushing these vouchers is going to land Lee a nice cushy position when his term as Governor is up…….DC perhaps???
Wake up, governor. Solving the education problems is not vouchers. The solution is multi-faceted. First, stop filling the curriculum with sex, gender and other materials that has no place in the classroom. Those topics are personal and for the family to oversee. Then there will be time to teach basic education course such as reading, writing (including cursive) and arithmetic. Second, hold teachers accountable for the outcome of the students passing through their classrooms. It works in the private sector and will work in the education arena. Third, stop giving teachers unearned pay increases. And stop the garbage of justifying raising Tennessee teacher pay by saying that it is (was) 44th among the states. This statistic has no meaning without somehow including the state-by-state cost of living. Tennessee teachers may be in the top 10% on the pay scale when that cost of living is considered. Oh, and how many days a year do teachers work? Fourth, stop paying for all of the exceptional perks that teachers receive such as pensions and other benefits that are not offered in the private sector. Fifth, cut the administrative fat in each district. School districts are typical government bureaucracies. Their concept is bigger is always better but that is not truly the case. But it is surely always more costly.
I suppose that you can tell I am fed up with the lousy quality of Tennessee public education and am tired of the school boards and administrations claiming that the only solution is more and more and more money. I live on a fixed income and no one is giving me more money to offset the obscene property taxes I am forced to absorb, most of which goes to public schools.
Stop funding failed public education policy. Academic administration is an absolute waste of taxpayer dollars.