Mayor Cooper and the Democratic Party Resist School Voucher Program That Would Be Good for Minority Children

 

Live from Nashville, Tennessee Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.– Leahy was joined in studio by former Vanderbilt and Princeton professor Dr. Carol Swain.

During the second hour, Leahy and Swain discussed Mayor Cooper’s resistance regarding the education savings account voucher program proposed by Governor Lee. Swain argued that Cooper had his hands full with other issues and should be re-directing his efforts towards addressing public safety and doing something about Nashville’s rising crime and the schools. Swain added that the Metro School System needed a complete overhaul.

Leahy: I’d like to pivot to this important story that just broke yesterday. It’s at The Tennessee Star by Chris Butler. Nashville Mayor John Cooper against education savings accounts. Members of the public school system are scheduled to discuss a legal challenge to Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s educational savings accounts this morning.

According to the Nashville Post, Mayor John Cooper and his legal director will announce the legal challenge. And I’m trying to see why they are opposing this. The schools are failing and this is a voucher program that gives them an opportunity

And you ran for mayor twice actually and did well. You would have done much better in the election run-off than former Mayor Briley against John Cooper. But as mayor, I don’t think you would have opposed the voucher program. What’s going on here with Mayor Cooper?

Swain: I think it’s Democrat politics as usual. The Democrats know that schools are failing, but they are so indebted and entrenched to the National Education Association (NEA) that they can’t think outside the box. So it’s not really about the children, it’s about them preserving power and locking and holding captive the children whose parents don’t have the financial means to give them a private education or an option.

Leahy: It’s interesting because it ties into the president’s State of the Union address where there was a young student from an inner-city school in Philadelphia. Same opposition to vouchers there. The president announced that there was a separate scholarship set up for this one girl. And the Democrats sat on their hands because they didn’t want to give her a chance.

Swain: All the polling data I’ve seen shows that blacks, Hispanics, and minorities support voucher programs. And so, it’s the Democratic Party left-wing politics that resists something that would actually be good for minority children. And for John Cooper, he has his hands full with the soccer stadium.

He should be addressing public safety and doing something about Nashville’s rising crime and the schools. But what he is proposing will not make Nashville public schools better. I mean, it needs an overhaul. It needs a superintendent that has a background of solid accomplishments. And he really needs to turn the whole system upside down rather than go along with what the entrenched interests want.

Leahy: By the way, Thales Academy which is the new high quality affordable private school opening in Franklin in July has stated that they will not be taking vouchers. So just kind of FYI on that. But again, back to the K-12.

Swain: Why wouldn’t they take vouchers?

Leahy: They just decided that they are not going to. They are out in Franklin, which is not practical for getting back and forth from school.

Swain: Nashville is the location that actually needs some competition when it comes to public schools.

Leahy: There are about 40 private schools in the Nashville area that have said they will accept vouchers in Davidson County. But, the schools are so awful there K-12 in Metro Nashville. 62.7% of students coming out of Metro Nashville public schools in 2017 had to take remedial math courses when they got to college. That’s not exactly a record of success.

Swain: That’s the issue around the country.

Listen to the second hour:

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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “John Cooper” by John Cooper.