In an interview with The Star News Network, nationally known school choice advocate Corey DeAngelis said teachers’ unions would be incentivized to push for more student-focused policies in public schools if school funding followed the child and more states adopted school choice programs.
DeAngelis, the national director of research at the American Federation for Children, is also an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and a senior fellow at the Reason Foundation.
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Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed newly appointed Tennessee State Director for the American Federation for Children, John Patton on the newsmakers line to discuss his experience, background, and legislative goals.
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A ballot question committee aims to gather enough signatures to enact the Student Opportunity Scholarship legislation passed last month by the Michigan legislature. It’s anticipated those bills will be vetoed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Let MI Kids Learn (LMKL) will aim to collect more than 340,000 valid signatures from registered voters for each of the two bills in the Student Opportunity Scholarship package. Upon certification of the signatures by the Board of State Canvassers next year, the House and Senate could enact this veto-proof reform.
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Shelby County Schools would save more than $2,000 for each student who chooses to utilize Education Savings Accounts, and Metro Nashville Schools would save more than $500 for each student who uses them.
This, according to a new research report that staff at the Beacon Center of Tennessee published Thursday.
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Governor Bill Lee endorsed incumbent Matthew Hill for the state House of Representatives’ 7th District of the eastern portion of Washington County, according to an announcement by the House Republican Caucus.
Hill, who has been a member of the Tennessee House since first elected in 2004, is being challenged by Rebecca Keefauver Alexander in the August 6 Republican primary.
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Next time you hear progressives talk about how they are the ones who are sticking up for minority communities, ask them to square their opposition to educational freedom – or the ability for families to customize their child’s education.
Progressives cheered this week as Nashville Chancellor Anne C. Martin ruled that the state’s education savings account program is “unconstitutional” because of an obscure section in our constitution where it talks about “home rule.”
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The decision to remove long-serving House member John DeBerry, Jr. from the 2020 Democratic primary ballot is not reflective of the vision or bylaws of the Tennessee Democratic Party.
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Two separate sources show there is pent up demand for the state’s Education Savings Account (ESA) Pilot Program, but there is not yet a way for interested parents to apply with the Tennessee Department of Education for the upcoming school year.
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Club for Growth Foundation, as part of a new initiative, launched 2019 state legislative scorecards in four states to provide an in-depth look at votes on economic issues, including Tennessee. Only one Tennessee legislator, Representative Debra Moody (R-Covington), earned the designation of Defender of Freedom by the Club for…
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There is no verifiable evidence so far that will confirm the recent NewsChannel 5 report that claimed the “FBI investigates controversial voucher vote.” The news report last Thursday by Phil Williams at NewsChannel 5 boldly claimed that “FBI agents have begun interviewing Tennessee lawmakers about whether any improper incentives were…
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State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) told The Tennessee Star Friday that he has not been contacted by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) regarding the passage of Governor Bill Lee’s Education Savings Accounts (ESA) legislation. As a follow-up to a news report on Thursday by Phil Williams at NewsChannel 5…
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Victory has finally been achieved for Governor Bill Lee’s Education Savings Accounts program, as both chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly finally adopted the same version of proposed legislation by narrow margins. The final adoption of the Governor’s most significant education initiative, the Tennessee Education Savings…
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Savings Account legislation appears headed to a conference committee, as the Tennessee House and State Senate both refused on Monday to move from their respective versions of the bill. The House passed HB 0939 last Tuesday by one vote after a dramatic 40-minute…
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – A much-anticipated vote by the full Tennessee House of Representatives on Governor Bill Lee’s Education Savings Account (ESA) initiative ended in high drama on Tuesday, after it was moved from the second item on the agenda of the Regular Calendar to the end. From the outset…
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Governor Bill Lee’s most significant education initiative, Education Savings Accounts, made it through another major hurdle as it passed the Senate Education Committee Wednesday by a vote of 6 to 3. Senator Dolores Gresham (R-Somerville), who is also the Chair of the Education Committee, carried the bill…
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The House Black Caucus honored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 51st anniversary of his death in Memphis, Tennessee with a reading of what is known as King’s final “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop” speech, even as there is division amongst the group. Dr. King came to Memphis for…
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As Governor Bill Lee’s legislation on Education Savings Accounts is set to be voted on by the full House Education Committee on Wednesday, March 27, the Tennessee Republican Party calls for support of his education plan. The Tennessee Republican Party (TRP) sent a personalized email Friday saying, “We need your…
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – The bill that lays out the details of Governor Bill Lee’s proposal for Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) passed its first hurdle in the House Curriculum, Testing & Innovation Subcommittee. The 16-page amendment that “makes the bill” was presented by Speaker Pro Tem Bill Dunn (R-Knoxville), who is…
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Tennessee students in urban cities could start escaping failing schools in fall 2021 as Gov. Bill Lee has pulled the curtain back on his education savings account (ESA) plan, with legislative action planned for Tuesday. Some say the math does not add up. Lee would spend up to $75 million…
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Gov. Bill Lee is moving forward on his campaign pledge of school choice in the form of Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) available in 2020, although only about one-half of one percent of the state’s students would qualify to participate in the program’s first year. The governor delivered his first State…
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The State of the State will signal to the state the administration’s priorities for the immediate future. It is where campaign promises, either become realities or go to die.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – The Tennessee School Board Association, funded through membership dues paid with tax dollars allocated for school systems, lobbies the Tennessee General Assembly on various issues many of which work against taxpayers’ interests. This week, the Tennessee School Board Association (TSBA) held their annual Day on the Hill…
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A new statewide poll released Thursday by the Tennessee Federation for Children shows that when voters receive information about Education Savings Accounts, they are overwhelmingly supportive of a program being passed by the Tennessee Legislature. The poll by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc. of 625 registered Tennessee voters was conducted…
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In celebration of National School Choice Week, Tennessee Federation for Children sponsored a Champions of Choice event at the state capitol to present Representative Bill Dunn with the 2019 Champion award. Standing beside Tennessee Speaker of the House Glen Casada (R-Franklin), Shaka Mitchell, Tennessee’s State Director of American Federation for…
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