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By Buzz Trexler

Star Correspondent

Just days after Carter County Mayor Patty Woodby made a public stand in favor of Gov. Bill Lee’s private school voucher bill, the Elizabethton Board of Education on Thursday will consider passing a resolution opposing the legislation.

In January 2024, the school board unanimously passed a similar resolution against the 2024 voucher bill, as did the Carter County Board of Education. The bill was opposed by educators, public officials, and others across the state and failed to pass.

Among other foundational statements, the proposed city school board resolution cites the Tennessee General Assembly’s constitutional mandate to “provide for the maintenance, support, and eligibility standards of a system of free public schools.”

The resolution says the city system is charged with providing “a free and appropriate education for all students, regardless of background, need, or ability,” has done so for more than 100 years, and has “a long-established history of providing a wide array of academic, athletic, social, and arts programs through effective and strategic stewardship of public funds …”

The resolution targets the use of public funds by private schools that “do not face the same state-approved academic standards, transparency requirements, accountability methods, and performance measures as public educational institutions, nor are they required to accept all students and offer needed specialized programs …” 

Diverting public funds to private educational institutions would “threaten Elizabethton City Schools’ ability to maintain its exemplary quality of programs and services,” the resolution says, and “strongly urges the Tennessee General Assembly to reject such legislation and/or any other similar voucher or Education Savings Account legislation that would divert public dollars away from public schools.”

A release from the county mayor’s office on Monday cited seven county mayors from Northeast Tennessee as supporting the legislation, including Woodby, Washington County Mayor Joe Grandy, Sullivan County Mayor Richard Venable, Hawkins County Mayor Mark DeWitte, Johnson County Mayor Larry Potter, Unicoi County Mayor Garland “Bubba” Evely, and Greene County Mayor Kevin Morrison.

During its regular meeting Tuesday night, the Kingsport City Schools Board of Education passed a resolution opposing the voucher bill. 

Filled in the state Senate and House, the Education Freedom Act of 2025 would provide 20,000 scholarships in the 2025-2026 school year, half of which would go to students whose annual household income does not exceed 300 percent of the limit for free or reduced-price lunch; those who are zoned to attend certain schools in an Achievement School District; or others who are eligible under state law because of certain disabilities and meeting other related criteria.

The remaining 10,000 scholarships would be available for all other eligible students, meaning the student is a Tennessee resident and entitled to attend a public school, “except for a student enrolled in a home school or in a church-related school, with which the student’s parent is associated, registered, or is participating as a parent-teacher for purposes of law related to homeschooling.”

Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, the number of scholarships would be determined by the amount of available funding. Under the act, if the number of applications exceeds 75 percent of available scholarships for the current year, the number of scholarships available for the next school year must be increased by an additional 5,000 scholarships.

Under the act, 80 percent of the privilege tax collected for sports wagering would be used to construct and maintain public school buildings, with consideration given to those located in a county the state considers economically distressed or at-risk, as well those that have been impacted by “any emergency or natural disaster that has resulted in significant damage to an existing public school building or facility.”

The 114th General Assembly will convene in a special session on Monday, Jan. 27, to consider the act and other legislation.