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To the Editor:

This evening, I want to address the Education Freedom Scholarship Act, which, by any name—including vouchers—is still spending public money to fund private education. For about four or five years, this Tennessee administration has tried various ways to divert public funds to benefit only a few of our children. Sweeteners have been added, such as assurances that no system will lose budget funding with the loss of student movement to other systems or to private schools.

So where would the new money—about $140 million to fund the Education Freedom Scholarship Act—come from? Would it come from cuts to other departmental budgets, such as the highway department? I think not, due to the Hurricane Helene damage to our infrastructure of roads and bridges.

I want to be upfront as being against spending public funds to help just a few students—20,000 at the most—out of nearly one million students in the Tennessee state system. As an elementary, high school, and college teacher, I saw the bankrupt Arizona experiment and read about private school failures due to lack of accountability and lack of transparency.

I applaud Jamie Schaff, Eddie Pless, Mike Simerly, Terri Hubbard, and others for their comments in opposition to this exercise in smoke and mirrors. I do not want my tax dollars used to fund the education of individuals from families that have the financial means to transport their children to schools that they believe are better equipped to provide a better education for, let’s say, their gifted child.

I truly believe that the $140 million, which is now sitting idle while the eight counties are struggling to find ways to get students to damaged schools over roads that require long, roundabout routes, could be better spent.

To those county mayors who support this effort, I understand the position you have been placed in—you must accept the promises even though you probably oppose the concept.

Several years ago, the state legislature was convinced by the then-governor that a state income tax was needed. Several good legislators were defeated in the next election for supporting the governor. I am so sorry that the seven out of eight mayors—all of whom are up to their knees in problems caused by Hurricane Helene—had to support the Education Freedom Scholarship Act.

 

Charles Von Cannon

Central Community