NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher proposal has cleared its first hurdle inside Tennessee’s GOP-dominant statehouse but not without facing a wide range of questions from lawmakers uneasy about the broad scope of the bill.
A House subcommittee agreed on Tuesday to send the bill to the chamber’s full education panel for review.
According to the proposal provided Thursday, parents of students in certain low-performing school districts could receive $7,300 from a government-authorized account to pay for approved expenses.
However, the proposal has raised eyebrows because students from a high-performing school inside an overall low-quality district could also qualify for an education savings account. Furthermore, students in the program wouldn’t be subjected to the same amount of testing.
Lee says students enrolled at high-quality schools likely won’t leave.