Gearing up in Tennessee for the Fight against Vouchers
Across the state, advocates for children are taking a stance against the privatization of public schools. Recently, the Oak Ridge Board of Education passed a resolution opposing vouchers. You can read it here. And last year, Knox County Schools passed a similar resolution. Bartlett City Schools also issued a resolution opposing vouchers.
In fact, the Tennessee School Board Association has long opposed publicly funded vouchers as does the Tennessee PTA. And Cities are weighing in too. Metro Nashville points out that municipalities are having to pick up the slack when BEP is not fully funded. In safeguarding their municipal investment in public schools, Metro Nashville's Council also passed a resolution against school vouchers.
Despite this, there is still talk that the state legislature will attempt to implement a limited voucher program in Memphis next year. The justification will be to give Shelby County parents greater choices in education. But Steven M. Singer uses the pumpkin pie analogy in his blog to prove this is a fallacy. Vouchers are like cutting a center slice of pie, it ruins the rest of the pie for everyone else. You can read more here.
In fact, the Tennessee School Board Association has long opposed publicly funded vouchers as does the Tennessee PTA. And Cities are weighing in too. Metro Nashville points out that municipalities are having to pick up the slack when BEP is not fully funded. In safeguarding their municipal investment in public schools, Metro Nashville's Council also passed a resolution against school vouchers.
Despite this, there is still talk that the state legislature will attempt to implement a limited voucher program in Memphis next year. The justification will be to give Shelby County parents greater choices in education. But Steven M. Singer uses the pumpkin pie analogy in his blog to prove this is a fallacy. Vouchers are like cutting a center slice of pie, it ruins the rest of the pie for everyone else. You can read more here.
"...tax money meant to help all children is siphoned off for just one child. In the case of vouchers, tax money goes to pay part of the tuition at a private or parochial school. In the case of charters, we’re diverting tax money to a school that’s public in name but privately run. That means less money for traditional public schools and more money for privately run institutions. That’s really what school choice is – a way to further privatize public schools."
When school boards and parent organizations speak out against vouchers, it makes you wonder who is for it? Where is the support for vouchers coming from? The Oak Ridge school board says it is coming from out of state. Their resolution specifically mentions that "...the motivation for taking funds from Tennessee public schools comes primarily from groups in California, Texas and Washington, D.C., that seek to establish and manage private schools on a profit basis."
That means we need to fight this on a nation-wide basis. And we can start by saying NO to a Secretary of Education with an agenda to privatize our Tennessee public schools.
That means we need to fight this on a nation-wide basis. And we can start by saying NO to a Secretary of Education with an agenda to privatize our Tennessee public schools.
Send the NPE Letter or Write Your Own…
We join the Network for Public Education in sending a clear message to President-Elect Trump that we will not allow our schools to be privatized. We are calling all Momma Bears, Poppas, Grands, Aunts, Uncles, and friends of public education to click this link to access your senator's email and send the sample letter or write your own.
