The school voucher bill has been the topic of much debate for years. Up until its most recent introduction to the Tennessee General Assembly where it was passed, its reception has been lukewarm from school districts, educators, parents and politicians alike.
Successful efforts to revive the bill were fulfilled in February of this year when the Tennessee General Assembly passed the “Education Freedom Act” into law by a narrow margin. The bill came with several facets, among them the option for 20,000 total students to receive approximately $7,000 each to be used toward private school tuition and supplies relevant to said students’ educations.
According to the schools’ respective websites, tuition for one year at both F.C. Boyd Christian School (grades 1-12) and Covenant Academy (grades K-12) is $4,975 per year. Pre-K and Kindergarten at Boyd costs $4,075 annually.
Section 4 of the Education Freedom Act was the primary focus of the Warren County School Board’s discussion on Monday evening, which entails $2,000 one-time bonuses for schoolroom teachers, funded entirely by the state.
In order to access the bonus money, local school boards are required to pass and submit proof of a resolution agreeing to participation to the Tennessee Department of Education (DOE) no later than June 1 of this year. This requirement was added after many school districts established opposition of vouchers.
According to the state DOE, the money would be sent to districts in July of this year, pending availability of funds to the department itself. It was not made clear to school officials how the money would be distributed. School districts would receive $2,306.60 for each bonus to ensure they would not be responsible for the employer share of benefits for the state-supported bonus payment.
Educators eligible for the bonus would be K-12 teachers who meet the state’s definition of “existing educator.” Existing educators are licensed instructional staff who are responsible for providing direct instruction for the majority of the instructional day. This would not appear to include support staff, classified employees or any other certified staff in the school system. Additionally, teachers are required to be employed more than 120 days and be of full-time employment status.
In late January, just before the Education Freedom Act was approved by the General Assembly, the Warren County School Board voted to install a resolution opposing the bill due to concerns about the impact it would have on both public and private schools.
During this week’s meeting, Director of Schools Dr. Grant Swallows broached the Section 4 portion of the law, stating he wanted the board to have the opportunity to discuss it and decide for itself how it wanted to proceed.
The drafted resolution presented by Swallows included language to suggest the district would only be participating in the Section 4 portion. Board members still expressed reluctance, citing its stance on opposing the Education Freedom Act.
“Can we fund this locally?” Board Member Tommy Culwell asked and fellow Board Member James Bennet added, “If we can fund this locally, I’d rather not vote this in.”
All members of the board expressed discomfort, and refusal, to discriminate against employees and personnel who have an active part in students’ educations outside the primary classrooms by excluding them from the one-time bonuses.
Swallows recommended tabling the discussion and he would return in a future meeting with numbers and figures about the scope of how much cost the school system would incur to fund the bonuses locally, without state assistance.
“Some boards were adopting this, and I felt you all needed the opportunity to have this discussion,” Swallows said.
The board opted to follow Swallows’ recommendation. Ultimately, the unified goal remained to find money in the budget to self-fund and not accept the “bribe money” offered by the state.
