Killing Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s school choice bill does not help students achieve

This op-ed originally appeared in The Tennessean on July 12, 2024. 

The Tennessee legislative session is over, but much like the Tennessee schools that are officially out for summer, a new year is just around the corner.

School choice died this past session despite the push from Gov. Bill Lee and other state lawmakers to make this the year families attain educational freedom. Disappointingly, legislators failed to come to an agreement during negotiations on different versions of the school choice bills thanks to special interest groups igniting confusion and opposition.

The need for expanding educational options in Tennessee is clear. Only 30% of fourth-grade students performed at or above the proficient reading level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2022, and there are significant achievement gaps between racial groups, to cite a few examples. Gov. Lee’s robust school choice bill, the Education Freedom Scholarship Act, introduced earlier this year, would have served as a powerful step toward helping students learn and achieve regardless of their ZIP code, race, or parents’ income. It is disappointing for Tennessee children that, despite the governor’s bold leadership in ushering in the legislation, it won’t be moving forward this year.

Read the full op-ed in The Tennessean here.