Haslam threatens to kill Tenn. school voucher bill rather than expand it

Some worry Muslim schools could qualify

Gov. Bill Haslam’s refusal to accept an expansion of his plan for launching a limited voucher system in Tennessee has raised the possibility that no bill on funneling state funding to private schools will be enacted this year. Some legislators, meanwhile, are voicing concern about Islamic schools qualifying for voucher funds. It appeared Monday that perhaps just one Muslim school in Memphis would be eligible under Haslam’s bill, but several could qualify under a proposed expansion amendment. The governor has told lawmakers that, if fellow Republicans seeking a broader voucher plan succeed in amending his bill, he will withdraw it from further consideration, leaving it dead for the year. “On this issue we really have worked hard to say this is where we really think the right place is,” Haslam said. “We think if somebody thinks something different, they should run their own bill.” Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R- Collierville, sponsor of Haslam’s bill in the Senate, said the governor has been more explicit in discussions with lawmakers on withdrawing the measure. There have been alternative bills filed, but the governor’s bill is funded in the governor’s budget proposal for next year. That means the alternative would face a more difficult time getting through the finance committees of the House and Senate. So Sen. Dolores Gresham, R-Somerville, and Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, have indicated they will focus their efforts instead on amending the Haslam bill (SB196). Norris said the governor has instructed him to withdraw the bill rather than take on a revision initially proposed by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown. Haslam’s bill would limit vouchers to the schools ranked in the bottom five percent of schools statewide and to children eligible for free or reduced lunches, which translates to an income of less than $ 42,643 for a family of four. Also, there would be a statewide maximum of 5,000 vouchers in the first year of operation, increasing in stages to 20,000 in 2016. Kelsey’s alternative amendment would expand the bill to cover all schools statewide, raise the income level to about $75,000 for a family of four and eliminate the cap on enrollment numbers. The Murfreesboro Post, meanwhile, reported that Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro, and Sen. Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville, are concerned that Muslim schools could qualify for scholarships. But Tracy said Monday that, after research by his staff, it appears only one Muslim- oriented school — Pleasant View School in Memphis — would be eligible under Haslam’s bill. The bill says vouchers can be accepted by schools in three categories of schools as classified by the Department of Education. Schools would also have to be accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Only Pleasant View apparently meets the criteria, Tracy said, and most other Muslim schools are in a fourth category under the classification system. Norris said the Kelsey expansion amendment would add that fourth category as part of opening the door for a broader voucher system. “That’s just another reason for not amending the governor’s bill,” he said. The governor’s bill has moved through the House Education Committee and faces a vote Wednesday in the House Finance Committee. It has never made it out of the Senate Education Committee, which has scheduled its final meeting of 2013 for Wednesday with Haslam’s bill on the agenda. “We’re going to let people focus on whether they want to do anything — or nothing,” said Norris.