ADD COUNTY TO SCHOLARSHIP MIX

Does it matter whether two students or 2,200 students are involved in the Tennessee Education Savings Account program if they get a better education than they would have in their nearest public school?

Though we exaggerate, that’s how important we believe the pilot program now available in Davidson (Nashville) and Shelby (Memphis) counties can be if it’s expanded to Hamilton County.

And that’s the aim of a bill in the legislature sponsored by state Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga — to allow tax dollars to follow low-income students if their parents or guardians choose to send them to private schools.

The vouchers, currently worth about $8,100 per student, can be used for the likes of tuition or fees, school uniforms, required textbooks, approved summer-school or afterschool education programs, tutoring services, education therapies, transportation, and computer hardware or technological devices used for educational purposes.

The measure, which only adds Hamilton County to the program, passed the Senate Education Committee this week, 6-3.

In some local private schools, the voucher amount won’t come close to covering the tuition, but it could be a difference maker for parents who have some money to put toward private school tuition and expenses but not the full amount.

To cite just two examples, 2023-2024 tuition for Brainerd Baptist School ranges from $11,480 for kindergarten students to $12,380 for fifth-grade students. The 2023-2024 tuition at Berean Academy ranges from $7,175 (including application, enrollment and technology fees) for kindergarten through fifth-grade students to $7,500 (fees included) for students in sixth- through 12th-grade. (Either or both schools may not be participating in the voucher program.)

We believe the local public school district is trying to improve its low-performing schools and has attempted to give parents more choices by offering open enrollment, charter schools and magnet schools. But we think lowincome parents who want to see their children succeed but don’t have the financial wherewithal to move closer to a higher-performing school should have the option Gardenhire wants to give them.

Since the education savings account program is only in its first year, no statistics are available on whether moving to a private school has made a difference for the students who did. To date, 643 applications for the program in Davidson and Shelby counties have been approved.

Gardenhire said he expected 100 to 175 parents or guardians of low-income students in Hamilton County would apply if the bill passes.

What is considered low-income? A lot more than you might think.

Families are eligible for the program if their household income is up to twice the federal free lunch guideline income. For a family of four, for example, the household income limit for the 2022-2023 school year was $72,150.

Current student eligibility requirements for the program include residence in Tennessee, enrollment in a Tennessee public school for a full year before receiving a scholarship (or as a first-time student in state schools), zoned to attend Shelby County or Metro Nashville schools or one that was in the Achievement School District (though they do not have to use the scholarship in those counties), and meets the household income guidelines.

The law does not explicitly prohibit non-U.S. citizens from participating in the program, a legislative brief from the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury stated.

Participants also have to satisfy admission policies at the qualified school they wish to attend, and an Education Savings Account scholarship does not assure acceptance at a specific school.

Gardenhire, a longtime vouchers proponent, voted against the final bill creating the scholarships in

2019 because he was unclear whether the program would pass state constitutional muster (which it eventually did in 2022).

Voucher opponents continue to insist the scholarships take money out of public schools, but that argument has never made sense. If a student is in a public school, money on his behalf resides there. If he leaves that school, the money for him leaves the school. It doesn’t affect the money there on behalf of the rest of the students.

But, with the education savings account program, for three years, according to Gardenhire, even the counties that lose students to private schools won’t lose the money for them.

Both Chattanooga state senators, Gardenhire and Bo Watson, R-Hixson, are sponsors of the bill, while state Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, is a House co-sponsor.

Since the education savings account program is still in its infancy, we don’t see a problem adding one more county — albeit one with five state-designated priority schools — to the mix. At this point, we can’t say whether the voucher-like plan will be a success, but we will never know its potential if we don’t give it time to work. The bill will be considered on the Senate floor Thursday. We urge its passage.