What one Memphis family using Tennessee’s voucher program thinks
In Honduras, Christian Rivera and his family were comfortable. He owned a reasonably successful restaurant, and they lived in a nice house. He and his wife, Siria López, could afford to send their children to a private Catholic school and take them on annual vacations in the United States.
But roughly five years ago, gang violence in Honduras forced them to leave their home and flee to America. They landed in Memphis, and the transition wasn’t easy. Today, their lives are considerably different.
The family budget is tighter, at least for now. Rivera is no longer a restaurant owner; he’s a licensed contractor working long, hard hours in the construction industry. They’re seeking U.S. citizenship, but obtaining it is difficult. And they miss Honduras — a place they can’t return to without facing grave danger.
“My country is my country,” Rivera said. “It’s your roots. … My whole body wants to go back.”
But he and his family are also happy in the U.S., where they’re accustomed to life. Rivera is grateful to be away from the threat of gang violence. He’s grateful for the opportunities that have been made available to him. And he’s grateful that Tennessee’s Education Savings Account program has allowed him and López to send their children to Catholic schools, just as they did in Honduras.
They understand vouchers are controversial. But for the couple, which is devoted to their faith, providing their son and daughter with a Catholic education is important — and without the financial boost, paying for it would be challenging.
“You register your children where you want them to study,” Rivera said. “If the state is giving me a chance to give them a better education, I’ll take it.”
Vouchers in Tennessee
In Tennessee, few issues are as politically divisive as vouchers, which have been championed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and many conservative members of the state legislature.
In 2022, the state implemented Lee’s ESA program, which offers 2,400 students in the Shelby, Davidson, and Hamilton counties about $9,000 in state funds to cover tuition and other expenses at private schools. Now, it’s also considering passing the Education Freedom Scholarship Act — a dramatic voucher expansion that would provide $7,075 in state funds to 20,000 students looking to attend a private or home school in the 2024-25 school year.
The proposal has been passionately denounced by public education leaders, who assert that vouchers weaken public schools while providing government funding to private schools that aren’t beholden to the same rigorous set of requirements.
Many families that have received vouchers, however, take a different view.
It’s not that they’re against public schools. But many do feel that their children will receive a better education and more resources at a private one. Feedback for the first year of the ESA program was overwhelmingly positive, with 91% of parents who completed the Tennessee Department of Education’s survey saying they were satisfied with their student’s academic growth.
‘I love it’
Whether immigrant families like the Riveras would be eligible for the proposed voucher expansion remains to be seen. The current version of the Education Freedom Scholarship Act in the Tennessee House of Representatives — which is still being discussed — requires students to be American citizens.
The ESA program which the Riveras are already benefiting from doesn’t have this stipulation. And after everything his family has been through, it means a lot to Rivera that he can use the funds to send his children to Catholic schools.
His daughter, Krissia, is a freshman at St. Benedict at Auburndale High School. And his son, Diego, is a second grader at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School. Rivera is pleased with the education his children are receiving, and Krissia told The Commercial Appeal that she likes attending St. Benedict.
When they first moved to the U.S., she attended a public school, before shifting to Collegiate School of Memphis. Collegiate is a private, college preparatory school, and Krissia had been awarded a scholarship to attend it, thanks to her strong grades. But when her parents were accepted into the ESA program, they used the funds to shift her to St. Benedict.
For Krissia, this was initially a big adjustment. According to its 2022-23 data declaration, about 67.8% of