TN Voucher Legislation: Bill Details and Public Reaction
On April 25, 2019, the Tennessee senate passed an amended version of the school voucher bill that the Tennessee house had passed a day eariler.
I could find no article that linked to the actual school voucher legislation passed in the Tennessee house or senate, nor any mention of either bill by its bill number. Too, a search of the terms, “education savings accounts,” “opportunity scholarships,” and “school vouchers” on the Tennessee General Assembly websiteyielded nothing that appeared to be the school voucher bills just voted on. I also tried looking up the date the legislation was voted on as well as the name of the only co-sponsor of the senate bill who was quoted in the media, state senator Brian Kelsey (R- Germantown).
However, I did eventually find the school voucher legislation voted on in the Tennessee senate on April 25, 2019, SB0795, and the house version, HB0939, as well as a detailing of the complete process undertaken by the Tennessee house and senate as it relates to the school voucher legislation in question. (See the numerous amendments to both house and senate versions of the bill here by clicking the “amendments” tab). Part of the complication is that the original senate bill SB0795 description includes no mention of school choice directly and at best obscurely hints at it:
Education – As introduced, extends, from 10 days to 30 days, the period of time after a local board of education orders a student’s school assignment within which a parent, guardian, or legal representative may apply to the board for a hearing to challenge the reasonableness of the student’s assignment and to request the student’s transfer to another school. – Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 6.
On April 25, 2019, the Tennessee senate substituted the house version of the school voucher bill for the senate version, which they amended. Below is a summary detailing the entire process (to locate the summary, click here and CONTINUE READING: TN Voucher Legislation: Bill Details and Public Reaction | deutsch29