'Failing schools' robocall confuses Sumner residents
A recent pro-school voucher robocall that has offended some Sumner residents has been misinterpreted, its source says.
The robocall received April 15 specifically targeted GOP voters in the 2012 and 2014 primaries inRepublican Rep. Courtney Rogers' legislative district that partially covers Goodlettsville, Hendersonville, Millersville and White House. Its voice is former Tea Party U.S. Senate candidate and state Rep. Joe Carr of Murfreesboro's District 48, speaking on behalf of the Tennessee Federation for Children, encouraging residents to support Rogers as she backs the pro-school voucher bill.
The Tennessee or American Federation for Children is a Washington, D.C.-based pro-school voucher nonprofit advocating to provide parents with a private school choice. For supporting the proposal, the message says, Rogers has been attacked by "union-funded front groups" that "take their direction from the National Education Association, the largest labor union to support Barack Obama and the largest labor union in Tennessee."
"They want to impose their values on our schools, and are working to oppose parental choice scholarships that allow parents to escape failing government-run schools," the message says.
Numerous parents and teachers contacted Director of Schools Del Phillips upset with the call that they felt suggested Sumner County has failing schools, spokesman Jeremy Johnson said. Some also thought Rogers approved the message.
"Prove that. Where do we have failing schools," school board member and parent Ted Wise asked. "Don't just say it. Prove it to me. If a message was sent about her and she didn't approve it, I'd have a huge problem if I were her. I think she absolutely knew about it, and if she didn't, she's got a bigger problem than she realizes."
The Hendersonville home of school board member Beth Cox, also a parent, received the call twice.
"Everyone was perplexed to have a political call in a non-election year," Cox said. "I thought it was a confusing message because we have incredible schools. That's why people move here. If it were me, I would do everything I could to correct it and separate myself from the situation, and I am not sure that was done effectively. I would have done more."
The federation confirmed neither the call nor the message came from Rogers, who was not informed of it ahead of time. The robocall's script also specifies that it was, "Paid for by the Tennessee Federation for Children and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee."
"It's not a political ad; it's a policy ad," said Steve Gill, a communications strategist and a political analyst, one of whose clients is the Tennessee Federation for Children. "It's not unusual for policy ads to be run in a non-election year to encourage legislators to either vote for or against a particular issue."
Purpose: to generate support
The targeted issue here, Gill said, is House Bill 1049, a pro-voucher proposal that aims to provide low-income students with a state-funded scholarship so they can attend a private school. The bill, which the Senate passed March 30, affects five counties — Davidson, Knox, Hamilton, Shelby and Madison.
"The message was not referring to failing schools in Sumner County," Gill said. "The purpose of the robocall was to generate support for Courtney Rogers on the school choice bill that gives children the option to escape horribly failing government schools."
The call is "pretty odd," said Sumner County Commissioner Paul Goode pointing that Rogers is not on committees voting on the bill.
"Why would this group single her out out of 99 representatives when she isn't on any committee that would debate this bill?" asked Goode, who also received calls from upset constituents.
There are two reasons, Gill said, to encourage support for and defend Rogers.
"Courtney Rogers was being targeted by advocacy groups opposing the school choice bill," Gill said. "I also think there are people, including Republicans, who still have a political vendetta against Courtney Rogers because she won an election against Debra Maggart. It was to support someone under fire, and unfairly so, as demonstrated by the response to the call, which proves the point of the robocall. People are creating a false hysteria over a message about a proposed legislation that does not even apply to Sumner County."
Rogers replies
Carr, a radio talk show host, was picked for the call, Gill said, because of his recognizable, conservative voice and advocacy for school choices.
"The robocall is in no way directed toward Sumner County Schools," said Carr, who has experience in public, private and home-schooling. "We called in Sumner County because Rep. Rogers has shown leadership on the issue. I oppose excluding any method that would help raise the educational standards of our children. I'm for parental choice and competition. The massage basically said, 'Hey, parents of Sumner County, we have failing schools in Tennessee and vouchers are a tool in the toolbox that we should consider to improve the opportunities for children to excel. Support Rep. Rogers on this bill.' "
Rogers, one of 30 representatives co-sponsoring the bill, said she appreciates individuals and groups that give up time and resources to support her, but confirmed she neither initiated nor approved the message.
"One of the tough things about being in politics is that you never know when or from whom (support) will come," Rogers said. "I support parental choice especially in areas where there are failing schools. I believe that parents are the final authority in the education of their children. The message did rightfully address the fact that there are failing schools in Tennessee. I believe that public schools will continue to be the primary mechanism for education in our state and therefore should be supported for the task at hand, but if specific schools repeatedly fail to serve their purpose, we have an obligation to take action to restore excellence within the schools in question and to allow the use of different options in the meantime."
The verbiage of the call, however, concerned Rogers, who felt that it "could be misinterpreted as a complaint against Sumner County Schools" and asked that it be withdrawn. She also added her family moved to Sumner because of the good schools and feels happy with that decision.
After receiving numerous concerned inquiries, Phillips felt it was necessary to reach out to Rogers.
"They were upset by the content that stated Sumner County had failing schools," Phillips said. "I reached out to Rep. Rogers to ensure that she understands that we do not have nor have we had a school classified as a failing school under any metric used by the Tennessee Department of Education here in Sumner County. I wanted to make sure Rep. Rogers had the correct information in regards to the performance of our school district."
The federation has not sent similar robocalls in other districts. The nonprofit has, however, used radio ads and paid social media to encourage support for the bill. House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee members deferred the proposal Tuesday after lead sponsor Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, took it off notice. The bill won't come back up until next year.
Reach Dessislava Yankova at 575-7170 and on Twitter @desspor.
Robocall script
This is Joe Carr with an important message from the Tennessee Federation for Children about Sumner County Schools.
Right now, union-funded front groups are attacking conservative leader Courtney Rogers, simply for her decision to fight to give parents more power to choose where their child goes to school.
The groups attacking Courtney take their direction from the National Education Association, the largest labor union to support Barack Obama and the largest labor union in Tennessee.
They want to impose their values on our schools, and are working to oppose parental choice scholarships that allow parents to escape failing government-run schools.
We're in the midst of a fight for the future of our education system. Our choice is whether to give bureaucrats and unions even more control or try something new, and give each family a direct say in how their tax dollars should be spent.
Call Courtney Rogers today or text STOPNEA to 41411, that's STOPNEA to 41411, to support Rep. Rogers in her fight to keep government unions and their political agenda out of our schools.
Paid for by the Tennessee Federation for Children and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.'Failing schools' robocall confuses Sumner residents:
