Tennessee voucher bill passes first hurdle

A bill that would create a school voucher program in the state passed its first hurdle Wednesday and moves to the Senate Finance Committee.

It will move forward, however, without a provision allowing school districts to opt into the program, a major revision from last year's program proposed by Gov. Bill Haslam, which ultimately failed. The Senate Education Committee voted 5-1 with three abstaining votes.

The Tennessee Choice and Opportunity Scholarship Act, sponsored by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, looks to provide low-income students a voucher program to pay for private school tuition with a state-funded scholarship.

The program targets students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch who attend a public school ranked in the bottom 5 percent of the state in academic achievement.

"Every single child deserves the choice of a quality school, especially those from low-income families. The bill finally gives them that," Kelsey said in an interview.

The voucher will allocate about $6,400 to $6,500 to parents, affording them the opportunity to enroll in a private facility, Kelsey said. The scholarship program caps eligibility to 5,000 students in the first year, 7,500 students the second, 10,000 in year three and 20,000 in the fourth year and beyond.

If caps are not met, scholarships will be offered to low-income students in counties where a bottom 5 percent school is located.

"This is not going to help every student in Tennessee," Kelsey said at Wednesday's committee meeting. "But we need every arrow we can get in this quiver," he said, referring to school choice.

The school voucher bill was first introduced 10 years ago, Kelsey said. This year is the fifth time the bill has been introduced. Last year, the school voucher bill passed the Senate but failed in the House.

"I think this bill has the backing. It's been 10 years of talking, and this year it has the best chance for passage," Kelsey said in an interview.

Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said Wednesday that she couldn't speak to the voucher bill.

Reach Melanie Balakit at 615-926-1638 and on Twitter @MelanieBalakit. Reach Jason Gonzales at 615-390-1030 and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.