Tennessee lawmakers are slated to vote on several school-choice proposals, including vouchers bills moving through the legislature.
The Senate Education Committee is scheduled on Wednesday to consider two bills which would allow low-income kids to use tax dollars for private schools. The bill sponsored by Sen. Todd Gardenhire, a Republican from Chattanooga, would allow poor children zoned for the lowest-performing schools to get a voucher. A bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Brian Kelsey, of Germantown, would limit the voucher program to low-income kids in Shelby County.
The committee is also scheduled to consider a proposal that would allow parents to take roughly $7,000 a year in local and state education funds and spend it on such things as private schools, home school curriculum, transportation and tutoring.
