Lee: Education funding review not related to school vouchers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Gov. Bill Lee denied Tuesday that his plan to revamp how Tennessee funds its multibillion dollar K-12 education system will make it easier to implement school voucher programs while responding to concerns submitted by the public following the process.

“I think it’s important to address that," Lee said. “This public school funding is not connected to choice issues...They’re two entirely different things and we need to make sure people understand that.”

The governor's administration first unveiled plans to overhaul the system in October and has since held multiple town halls across the state to collect feedback from teachers and families. On Tuesday, Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn gave the governor a public update on the meetings, where she said they have received concerns about school vouchers but did not give specific examples.

Lee, a Republican, has been an outspoken supporter of increasing school choice since taking office in 2019. Most recently, he sent millions of coronavirus pandemic relief dollars to charter schools, institutions that are publicly funded but operate outside traditional school districts. Lee's administration dedicated $10 million to charters out of the nearly $64 million the state received in discretionary pandemic education money.

Lee also signed off on a contentious school voucher program that allows eligible families to use thousands of public tax dollars on private schooling tuition and other pre-approved expenses. However, the program has never been implemented due to multiple legal challenges questioning the constitutionality of the initiative.

“While I'm an advocate for school choice, I'm a strong advocate for public education and we need to fund our schools appropriately," Lee later told reporters.

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