Legislative Update – Week of April 1, 2019
Governor’s education legislation advances
Education Savings Accounts – HB 939/SB 795
This legislation passed the House Education Committee last week with a vote of 14-9-1 with Speaker Glen Casada providing the first “aye” vote. The bill has now been amended twice since its rollout, and more amendments are likely as the proposal advances to other committee in both the House and Senate. As the language is currently amended, here’s a breakdown of the program, eligibility of students, and costs.
Program: provides roughly $7,300 to parents of certain students to pay for private school tuition and other approved private educational services; limits the program to 5,000 students in the first year with expansion to 15,000 by its fifth year; private schools identified as Category I, II, or III by the State Board of Education are eligible to accept participating students; participating students would be required to take TN Ready assessments in the subjects of English/Language Arts and Math; for each student participating in the program, the state will provide offsetting grants to LEAs for the first three years of the program.
Student Eligibility: student attended a public school the year prior to seeking an ESA, the student received an ESA the prior school year, or the student is eligible for enrollment in a public school for the first time; the student is zoned to a school within a school district that has at least three schools among the bottom 10% of schools statewide in academic performance (currently Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Madison, and Shelby Counties); is a member of a household with an income of no more than twice the federal income eligibility guidelines for free lunch.
Costs: grant fund of $25 million to provide reimbursements to districts when students leave the system; Department of Education has the authority to keep 6% of per pupil expenditures for participating students to administer the program; shift of more than $110 million at full implementation from public schools to private education providers.
The House bill is scheduled for a hearing this afternoon in the House Government Operations Committee, and the Senate bill is scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday afternoon in the Senate Education Committee.
Tennessee Public Charter School Commission – HB 940/SB 796
This legislation cleared another legislative hurdle last week as it passed through the House Government Operations Committee, and the legislation was referred to the House Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee. While this subcommittee will certainly debate the merits of the bill, it will also pay close attention to the nearly $1 million in new state funding for the Charter School Commission.
The bill has been substantially amended since it was first introduced. The biggest difference in the proposal is in regards to when the Commission will review charter school applications. The initial proposal would have enabled charter applicants to bypass local boards of education and file an application directly with the Commission. The current proposal, though, requires charter applicants to first file an application with a local board of education, and if it is denied, an applicant could file an appeal with the Commission. If the Commission overturns the decision of a local board of education, it can grant the applicant a charter to operate a charter school, and the Commission would be responsible for oversight and performance.
The administration is still meeting with legislators to explain the legislation and address concerns. There are still three committee votes remaining before the bill reaches the House Floor, and it still has two more committee votes before reaching the Senate Floor. This week, the proposal is scheduled in the House Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee on Wednesday, and it is scheduled in the Senate Government Operations Committee on Wednesday.
Bill to Watch this Week
HB 301 by Van Huss/SB 19 by Gresham - As introduced, authorizes a county or city governing body to require the director of schools to face a retention election; prohibits a local board of education from extending the contract of a director of schools if a majority of those voting on the question vote against retaining the director of schools.
This bill would greatly hinder the ability of elected boards of education from recruiting and evaluating a director of schools. Directors of schools must continue to be able to focus on educating and preparing students rather than political posturing to keep a job.
The House bill is scheduled for a hearing in the House Education Administration Subcommittee tomorrow at 3:00 p.m.