By Victor Skinner
EAGnews.org
    
NASHVILLE – Tennessee lawmakers appear to be moving forward with creating a private school voucher program for the state’s students, although some believe officials should move faster.
 
A task force created by Gov. Bill Haslam blew past the question of ‘if’ vouchers are a good idea to ‘when’ a program could be put in place during a meeting this week. State officials believe it would take until the 2014 school year to launch a voucher program if the legislature approves a plan this spring, but state Sen. Brian Kelsey believes it should be sooner, the Associated Press reports.
 
“It blows my mind that we would even consider not implementing it immediately,” Kelsey said. “I thought the whole point was to get it started and see how it does and move forward from there.”
 
The task force also discussed whether private schools should be allowed to charge more for tuition than what state vouchers would be worth, whether to launch a pilot or statewide voucher program, and other issues.
 
A lobbyist for the Tennessee Education Association (the state’s largest teachers union) attended the meeting to voice opposition for expanding educational choices for Tennessee families, reiterating the well-worn and illogical argument that it’s a bad idea to send public funds to private schools.
 
“It’s very disturbing to see the leaders of the state education system talking about ways to take more money away from public schools and send it to private schools,” Jerry Winters, the union’s talking head, told reporters at the task force meeting, the AP reports.
 
What’s truly disturbing is the union’s utter lack of concern for thousands of students across the state who are forced to attend low performing public schools because people like Winters work to block better options.
 
Teachers unions, including the TEA, hate voucher programs because it gives parents options outside of the government school monopoly and threatens the demand for unionized teachers – which directly impacts union dues revenue.
 
It’s really pretty straightforward: Unions are more than willing to keep kids trapped in crumby schools for their own selfish interests.
 
Thankfully, it appears that the majority on Haslam’s task force can see through Winters’ baloney and are truly putting students’ interests first.
 
Chris Baric, superintendent of the state’s Achievement School District, put the debate in the proper perspective.
    
“Parents get to figure out where they buy bread and toothpaste, and we’re going to limit their options on where they send their kids to school?” he said, according to the AP. “I have a hard time with that.”
    
The group is expected to send their recommendations to Haslam in November.