The Slant with Ethan Hunt “About Those Grants to Private Schools”
I am not in favor of Tennessee giving state funds to private schools. For those who don’t know, Governor Bill Lee has instated a policy allotting $7,075 of scholarship to students intending on attending a private K-12 school. These grants, part of the Education Freedom Scholarship Act, would not only include tuition but could potentially also include school supplies, uniforms, and anything else involved with the child’s education. These grants are taken directly from the state education program.
Tennessee is currently ranked in the bottom half of all U.S. states in regard to education. These grants are taking funds that could be used to make Tennessee public schools better. It should also be noted that the state takes no preference to students currently enrolled in a public school. Many of the students that will benefit from these grants are students that were already enrolled in private schools. The vouchers are available to families with a household income of $173,160, a number that is well above the median household income of $67,097 as reported in a 2023 census for the state of Tennessee. I can find absolutely no reason why these wealthy families should be given funds to send their students to private school. The program is also not available to undocumented immigrants, whose families often fall below the poverty line. However, the federal government is focused on wasting money trying to eradicate them from the country, so this is of no surprise.
The vast majority of private schools in Tennessee include Christianity as part of the curriculum, and I find it is this that makes said vouchers unconstitutional. The first amendment of the constitution not only allows freedom of religion but also assures that the government does not make itself partial to any particular religion. This includes public schools, where teachers are forbidden to teach religion in the classroom. In addition to this, students enrolled in a private school are not required to take the same TCAP standardized testing that public schools are required to administer annually. As quoted by a document from the state regarding the program, it is allowed for a school to administer “A nationally standardized achievement test that is aligned to the respective non-public school’s instructional plan, as determined by rules promulgated by the State Board of Education for math and English language arts” rather than the Tennessee TCAP test. There are also questions by many including myself regarding the discrimination that private schools are allowed to administer, particularly for disabled students. I think that at a minimum, private schools participating in the EFA should be required to meet these standards against discrimination and frequently inspected to ensure that standards are met to accommodate disabled students.
I think that it is also entirely possible that the private schools who are affected by this act will now be incentivized to increase costs for students and their families. This could be through raising tuition or eliminating prior financial aid programs, typically paid for by the school’s private donors. The program currently is available for up to 20,000 applicants, a relatively small number given the population of Tennessee. If Tennessee pays for a select group of students to receive an education of a supposed higher quality compared to a public institution, this disrupts equality in public education.
To give background on myself, I attended a private school. I benefited from the privately funded financial aid programs instituted from the school and it likely would not have been possible for me to attend that school without the aid. While I am grateful for the opportunities that I was provided at the school, as well as the accommodations for my ADHD, I also felt a sort of imposter syndrome knowing that there were many other students who frankly deserved access to such a program more than I did. Despite attending a private school, I firmly believe that public education is among the most important of government programs. The majority of students will always attend public schools, and it is essential that young individuals enter their adult lives with a firm understanding of various skills and knowledge to push them towards the rest of their lives. While these grants might help a small number of students have access to the same grade of education that I did, I would much prefer that the money spent on vouchers be spent on policies in public schools that benefit all K-12 students in Tennessee rather than just a small handful.
