I found myself nodding along to some of the points Holly McCall made in her Feb. 14 Tennessee Lookout column about yet another controversial move being made by Gov. Bill Lee that will affect children throughout our state.
The governor proposed in his State of the State address to add $1 billion to the education budget — and that sounded good. However, he also announced that he is planning a partnership with Hillsdale College, a private conservative college in Michigan with close ties to former President Donald Trump’s administration. Once the partnership commences, Hillsdale’s people would develop civics curricula for K-12 students in Tennessee. Additionally, there would be a “creation of 50 Hillsdale-backed charter schools.”
As reported by Chalkbeat Tennessee, the day following Lee’s address, Hillsdale announced its plans to bring “classical charter schools” to Tennessee. “Through its affiliate American Classical Education Inc.,” Chalkbeat wrote, “the organization has filed applications to open three schools in 2023 through school systems in the growing suburban towns of Clarksville, Jackson, and Murfreesboro.”
Until the governor’s address, few Tennesseans knew much about Michigan’s Hillsdale College or its characteristics. Though charter schools have long been a topic of debate in our state, this situation is vastly different. Tennesseans are concerned, and we get the feeling the governor is pushing his own agenda over the well-being and development of our children.
Remember in 2019, when the governor tried to push his school voucher program that would have allowed parents to use allotted public school funds toward private school tuition? Multiple courts blocked the program. In the minds of many, and as written by the Scene’s own Betsy Phillips, this new Hillsdale move is just a means for the governor to use taxpayers’ money to fund private schools over public school education.
Tennessee does a terrible job funding our schools, ranking in the bottom five states when it comes to per-student funding. According to the Tennessee Education Report, schools are underfunded by nearly $2 billion a year, an amount Lee’s $1 billion increase to education won’t cover. So the $32 million allotted for these charter schools would be much better spent on current public schools’ needs, rather than sending the money to a private college in Michigan, or spending public money to set up private Christian charter schools that will likely detract even more funds from our public schools.
Gov. Lee has said, “Hillsdale’s charter schools in our state will be public secular classical education schools.” But many Tennesseans see a problem with that claim.
In her column, McCall notes that Hillsdale’s website says the school “maintains by precept and example the immemorial teachings and practices of the Christian faith.” Since 2000, Hillsdale has been creating a network of charter schools and developing a conservative curriculum for them. McCall concludes, and many likely agree, that the governor won’t be happy until “he’s created a network of publicly funded, private Christian schools to drain resources from our public schools.”
There is obviously nothing wrong with Christian or private schools. Many students have benefited from them over the years. The problem comes when the powers that be behind these schools feel everyone should walk, talk and worship the same way. That’s not true freedom. Further, as Holly asks, “Why on earth is Tennessee’s governor sending our money to a private college in another state to develop curriculum for our kids?”
Rep. Vincent Dixie (D-Nashville) tells WKRN: “At the end of the day it’s an end-around to try to get vouchers instituted in Tennessee. I think he wants to create a new brand of private school that’s going to be Christian-based indoctrinating kids.” Amy Frogge, executive director of Pastors for Tennessee Children, tells the station, “Over time, as charter schools cause existing schools to become both under-enrolled and underfunded, districts are left with the difficult discussion of whether to close neighborhood schools to try to offset the cost of funding charter schools.” And the Rev. Dr. Kevin Riggs, pastor at Franklin Community Church, says, “Gov. Lee is funding his pet project by using taxpayer dollars to fund Christian charter schools.”
It’s a slap in the face — not just to Tennesseans in general, but to those whose religious beliefs may not coincide with those being pushed by the governor via Hillsdale. As McCall reminds us, a “government-sanctioned religious takeover” of our public schools is not to be taken lightly. Intolerance of those who do not worship the same way as the governor is certainly not the answer.
Bill Freeman
Bill Freeman is the owner of FW Publishing, the publishing company that produces the Nashville Scene, Nfocus, the Nashville Post and Home Page Media Group in Williamson County.
