Mayor John Cooper at Glencliff High School
Nashville Mayor John Cooper and his legal director, former state Attorney General Bob Cooper, are set to announce a legal challenge of Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s private-school voucher program.
The mayor will address a special-called meeting of the Metropolitan Board of Education on Thursday at which the Coopers are expected to set forth their long-awaited litigation plan.
MNPS communications officer Sean Braisted said he "looks forward" to the presentation.
The education savings account bill, passed by a single vote in 2019, drew widespread opposition from Nashville and Memphis, the only two cities targeted by the proposal. Under the law, the state would give qualifying students in Nashville and Memphis more than $7,000 in public-school money to pay for private-school tuition and other costs.
Every Nashvillian in the legislature voted against the proposal, in part arguing that it would drain resources from public schools. Democrats (and one Republican) have already filed legislation to repeal the bill.
Though the bill gives Lee until next year to implement the program, he has sought to expedite it so that students can obtain ESAs as soon as later this year.
As recently as December, Nashville officials were still weighing their legal options. The Davidson and Shelby county school districts both threatened lawsuits as soon as the bill passed.
