The long and winding saga of the controversial Gov. Bill Lee-backed Education Savings Account program continues in Tennessee. Lawyers representing Metro Nashville and Shelby County are appealing the Davidson County Chancery Court’s November majority decision to dismiss outstanding legal claims against the program.
“Months ago, the Supreme Court remanded the case to the three-judge trial court to rule on the two remaining issues in the case,” Metro Nashville Legal Director Wally Dietz tells the Scene via email. “We are disappointed that two of the chancellors voted to dismiss our complaint. Chancellor Martin made important points in her dissenting opinion and we believe these important constitutional questions should be resolved by an appellate court. We are taking this next logical step to bring some clarity to these issues.”
The ESA program provides certain students in Nashville and Memphis public funds to enroll in private schools. It comes from 2019 legislation — championed by Gov. Lee — that narrowly passed in the state legislature. In 2020, the program was challenged by Davidson and Shelby counties and has been held up in courts since. One of the plaintiffs' primary initial arguments, which made it to the Tennessee Supreme Court, was that the program is unconstitutional because it targets Nashville and Memphis schools. Ultimately, the Supreme Court rejected that claim, and in July the Davidson County Chancery Court lifted an injunction on the program. The Tennessee Department of Education rapidly began implementation so that eligible students could partake in the program for the 2022-2023 school year.
According to the TDOE, as of Nov. 29, the state has received 1,046 applications for the ESA program. Three-hundred-six of those were approved for students in Memphis, and 209 were approved for students in Nashville — 327 are enrolled in one of the 40 approved private schools, the majority of which have religious affiliations.
Critics argue that the ESA program drains money from public school systems and express concern about how private schools aren't legally obligated to serve students in the same ways public schools are. Representatives of the Metro Nashville Public Schools district have remained critical of the ESA program. “We have not received any information from the state of Tennessee in several months related to their voucher scheme to determine how many students have received awards,” an MNPS representative told the Scene in late November. “According to the state, we would apply for and receive grants to offset the voucher money deducted from our state education funding allocation.”
Meanwhile, a new bill from Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) seeks to expand the ESA program. Currently, ESAs are only available to school districts with 10 or more schools performing in the bottom 10 percent across the state. The new legislation seeks to lower that floor to five or more of these schools, as identified in the last three priority school designation cycles. This would effectively make some students from the Hamilton County Schools district eligible for an ESA.
