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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WDEF)- The implementation of school vouchers in Tennessee was at the center of a long discussion Thursday.
The Education Freedom Scholarship Act was signed into law last month by Governor Bill Lee.
It creates 20,000 scholarships to pay for public school students to attend private schools.
In terms of getting those scholarships to students, that is a work in progress.
Private schools who choose to opt into the Education Freedom Scholarship will not have a lot of strings attached to them
Board member Jordan Mollenhour pointed out The creation of the program does not expand the regulatory authority of the state or authorize and seek to impose additional rules, regulations, or requirements beyond those necessary to enforce the requirements of the program… Private schools and rolling recipients within EFS remain autonomous and are not agents of the state. They have the maximum freedom to educate students without government control and without being forced to alter their creed, practices, admission policies, or hiring to access EFS funds.”
The Tennessee State Education Board determined that students will receive $7,295 to attend any private school who will accept the funds.
They have listed out each private school across the state that has agreed to take these funds.
18 schools in the Tennessee portion of our viewing area have agreed to take these funds.
All but four of them are located in Hamilton County, with the other four in Bradley and McMinn Counties.
This means in 8 of the 11 Tennessee counties we cover, students would have to travel out of their county to use these funds.
In terms of how the program will function, scholarships will be assigned on a first come, first serve basis.
There will be a mechanism in place if students either decide to leave or are kicked out of their private school.
Amy Owens said, “We will actually work with the private school to receive these funds, but they are in agreement that if the students returns back to their LEA, then these funds would be reimbursed to the state based on how long that child was actually enrolled at their school.
This program is set to go into effect next school year.
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