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by Liam Bridgeman
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WASHINGTON COUNTY, Tenn. — It has been a divisive topic among political officials, school boards and county leaders. News 5 sat down with a local private school to get their perspective.
The bill as it's currently written would grant 20,000 publicly funded scholarships to students who wish to receive their education from a private school.
News 5 met with head of school at Providence Academy, Ben Holland, to get an understanding of what this bill could mean for schools like Providence.
“I think public schools are an important part of that choice system and I think that we have really great public schools in our region, and I want to continue to see them prosper I want to continue to see them do well but I do love the opportunity for taxpayers to be able to make a choice,” Holland said.
Holland says Providence doesn't have much room for additional students as it stands but these scholarships would help current students who need financial assistance.
“I think there's not much to fear for our local counties when they're worried about are all these kids going to flood out of our schools into the private schools there's simply not a ton of infrastructure for that to take place,” he said.
For Steve Barnett, the superintendent of Johnson City Schools, losing students is less of a fear.
“If you are going to pay for something with state tax dollars our tax dollars as a state taxpayer then that money accountability should come with that the same accountability that we have for public schools,” he said.
Barnett says his schools will teach anyone but private schools are not held to the same standard.
“You have a situation where you have schools that are taking state tax dollars that will have the ability to either accept a student or deny a student for enrollment…if a student chooses to go to a private school then they should have first come first serve that as soon comes to that school and they keep that student for that year and have the same accountability that is expected of our public school,” he said.
News 5 will continue to follow this bill and several others going through the Tennessee General Assembly. Follow us on-air, online and on social media for the latest.
