A coalition that includes a former Metro Nashville Public Schools administrator and parents of Tennessee public school students filed a lawsuit against Gov. Bill Lee’s universal voucher law on Thursday, arguing that the program violates the Tennessee Constitution. The suit could have wide-ranging implications for a topic that has stirred significant debate throughout the past few legislative sessions and in school hallways across the state.
Lee signed the voucher bill, a pet project since he took office in 2019, into effect in February. This school year, the Tennessee Department of Education has issued approximately 20,000 vouchers, each worth $7,295, out of nearly 43,000 K-12 applicants. Recipients can use these funds to attend private schools.
“If the program is permitted to stand,” the complaint reads, “It will continue to drain funds from under-resourced public schools and send hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars to unregulated private schools.”…