The Cumberland County Commission passed a resolution Monday night opposing Governor Bill Lee’s private school voucher program.

The resolution was introduced by Commissioners Threet, Wilson, and Lowe.

Lee’s proposed Education Freedom Scholarship Act would offer 20,000 Tennessee students about $7,075 to attend a private school of their choice beginning in the 2024-25 school year. Grants would be allowed to be used at any private school, and most home schools.

The program would provide state funds to 20,000 of the roughly 1 million school students in Tennessee, regardless of where in the state they live. During the first year of the program, the governor’s office says 10,000 grants will be reserved for students whose families’ incomes are below 300% of the federal poverty level, students with disabilities, and those who are eligible for the existing Education Savings Accounts pilot program. The remaining 10,000 slots will be made available to any student currently entitled to attend a public school.

Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, eligibility for the scholarships would be opened to all Tennessee students, regardless of income or previous school enrollment.

Several were in attendance at the Cumberland County Commission meeting Monday night and gave their opinions during the public comment of the event. The opinions were split on the issue of vouchers. Some were against vouchers in general while others were open to the idea and wanted more information on the content of the final bill.

Since the resolution did not follow the normal commission process of going through the committee before coming to the full commission meeting, a motion was made by Commissioner John Patterson, and seconded by Commissioner Joe Sherrill, to send the resolution to the Schools and Education Committee for discussion. The committee process is usually protected as it allows for the maximum amount of public input during two meetings before a vote on an issue is taken by the full commission. The vote to refer to the committee failed 7-8.  Commissioners voting to refer to the committee were Isham, Hyder, Stone, Gibson, Sherrill, Mall, and Patterson.  Commissioners voting against included York, Threet, Lowe, Wilson, Baldwin, Cooper, Maxwell, and Holbrook.

The next motion was to approve the resolution that opposed Governor Lee’s voucher program. The motion to approve the resolution was approved 10-5.  Voting in favor of the resolution were York, Hyder, Threet, Gibson, Lowe, Wilson, Baldwin, Cooper, Maxwell, and Holbrook. Voting against were Isham, Stone, Sherrill, Mall, and Patterson.