Committee advances education package with scholarships, teacher bonus and school facilities funding

The Finance, Ways and Means Committee approved House Bill 6004 on Jan. 28, a multi-part education package that creates Education Freedom Scholarships, channels a portion of sports-wagering revenue to school facilities and offers a one-time $2,000 teacher bonus for participating local education agencies.

Representative Peter Lambert, sponsor of the bill, described multiple funding streams. He said about 80 percent of sports-wagering tax revenue would be distributed by the council to the treasurer for deposit into an account “for use by local education agencies … for the construction and maintenance of public school buildings.” Lambert said the bill also directs a $2,000 nonrecurring payment to teachers through their local district payroll, conditional on the district adopting a resolution to accept the payment for teachers.

The bill also creates 20,000 scholarships in year one: 10,000 reserved for families under an income cap (described in committee as 300 percent of poverty for certain tiers) and 10,000 for applicants without an income cap on a first-come, first-served basis. The sponsor said the scholarships would be subject to testing and sampling requirements to monitor outcomes.

Committee debate was robust. Representative Clemens and others questioned the distribution model used in the fiscal note and raised concerns that a large share of scholarship dollars could go to students already in private schools. Lambert disputed the underlying assumptions and said the scholarships were designed to empower families while the bill also continues to increase state funding for public schools and includes a “hold-harmless” for district funding so that districts would not see reduced TISA allocations because of short-term disenrollment.

Public witnesses included Walter Blanks Jr., who described his personal experience benefiting from school choice; Kevin Klein, superintendent of Lakeway Christian Schools, and Betsy Henderson, chair of the Knox County School Board (testifying in an individual capacity) who urged support while stressing that public-school investments continue.

The clerk recorded a roll-call vote of 21 ayes and 6 nos. Chairman Hicks announced the bill moves to calendar and rules.

What this does: If enacted, the package would create a scholarship program in the near term, allocate a set percentage of sports-wagering revenues to school facilities and provide a nonrecurring $2,000 teacher payment administered through local payroll at the school board’s election. The bill also includes a statutory hold-harmless to limit immediate funding declines for districts that experience enrollment losses.