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Cheatham County commission urges Tennessee legislature to reject Education Freedom Scholarship Act
Summary
By unanimous vote (11–0; one absent) Cheatham County commissioners adopted a resolution opposing Governor Lee's Education Freedom Scholarship Act, saying voucher-style programs would divert public funds from local public schools and urging state lawmakers to reject them.
Cheatham County's Legislative Body voted March 18, 2024 to oppose Governor Bill Lee's proposed Education Freedom Scholarship Act and similar voucher programs, adopting a resolution that warns such policies would divert public funds from public schools and diminish educational opportunities for county children.
The resolution, passed by roll call vote 11–0 with one commissioner absent, states that Cheatham County "expresses its opposition to Governor Lee's 'Education Freedom Scholarship Act' as well as any other voucher type program that would direct public funds to private schools due to the unavoidable detrimental impact such programs would have on the Cheatham County School System." The measure also urges the Tennessee General Assembly to reject expansion of voucher programs and directs the county clerk to transmit certified copies of the resolution to the county's state legislators.
Supporters at the meeting framed the resolution as a defense of local public-school funding. The resolution cites the state constitution's Article XI, Section 12, which requires the legislature to provide for the maintenance and support of free public schools, and says that a statewide voucher program would inevitably compete with public school funding.
The resolution was introduced in the meeting packet and presented by Commissioner Walter Weakley; the motion was seconded and approved without recorded opposition. The vote record and the text of the resolution are included in the meeting packet maintained by the County Clerk.
The clerk will transmit certified copies of the resolution to Cheatham County's representatives in the Tennessee General Assembly as directed by the motion.
