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VOUCHERS SQUEAK PAST HOUSE AFTER REP. ZACHARY’S LAST-MINUTE FLIP

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Yesterday Governor Bill Lee’s controversial “Education Savings Accounts” aka School Vouchers legislation hit the house floor for a debate and a vote.

Watch the HIGHLIGHTS:

Proponents of vouchers say they will be a lifeline for some students in failing schools.

Opponents say they will leave the rest of the kids behind, and steer resources away from public schools towards private schools, and point to the absence of evidence that vouchers work as reason enough that they’re a bad idea, instead encouraging Tennessee to fully fund public education for a change.

It’s no secret that private school education lobbyists have been circling this legislation for a long time, and have spent lots of money in support of it. Even Secretary of Education Betsy Devos – who has said her agenda is to “Advance God’s Kingdom” through the privatization of education – came to Nashville last month to show her support for Governor Lee’s efforts.

On the other side is the Tennessee Education Association, many school boards throughout the state, and most teachers.

Governor Lee has made it clear this is his main priority this session, even going so far as to attempt to strong-arm legislators who have expressed opposition by threatening not to steer resources to their districts and making it clear a vote against would mean a difficult road to re-election while essentially bribing rural legislators with grants while reassuring them vouchers won’t come to their communities.

Speaker Glen Casada has been intimately involved with those efforts as well, as has Senator Jack Johnson, who made it clear he doesn’t want them in Williamson County either.

Debate on the floor lasted the better part of 2 hours, with Republicans rising in support, and both Democrats and Republicans rising in opposition.

Rep. Antonio Parkinson and others made it clear almost all Shelby County reps were against the legislation, and all Nashville Reps to speak made it clear they were against it also, yet the vouchers are mainly targeted at their counties, something all of them agreed was unfair.

Their refrain is that if other legislators don’t want them in their own counties, they shouldn’t want them for kids in their counties either. It stands to reason that if your reasoning for voting FOR something is that you’ve been reassured it won’t hurt your county, that isn’t a great reason to “do unto others” what you wouldn’t have done unto you.

Rep. Joe Towns Jr. expressed concern the legislation would create two “separate and unequal” school systems, “re-segregating” education in Tennessee, while Rep. Camper warned that vouchers would spread, and Rep. Johnny Shaw insisted they wouldn’t fix any of the problems in Tennessee education – problems which even Republican legislators who were in favor of vouchers agreed were not as bad as they had been in past years, with Tennessee now the most-improving state in the country.

Rep. Matthew Hill stood to tell his colleagues that even the Tennessee State Employees Association was in favor of the bill, but that turns out not to be the case, which is ironic considering Hill lamented the circulation of false information in the same breath.

When it came time to vote it was a deadlocked 49-49 tie, which appeared to take Speaker Casada by surprise. He held the vote open for 30 minutes while he did some arm-twisting out of the view of the public, something most seasoned reporters said they hadn’t seen in their entire time covering the legislature.

Rep. John Deberry Jr. of Memphis was the only Democrat to join Republicans in favor of vouchers, and Republicans are now rewarding him by running ads for him in his district.


Rep. Brandon Ogles (Williamson), Rep. Clay Doggett (Lawrence/Giles), and Rep. Chris Hurt (Lauderdale/Crockett/Haywood) were 3 Republicans who had campaigned as being anti-vouchers, but voted in favor of the legislation.

It was Rep. Jason Zachary however who cast the deciding vote, flipping from a “NO” to a “YES” to give Casada the 50-48 win he was looking for.

After the vote, Zachary said it was assurances Knox County wouldn’t be affected by the Vouchers, that they would be “held fiscally harmless”, and that they had been guaranteed resources for teacher raises and other such things – something he then appeared to walk back moments later. (The Holler has been told the promises to Zachary amounted to $5 Million to his local school district, something we’ll be looking into…also, the bill he voted for included Knox County).

(It’s also worth noting his wife appears to work at a Christian school.)

The Senate version of the bill still has a vote pending, and since the house bill and the senate bill are different this battle is far from over. Here are the key differences.

If you think the way to fix public education in Tennessee is NOT to steer resources away from public schools, holler at your legislators and let them know to stand strong for public schools.

HOW THEY VOTED:

Ayes………………………………………..50
Noes………………………………………..48

Representatives voting aye were: Baum, Boyd, Carter, Cepicky, Crawford, Curcio, Daniel, DEBERRY, DOGGETT, Dunn, Eldridge, Faison, Farmer, Garrett, Hall, Helton, Hill M, Hill T, Holt, Howell, Hulsey, HURT, Johnson C, Kumar, Lafferty, Lamberth, Leatherwood, Littleton, Lynn, Marsh, Moon, OGLES, Powers, Ragan, Reedy, Rudd, Rudder, Sanderson, Sexton J, Sherrell, Smith, Sparks, Terry, Tillis, Todd, Van Huss, White, Williams, ZACHARY, Mr. Speaker Casada — 50.

Representatives voting no were: Beck, Bricken, Byrd, Calfee, Camper, Carr, Chism, Clemmons, Cochran, Coley, Cooper, Dixie, Freeman, Gant, Griffey, Hakeem, Halford, Hardaway, Haston, Hawk, Hazlewood, Hicks, Hodges, Holsclaw, Jernigan, Johnson G, Keisling, Lamar, Love, Miller, Mitchell, Parkinson, Potts, Powell, Ramsey, Russell, Sexton C, Shaw, Staples, Stewart, Thompson, Towns, Travis, Vaughan, Weaver, Whitson, Windle, Wright — 48.

REACTIONS:

Abortion Trigger Ban Heads To Governor Lee’s Desk

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A bill that would effectively outlaw abortions in Tennessee if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade is headed to Governor Lee’s desk. Lee has repeatedly promised to support any bill that limits abortion in Tennessee, so the expectation is he will sign it.

It passed the legislature yesterday.

Watch the VIDEO:

Abortion bans like this one are sweeping across the country in preparation for the event that Roe V. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court, with the help of President Trump’s 2 pro-life appointees.Rep. Andy Holt (R-Dresden) said his “minor in reproduction” lets him know “how the process unfolds and enables him to declare “that’s a life.”

Rep. Clark Boyd told Rep. Lynn, the sponsor, that he’s “proud to see her stand in the gap for the unborn.”

The trigger ban would take effect within 30 days if the Supreme Court does overturn Roe v. Wade, which is what many warned about when Trump nominated Judge Kavanaugh.

Reps Gloria Johnson and Bo Mitchell expressed concern that the bill would force a woman to carry her rapist’s baby to term, since there is no exception for rape, or incest.

Rep. Johnson said:

“It doesn’t stop abortions, it stops safe abortions… If you don’t think a woman should be in control of her own health decisions, you don’t believe women are equal.”

Rep. John Ray Clemmons also spoke up, pointing out the “hypocrisy” of Rep. Holt & Co. talking  about “science” when they don’t believe in global warming, and calling themselves “pro-life:”while they continue to block medicaid expansion in Tennessee, which has cost the state $7 Billion and counting.

On Monday the Senate rejected a push to revive The Heartbeat Bill, which would ban abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected – as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

They will review the issue this summer and consider it next year. If you have an issue with any or all of this, holler at your reps.

TENNESSEE FINALLY BANS SLAVERY

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Tennessee is finally taking a provision that seemed to allow slavery in its prisons out of the constitution, while still allowing inmates to work by choice.

As Rep. Joe Towns says, this probably should’ve been done a long time ago.

Watch the VIDEO:

According to the Daily Memphian:

Rep. Joe Towns was “shocked” a few years ago when he found out slavery still exists in Article I Section 33 of the state Constitution, which tracks the U.S. 13th Amendment and narrows the category of slaves to those convicted of a crime.

“It was deliberately left in the Constitution. That’s still a dig in the wound, the sore wound of enslaved people or prisoners of war, however you want to term it, 150 years since (the Emancipation Proclamation),” Towns said in an interview this week. “It shouldn’t be there, not in a democracy we tout ourselves to be around the world. It never should have been there, and it should not be there.”

Towns passed a resolution 95-0 on the House floor in 2018 to remove references to slavery and involuntary servitude from the Tennessee Constitution. But the measure’s Senate companion failed to start moving in that chamber soon enough to be considered before the Legislature adjourned.

Said Towns: “Just like we’re doing certain cold cases, we’re trying to clean up some of this stuff that’s not been purged and gotten rid of and brought into modern thinking. It’s just something that should not exist.”

The senate bill was carried by state Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Memphis Democrat.

Gov. Lee Gets Vouchers Help From Porn-Addict Who Made Wife Watch Sex With Prostitutes

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This post was first seen on the TN Ed Report. Make sure you follow @TNEdReport to stay updated on Education in Tennessee.

We’ve already seen Bill Lee and his team of school privatizers use desperate measures in order to win votes for their “educational savings account” voucher scheme, but the latest effort reaches a new low. Team Lee turned to conservative mega-donor Lee Beaman (who gave Lee’s gubernatorial campaign $8000 in 2018) to pen an article in defense of school vouchers.

While the opposition to school vouchers includes resolutions from 44 school boards around the state, groups of parents, teachers, charitable foundations, civil rights groups, and even a former Senate sponsor of voucher legislation, the support appears to come from a small group of big money backers.

The public face chosen for this group? A guy with a porn addiction who taped himself having sex with prostitutes in order to teach his wife how to better please him. You might say he’s certainly a fan of choice.

Beaman and Lee have been working together for years to bring school privatization to Tennessee. Both Bill Lee and Lee Beaman have been consistent supporters of the Tennessee affiliate of Betsy DeVos’s American Federation for Children, a group that works to undermine public education and advance school vouchers.

It’s no surprise, then, that after bringing Betsy DeVos to Nashville, Bill Lee would turn to his other voucher buddy, Lee Beaman, to advance his privatization agenda.

In fact, as I wrote in December, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Bill Lee is taking our state down this dangerous road:

Even though as early as 2016, Bill Lee was extolling the virtues of school voucher schemes and even though he’s a long-time supporter of Betsy DeVos’s pro-voucher Tennessee Federation for Children and even though he has appointed not one, but two voucher vultures to high level posts in his Administration, it is somehow treated as “news” that Bill Lee plans to move forward with a voucher scheme agenda in 2019.

Now, we’ve got Lee Beaman as the face and voice of vouchers ahead of a week when the privatization scheme known as ESAs will face key votes in the House and Senate.

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport

VIDEO: TEACHERS PROTEST VOUCHERS – VOUCHERS VOTE THIS WEEK

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This week there are vouchers votes in both the TN House and the TN Senate. Last week teachers showed up at the capitol to make their voices heard against public school-harming vouchers.

Watch and share this VIDEO, and holler at your reps and Governor Lee to let them know public money belongs in public schools.

Read one of our previous articles about vouchers HERE.

VOUCHERS “DONE DIRT CHEAP” – IS GOV. LEE BUYING RURAL VOTES FOR PEANUTS?

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This post was first seen on the Tennessee Education Report. Follow @TNEdReport for more.

Desperate for votes for his voucher scheme to send public tax dollars to unaccountable private schools, Governor Bill Lee appears to be going along with a plan unveiled by House Republicans yesterday to buy off rural legislators with a tiny grant program. Let’s call it what it is: bribery.

Here’s the deal: The new plan eliminates Madison County from the list of districts where students will initially be eligible for Education Savings Accounts. That’s likely intended to win over the votes of Madison County Republicans wavering in their support of Lee’s proposal. It means that only students in Shelby, Knox, Hamilton, and Davidson counties will be eligible for the program when it launches (if it should pass).

Next, the plan redirects funds originally intended to help urban districts to rural districts. Again, this is nothing more than throwing money at lawmakers (and their districts) in order to secure the needed 50 votes for passage in the House.

Here’s a breakdown of how that would work:

In the first year, school districts outside the four counties identified in the program would split up $6.2 million. In the second, schools in the 91 counties would share $12.5 million. In the third year, the aforementioned counties would receive $18.7 million.

91 counties would divide a relatively small amount of funds. In the first year, if the grants were evenly divided among all counties, each county would receive an additional $68,000. That’s barely enough to fund a single position in most districts.

The amended proposal also pushes the amount of the voucher to $7500. That means at full implementation (currently imagined at 30,000 students), the total annual cost would be $225 million.

That’s enough to give every teacher in the state a raise of roughly 8%. That’s $225 million NOT available to fund the BEP or to enhance our current funding formula by improving ratios for RTI or school counselors or nurses.

Instead of adding the elements needed to make our public schools a success, Bill Lee and the House GOP envision giving that money away to private schools that don’t have to take the state’s TNReady test.

The legislation is currently scheduled to be heard in Senate Finance and on the House floor on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Oh, and if you’re a legislator not susceptible to this type of cheap bribery, Lee and his team will ensure you face pain in the form of attack ads paid for by pleasant-sounding dark money groups with names like Tennessee Federation for Children and Tennesseans for Student Success.

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport

Stop Byrd Protestors Stage 24-hour Sit-In At Governor Lee’s Office | TN Holler

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Rep. David Byrd has apologized on tape to 1 of 3 women who say he molested them as children.

Even after meeting with one of Byrd’s victims, Governor Lee has been silent about Byrd’s presence in the legislature- so Enough Is Enough-TN staged a sit-in at Lee’s office, and ended up spending the night, as state trooper’s threatened the press with arrests.

Watch the VIDEO:

And holler at Governor Lee HERE if you think #ByrdMustGo.

Hargett’s Voter Registration Criminalization Bill Passes TN House Despite Protests | TN Holler

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Despite protests, yesterday Tennessee House Republicans passed HB 1079 – which would make it the first state to criminalize voter registration efforts… just 6 months after the Tennessee Black Voter Project registered 90,000.

The vote was 71-26, with Republicans voting for and Democrats voting against.

Watch the VIDEO:

Here’s our previous article about the topic.

SB 971 now awaits a vote in the senate. Holler at your state senators, Governor Lee, or Secretary of State Tre Hargett.

VIDEO: BLOCK GRANTS VS. MEDICAID EXPANSION (Floor Debate Highlights)

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Tennessee has lost $3.1 Million every single day since refusing to expand medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, which amounts to over $7 Billion and counting. 300,000 Tennesseans remain without coverage as a result, including 25,000 veterans.

The state leads the country in rural hospital closures, which even some Republicans say would be helped by expanding Medicaid.

Governor Haslam wanted to expand Medicaid. 37 other states have expanded Medicaid, including in “Red” states like Louisiana, to very positive results.

Instead, Tennessee’s Republicans are trying to have the Federal Government send the funding to the state in the form of a block grant, despite the warnings of many experts, who point out that block grants would cover fewer people, not more, and would do nothing to address the health care inequities in our state or to help with rural hospital closures.

Watch the FLOOR DEBATE HIGHLIGHTS:

The refrain from Republicans like Rep. Andy Holt is that we shouldn’t get “tangled up” with the federal government – which seems to ignore the fact that Tennessee is already tangled up with it plenty – between, the TVA, the V.A., Fort Campbell, Medicare, Social Security, SNAP, Oak Ridge National Lab, K-12 Federal funding, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the list goes on.

In fact, for every $1 Tennessee sends to the Federal Government it receives $1.46 in Federal spending.

This isn’t fiscal responsibility, it’s putting politics ahead of people.

VIDEO: State Senate Candidate Powers Plays Dumb About Vouchers

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State Senate Candidate Vote Bill Powers – running in Houston, Stewart, and Montgomery counties in a special election to replace Mark Green – gave a vague, wandering, uninformed, non-answer answer when asked about school vouchers this week:

“I haven’t seen a copy of the bill, so I can’t speak to it.”

The bill has been available for 2 months.

He went on:

“Glen Casada… I know Jack Johnson the majority leader has come out in favor of it – this is the governor’s proposal. Is it a voucher program? It’s a hybrid as far as I can tell. But having not seen it, all I can say as it relates to education, is every child deserves an education.”

He’s either ignorant, uncurious, or deceptive. None of the 3 are good qualities to have in a state senator.

Powers then went on to talk about rural broadband as a dodge, then again said he hasn’t seen the bill before dropping that he’s a 2-term city councilman, and eventually coming back to this:

“All I can say is education is important to me, and I’ll be there for the people of Houston, Stewart, and Montgomery.”

This is the kind of answer you give when you know your constituents don’t want it, but the people who are funding your campaign do.

Watch the VIDEO:


Powers was last seen agreeing the LGBT movement is “Demonic” and the “Muslim Agenda” must be pushed back against on his Facebook page, then claiming not to have said it while also not expressing support for those Tennesseans.

Will Houston, Stewart, and Montgomery counties send another anti-LGBT pro-vouchers senator to Nashville?

He faces Democrat Juanita Charles April 23rd, as well as Doyle Clark and David Cutting.