Deuteronomy 6 and Ephesians 6 delegate authority from God to parents over the education of their children. The Greek word “paideia” which is commonly translated as “instruction” in Ephesians 6:4 indicates more than education, but also the idea of “enculturation”. As a parent who sees my responsibility to direct the education and discipleship of my children in a Biblical upbringing as one given by God, I oppose the ideology of school choice as proposed by our civil government. School Choice as they propose will interfere with the paideia of my children.

While claiming to stand for educational freedom for parents and children of Tennessee, the proponents of school choice actually offer a deeper and broader influence by government in educating our children. Their money and this school choice program will not give freedom, but restrict it while falling short in its promises to improve education. The following essays lay out my research into this issue and my reasoning to oppose it. I invite you to go beyond sound bytes in the media and dive into this for the sake of your children’s future. Too much is at stake to leave this up to the experts and legislators.

LATEST POSTINGS:

Many Legislators Seem to Have Forgotten Their Duty and Their Jurisdiction – LINK

• They have forgotten that they were meant to be the government branch closest and most responsive to the people.
• They ignore our concerns about loopholes in this legislation which can be exploited by future legislators or bureaucrats.
• They have forgotten to stay within the bounds of the Tennessee Constitution.
• Article XI, Section 12 does not give them the right to fund or control private education.

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CRITICAL POSTINGS:

School Choice Infringes on Religious and Parental Rights LINK

• The education of children is inherently religious.
• School Choice by its nature will infringe on such religious and parental rights.
• We have constitutional protections from such infringements.
• IF we stand on them

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Prior Postings in Order of Publication:

Lots of Money Flying Around from 50CAN and Friends Supporting “Education Freedom” LINK

• There is a long list of Big Money names and organizations across the nation influencing Tennessee School Choice
• Lots of money goes into public relations, direct political contributions, dark money political contributions, an dmore
• A national organization behind national school choice trained our Commissioner of Education
• This is not a grassroots movement in Tennessee

Be The Opposition LINK

• Some Tennessee leaders behind school choice and their plans
• Tactics by School Choice advocates
• How we can counter those tactics

Three Reasons to Oppose School Choice

Part 1 – LINK — Part 2 – LINK — Part 3 – LINK — Part 4 – LINK

• Strings for Schools and Parents
• Outcomes: Does School Choice even deliver?
• Unintended consequences for private education and religious liberties

Judge a School Choice Book by Its Cover, North Carolina Edition

Part 1 – LINK — Part 2 – LINK

• North Carolina serves as a good comparison to Tennessee’s path and plans
• Costly program
• Unclear delivery on better outcomes
• Issues of fraud

Tennessee School Choice

Part 1 – LINK Part 2 – LINK Part 3 – LINK

• Government failing our children in Tennessee already
• Governor’s proposal for School Choice
• No outcome data available for Tennessee’s pilot program
• Difficulty in obtaining data on outcomes without infringing on privacy
• Scaling a statewide program to Universal School Choice – its price tag
• Show us where this money will come from

Homeschooling and the School Choice Black Hole LINK

• How we are currently monitored and overseen by the current education administration
• Homeschoolers are tied to schools who are under accreditation agencies who answer to the state
• Government money will change rules and change those who hold us to the rules
• Not taking ESA money will not guarantee homeschoolers are not affected.

Show Me the Bill LINK

• This bill has been promoted since the end of November 2023 by the Governor
• The public has not been able to see the bill until less than 48 hours before it is first voted on
• As a post-hoc note, the process of pushing this bill through the legislature continues to be shady

Elaborating on the Tennessee Home Education Association White Paper Opposing School Choice LINK

• Constitutionally protected parental rights
• Tennessee’s School Choice movement driven by outside forces
• Loss of educational freedoms
• How they will infringe on our freedom
• Threats to religious freedom
• ESA’s are contracts with strings

How Could This Affect My Private School LINK

• With EFSA participation, the schools bring themselves more directly under the DOE and potentially lose their autonomy.
• First, the schools will have to deal with testing issues.
• Second, the school is responsible for providing adequate receipts for documentation for all expenses paid with funds.
• Third, the senate bill gives the state board of education duty to “promulgate rules allowing the department to suspend or terminate a private or public school from participating in the program due to low academic performance, as determined by the department”.
• Fourth, fraud protections extend to “any other person” who use funds deposited in an account in a way that is not qualified or “any other person” who misrepresents the nature, receipts, or any other evidence of one or more expenses could be made to pay restitution or may be brought up on criminal charges.
• Fifth, for private students with educational disabilities, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding uses federal money to provide those services.

Retractable Leashes in School Choice Legislation Call to Action LINK

• Government regulations often operate much like a retractable leash.
• The strings are euphemistically labeled accountability measures.
• The money can be used only for expenses approved by the Department of Education and require receipts for reimbursement.
• A parent or school which is believed to commit fraud in regard to the expenses may be remanded to civil authorities for criminal prosecution.
• Schools which are not in compliance with DOE’s promulgated (and potentially changing) academic standards and regulations will lose the right to participate in the program.
• UPDATE: While we tried, this HB1183 has already passed the House Government Operations Committee in March

Funding Schema and Its Possible Effects on Private Schooling LINK

• HB1183 and SB503 are not identical sister bills advancing school choice.
• SB503 directly utilizes TISA money to fund either private school choice or public school choice.
• SB503 starts with a smaller price tag, but can balloon faster to $500,000,000 or more sooner.
• HB1183 utilizes a simpler $7075 per student and a slower startup pace in rising costs.
• HB1183 however includes over $200,000,000 for public schools attached to the $140,000,000 for school choice.
• Either way, private school funding by government will change private school results as it did in other countries that implemented school choice.

The “String-less” Senate Bill 503: Who’s Included, Who’s Excluded? LINK

• Independent homeschoolers are excluded in this bill.
• Homeschoolers under Church Related Umbrella Schools are not excluded.
• This leaves the door open for government strings over these homeschoolers.

We Learn Something New Every Day LINK

• Correction from prior statements
• HB1183 does not require EFSA recipients to test according to Federal ESSA guidelines.
• This bill still invites the government to exercise greater power in the private education arena.

Friedman’s Faulty Worldview Undercuts His Stated Purpose for Educational Vouchers – LINK

• He rested his arguments upon expediency rather than eternal principles set down by the Creator.
• Generally, while acknowledging the role of family in the care of children who are not yet capable of handling the “freedom” endowed to individual, he saw the role of the family as “a procedure [which] rests on expediency rather than principle” (1955).
• He believed that the government should finance education but not administer that education.
• “The role of the government would be limited to assuring that the schools met certain minimum standards as the inclusion of a minimum common content in their programs, much as it now inspects restaurants to assure that they maintain minimum sanitary standards” (1955)
• School choice in Australia limited the free range of schooling options in that country and flattened out the curve.
• “But education is not open and shut. In Capitalism and Freedom we came out on the side of favoring compulsory schooling and in Free To Choose we came out against it. So I have become more radical in that sense. Murray used to call me a statist because I was willing to have government money involved. But I see the voucher as a step in moving away from a government system to a private system. Now maybe I’m wrong, maybe it wouldn’t have that effect, but that’s the reason I favor it.” -Friedman in Reason Interview 1995

SB503 Call To Action: Pop the Bubble Before It Pops Us – LINK

• The Senate version of school choice legislation starts with a lower price tag.
• However, without defined boundaries, it could balloon to over $500,000,000 in 2 years.
• The bubble could burst in the face of our state budget very quickly.
• We need a better plan to rescue our children from a failing public education system.
• Tell your State Senator that we do not want to blow up the budget bubble with SB503.