Gov. Bill Lee’s long-running push for private school vouchers is finally becoming reality — and it could take Tennessee’s public schools down with it.

Those who backed Lee’s voucher bill seem ready to follow his lead in weakening Tennessee’s public schools as he serves out his last term.

I grew up in public schools, the only option where I live, and I loved them. My relatives have worked in public education for decades, and they feel every new state mandate first, in classrooms and front offices. To them, this bill is the scenario they used to worry about only in hypotheticals.

I talked to Weakley County Mayor Dale Hutcherson about some of the things in this bill and how it will affect our area.

Hutcherson said the bill is a proposal by the governor to give 20,000 families scholarships if they want to send their children to an accredited private school.

So, this seems good. It only affects the people who want to be in the program, right? If only.

Tennessee public schools are funded by something called Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement, or TISA. This formula is how each school district across the state gets its funding. It was created after an investigation into a more student-focused funding approach by Lee and former Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn.

This new formula was signed into law in May 2022. It gives each student a certain amount of the money the school gets. Each student is monetized at $7,075, and they are able to get weights added on for different reasons.

This new bill, which was signed into law in January, hurts public schools because it incentivizes parents to take money away from public schools. If a child leaves a public school and goes to a private school or homeschool, then that money is not able to be used for the school district.

“The long-term effect that I say we’re worried about seeing here is if we lose children in our public schools. Then ultimately we do lose funding,” Hutcherson said. While in our neck of the woods it might not seem like such a big problem, it could still have a major impact.

Even though we don’t have an accredited private school in our county, we still have to pay the tax for this bill, which is a big reason people in similar areas like Weakley County are upset. This will only hurt us more than help in 99% of scenarios.

“We’re kind of in a tough spot. I can advocate all day with ‘no taxation without representation’ because that’s what our country was built on. I will happily go to our representatives in Nashville and tell them we’re unhappy with this. We don’t think we should have to foot the bill for parents dealing with issues that they face in Knoxville, Nashville or Memphis, because it’s not our problem,” Hutcherson said.

Weakley County has always been a place where the last thing lawmakers want to do is raise taxes. The problem is that we don’t have a way to avoid paying the tax. It’s a streamlined thing that comes straight from the state budget.

Another big factor is what this could mean for our teachers. Since I graduated high school in 2021, I know of five teachers who were essential in my high school career that have left my alma mater for better-paying jobs at other schools. So we already have this problem — what is stopping this new bill from making it even more rampant?

“I’m all for competition because it makes each one better. It will push us to make sure we are viable in the market when it comes to acquiring teachers. We want to pay our teachers appropriately. So maybe it could help us make sure we have the best teachers and encourage more enrollment,” Hutcherson said.

Weakley County is also working toward meeting the new state standard that all teachers make $50,000 a year by fall 2027. Hutcherson talked about how our school system is not only working to meet that but also to be competitive with pay for teachers — and we cannot do that if we don’t have the funding.

“When the Legislature voted yes on the voucher bill, they put rural local government in a tough spot when it comes to meeting those expectations. Especially if we want to keep our taxes low,” Hutcherson said. Our government’s goal is to keep our taxes as low as possible and make taxing them the last option.

While Hutcherson said there has been no impact so far since the bill was signed in January, we could see things shake up with more marketing for enrollment and how competitive teacher pay will be.

“We have a direct pipeline between Weakley County Schools and UT Martin, and we want to keep that pipeline rolling and we want those folks that are educating themselves there and those teachers to want to stay here,” Hutcherson said.

Weakley County is a top-level county in the state, ranked sixth overall, but also known as an impoverished county. This shows that we do not need private schools. We are doing perfectly fine on our own and have no need for this added weight of our students possibly leaving. This would only send us down the chain because then we would lose our teachers who have worked so hard for the county to get where it is.

Parents with students in public schools should care very much about this topic, especially if they are in Weakley County. Hutcherson is not only concerned about it because his mother is a public school teacher, but also because he has a daughter who will soon be in public school.

“My biggest concern is making sure that she has a community school that she can go to and will be embraced by those teachers and staff in that community,” Hutcherson said. That is a huge thing with this county. We are small but have so much community that supports the schools.

“Our community schools are not going to push an agenda that is contrary to your beliefs. You’re gonna see those teachers in church, grocery stores and everywhere. They’re not gonna push an agenda you don’t want them to,” Hutcherson said.

So while it may seem like it’s going crazy, trust in your voice and make sure it is heard. We can be the change in a local environment. Call your officials and make sure to get involved in aspects of local schools. This is how we promote our schools and show why we don’t need to support the governor and his distasteful lack of being in reality.