Collierville officials pass joint resolution opposing school voucher plan. Here's why.

Collierville’s town and school officials joined together Tuesday to voice their opposition to Gov. Bill Lee's plan to expand school vouchers statewide.

During a joint meeting between the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and the Collierville School Board of Education, the two boards voted to approve a resolution opposing the Education Freedom Scholarship Act. Alderman Missy Marshall was the only board member from either side to abstain from voting.

The two boards were among the first across the state to do the joint resolution in opposition of the act, according to Tammy Grissom, executive director of the Tennessee School Boards Association.

Wright Cox, chairman of the Collierville School Board of Education, read a joint statement in which the two boards expressed their belief that the Education Freedom Scholarship Act or similar voucher initiatives divert public funds away from public schools.

"With us coming together like this, I don't take this lightly and there are communities that don't have the relationship with their town that we've enjoyed," Wright said. "We very much appreciate the partnership we hold with the town and town board. You all have been wonderful to us, and we're in this together."

This Collierville joint meeting comes on the heels of Lee advocating for the expansion of school vouchers. Lee proposed his Education Freedom Scholarship Act in late November at the Tennessee State Museum. The initiative would allow parents in Tennessee the ability to choose the school for their child. No bill has been formally filed in the legislature yet.

The new statewide school choice program would provide 20,000 students up to $7,075 each to attend private or home schools, with a plan to expand to universal eligibility in 2025. Details from the plan show half of the 20,000 slots funded by the bill would go to students whose families’ income are below 300% of the federal poverty level, students with disabilities, and those who meet eligibility requirements for the existing Education Savings Account pilot program during the first year. The remaining 10,000 will be made available to any student currently entitled to a public school.

Eligibility for the program would be open to all students in Tennessee starting in the 2025-26 school year, no matter income or previous school enrollment. If demand surpasses available funding, previously enrolled program participants, low-income students and students enrolled in public schools would be prioritized.

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Gary Lilly, superintendent of Collierville Schools, said vouchers can have a negative impact on a school district as well as the town.

"As you all know, many people come to Collierville for the school system," Lilly said. "It's important that we continue offering the same high level educational opportunities that we do today."

Lilly noted that Arizona last year passed a similar voucher program that Lee has proposed. He cited that the program was implemented in 2023 and from what he has learned has not gone well for that state.

"From what I understand is costing the state exponentially more than they had projected, so hopefully, that is a cautionary tale for our legislators to consider," Lilly said. "The reality is when we lose students to vouchers, we're not going to lose a class at a time. We're going to lose some here and some there in every class across the schools. What that means is that we're not going to need fewer teachers and support personnel and utilities. We're going to need all of those things at the same level, we currently need them, but we'll have fewer funds to pay the teachers, the support personnel and the utilities. We will have less resources to provide the academic and extracurricular programming that we currently offer.

"We need to inform legislators and help them understand that public tax dollars need to stay with public schools."

Collierville Mayor Stan Joyner said it's important for the boards to keep tabs on what is happening with the proposed Education Freedom Scholarship Act when the General Assembly convenes.

"Obviously, the bill that they work on might not be the bill that get passed," Joyner said. "So, it might not be one time that we do this.... We got to stay on top of this and be aware of how the bill is endorsed and how it might change. We got to stay engaged."

Corey Davis is the Collierville and Germantown reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Corey.Davis@commercialappeal.com or 901-293-1610.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Tennessee school vouchers: Why Collierville officials oppose plan