The week in politics: Democrats seek DOJ voucher inquiry as suburban districts voice worry

Tennessee House Democrats are urging the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the GOP effort to pass Gov. Bill Lee's voucher legislation in 2019, which has long been controversial but is receiving renewed attention as Lee gears up for a statewide expansion push during the 2024 legislative session.

The caucus urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate allegations of "attempted bribery" by "the governor or someone acting on his behalf with his authorization."

Lee's voucher plan originally received a deadlocked vote in the House, before then-House Speaker Glen Casada, R-Franklin, held to vote open for 45 minutes — an unprecedented move in recent years — while Casada and staff spoke to members on the back porch behind the House chamber in an attempt to flip votes.

Former Rep. John Mark Windle, D-Nashville, later confirmed Casada suggested he could receive a Tennessee National Guard promotion in exchange for his vote, according to a NewsChannel5 report. Windle voted against the voucher bill, though Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, eventually changed his mind and delivered the winning vote for the legislation. Zachary later denied receiving anything in exchange for his vote.

“Given the close connections between former Rep. Glen Casada, Gov. Bill Lee and voucher supporters who are currently on the State’s payroll or being paid by private entities to promote Lee’s latest voucher scam, our duty to Tennesseans mandates that any lingering questions about alleged illegal conduct during the 2019 voucher vote in the House be resolved once and for all," Democratic Caucus Chair John Ray Clemmons said in a statement. "If the reported allegations are found to have merit, all individuals involved in such nefarious conduct, regardless of their office or role, must be held accountable under the law to maintain the public’s sacred trust.”

Federal investigators have already delved deep into House business in recent years, with a DOJ probe spilling into public view in January 2021 when federal agents raided House offices and Casada's home, among others.

Casada and his former top aide, Cade Cothren, were indicted last year on federal corruption charges unrelated to the voucher legislation, though. The two face trial next year on charges stemming from a shadowy political consulting firm prosecutors allege Cothren created to siphon money from the state and generate kickbacks to Casada and another former lawmaker.

More: Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada, Cade Cothren plead not guilty to federal corruption charges

Suburban school district slams Lee voucher proposal

Meanwhile, a suburban school district in Shelby County has launched an offensive against Lee's voucher program.

Arlington Community Schools, a wealthy suburban district northeast of Memphis, is asking its community members to contact their legislators in opposition to the proposal.

ACS Superintendent Jeff Mayo and board of education members released a joint statement slamming the expected release of the Tennessee Department of Education's new A-F school letter grade system and Lee's new proposal as a "sham."

"Take note: this is all an attempt to paint Tennessee public schools as failing, thus ushering in a new era of vouchers for all," the statement read. "The proposed voucher expansion, if passed, will continue to siphon money from public schools to private schools who are beholden to no one. Private schools don’t face the testing standards or accountability mandates as public schools do, they don’t answer to a state education department who is constantly moving the goal posts (re: the 3rd grade ELA retention law), and they’re not even held to the same license requirements forced upon public school teachers. Vouchers will lead to publicly funded private schools with no oversight."

ACS criticized TDOE for its opaque grading formula, which the department rushed to revamp this fall.

"How is it acceptable to punish or reward schools based on withheld, incomplete or non-existent measurements?" ACS asked. "The letter grade system is based on a formula that, frankly, lawmakers and TDOE representatives can’t adequately explain or defend, yet parents should rely on the results to make informed decisions? Sham."

Lee wants to provide 20,000 students up to $7,075 each to attend private or home schools, scholarships funded by the General Fund.

No accountability measures – such as TCAP testing requirements, A-F grading for private schools, or third grade retention requirements – are included in the governor’s proposed bill so far.

More: GOP support not universal for Gov. Bill Lee's statewide voucher plan: 'It concerns me’

Meanwhile, in Collierville, another Memphis suburb, town and school officials also are voicing their concerns over the voucher proposal. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen and the Collierville School Board of Education passed a joint resolution expressing opposition to the plan.

Mother of Waffle house shooting victim mulls House run

Shaundelle Brooks, whose son Akilah was murdered in the Waffle House mass shooting, said she is mulling a run for a Nashville House seat.

Brooks is considering vying for House District 60, which will be open next year after current Rep. Darren Jernigan, D-Nashville, leaves office to join Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell's administration.

After her son's death, Brooks became an outspoken advocate for gun violence victims. Brooks has been a consistent presence at the General Assembly in recent years on gun reform issues.

"For the past 5 years, I have walked into the Tennessee legislature, testified at committees, had gun lobbyists say ugly things to me, and watched politicians do nothing to stop gun violence," Brooks said in a statement.

Her elder son, who survived the Waffle House shooting, was seriously injured in a 2023 shooting, while her youngest son's high school was forced into lockdown during the March Covenant School shooting.

"In the past five years, I have learned more than I ever should have about the devastating pervasiveness of gun violence in our country," Brooks said in a column submitted to the Tennessean earlier this year. "I’ve studied the data and looked at the research, and it is no secret that gun violence is not treated like the public health crisis it is."

Lee to lead GOP governor's group in 2024

Lee will serve as the chair of the Republican Governor's Association in 2024, the group announced Thursday. He will take over from Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa.

The RGA works to help elect Republican governors across the nation and Lee has long been active in the organization.

“Republican governors are reminding the nation that common sense, conservative policies drive economic prosperity and expand opportunity, security and freedom — changing lives for the better,” Lee said in a statement through the RGA. “I thank Governor Kim Reynolds for her exceptional leadership as RGA Chair over the past year, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to support incumbent Republican governors and elect more to our ranks.”

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp will serve as vice chair for 2024, the RGA announced.

'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree' could become Tennessee's official holiday song

State Rep. Jason Powell, D-Nashville, is proposing a bill to make Brenda Lee's classic "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" the official holiday song of Tennessee. Lee, a longtime Nashvillian who recorded the song at only 13 years old in 1956, was the first woman inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. It recently topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time, 65 years after its release.

“Brenda Lee is a music icon and a true Tennessee treasure," Powell said in a statement. "Brenda Lee’s ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’ has spread holiday joy throughout the world for decades and we are proud her number one song was made in Nashville."

Maury County Democrat James Dallas to challenge Joey Hensley in Senate

Maury County Democratic Party Chair James Dallas will run for state Senate in District 28, challenging longtime Hohenwald Republican Sen. Joey Hensley for his seat. Hensley, a physician, has served in the legislature since 2003, and has represented District 28 since 2013. Since winning the seat in 2012, Hensley has never faced a Democratic opponent.

While Dallas has previously run as a write-in candidate for Maury County Commission, this will be his first serious run for office.

"The Republican supermajority has really been going I think too far, particularly with cultural issues," Dallas told The Tennessean. "I heard about Joey Hensley when I lived in Texas, because of 'Don't say Gay,' which really got started about a decade ago. I certainly didn't move here with the intent of being his opponent, but it just it galls me that nobody else wanted to run."

Born in Memphis with family roots across the state, Dallas spent much of his childhood in Texas. He went to law school at the University of Houston, and practiced law for several years before turning to a career in IT. He's currently a database administrator at Vanderbilt Medical Center, and has led the Maury County Democratic Party for the past several years.

Dallas first got involved with the Democratic Party in college shortly after Election Day in 2000, when he lived in Austin.

"I remember that election day I woke up real early and walked down to the state Capitol where there were a bunch of media folks ... because they were expecting [then-governor] Bush was maybe going to win," he remembers. "Until that time, I really considered myself a Republican. When the recount started, I just realized, like, as much as I respect the job that Governor Bush has done for the state of Texas, I just feel bad for Al Gore."

So, he started knocking doors for Democrats in Texas.

"Of course, we didn't win very much, but I had a lot of fun doing it," he said. "And so I've been involved I guess for about 20 years, just helping on other people's campaigns."

Gun reform has become an important issue for Dallas, particularly after a road rage shooting incident in his neighborhood a few years ago, part of which was caught on his front door camera.

“The fact that there’s people in my neighborhood shooting guns at people ... it could have been me while I was out mowing my yard," Dallas said. “It certainly makes me angry to see the state legislature, the General Assembly, really not taking any significant action on addressing that issue.”

While he doesn't think it's practical to be calling for a total assault weapons ban, if elected, Dallas would advocate for improving Tennessee's background check system, and harsher penalties for negligently allowing kids to have access to guns.

“In Texas, I took a concealed carry course, and they put the fear of God in us down there about 'don't let a kid get access to your gun because that's a crime,'" he said.

He'd also support accepting federal funding to expand TennCare to offer more affordable healthcare coverage in the state, would oppose school voucher expansion as it's currently being proposed, and would be an ally for the state's LGBT community, as he's a member of it himself.

In Tennessee's Republican supermajority, Dallas is realistic about how work will get done.

“I would love to work across the aisle when I can," he said, crediting his opponent Hensley and House counterpart Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, for their work to classify the Duck River as a scenic river this year ― something Dallas traveled to Nashville to support.

Dallas and his shelter-adopted dog, Castro, live in Columbia.

Catch up on the week

Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry announces bid for Congress

GOP support not universal for Gov. Bill Lee's statewide voucher plan: 'It concerns me’

Will Tennessee kids have permanent summer food benefits? Here's what to know

Tennessee appeals ruling declaring state Senate map unconstitutional

These Republican presidential candidates will appear on Tennessee's 2024 primary ballot

20 years later, Bill Haslam on his time leading Knoxville and whether he's the last GOP mayor

Gov. Bill Haslam on civility, justice and mercy, and whether he has a home in today's GOP

Why a Tennessee state senator wants investigation of Shelby Co. DA’s office, judge

Tennessee Libertarian Party sues over strict ballot requirements for third parties

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee school vouchers in spotlight, Democrats seek DOJ inquiry