In a formal declaration, the Cleveland City Schools Board of Education has said that it is opposed to school voucher systems, including those that are proposed in the Education Freedom Scholarship Act of 2025.
This move comes just a few days after school boards in Bradley County and Hamilton County indicated similar objections to the program, and an entire week after opponents of the program organized a rally in Chattanooga to voice their opposition to the program.
Bill Lee, the Governor of Tennessee, has been at the forefront of the movement to enact the legislation, and he has a number of supporters at the Tennessee Capitol.
The question of vouchers will be discussed by the Tennessee legislature during a special session that he has scheduled for on January 27.
Concerns were voiced in the resolution that was passed by the Board of Education of Cleveland City Schools regarding the possible adverse effects that voucher programs could have on public education.
A number of issues were brought to the attention of the Board, including reductions in financing, a lack of responsibility for private institutions that receive funds from taxpayers, and discrepancies in access for students’ educational opportunities.
As a result of the resolution, the expanding issues that public schools are confronted with were brought to light.
These challenges include higher mental health requirements, rising requests for special education, and greater cultural and linguistic diversity.
The Board issued a warning that the application of voucher programs, which involve the transfer of public funds to private institutions, could make these difficulties even more severe, cause public school systems to become unstable, and result in additional expenses for taxpayers.
It was pointed out in the resolution that research conducted in Tennessee and other states suggests that existing voucher schemes have had inconsistent results.
These programs frequently fail to achieve improved academic performance while also producing financial overruns and governance difficulties.
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The Central California School Board has advocated for additional funding to be allocated to public schools rather than expanding voucher systems.
Additionally, the resolution placed an emphasis on the significance of accountability, suggesting that any schools that receive public monies be held to the same standards as public schools in areas like as academic excellence, financial transparency, and regulatory compliance.
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An additional recommendation made by the Board was to conduct a thorough examination of the existing voucher schemes in order to assess the financial and academic effects of these programs before any expansion is considered.
