A Very Special Session, Part 2
School Choice Amended, and Also Other Things
On Thursday, January 30, the Tennessee legislature passed an amended version of the Education Freedom Act. We covered the original substance of the bill last week, and if you’re interested you can see that article here.
However, the amendment did change a few things:
First, money held for the new program shall now be invested by the state, and any interest accruing from this investment will remain in the school choice fund.
Second, the amendment clarifies how money from the Sports Betting tax should be spent in maintenance and construction of school buildings. Local Education Agencies that apply to receive these funds will receive $25 per student if a) they are located in an economically distressed county, b) more than 50% of schools in the district receive an “A” letter grade, or c) they are eligible for a fast-growth stipend. Money will then be disbursed to schools that have had emergencies or natural disasters that damaged school buildings. Finally, money will be disbursed to schools with “demonstrated need for funds”.
Third, the amendment changes how teacher bonuses will be awarded under the new bill. Instead of automatically receiving the bonuses from the state, local education agencies or public charter schools will now need to adopt resolutions affirming that they want these bonuses. These resolutions have to be submitted to the education department by June 1 in order for the teachers to receive the bonus from the state. Under this part, legislators who are currently serving as public school teachers are exempted from any bonuses.
Fourth, the hold-harmless portion of the bill was increased from one year to in perpetuity. If a school experiences disenrollment in the ‘25/’26 school year, they will never experience a loss in state funding due to the loss of those students.
According to the state finance office, the amendment does not affect the anticipated cost of the program. It is still estimated to cost almost $350m in the first year and more than $190m in subsequent years.
Whether you were for it or against it, the School Choice fight caused huge waves in Tennessee, filling up social feeds and taking up a lot of airtime. Now that the fight is over, it would be easy to forget about it. But at almost $200 million annually, all of us should watch closely to see what effect it has on student success rates, particularly those attending low-performing schools. If it doesn’t produce demonstrable improvements in two years, we should go back to the drawing board and try something else — maybe direct tax credits to parents, restructuring schools to reduce administration and increase teacher quantity and pay, or another solution. Tennessee education is near the bottom of the US for educational outcomes, and our children need us to fight for a system that actually works.
Other Noteworthy Items
While special session was taking up all of our breathing room, a few hundred bills were filed for the regular session. Over 600 have now been filed in the House. Here are a few gems from the 400s:
HB402 — Would allow a county body to opt into a program that would create property tax exemptions for properties that have “tree canopies”.
HB415 — Would require the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations to study the state’s financial security and soundness, and ensure state sovereignty and resiliency. This would include addressing steps the state can take to improve the availability and quality of essential goods, in the case of changes to relationships with current trade partners or price inflation. It would also include creating steps for the state to decrease dependence on centralized systems for finances, communication, energy, and transportation.
HB431 — Would impose a surcharge on businesses whose top executive is paid at least 100 times more than the median income of the company’s employees.
HB432 — Would make it easier for consumers and third parties to repair agricultural equipment, including, among other things, by requiring that repair documentation be made available, and requiring that original parts be sold for repairing malfunctioning or damaged equipment.
HB439 — Would create a state fund for the purchase and collection of precious metals as a hedge against revenue fluctuation. Would also specify that precious metal coins are legal tender in the state.
HB440 (connected to HB439) — Would create a Tennessee State Mint that could create unique coins and bars using precious metals. If HB439 passes as well, these newly minted coins would be legal tender.
HB441 — Would create a variety of options for the nullification of federal actions that state officeholders believe violate the United States Constitution. Would allow any federal law, executive order, etc. to be nullified, whether passed in the past, present, or future.
HB446 — Would restrict local governments and government bodies from creating policies based on guidance or rules from the WHO, UN, and WEF. Also creates a civil penalty of $10,000 for the first offense and $20,000 for subsequent offenses.
HB469 — Would require that, no later than July 2026, landlords allow tenants to lawfully possess, carry, and store a firearm and ammunition in the tenant’s home, apartment, business, or vehicle.
HB478 — Would specify that it is not a B Misdemeanor to carry a firearm on property that is posted as “no firearms allowed”, as long as, once notified of the posting, and individual immediately leaves the property or stores the firearm in a vehicle.
Filing deadline is coming up, so we’ll probably see 600 bills filed in the next week alone. It’ll be lots of fun, as usual.
Pleased to see an initiative to permit coins to be recognised as legal tender. A non digital alternative