Republican senators are putting Tennessee school board and superintendent associations in their cross-hairs after a bruising fight this year over the governor’s private-school voucher bill.
Sen. Adam Lowe, a Calhoun Republican, is sponsoring Senate Bill 2017, which would prohibit school districts from joining organizations that use public funds or dues to pay lobbyists. The bill, which Lowe postponed Tuesday for discussion until 2026, clearly targets Tennessee’s school board and superintendent associations.
In addition to the legislation, Republican members of the Senate Education Committee notified the Tennessee School Boards Association last week that it’s asking the group to voluntarily provide all communications between the association and its members regarding private-school vouchers by April 5.
A letter signed by Senate Education Chairman Dawn White and several other Republican members of the committee on March 19 says the discussion surrounding Gov. Bill Lee’s plan “created a situation where a great deal of information concerning the bill’s purpose, provisions, and elements were misrepresented to local communities, boards, councils and commissions… we understand that opinions may vary in these contentious moments, facts do not.”
The Republican lawmakers want to know how the association communicated with its members to cut through “any speculation and misunderstanding that might have occurred during the public discourse” on the bill.
The voucher bill narrowly passed the House and Senate during a February special session called by Gov. Bill Lee, enabling the state to set up a program to give $7,000 scholarships to students statewide to enroll in private schools, costing about $220 million annually. Roughly two-thirds of the students who are expected to receive the state money are enrolled in private schools already.
Part of the bill, which Lee signed into law a month ago, contains a provision to give teachers a $2,000 bonus.
White said Wednesday the school boards association might have told its members wrongly that boards had to approve a resolution saying they support the voucher program to receive the bonus.
“We just want to get to the bottom of this and see what really was told, what wasn’t told,” White said.
Lowe’s companion bill, which is sponsored by Republican Rep. Mary Littleton of Dickson, passed the House Education Committee Tuesday but now is on hold.
Lowe said he didn’t want associations whose members paid dues using public funds to use “taxpayer dollars to lobby against taxpayer interests.”
“They’re using general fund money paid for by taxpayers, and they’d be lobbying against the interests of the very people who gave them the money,” Lowe said.
Lowe denied that his bill targets the school boards association, though he said it was “apparent” the group opposed the governor’s bill.
“I don’t think it’s punitive at all, but it is revelatory,” he added.
Tennessee has dozens of government-affiliated groups that lobby the legislature, ranging from cities that hire their own lobbyists to associations representing mayors and sheriffs.
Republicans have long complained about government-affiliated groups using public funds for lobbying, including state departments. But these groups have argued that without the ability to lobby, business interests would have the upper hand in dealing with lawmakers.
Lowe said under his bill that the school board and superintendent associations would need private funds or some other “pot of money” to continue lobbying the legislature.
Representatives of the Tennessee School Boards Association and Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents could not be reached for immediate comment Wednesday.
This story was originally published by the Tennessee Lookout.
