Gov unveils new college selection proposal
Tennessee Gov. Invoice Lee outlines a brand new college selection proposal and says he helps President-elect Trump presumably dismantling the U.S. Division of Training.
Republican Tennessee Gov. Invoice Lee informed Fox Information Digital that he believes President-elect Donald Trump’s decisive victory alerts success for a second college selection invoice launched to the state legislature this week after his first proposal failed this yr.
Lee mentioned he agreed with Trump’s guarantees to dismantle the U.S. Division of Training, echoing the president-elect’s concern over the federal paperwork changing into entrenched with gender and race ideology fairly than studying.
“I think it is a great idea to dismantle the Department of Education federally. And I’m a strong believer that policy at the state level should be handled by states, that states know best,” Lee informed Fox Information Digital. “In this case, states certainly know best. We know best in Tennessee what our children need and how best to educate our kids. The parents of this state should be given a greater influence on how their kids are educated, and that will happen if the federal Department of Education is dismantled and those funds are delivered to states to be used in a more efficient and more effective way.”
Lee mentioned the political setting on the bottom within the state is just not what it was months in the past when the primary college selection proposal failed within the state legislature. Since then, the election noticed a wave of pro-school selection candidates win on the state-level, and Trump succeeded in his bid for the White Home.
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Gov. Invoice Lee discusses the devastation from Hurricane Helene on the Tennessee Emergency Administration Company on Oct. 2, 2024, in Nashville. (Mark Zaleski/The Tennessean/USA TODAY NETWORK by way of Imagn Photos)
“President Trump has long believed that school choice is important for the people of this country and that education freedom is something that all Americans could have. He’s talked about it. He campaigned on it,” Lee mentioned. “One thing is very evident about what happened last week. And President Trump is very clear about what his policies are, and Americans were very clear about their acceptance of those policies last week. They, with a strong mandate, said we like what we hear. We want him to execute on those things and that President Trump has a significant understanding and a clear understanding and is the leader, frankly, on the issue of school choice. All of those things benefit us as we move into this next session.”
Lee’s new college selection invoice, titled the Training Freedom Act of 2025, was collectively launched to the state Home and Senate on Wednesday.
Drawing from funding already accepted by the state legislature, the invoice would permit the state Division of Training to award as much as 20,000 scholarships – valued at about $7,000 every – for the subsequent college yr to be spent on tuition, tutoring, know-how and examination bills. The primary 10,000 scholarships could be put aside for low-income college students whose dad and mom won’t in any other case afford to ship their youngsters to establishments apart from the general public faculties of their districts.
Democrats have painted college selection as disenfranchising low-income college students, however Lee mentioned he feels the other.
“Every kid is unique. Every kid has different learning styles. Every kid has a different life situation. And every family ought to have the opportunity to choose the best path for their kid,” the governor mentioned. “In particular, I don’t think that only the wealthy families that can afford a private option, that those families should be the only ones and those children should be the only ones that have that option for choice.”
President-elect Trump has been shaping up his Cupboard nominations. (Jabin Botsford/Washington Put up by way of Getty Photos)
“Oftentimes, opponents will say that school choice initiatives hurt public schools. I think that’s just the opposite,” Lee mentioned. “This legislation that we’re actually bringing forth is an education policy initiative. It’s not just an Education Freedom Scholarship bill. It includes historic funding for public schools, bonuses for teachers, for public school teachers. We will include alongside with this legislation a teacher pay raise plan that will put us in the top 15 states for teacher pay raise in the country.”
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Lee famous that about 30 states have already got college selection, 12 of which have common college selection, and several other of these states have handed their initiatives in recent times.
“Americans are in growing numbers, and now the majority of Americans, as evidenced by the past elections, have come to believe that school choice is the way of the future,” Lee mentioned. “It is the answer to challenging the status quo. It is the way that we take America’s rankings and educational outcomes that used to be the top in the world from way down the list as it relates to other countries back up into the outcomes that we hope for this country.”
“This is a way to challenge and change and bring innovation into an education system that’s grown stale and bloated and bureaucratic,” Lee mentioned. “And we see it happening all across America. We believe it’s going to happen in Tennessee. It is an incredibly important moment in our country for parental rights and for the future of children and their education.”
Lee mentioned his education rising up in Tennessee occurred earlier than the U.S. Division of Training was established in 1979.
“We knew how to do it then. We know how to do it now,” Lee mentioned, explaining that Tennessee created a funding components that “uniquely recognizes the needs of children with disabilities, with dyslexia and with English as a second language. “We know how to fund education for Tennessee children. We know much better than they do in a bureaucratic institution like the federal Department of Education. I think President Trump is exactly right. I think it’s a great idea.”
Tennessee Gov. Invoice Lee appears at a piece of Interstate 26 over the Nolichucky River that collapsed throughout a flood in Erwin on Oct. 1, 2024. (Brianna Paciorka/Information Sentinel/USA TODAY NETWORK by way of Imagn Photos)
“As a governor, I would welcome the partnership with President Trump in allowing states to choose and determine how best to spend education dollars for their kids,” he added.
If Trump goes via with eliminating the U.S. Division of Training, specialists count on the method may take a number of years.
With Cupboard nominations underway, Fox Information Digital requested Lee who he wish to see as Trump’s schooling secretary and if the governor would take into account throwing his personal title within the working.
“What I will say is and what I hope is that whoever takes this job is looking to work themselves out of a job,” Lee mentioned. “It will take the right kind of leader who really understands, and I think, who really understands how states can function and how problematic for states federal bureaucracies are. Governors understand that. There are a lot of folks who would be well-qualified for this, but the next person needs to be hoping to work themselves out of a job.”
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On the heels of the devastation introduced by Hurricane Helene, the governor mentioned the brand new college selection invoice would additionally commit state {dollars} from its sports activities playing income to the development and upkeep of public college amenities. The invoice additionally affords $2,000 one-time bonuses to each instructor within the state and guarantees supplemental funding for varsity districts affected by enrollment drops.
“We can have the best public schools in America,” Lee mentioned. “We can commit the right amount of finances and the right amount of focus. We can strengthen and support our public schools in unprecedented ways and provide freedom and opportunity for parents and choice. At the same time, those are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they shouldn’t be. We should improve every educational opportunity for every kid in our state and will do so through this legislation.”
