Democrats seek DOJ inquiry on 2019 voucher vote
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, DNashville, 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, RKnoxville, 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.
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
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