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VOL. 43 | NO. 14 | Friday, April 5, 2019
Teachers speak out against Tennessee voucher bill
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee schoolteachers are speaking out against Gov. Bill Lee's voucher-style proposal to expand the amount of taxpayer dollars that can be used to pay for private schools and other expenses.
Roughly 50 teachers, parents and other education advocates participated in a demonstration Tuesday at Tennessee's Capitol, where they voiced concerns about Lee's support of education savings accounts. Many of the teachers wore sunglasses to show that they feared retribution if identified in the small crowd.
The protest comes just days after almost 200 participants held a similar demonstration at a GOP event that Lee attended in Knoxville.
Under Lee's proposal, parents of students in certain low-performing school districts could receive up to $7,300 in state funds, but they would need to have incomes below the federal poverty level.