Gov. Bill Haslam drops voucher plan
Source: Nashville Tennessean
Gov. Bill Haslam abruptly withdrew his proposal for school vouchers Wednesday after he and the bill’s sponsor in the state Senate failed to get guarantees from fellow Republicans that they would not try to expand the measure.
Haslam and Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Memphis, asked the Senate Education Committee not to hear Senate Bill 196 at its final meeting Wednesday afternoon. The move came because committee members planned to pursue amendments to the bill. Haslam has said he would not entertain changes.
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Haslam proposed offering as many as 5,000 vouchers to low-income students in poorly performing schools next fall, ramping up to 20,000 by 2016. The governor has described his plan as a conservative approach that would help students in the worst schools.
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But some Republican lawmakers, led by Education Committee Chairwoman Dolores Gresham, R-Somerville, and state Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, have favored a more expansive plan that would give as many as 10,000 vouchers next year to families statewide. Their proposal also would have raised income level so that a family of four could have made nearly $75,000 annually and qualified.
Read more: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130403/NEWS/304030178/Gov-Bill-Haslam-drops-voucher-plan
WOOOHOOO!!!!!
It is just a matter of time until the gerrymandered state gets this through, but at least we won't have to worry about money going to Muslim schools for the time being!!
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