Today is V-day in Tennessee. The Shelby County Board of Education (Memphis) opposes the plan, accurately protesting that the plan would divert dollars from their already underfunded schools.
Meanwhile, six charter schools in Memphis have made a deal with the Catholic church to lease space, while pledging not to teach anything contrary to Catholic teaching.
”The Compass Community Schools network signed a lease agreement that contains a clause agreeing not to teach anything that goes against the teachings of the Catholic Church….
“But one First Amendment expert said there are several potential conflicts, including standards that address contraception, and that a public school’s mere act of entering into a legal agreement with a religious entity promising to limit its educational offerings for students is unconstitutional.
“The clause could also cause a chilling effect on both students and staff and create complications of oversight of a public school by a religious organization, said Charles Haynes, founding director of the Religious Freedom Center..
“A public school is a public school,” he said. “It may not in any way be entangled with a religious group that in any way limits what it can and cannot teach. That’s clearly unconstitutional.”
“The issue also raises questions about the promised separation between the Catholic Church and the Compass schools, a network created by Catholic leaders to replace a group of closing parochial schools. “
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane That those on either side of the “deal” between charters and Catholic schools DON’T understand what the schools board understands about the blatant conflicts inherent in such a deal is yet, again, another testimony to the sheer political ignorance and naive carelessness of those involved.
The question “why don’t those involved already understand that they are crossing long-standing Constitutional norms? is a question that should be put to anyone trying to limit or end civics and history in K-12 education. CBK
shocking to understand that there really are those pockets of policy-makers who know how much easier it is to manipulate citizens who have had little education
ciedie aech Those who run the Catholic Church should know better. On the other hand, we Catholics don’t have a monopoly on anti-democratic or, in the extreme, totalitarian ambitions. CBK
“The question “why don’t those involved already understand that they are crossing long-standing Constitutional norms? is a question that should be put to anyone trying to limit or end civics and history in K-12 education.”
Our Governor pushes for civic education that would teach unapologetic American Exceptionalism. He thinks that socialism is too popular among young kids, and he wants to put his hands on civics courses so that they popularize capitalism.
Mate Wierdl Well, anything can be taught badly or be saturated with propaganda. But NOT teaching civics or history at all . . . . Not good either. CBK
Tennessee is likely to win this case if it is brought into the courts. The state does not have a Blaine amendment or like provision against public funding for religious education.
See https://ij.org/issues/school-choice/blaine-amendments/
If this case is litigated, it likely will be taken up by lawyers working for the “Institute for Justice.”
Here is the most recent financial statement of the Institute for Justice. Look for Schedule O (upper left corner). This mission statement demonstrates how the Institute interprets the meaning of the Constitution. https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IJ-2017-Form-990-for-FY18-1.pdf
@Laura: Where have you been during the last 17 years? The constitutionality of providing direct financial support to parents, who choose parochial schools for their children, was settled in 2002, in the case of Zelman v. Simmons-Harris.
And the constitutionality of providing direct financial support to religiously-operated schools, was settled in 2017, in the case of Trinity School v. Pauley.
If, some case was brought, challenging the constitutionality of the Tennessee program, the SCOTUS would look to precedent, and there would be no reversal of Zelman.
That dog won’t hunt.
Who cares about this argument? The point is that these charter schools won’t teach evolution as it is so that they won’t hurt the feelings of the Memphis’ Catholic leaders. This is not freedom, this is misleading kids about how the world around them really is.
Why do people get all “lathered up”, and state that school choice will “divert dollars from already underfunded schools”. That is exactly what the function of school choice is supposed to do!
School choice/vouchers/ESAs are designed to take both money and students out of the public school system.
Good!
Because it kills public schools where 90+% of the students are. It’s not in the imagination. My kids went to one of the best public high schools in Memphis, and there are rats in the bathroom, not to mention the pile of cockroaches. There are classes with more than 35 students, and many have to sit on the floor because of lack of space and chairs!
The voucher plan costs $125million every year in TN. That means $125 million less to the already impoverished public schools in TN.
Charles you refuse to listen. You keep asserting that the choice of 10% is more important than the wellbeing and choice of the 90%. You don’t give any arguments (because it’s impossible), you just repeat this wholly libertarian and antidemocratic mantra “choice to the 10%, screw the 90%, what’s the big deal?”.
And the measure passed its first hurdle.
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2019/03/27/tennessee-gov-bill-lee-education-savings-account-plan-house-education-committee-vouchers/3285875002/
TN went nuts. We have a Governor who pushes for vouchers, charter schools, and he wants schools to teach “unapologetic American Exceptionalism” and he puts aside millions for this. He is going backward in time. I bet in a year or so, he will propose “plantation management” because it worked so well in the past, and fits our Southern values so well.