By Ashleigh Costello
EAGnews.org
    
NASHVILLE – Approximately 60 percent of Tennessee voters would support a statewide school voucher program, according to a recent survey performed by the Beacon Center of Tennessee and the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice.
    
That should be good news for state lawmakers who fell short in an effort to establish such a program last year.
    
A school voucher is a government grant or tax credit that parents can apply toward tuition at a private school of their choice. The program is meant to help parents choose the school that best fits their child’s needs by offsetting the cost of private school tuition.
    
The poll, which was conducted in February, surveyed 606 randomly selected, registered Tennessee voters and asked a total of 28 questions.  The findings showed that only 31 percent of the polled voters opposed the idea of school vouchers, while 59 percent supported it.  When asked what led them [voters] to choose their responses to vouchers, voters’ most frequent answers were “choice,”  “flexibility,” or “freedom.”  
    
The report also showed that voucher support was very similar to that for charter schools, which received a 61 percent approval rating.      
    
The report findings come on the heels of an announcement that Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has appointed a task force that will meet next week to discuss the state’s overall education agenda.
    
In 2011, the Equal Opportunity Scholarship Act, which sought to grant vouchers to low-income students, was passed by the state Senate but failed to clear a House subcommittee.  The task force is expected to deliberate on the questions raised by the bill.
    
“Frankly, I’m not surprised Tennessee voters want school choice,” Justin Owen, President of the Beacon Center, said.  “But I am disappointed it has taken our state this long to even consider empowering parents to get more involved with their kids’ educations and choose the schools that work best for them,” quotes the report. 
    
According to the U.S. Department of Education, Tennessee schools had an average state ranking of 43  on the National Assessment of Educational Progress test (NAEP).  A state voucher system may help to improve those figures, with parents taking on a more prominent role in their children’s education.
    
By allowing parents and students to “vote with their feet,” schools will have a higher incentive to improve performance and accountability as they compete for enrollment.
    
“Tennesseans’ support for school choice is part of a nationwide movement for educational freedom,” said Robert Enlow, president and CEO of the Indiana-based Friedman Foundation. “In Louisiana and Indiana, voters wanted school choice and they got it in a big way.  I hope Tennessee families are afforded these same life-changing opportunities.”