By Victor Skinner
EAGNews.org

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam doesn’t plan on introducing legislation to establish private school vouchers during the coming legislative session, despite delaying previous legislation to assemble a task force to study the issue.

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Haslam’s Task Force on Opportunity Scholarships recently made several recommendations to create a small voucher program aimed at low-income students after exploring several program options for nearly a year.

The nine-member task force, comprised of educators and Republican lawmakers and chaired by Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman, agreed on the need for accountability measures to screen participating private schools, and an academic review of any program before it’s expanded.

Tennessee public school and union officials hate the idea of vouchers because they don’t want students to leave for better schools and take their state funding with them.

“On Tuesday, Haslam told reporters that he may have no legislation at all on vouchers for the 2013 legislative session, which begins Jan. 8. Instead, he said the administration could leave legislators to file bills on the subject and them decide whether to support or oppose the measures,” according to a KnoxNews.com blog.

“The final decision on voucher legislation, he said, would come ‘after the new year,’” KnoxNews.com reports.  Unresolved issues include eligibility for the program and state accountability measures for schools that participate.

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All students, in Tennessee and elsewhere, deserve the opportunity to attend a school that fits them best, regardless of whether it’s a traditional government school, private school, charter school, home school or online learning. All aspects of school choice combine to form a promising path toward improved education across the board.

Tennessee residents deserve to know where their governor stands on school choice, but so far Haslam seems to be riding the fence with private school vouchers.

A survey by the Beacon Center of Tennessee and the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice shows 60 percent of Tennesseans support a statewide voucher program. Newspapers across the state have written editorials calling for vouchers. Data shows vouchers could potentially rescue thousands of students from failing public schools.

The public clearly wants a voucher program.

The only question that remains is what, if anything, the governor will do about it.