As top leaders in Tennessee expand taxpayer-funded vouchers to help families pay for private school, public schools are still home to the vast majority of the state's school-aged children.
Around 1.2 million children are enrolled across public, private and home schools in Tennessee, according to state data analyzed by Tennessee SCORE, an education research and advocacy nonprofit. Roughly 80% of those children are in traditional public schools, while another 5% are in public charter schools. Around 10% are enrolled in private schools, while the rest are home-schooled.
It's not yet clear how those numbers will change after Tennessee expanded its school vouchers, known as Education Freedom Scholarships, earlier this year. The total number of applications quickly eclipsed the 20,000 vouchers available. State leaders said they hope to add even more vouchers in the years to come.
The program has fueled intense debates over school choice and how best to use taxpayer dollars to educate children in Tennessee. As the education landscape continues to shift, we asked families across the state to share their experiences in choosing schools for their kids. Here's what they had to say.
Public school families seek community, equity
While faith values guide some parents to choose private or home schools, Knox County resident Kate Borders said her faith pushed her in a different direction. A mother of two, Borders said she and her husband saw public school as a way to engage with and love those around them. Her kids attend Alcoa City Schools, a district just outside Knoxville.
"It's a really significant way to be in your community," she said. "We feel like it's important to not be afraid of public schools."
Borders said her family considered private schools, but were against the voucher program because she believed it would take away critical funding from public schools.
Michaela Schentzer, a public school teacher and graduate, said she values the diversity and equity public schools foster, along with the state and federal standards that govern them. Her 10-year-old son, Brady, attends White House Intermediate School in Sumner County.
"I think that public education is foundational to democracy," she said. "It's key to keeping our community strong."
Schnetzer has strongly opposed school vouchers and pushed back against the school choice narrative around them. She said private schools are ultimately the only ones given a choice since they are not required to accept all children, unlike public schools. She also worried about money being funneled into vouchers instead of public education.
"I'm definitely scared. Where are we going to see the loss in our public school systems?" she said. "Looking at Ohio, looking at Arizona, my hopes are not high."
Private school family stretches budget to make ends meet
Some private school families said their decision was guided by the academic needs of their children or the religious values they want to instill in them. Some make sacrifices to afford tuition, while others live more comfortably.
A mother of four and a teacher, Candyce Roberson has spent the last few decades grappling with what's best for her kids. As a former public school teacher, she feels the public education system is broken. She said the public schools available to her kids don't measure up to what they need.
The Rutherford County family has drifted between public, private and home school over the years. Her oldest two are now in college while her younger two attend a private high school.
Roberson, whose children are Black, said they experienced racism and discrimination at their first private school, which led her to homeschool them for a few years. Eventually, she found another private school with more diversity that was also a good match for her kids academically.
While private school has been a financial stretch for Roberson, at times requiring her to work several jobs to makes ends meet, she said it's been worth it. She has not pursued school vouchers since the program didn't include Rutherford County at first and she didn't hear about the expanded vouchers until after applications filled up. Still, she supports the program.
"I think that parents are just doing the best they can," she said. "How much longer were parents supposed to stick around in these failing school districts before they before they did something? They can't wait for you to fix what's been broken all these years."
Immigrant family learns to navigate U.S. education system
Navigating education choices can be difficult, and for immigrant families like Emiliano Merida's, they often learn as they go.
Emiliano, 10, attends Freedom Preparatory Academy in Memphis because of recommendations his mother received from neighbors and friends. Emiliano’s parents are separated, and his mother mainly makes the educational decisions.
Speaking through an interpreter, she said she was not aware Freedom Prep was a charter school until after enrolling her son. The USA Today Network-Tennessee has agreed not to identify the child's mother due to her immigration status.
Since Emiliano's mother is not fluent in English, it has added to the difficulty of navigating the education system. When he was at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, his mother said she began to learn more about the education system, but communication has still been difficult.
Raul Merida, Emiliano’s father, said embracing his Mexican heritage is very important, but that sometimes it butts heads with school leaders. In kindergarten, Merida received a call from the school principal asking him to speak more English at home with his son.
“I said, 'Man, I understand … But, he's spent like 8 hours (at) school and I'm pretty sure (he’s) gonna speak English better than me,'" Merida said. "I don't want him to forget his language."
Family shares journey from homeschool to charter school
Many parents choose to send their children to charter schools because the curriculum or facilities at local public schools aren't up to their personal standards or beliefs.
Iyalaje Ogunwale, a Memphis public school graduate, chose to homeschool her six children when she was running her own business. She said the curriculum in public schools did not reflect the values she wanted instilled in her kids.
"I pulled out the requirements from the Tennessee Department of Education, made sure that we follow their guidelines ... but the curriculum I created, so that was a lot," Ogunwale said.
While the kids were homeschooled, she said they lived in a house that "became the classroom." Other homeschooling parent cohorts gave her children social opportunities outside the classroom.
Homeschooling came to an end when Ogunwale enrolled at the University of Memphis to study dietetics. Private school was too expensive, public school was a no, so charter schools it was.
One son, Imsety Ivery, had already graduated high school and was homeschooled from start to finish. The remaining five kids enrolled in charter schools, namely Soulsville Charter School and Freedom Preparatory Academy.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TN school choice: Families weigh in on academics, vouchers, diversity
Comments