Opponents of Governor Bill Lee's school voucher bill holding rally in Hamilton County

Public school parents and educators are fighting back against Tennessee Governor Bill Lee's voucher proposal.

The team called Public School Strong, a group that is supportive of public schools is holding a rally in Chattanooga to warn others about the proposal.

Governor Lee is proposing 20,000 private education vouchers at a rate of $7,075 per voucher.

The first 10,000 vouchers are for families under a certain income threshold.

The voucher would grow by 5,000 each year if at least 75% of the 20,000 vouchers are claimed in a year.

Past recipients, lower income families, and students entering kindergarten would get priority.

Angela Favaloro, a public school parent and volunteer for Public School Strong, says private schools don't have to accept anyone even with a voucher.

“They can choose who they accept and who they don't. They are not held to the same standards and protections that our public schools are, that require that we give a quality education to everybody,” Favaloro said.

Favaloro said in Hamilton County, parents may be interested in using the voucher for one of the major private schools.

“Our big three private schools aren't even taking vouchers. So, those people who think they are going to get money for McCallie or Baylor or GPS, they are not accepting that,” Favaloro said.

She believes what Governor Lee is proposing is theft because it takes away money that could be going toward public school education.

“When I think of every voucher walking out the door, I think of which school this last week that was too cold for the students to be in their classroom. That money should be paying to make sure that we have warm schools, safe schools, lunches, and things like that,” Favalora said.

She said giving public school dollars to private schools is a bad idea.

“They can spend without discretion. They are far less efficient in how they spend those funds, which seems frivolous to me and it just seems reckless,” Favalora said.

In an ad, Governor Lee talks about the Education Freedom Act of 2025 and investing in public schools.

He said the act "empowers parents with school choice, supports our teachers, and further invests in our public schools."

“I think what's most important to me, is that the tax payer gets to decide where their tax dollars are spent. This is not the governments money; it's tax payer's money and it's put in for people's children,” Lee said.