The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) board and the Clarksville City Council have already passed similar resolutions. It is now imperative for Montgomery County to join this crucial effort.

• There is no widespread demand for vouchers from Tennesseans. Vouchers have been opposed by over 70 school boards and other local funding bodies across the state, the state superintendents association, and countless parents and educators across Tennessee. In places where there has not been widespread opposition, there has also not been widespread demand. Ask if they've talked to their school boards, teachers and superintendents about the bill. What have they heard? • Why should I pay entitlements to private schools that don't have to accept all students and aren't held accountable to the same standards as public schools?  We are not against private schools but we don't think taxpayers should be running an entitlement program for for-profit schools that are not held to any clear standards and can pick and choose who they let in. The vast majority of beneficiaries would benefit families that can already afford to put their children in private schools.  • All signs point to ballooning costs. Knox County could lose out on $8.6M in the first year alone. The first year, the program would create a $144 million hole in Tennessee's budget in order to provide 20,000 private school subsidies the first year. If all 105,500 current private school students received the voucher, the subsidy to private schools would exceed $780 million. Universal Voucher plans in Arizona, Florida, and New Hampshire have gone tens of millions of dollars over budget and are draining much needed funding from their local schools and communities. Most of the voucher scam funding in other states is going to kids who already went to private school, making this voucher scam a giveaway for for-profit schools funded by our tax dollars. This leaves our public schools less resources to educate the same number of students.  • Public schools aren't failing our students. The State government refusing to fully and equitably resource our public schools are. 90% of parents send their kids to public schools nationwide and the majority of parents are pleased with their schools. Tennessee teachers and school staff are doing incredible work to educate our kids every day, but they are struggling with long hours, overwork, and low pay. Our schools are in desperate need of improved infrastructure, more support staff, increased teacher pay, mental health resources, and much more. Instead of spending millions to privatize our schools, imagine what we could do if we invested in every public school fully and equitably. Every child deserves an honest, equitable, safe, and fully-funded public education in the communities where they live and play.

Every child - regardless of ability or background - deserves to thrive in a high quality public school. High quality public education begins with funding our schools well, supporting our teachers, and making sure the correct supports are in place so everyone’s needs are being met. Currently, McMinn County Schools are sorely underfunded and under-resourced. This problem could be made worse by loss of funding due to non-compliant IEPs, in addition to the strain being placed on special education and general education teachers with increasing caseloads but no increased resources. The position that was offered by the IDEA Partnership for Systemic Change Grant is a first step to closing gaps for students with disabilities and empowering staff with the resources they need to support all students. By rejecting these funds, the Board is ignoring an immediate need of our schools and potentially harming the chance to receive federal grant funds in the future.

Our school board leaders passing this resolution, along with similar resolutions across the country, can help galvanize this moment to shed light on the critical funding needs in our schools.

Our school board leaders passing this resolution, along with similar resolutions across the country, can help galvanize this moment to shed light on the critical funding needs in our schools.

Vibrant, high-quality public schools are the key to thriving communities like ours.  Signing this petition – and urging others to sign as well – is an easy and effective way to get our school board to step up and help us protect public education from this attack. This measure would hurt public schools and threaten their funding. Public schools need more teachers, better teacher pay, and smaller class sizes. This measure will only make it harder to fund those improvements by opening the door to taking money from public schools—which serve 95% of Colorado students—to fund private schools.

Vibrant, high-quality public schools are the key to thriving communities like ours.  Signing this petition – and urging others to sign as well – is an easy and effective way to get our school board to step up and help us protect public education from this attack. This measure would hurt public schools and threaten their funding. Public schools need more teachers, better teacher pay, and smaller class sizes. This measure will only make it harder to fund those improvements by opening the door to taking money from public schools—which serve 95% of Colorado students—to fund private schools.

Vibrant, high-quality public schools are the key to thriving communities like ours.  Signing this petition – and urging others to sign as well – is an easy and effective way to get our school board to step up and help us protect public education from this attack. This measure would hurt public schools and threaten their funding. Public schools need more teachers, better teacher pay, and smaller class sizes. This measure will only make it harder to fund those improvements by opening the door to taking money from public schools—which serve 95% of Colorado students—to fund private schools.

Signing this petition – and urging others to sign as well – is an easy and effective way to get our school board to step up and help us protect public education from this attack.

The lowest compensation in the county is leading to vacancies in GRPS schools. Grand Rapids Public Schools educators are working without a contract. Teaching positions are filled by substitutes. School psychologists, social workers, and other licensed professionals are overwhelmed with untenable student caseloads.  Invest in our students by providing fair compensation and improved working conditions for their educators.

Congress is threatening to cut another $12 billion from our public schools in this round of the budget process. You can see here how much your school district would lose: https://edlawcenter.org/research/trump-2-0-proposed-fy26-budget-cuts-school-districts/  We have a PSS Organizing Meeting on Tuesday (8/12) at 7:00PM EST to talk next steps and support folks in fighting back. Can you make it?

The vast majority of Colorado and D11 voters agree: public dollars belong in public schools. Unfortunately, that fundamental value is under threat from Amendment 80, which would open the door to taking money out of underfunded public schools – which educate 95% of Colorado students – to pay for private schools that can pick and choose which students to admit.   As school board members, you are responsible for the quality and direction of our school district. This year you have an opportunity – and the duty – to stand up for public education and protect it from Amendment 80. We are your constituents and we ask that you act as leaders for public education by passing a resolution opposing Amendment 80 and urging the voters of D11 to vote NO on Amendment 80. Our school board leaders passing this resolution, along with similar resolutions across the state, can help galvanize this moment to shed light on this critical issue.