I’ve been working up the strength to write about Missouri’s absolute thrashing of Tennessee a month ago. My colleague, Elias Tsapelas, had not forgotten what I smugly said following Tennessee’s emphatic victory last year: “The Tigers should be taking notes [from Tennessee] on how to run an elite offense.” Well, it appears the Tigers did in fact learn how to run an elite offense. Cody Schrader looked like Christian McCaffrey, and there was simply nothing we could do.
Nevertheless, while I guess it is Tennessee’s turn to learn from Missouri on the football field, there is a valuable education policy in the Volunteer State that Missouri could learn from—a potential universal voucher program.
Tennessee currently has a voucher program that offers low- and middle-income students in Shelby (Memphis area), Davidson (Nashville area), and Hamilton (Chattanooga area) counties around $8,100 to help cover private and parochial school tuition or pay for other preapproved expenses such as tutoring (91% of participating parents are satisfied with the program). Currently, funding is set aside for a maximum of 5,000 students who reside in those three counties. In the coming year, Governor Lee wants to expand the program to 20,000 students—with 10,000 slots for low-income or disabled students and the other half for any student in the state. By 2025–2026, Governor Lee is proposing universal eligibility for any student entitled to attend a public school. If applicants exceed public funding for the proposed universal program, priority will be given to low-income, public school, and returning scholarship students.
This universal program is a great idea, and one that Missouri could learn from. The funding mechanism and demographic restrictions for Missouri’s MOScholars Program constrain the program’s potential effectiveness. You can read a full breakdown of the needed changes here.
Students deserve the opportunity to go to a school that meets their needs. Wouldn’t it be better if families were at schools because they wanted to be there, and not because their zip code requires it? In conclusion, I have three hopes: that Tennessee’s proposal finds success, that Missouri can follow Tennessee’s path, and that Tennessee beats Missouri in football next year.
