Thank you Lt. Gov. McNally and Speaker Sexton

     Thank you for working to give Tennesseans relief from burdensome mandates. I sincerely appreciated you leading the call for a special session and all legislators joining this effort. 

    I'm writing to encourage you to place a focus on educational freedom during the special session. Giving parents options with expanded educational opportunities is a solution that will address a host of issues: Covid policies, curriculum, and mandates. 

    While our public education funding system needs to be modernized to allow for backpack funding in the long term, there are options you can give to Tennessee families immediately. 

1. Expand Educational Savings Account access to all families. 
2. Enact mini-ESAs or scholarships that any parent can easily access, including homeschoolers.
3. Allow students to freely transfer to other public schools if there are open seats available.

    I believe parents should be able to use state or federal funds assigned to their children to find the education solution that works best for them and their values. Please keep in mind that we need to fund students, not bureaucracy. 

    Thank you for your service to our state. I truly appreciate your efforts to make sure Tennesseans are protected while future generations have every educational opportunity.