Sen. Pody meets with constituents
Tennessee Senator Mark Pody discussed his vote on the school voucher bill last Friday at a meeting with constituents at the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce Office.
Pody, Republican State Senator for District 17, which includes Lebanon, listened to concerns from individuals about the bills voted on in the Tennessee General Assembly's Special Session last month.
The primary discussion was over Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee's Education Freedom Act of 2025, commonly referred to as the school voucher bill.
The bill, which Governor Lee signed into law on Wednesday, sets aside 20,000 vouchers, 10,000 of which will be open to anyone to apply for. Another 10,000 are reserved for families with incomes below 300% of the income limit to qualify for free or reduced price lunch.
That comes to about $170,000 for a family of four in the state.
'I am a person who believes in parental rights for education,' Senator Pody said. 'I've been consistent like this.'
Bipartisan criticism of the bill claimed that money would be diverted from public education to the voucher program. During the Special Session, multiple amendments from Republican and Democrat legislators were tabled, one of which would have given extra protection to special needs students.
Pody said the bill should have been presented and debated in the regular session, not a special session. He also said he 'only liked 60% of the bill' and had to vote on what was submitted.
The Wilson County School Board and the County Commission spoke out against the voucher program before the bill was passed. Wilson County residents brought this and other public opposition to the bill up in questions to Pody.
'As a senator, your job is to be our voice,' one person said. 'And our voice said no.'
'We have literally had thousands [of messages]. Thousands of people have inputted this, and it was not in any way overwhelmingly against it,' Pody said. 'We had more people that were saying we would like to support this than the other way.'
'So, if I'm listening to the people and just the numbers that came in, it was more people saying please support it now,' he added.
Later on, Pody said the response was closer to 50-50 in support versus non-support.
During the meeting, Senator Pody said that of the $429 million put in the bill, the majority of the money will go to public education and that schools in Wilson County will not receive any less money than before.
Wilson County Director of Schools Jeff Luttrell said, 'While the House and Senate vote was different than what our stance was on this bill, we will see how this ultimately plays out. But my job is to make sure that our students, teachers and staff receive the resources they need to be successful. That's where my main concern is, despite the bill's passage. We always comply with any new legislation that's passed, so any guidance we receive in the future regarding this bill, we will oblige.'
Parents can apply for a scholarship, or voucher, for up to $7,000 for their child to attend a private school. The private school still has rights to approve or deny applications.
'I'm not trying to dictate to a private school what they should or shouldn't do,' Pody said.
Not every county in Tennessee has a private school. According to Pody, parents will need to find a way to transport their children to a private school if one is not located in their county of residence.
President Donald Trump has voiced support for school choice, which Pody said was a reason why the Education Freedom Act was written the way it was.
'Trump is going to have universal choice. States that don't have a backstop will lose money,' Pody said. 'If we don't have this, we will lose money.'
'The backstop here [is] that this state will make sure everybody is at the same floor in every school district across the state,' he added. '[No] school district is going to receive less money for dis-enrollment.'
Other topics discussed were immigration reforms also passed by the Tennessee General Assembly, the Trump Administration's immigration policy changes and access to women's healthcare records.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
L.A. immigration protests latest: California sues Trump admin. over National Guard deployment, president says he would support arresting Newsom
California is suing the Trump administration over its National Guard deployment in Los Angeles without the consent of the state's governor amid immigration protests that escalated over the weekend, leading to dozens of arrests. The Los Angeles Police Department has since declared all of downtown L.A. an unlawful assembly area. The lawsuit was filed Monday by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and accuses President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of "unlawfully" federalizing the state's National Guard, and infringing on California Gov. Gavin Newsom's authority as commander-in-chief of the state's military reserve force. "Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach," Bonta said. "It is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism. We will not let this stand.' Bonta also alleged in a televised statement Monday that protests escalated after National Guard troops arrived on Sunday. 'We'll never know what might have been had the president left our state and local authorities to continue the important work they were already doing and were more than capable of doing,' Bonta said. Before the lawsuit was announced, Trump on Monday said he would support his border czar arresting Newsom over possible obstructions to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions in the state amid protests. At least 44 people were arrested by federal ICE agents during a raid at several locations around Los Angeles on Friday, including Ambiance Apparel in the garment district and a Home Depot in the Westlake District. These areas are known to have significant migrant populations and labor-focused industries. Protests then erupted in Los Angeles in response to Trump's immigration crackdown that has seen federal agents arrest a student on his way to volleyball practice and erroneously deport a man to El Salvador. Sunday marked the third straight day of protests over the wave of immigration raids. Crowds gathered in downtown Los Angeles and Boyle Heights. Protesters marched from Boyle Heights to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal building in downtown L.A. This led to the LAPD declaring the area an unlawful assembly. Protesters moved from outside the federal building and walked onto the 101 Freeway around 3:30 p.m. local time. Police fired tear gas and other projectiles into the crowd and cleared the area by 5 p.m. Meanwhile, another protest started on Sunday outside of Los Angeles City Hall Protesters outside the city's prison in the Alameda neighborhood of L.A. were arrested, according to the LAPD. Around 300 National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles County on Sunday after Trump deployed them to protect federal property and personnel, without the consent of Newsom, a Democrat with whom he often spars. As governor, Newsom would normally retain control and command over the California National Guard. The White House said the deployment was necessary to 'address the lawlessness' in the state, and initially stated that 2,000 troops were being deployed. About 500 Marines are also prepared to deploy to the area, the Northern Command said. It's the first time in nearly 60 years that a president has called in the National Guard without a state's request or consent. The last time was when President Lyndon Johnson sent the Guard to protect a 1965 civil rights march in Alabama. Newsom said California is suing the Trump administration over the federal mobilization of the National Guard. Newsom told MSNBC that Trump's federal mobilization of the National Guard was 'an illegal act, an immoral act, an unconstitutional act.' The governor also alleged that Trump is the one to blame for the escalation in California, saying, 'He's exacerbated the conditions. He's lit the proverbial match. He's putting fuel on this fire.' Tom Homan, Trump's border czar, told NBC News that anyone who obstructs immigration enforcement would be arrested. When asked if that would include Newsom or Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, he replied, 'I'll say it about anybody. … You cross that line, it's a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It's a felony to impede law enforcement doing their job.' Newsom responded to Homan's NBC interview on Sunday by saying: 'He knows where to find me.' Homan later clarified those remarks in an interview with Fox News. 'The reporter asked me, well, could Governor Newsom or Mayor Bass be arrested? I said, 'Well no one's above the law — if they cross the line and commit a crime, absolutely they can.'' He added: 'There was no discussion about arresting Newsom.' Meanwhile, Trump said he would support the arrest of Newsom. "I would do it if I were Tom. I think it's great. Gavin likes the publicity but I think it would be a great thing," Trump said Monday. In response, Newsom said: "This is a day I hoped I would never see in America." "I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican this is a line we cannot cross as a nation — this is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism," he wrote on X. The peaceful protests escalated into vandalism, autonomous cars set ablaze, fireworks and other objects thrown at law enforcement, police firing rubber bullets (including at an Australian journalist), and dozens of arrests by the LAPD. 'In recent days, many protests across the city have been peaceful and we thank the community for expressing their views and their frustration in a responsible manner,' LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said in a Sunday news conference. 'However, when peaceful demonstrations devolve into acts of vandalism or violence, especially violence directed at innocent people, law enforcement officers and others, we must respond firmly.' McDonnell said that a total of 39 people had been arrested — 29 on Saturday and 10 on Sunday. He also said the LAPD was not given advance notice that federal operations would occur in the area. On Sunday, several Waymo driverless vehicles were vandalized and set on fire in downtown Los Angeles. A Waymo spokesperson told USA Today Monday morning that its autonomous vehicles have been removed from the area and the company has temporarily suspended its ride-hailing service 'out of an abundance of caution.' Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told CNN on Monday that the situation has since calmed in the city. 'If you dial back time and go to Friday, if immigration raids had not happened here, we would not have had the disorder that went on last night,' Bass said. 'We do not know where and when the next raids will be. That is the concern because people in this city have a rapid response network.' 'If they see ICE, they go out and they protest, and so it's just a recipe for pandemonium that is completely unnecessary,' she added.
26 minutes ago
White House breaks ground on Trump projects to pave over Rose Garden grass, add flagpoles to lawns
WASHINGTON -- The White House broke ground Monday on construction projects ordered by President Donald Trump to pave over the grass in the Rose Garden and install flagpoles on the north and south lawns. The projects are part of a series of personal touches that Trump, a real estate developer turned politician, has added or is adding to the Executive Mansion and its grounds since he opened his second term in January. The projects also include new artwork of himself on walls and gold-toned flourishes in the Oval Office. He also wants to add a ballroom. Reporters on Monday noticed that work had begun in the Rose Garden, just off the Oval Office on the south grounds, when they were taken out to the South Lawn to wait for Trump to return on the Marine One helicopter from an overnight at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland. Photos showed that a limestone border that first lady Melania Trump had added during a Rose Garden renovation project in her husband's first term had been removed in some places and the grass had been dug up in others spots. Employees of the National Park Service, which maintains the White House grounds, started the work on Monday, according to a White House official. The project is set to be completed in about two months, or the first half of August, said the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on intended changes to the Executive Mansion and spoke on the condition of anonymity. After stepping off the helicopter, Trump walked over to a bulldozer that was on the South Lawn to start digging a foundation for one of two flagpoles he promised in April. One flagpole will be added to the South Lawn, and the second will be installed on the North Lawn, he said. Trump said he was installing two 'beautiful' flagpoles 'paid for by Trump' on the grounds because 'they've needed flagpoles for 200 years.' The American and POW/MIA flags fly on the roof of the White House every day. The Republican president said months ago that he would pave over the Rose Garden because the grass there is always wet and an inconvenience for women in high heels. It was unclear if he planned to pay for this project. Last week, Trump posted on his social media site about the ballroom he promised, 'compliments of a man known as Donald J. Trump.' He wrote on Friday that he had inspected the site for the ballroom, saying it will be a 'wonderful addition' and is an example of the ''fun' projects I do while thinking about the World Economy, the United States, China, Russia, and lots of other Countries, places, and events.'
Hamilton Spectator
28 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
White House breaks ground on Trump projects to pave over Rose Garden grass, add flagpoles to lawns
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House broke ground Monday on construction projects ordered by President Donald Trump to pave over the grass in the Rose Garden and install flagpoles on the north and south lawns. The projects are part of a series of personal touches that Trump, a real estate developer turned politician, has added or is adding to the Executive Mansion and its grounds since he opened his second term in January. The projects also include new artwork of himself on walls and gold-toned flourishes in the Oval Office. He also wants to add a ballroom. Reporters on Monday noticed that work had begun in the Rose Garden, just off the Oval Office on the south grounds, when they were taken out to the South Lawn to wait for Trump to return on the Marine One helicopter from an overnight at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland. Photos showed that a limestone border that first lady Melania Trump had added during a Rose Garden renovation project in her husband's first term had been removed in some places and the grass had been dug up in others spots. Employees of the National Park Service, which maintains the White House grounds, started the work on Monday, according to a White House official. The project is set to be completed in about two months, or the first half of August, said the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on intended changes to the Executive Mansion and spoke on the condition of anonymity. After stepping off the helicopter, Trump walked over to a bulldozer that was on the South Lawn to start digging a foundation for one of two flagpoles he promised in April. One flagpole will be added to the South Lawn, and the second will be installed on the North Lawn, he said. Trump said he was installing two 'beautiful' flagpoles 'paid for by Trump' on the grounds because 'they've needed flagpoles for 200 years.' The American and POW/MIA flags fly on the roof of the White House every day. The Republican president said months ago that he would pave over the Rose Garden because the grass there is always wet and an inconvenience for women in high heels. It was unclear if he planned to pay for this project. Last week, Trump posted on his social media site about the ballroom he promised, 'compliments of a man known as Donald J. Trump.' He wrote on Friday that he had inspected the site for the ballroom, saying it will be a 'wonderful addition' and is an example of the ''fun' projects I do while thinking about the World Economy, the United States, China, Russia, and lots of other Countries, places, and events.' ___ Follow the AP's coverage of President Donald Trump at . Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
