Four local private schools have shown interest in voucher program so far
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — Several Tri-Cities private schools are among those that have shown early interest in participating in Gov. Bill Lee's newly expanded school voucher program.
The Tennessee Department of Education on Tuesday released a list of 162 private schools that had already 'signaled an intent to participate in the program.'
Department of Education lays off nearly half of workforce
Four Tri-Cities schools were on the list:
St. Dominic Catholic School
Lakeway Christian Schools: Tri-Cities Christian Academy
St. Mary School – Johnson City
Lakeway Christian Schools: Boones Creek Christian Academy
'A quality education has the power to change the trajectory of a child's life, and I'm grateful that Tennessee parents will have the opportunity to choose the best school for their child through the Education Freedom Scholarship Program,' Lee said in a release. 'I commend the participating schools for their partnership to deliver excellent educational choices for parents in the coming school year.'
In January, state lawmakers passed the governor's Education Freedom Scholarship Act, which expanded the state's school voucher program to all 95 counties. The program will provide scholarships of around $7,000 to parents to help cover tuition and costs of sending their children to private schools.
The complete list of schools that have expressed interest in the voucher program can be found on the department's website.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Greene Co. sheriff explains 287(g) partnership with ICE
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — It wasn't long after Wesley Holt became sheriff in Greene County in 2018 that he thought partnering with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency would be good for his department and the county. At that time, Greene County was just the second jurisdiction in the state to be a part of the 287(g) program with its Jail Enforcement Model. 'There is a right way to come to our country and there's a wrong way to come to our country,' explained Holt as to why he signed on to the program. 'And it kind of defeats the purpose for the people that have done the right way to come to our country and become natural citizens, and those that are just coming across the border and being here free.' The way the 287(g) Jail Enforcement Model works is that ICE provides a month-long training class for qualified jailers and computer equipment for them to be able to check the immigration status of those already under arrest in the county. 'Anybody that's arrested into our facility, we go through a booking process and we have one question that says, 'have you, were you born in United States?'' John Key, the Greene County Jail Administrator, told News Channel 11. 'If I answer no to that question, it automatically triggers us to run them through the Immigration and Customs Enforcement program, to see if they have outstanding warrants or warrants to be deported from the country.' Key says the system usually provides an answer about immigration status within an hour, but if an arrestee bonds out before an answer is known, the county doesn't hold them pending an answer. If it turns out the person is here illegally, the sheriff's department notifies ICE agents and informs them of the next court date. But suspects aren't automatically deported until their local case is concluded. 'They have to satisfy any local sentence that they may receive, and once that sentence is satisfied, if they have a detainer, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have 72 hours to take them out of our custody,' explained Key. Those who have been detained or deported after being arrested in Greene County aren't always who you might think. 'They [ICE] picked people back [up] from Russia and Eastern Europe, France. Maybe they just overstayed a work visa, or they've overstayed a tourist visa, or they've overstayed even a student visa,' said Key. But some of those detained have been accused criminals, said Sheriff Holt. He said that those people don't need to be in Greene County. 'We might get them in here to the jail, they might come in on the DUI, but once we run them through the system, they may be going for statutory rape or anything like that. Criminal charges that they don't need to be on our streets here in Greene County or the State of Tennessee. They need to be deported back to where they came from if they're here illegally,' said Sheriff Holt. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
JCPD releases statement regarding ‘No Kings Day' protests
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — The Johnson City Police Department issued a statement regarding protests planned around the region Saturday. The nationwide 'No Kings' protests will take place across the Tri-Cities, including in Johnson City, Kingsport and Abingdon. The event is part of 'No Kings Day,' a protest against the Trump administration on the same day as a military parade in Washington, D.C. The statement from the Johnson City Police Department is as follows: Crowder, Shenandoah, Zach Top and more performing at Appalachian Fair The Johnson City Police Department respects and upholds the right of individuals to engage in peaceful assemblies. We are aware of local gatherings related to national events planned for this weekend and remind the public that temporary structures and amplified sound require proper permitting, sidewalks must remain accessible for pedestrians, and traffic flow cannot be obstructed. Additionally, participants must comply with all traffic signals when crossing intersections. As always, the mission of the Johnson City Police Department is to protect the safety, rights, and freedoms of all individuals in our community. That commitment guides our approach each and every day. Johnson City Police Department The Johnson City 'No Kings' protest will be held in Founders Park at 9:30 a.m. To view a list of planned demonstrations, many of which will also host food drives, visit TennVa UNITED. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Mike Lee reinstates language to sell Utah public land in Trump tax bill
WASHINGTON — Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, reinstated language to make public land in Utah eligible for sale, adding the proposal back to President Donald Trump's massive tax package after it was removed by GOP leaders in the House last month. The proposal would pave the way to sell off a small percentage of Utah's public lands, as well as other Western states, to be used for affordable housing and increase revenue for conservation projects. The public land sale proposal is tucked into a larger section of energy-related provisions headed by Lee as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which released its portion of Trump's reconciliation bill on Wednesday. 'This is President Trump's agenda: cut the Green New Scam, reduce the deficit, and unleash American energy,' Lee said in a statement. 'We're cutting billions in unused Biden-era climate slush funds, opening up energy and resource development, turning federal liabilities into taxpayer value, while making housing more affordable for hardworking American families. This is how we make government smaller, freer, and work for Americans.' The move comes after the House stripped language to sell more than 211,000 acres across Utah and Nevada, an amendment led by Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, who said she drafted the provision upon request from local officials. However, the language was ultimately removed from the House version amid pushback from some Republicans as well as concerns it did not adhere to strict reconciliation rules. Under the reconciliation process, all provisions in the massive package must adhere to what is known as the 'Byrd rule,' which prohibits policies that are unrelated to budget changes or that outweigh budgetary effects. To comply with the Byrd rule, Lee made substantive changes to Maloy's amendment that would refrain from using specific maps to target land in the western states. The updated language also excludes specific acreage, instead instructing the interior secretary to sell off between just 0.5% to 0.75% of federal lands in specific states. The states listed include Utah as well as Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. However, the bill carves out specific guardrails for what land can be sold, excluding at least 15 categories of protected land from the list. That means national parks, monuments, and land dedicated to wilderness reserves would not be included. Instead, GOP aides stressed it would only sell 'unused or underused federal lands adjacent to cities or metropolitan areas.' To adhere to Byrd Rule requirements that policies must contribute to deficit reduction, the provision would stipulate that the money made from land sales goes toward conservation efforts, maintenance projects, infrastructure improvements for roads and utilities, and school funding. Maloy worked with Lee to draft the updated version of the land sales to be included in the final package, arguing it was crucial to affordable housing projects in the two western states. The proposal was also backed by Trump, who campaigned on the issue throughout the 2024 election. About 63% of Utah's land is owned by the federal government, the most of any state in the country aside from Nevada. But the initial proposal was met with pushback from some Republicans who have historically opposed public land sales, such as Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., the co-chairman of the newly created Public Lands Caucus. Lee's office worked closely with Montana Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy to assuage concerns from the state delegation about public land sales. The reconciliation language exempts Montana from any sales, but much of the framework was inspired by the Montana senators' suggestions to ease concerns about lack of a public process. The provision would require the interior secretary to consult with state and local governments as well as any Indian tribes before facilitating any sort of sale, according to the bill. That way, aides noted, it created a 'public participant process.' Democrats have also expressed opposition to the proposal, including Sen. Catherine Masto Cortez, D-Nevada, who contended much of the land being sold couldn't be converted into housing anyway. 'Their reconciliation package included federal land sales…that weren't even near areas where you could actually do affordable housing,' Masto said to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum during a Senate hearing on Wednesday. The land is 'in the middle of the desert. There's no infrastructure. I don't know any builder who is going to build housing in the middle of the desert, it makes no sense.' The proposal is also likely to face pushback from some public lands organizations. More than 100 groups penned a letter to Lee and other Senate leadership earlier this week urging them not to include language that would greenlight any land sales. However, GOP aides argued the land sales would help with housing affordability crises in Western states, especially for those who live close to national parks where housing prices are expensive. The public land sales proposal is tucked into a larger section of energy-related provisions, which also includes provisions paving the way for increased lease sales in Alaska, permitting reform, repealing Biden-era clean energy policies, and more. The full section must now be approved by the Senate parliamentarian, who will determine whether the contents adhere to the Byrd Rule and can be included in the final reconciliation package.
