Mayor asks for TN Supreme Court ruling review


NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Metro Nashville has asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to review its recent ruling in favor of Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher program.

The court ruled 3-2 that the governor’s voucher program, known as the Education Savings Account (ESA) Act, was constitutional and did not violate the state constitution’s “home rule.” That rule stipulates the state legislature cannot make laws that single out a specific county or municipality unless it also receives local support by a two-thirds majority.

The ruling overturned several lower court rulings that blocked the measure. Specifically, the court said that the act only affects “the conduct of the local education agencies and not the counties.”

Mayor John Cooper announced Tuesday afternoon that Metro has filed a petition to ask for a review of the decision because the Davidson County schools operate under the umbrella of Metro Nashville.

The mayor and other administration officials believe the court wrongly decided the issue.

“The newly filed petition argues that as a metropolitan government, Nashville and Davidson County included their combined school systems in the new metropolitan government when our citizens voted in 1962 to consolidate and adopt the Metro Charter,” Cooper said.

“Metro Nashville, through the Metro Council or its voters, has the legal right to say whether taxpayer funds should be spent on private schools,” said Wallace Dietz, Director of Law for Metro Nashville. “Our state constitution demands no less. We don’t believe the Court’s reasoning for allowing the state’s voucher program to proceed should apply to Nashville, since we are a metropolitan government with a combined city and county school system.”

Because Metro Nashville Public Schools are part of Metro Nashville, the mayor’s office believes the ESA Act would also apply to Metro, thus making it a violation of the “home rule” amendment, even under the court’s own interpretation of the law.

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The mayor will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Warner Elementary School to further discuss the petition and Metro’s stance.


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