Claire Smrekar

Aug 20, 2024 | news.vanderbilt.edu | Jenna Somers |Claire Smrekar |Joanne Golann |Sean Corcoran

By Jenna SomersDuring the 2024 legislative session, the Tennessee General Assembly and Governor Bill Lee attempted to pass a statewide education scholarship account (ESA) program. ESAs—also called education savings accounts—are a type of voucher program that support not only private school tuition but other education-related expenses for families who opt-out of public education.

Mar 7, 2024 | tennessean.com | Claire Smrekar |Joanne Golann

Claire Smrekar and Joanne Golann are associate professors of public policy and education at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has proposed a new statewide voucher program that would offer $7,075 in public funds to 20,000 students to attend a private, independent school or to be used to support home schooling. As education researchers and experts on school choice, we have questions and concerns.

Mar 1, 2024 | news.vanderbilt.edu | Jenna Somers |Claire Smrekar |Joanne Golann |Sean Corcoran

By Jenna SomersIn November 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee proposed the Education Freedom Scholarship Act to establish a new statewide education scholarship account (ESA) program. ESAs—also called education savings accounts—are a type of voucher program that support not only private school tuition but other education-related expenses.

Feb 9, 2024 | ewa.org | Denise-Marie Ordway |Claire Smrekar

This article was republished with permission from The Journalist’s Resource. (Note: The author serves on the EWA board of directors.)  About half of U.S. states offer private school choice programs, which help families pay for private school. It’s a highly politicized, complicated issue involving multiple types of tuition assistance, hundreds of thousands of children and billions of taxpayer dollars. It’s also an issue journalists need to examine closely.