Effects of Voucher Program on TSSAA Sports

[warmachine7954]

11 hours ago, Gfieldjackets05 said:

I'm guessing tssaa will pass the one time transfer rule since this education bill passed.

I think there is a very good chance that this gets passed.

Scenario: Student A qualifies for a voucher, is a good (insert sport) player, is accepted to (insert school here) then is ineligible because of the current TSSAA rules. 

They are not going to let that happen. That is a bad look for the voucher program. This will be universal across the board in public schools. That way it looks like the voucher program is successful and promotes school choice.

FYI: I'm a PS teacher/coach and disagree with the voucher program and school choice. Neither is as simple as people want to believe and it's all very political to pander to both sides of the aisle at the state level and in Washington D.C.

[ReitzFan]

If a private school accepts voucher students they would most likely have to give up control of how they run their school. I don't see many private schools wanting to give up control of their schools to a government agency. I don't see the voucher program greatly boosting the student populations off most private schools. I forsee several privates even refusing to take vouchers.

Also, this possible goofy one time free transfer rule could very well upset the competitive balance. It could very well cause some programs to shut down. A team with a few good athletes but low overall student participation would be severely affected when the local richy rich school raids a smaller schools talent base

[cbg]

How does the voucher program affect the rural (Class A and AA) schools?  Most of them are such a long drive (min 1 hour) from where the kids currently attend school to a private school that I personally don’t see much of a change.  Yes, they could possibly attend a boarding school but those schools will offer 100% of the financial aid or even NIL monies so that does not appear to be an issue.  Why were the rural counties so against the vouchers?

[stangsby3]

23 hours ago, cbg said:

How does the voucher program affect the rural (Class A and AA) schools?  Most of them are such a long drive (min 1 hour) from where the kids currently attend school to a private school that I personally don’t see much of a change.  Yes, they could possibly attend a boarding school but those schools will offer 100% of the financial aid or even NIL monies so that does not appear to be an issue.  Why were the rural counties so against the vouchers?

I am no expert on the subject, but I believe the vouchers will be pulled from the same money pool that funds public schools.

[cbg]

23 minutes ago, stangsby3 said:

I am no expert on the subject, but I believe the vouchers will be pulled from the same money pool that funds public schools.

If what you are saying is true, again I see how in no way how it would affect rural schools because few if any kids would be leaving due to the long commute to a private school.  We will all learn more if and when the federal department of education is indeed eliminated as it has been discussed.

[tradertwo]

18 hours ago, cbg said:

If what you are saying is true, again I see how in no way how it would affect rural schools because few if any kids would be leaving due to the long commute to a private school.  We will all learn more if and when the federal department of education is indeed eliminated as it has been discussed.

Wait and see. Private schools will "pop up" in rural communities that only educate 100 or so kids, but they will drag down the small rural publics further in size. Regarding athletics, an hour drive is what most do to play at the rural level anyway...league ball, lessons, practices, and games for those serious about playing at the next level in the big three sports happen every day of the week and on most weekends. Privates are not required to accept any student, voucher money in hand or not...what they will do is deny enrollment to every potential student who is not an asset to them and cherry pick the athletes and honor students, to whom they benefit the least. Kids who should benefit from the program, public schools, and taxpayers lose...privates win.

[BelieveITorNot]

This is a great thread! The Voucher program will have a HUGE effect on TSSAA sports. 1st they will have to eliminate all transfer restrictions = open enrollment for the whole state. 2nd Private Schools should benefit greatly IF they accept Vouchers ( I would accept them lol). Their enrollment numbers will increase, they will be able to get more athletes from local failing schools thus they will excel or greatly improve in athletics and as we all know, having success in sports changes the whole school culture and community culture. 3rd Parents that want better access to a good education, smaller classes, better facilities will or could remove their child from the local mediocre  curriculum, gang infested school. As far as the tax payer funds, everything is paid for from the lottery and sports gambling revenue. We should be investing MORE than 7k per student. HOW MUCH MONEY DID WE GIVE THE TITANS for the new staduim?

[estes73]

9 hours ago, BelieveITorNot said:

This is a great thread! The Voucher program will have a HUGE effect on TSSAA sports. 1st they will have to eliminate all transfer restrictions = open enrollment for the whole state. 2nd Private Schools should benefit greatly IF they accept Vouchers ( I would accept them lol). Their enrollment numbers will increase, they will be able to get more athletes from local failing schools thus they will excel or greatly improve in athletics and as we all know, having success in sports changes the whole school culture and community culture. 3rd Parents that want better access to a good education, smaller classes, better facilities will or could remove their child from the local mediocre  curriculum, gang infested school. As far as the tax payer funds, everything is paid for from the lottery and sports gambling revenue. We should be investing MORE than 7k per student. HOW MUCH MONEY DID WE GIVE THE TITANS for the new staduim?

The 7K amount is designed to mirror the amount currently allotted per year for each public school student.  Do you think the state funding should also be increased for public school students (or just for the private school voucher kids)?  Just wondering because if only the voucher amount were to be increased, then the state would actually be spending more, per student, on private school kids than public school kids.

[BelieveITorNot]

1 hour ago, estes73 said:

The 7K amount is designed to mirror the amount currently allotted per year for each public school student.  Do you think the state funding should also be increased for public school students (or just for the private school voucher kids)?  Just wondering because if only the voucher amount were to be increased, then the state would actually be spending more, per student, on private school kids than public school kids.

I think it should be for all students.

[ItsAlwaysSunnyInAtwood]

On 1/31/2025 at 9:20 AM, GrumpyBulldog said:

What proponents of the voucher plan either didn't consider, or aren't acknowledging is this, private schools are going to raise tuition rates to a point where the vouchers are essentially worthless. I don't see a huge impact on players transferring from public to private schools as a result.

Why would they raise their tuitions when they can simply just deny the applicant 

[scout0311]

5 hours ago, ItsAlwaysSunnyInAtwood said:

Why would they raise their tuitions when they can simply just deny the applicant 

In a word, GREED!!!

[edscissorhands]

if the money is allowed to follow the student regardless, then this will really affect the small rural schools number as a big number of students will take the money and run to home school programs thus lowering enrollment numbers and teaching numbers