Citing ‘leverage,’ Zachary ‘fights’ for Farragut, Knox County schools
State Rep. Jason Zachary (R-Farragut/Concord/West Knox County)
In meetings with Republican Gov. Bill Lee, proposing the program granting tax dollars for private school choice, and GOP House Speaker Glen Casada, telling them Knox County needed to be exempted from the tax dollar voucher program for him to support it, Zachary (R-Farragut/Concord/West Knox County) originally didn’t get those assurances.
With the program primarily targeted for large urban counties such as Shelby, Davidson and Knox, Zachary said he “had to use leverage” by voting “no,” deadlocking the House vote 49-49 Tuesday, April 23.
Changing his vote to yes after a rare 40-minute special meeting when Casada “held the voting board open,” where Zachary met with the speaker and a few other lawmakers on a General Assembly “back porch,” Zachary said Casada assured him Knox would be exempted from the program after the bill was finalized in conference with the Senate, which also passed the bill. It passed the House 50-48.
“When the vote was tied, it was the only opportunity I had to fight for Knox County,” he added, leaving Zachary to answer questions from a Washington Post reporter, among other journalists, following his changed vote.
Zachary denied any wrongdoing during the voting board open meeting. Other than the exemption for Knox County, “I was not offered anything for the district and nothing personally — that would obviously be illegal,” he said.
Several Democrats condemned the 40-minute “voting board opening” and resulting vote change, including state Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-West Knox County). (See related story starting on page 1A).
Despite insisting on the county’s exemption, “it’s no secret I’ve always been a school (voucher) choice supporter,” Zachary said.
Why exempt Knox County from a bill you otherwise support?
“This is a four-year pilot program, and right now in Knox County we have zero failing schools,” he said. “This program is designed to help parents with children, and give them options if they are in a failing school. So Shelby and Davidson, between the two of them, have over a 100 schools in the bottom 10 percent — 48 of them are failing schools. ... You have to roll a pilot program out in the areas that are most affected.”
The other reason he wanted Knox exempted was simply financial. “When the news broke about three weeks ago that Knox County was going to be about $5.7 million short in anticipated revenue growth from the BEP, it created a serious budget conversation,” Zachary said.
“I’ve met with the governor multiple times, I’ve met with the Speaker of the House at least six times” before the voting board open meeting, to see about “getting Knox County back that $5.7 million,” he added. “It was going to affect the teacher raises and the capital projects.”
In those meetings, Zachary said he was assured by Lee and Casada the state “would help Knox County in the final funding shortage.”
