U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn Calls for Removing Barriers to Open Public Charter Schools

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (center) with Nashville Collegiate Prep students (Photo by Marsha Blackburn)

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn praised leaders of Nashville Collegiate Prep on Tuesday for being an example of how public charter schools can be life-changing for students.

Blackburn made those remarks while giving the keynote address for the opening of Collegiate Prep’s new high school campus in South Nashville. Collegiate Prep is currently serving 1,200 students in kindergarten through 10th grade with a community classroom model that’s designed to give teachers the opportunity to more directly focus on lessons that students might need help with.

Blackburn said the school is succeeding because its leaders imagined a better future for students.

“This is what charter schools, and this school choice movement, really is in Tennessee,” said Blackburn. “Imagine spurs creation, imagine really underpins everything that exists. Imagine knows no limits.”

School Choice a Campaign Issue

Blackburn’s remarks come as she’s campaigning in next year’s governor’s race, where she’ll face Congressman John Rose and State Representative Monty Fritts, R-Kingston, in the Republican primary.

The U.S. Senator utilized her appearance at Collegiate Prep’s event to promote her support for removing barriers that organizations face when starting new public charter schools.

Charters, for example, do not receive local funding for facilities like traditional public schools. In recent years, finding adequate buildings to educate children in has been a challenge for multiple new charters.

Charter schools are free public schools operated by a non-profit organization under a “charter” with a school district or the state.

Blackburn also reiterated her support for increasing the number of recipients for the Education Freedom Scholarship that allows families to use tax dollars for private school expenses. She says increasing school choice options is the key to reaching Tennessee’s education goals.

“We talk many times about Tennessee being one of the best places on the face of the earth to live, to work, to rear a family,” said Blackburn. “We need to add to that ‘to educate your child.’ And we also therefore want to make it one of the best places to open a school, for parents to choose a school, and for kids to have that opportunity to move through that educational process.”

Congressman Rose has also expressed support for expanding the Education Freedom Scholarship. Representative Fritts was one of 21 Republican lawmakers to vote against the legislation. Representative Fritts was one of 21 Republican lawmakers to vote against the legislation. On his campaign website, Fritts says he would “End fiscally irresponsible, unconstitutional voucher programs.”

The program was opposed by every elected Democrat in the Tennessee General Assembly who argued it would siphon dollars away from public schools.

Nashville Collegiate Grows its Community Classroom Model

Nashville Collegiate Prep opened its doors in August 2021.

Initially, the charter school served kindergarten through eighth grade, but received permission from the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission last year to serve high school students. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon visited the school over the summer and called it a “best-in-class example of a school that is putting students first.”

The charter operator also runs a sister school in Rutherford County that opened last year.