School voucher bill dead in Tennessee

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the General Assembly on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Nashville, Tenn.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the General Assembly on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Nashville, Tenn.

NASHVILLE -- A school voucher bill is dead in the Tennessee General Assembly for this year.

"The votes are just not there this year," the bill's sponsor, Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, told House Finance Subcommittee members. But he said he would return next year.

The bill sought to allow poor parents with children in failing schools to use taxpayer dollars to attend willing private or religious schools.

Senators had previously passed the bill, sponsored in the upper chamber by Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga.

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