Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Casey Greer

Date

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Leadership & Policy Studies

Committee Chair

Charisse Gulosino

Abstract

In an effort to improve education, the Tennessee state legislature in early 2025 passed a bill to expand the state’s current targeted program to a universal Education Savings Account program in which state funding is set to be reallocated to private institutions for any Tennessee student who applies and is accepted. A list of the participating private institutions can be found on the state’s Department of Education website. While on first glance, the program is beneficial to Tennessee students, with a deeper investigation – the program is contentious for many citizens within the state. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the public’s perception of the existing targeted program in order to distinguish what aspects of an individual’s demographic makeup make them more or less likely to support the program. Variables considered over the course of this study include race/ethnicity, urbanicity, socioeconomic status, and religious and political viewpoints. Participants of the study are parents of K-12 students and residents of one of the four school districts in which the program is currently in its third pilot year. These counties include the following: The Memphis-Shelby County School District, The Hamilton County School District, The Metro Nashville School District, and The Achievement School District. Participant responses were voluntary and recorded using the Qualtrics database. Data were collected through the use of a Likert survey and analyzed using two types of statistical tests – Chi-Square Tests of Independence and Multinomial Logistic Regression Analysis. The data indicates that an individual’s demographic composition is, in fact, indicative of the degree of voucher support. The most significant demographic variables include the following: race and ethnicity, degree of educational attainment, and political viewpoint. Individuals who were classified as white, had previously attained a four-year college degree, or were moderate in their political views were much more likely to respond negatively to perception variables in comparison with their peers. As there is a current lack of research available to understand the factors that influence voucher support, the findings of this study will contribute to the contentious policy landscape as well as to understanding to influence future policy initiatives.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

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Notes

Open access.

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