Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is now pushing for a statewide expansion of the state's school voucher program.
While Republicans voiced little concern about the potential affects vouchers might have on the state's urban school districts, they balked at losing educational funding in their own communities to private schools.
Tennessee is already among the bottom tier of states in terms of educational funding, and this plan could further shift money from the public school system to private entities.
Political analyst Otis Sanford says state Republicans may be less enthusiastic about defunding their local school systems when the debate returns to the General Assembly.
Also this week, Tennessee's gun laws once again raised the ire of Memphis after a man was spotted in midtown taking his gun for a walk near schools. Republicans believe random people exhibiting their Second Amendment rights on the streets should have a calming influence in a city facing historic crime rates.
Sanford explains why that is not the case.
