Lower-Cost Reform Bill Nears Passage in Tennessee

By Lonnie Harp

After turning back successive tax reform proposals offered by Gov. Ned McWherter, Tennessee legislators last week were on the verge of passing a scaled-down education-reform plan and ending the debate that has preoccupied state leaders for the past two years.

Observers predicted narrow passage for the education bill and an accompanying half-cent rise in the state sales tax that would generate $230 million in the school-reform plan's first year. Lawmakers were expected to consider the package late last week or early this week.

The sudden and unexpected financial revival of a school district that had been widely reported as being on the brink of collapse, however, has renewed public skepticism about the need for new education funding. As a result, analysts late last week were terming the vote too close to...