The Anderson County Republican Party Doesn’t Care About Public Schools—They Want to Control Them

Last week, I wrote a letter to the editor about the blatant partisanship infecting our local school board, particularly how Mary Crank was elected under the Republican banner without ever having to answer for her positions, her plans, or her qualifications. She didn’t show up to forums. She didn’t talk to the public. She didn’t offer a vision for Oak Ridge Schools. Yet she won—not because she earned voters’ trust, but because the local Republican Party told their base to vote for her.

And as soon as she took office, she proved why that was a problem.

At her very first school board meeting, Crank moved to block a resolution opposing Governor Bill Lee’s private school voucher program—a policy that drains taxpayer dollars from public schools and hands them to private institutions with no oversight. The measure failed, but Crank’s intent was crystal clear: protect Republican policy, not students.

I called this out in my letter because public education is not a partisan issue—unless you want to dismantle it. The Anderson County Republican Party is openly working to gut public schools in favor of private, for-profit alternatives, and Crank is just the latest foot soldier in that effort.

My letter struck a nerve.

Myra Mansfield, chair of the Anderson County Republican Party, wrote a response. And instead of defending vouchers on their merits or explaining why voters should trust Crank, she did what Republicans always do when called out for harming public education: deflect, mislead, and gaslight.

Anderson County Republicans Don’t Think School Boards Should Serve Students

Of all the misleading, bad-faith arguments in Mansfield’s letter, one line stands out as truly damning:

“Regrettably, [Chase Lindsey] fails to understand school boards do not exist exclusively to serve students.”

Read that again.

According to the chair of the Anderson County Republican Party, school boards do not exist to serve students. That is not a misquote. That is her position.

Instead, she argues that school boards exist to serve “citizens” (read: taxpayers), placing financial control and ideological oversight above the well-being of the students these schools actually educate.

This is not a small philosophical difference. This is a fundamental betrayal of the purpose of public education.

Schools do not exist to be managed like corporations. They are not political playgrounds for parties to exert control. They are public institutions that ensure every child—regardless of income, background, or zip code—has access to a high-quality education.

The role of a school board is not to act as ideological watchdogs or budget enforcers. It is to advocate for students, teachers, and families to ensure that education remains accessible, strong, and free from political interference.

By claiming otherwise, Mansfield has exposed what local Republicans really think about public education: it’s not something to be strengthened; it’s something to be controlled.

The Republican Party’s Voucher Agenda Is Alive and Well in Anderson County

Mansfield’s letter doesn’t just defend Crank’s vote against the anti-voucher resolution—it also reveals just how aggressively pro-voucher the local Republican Party is.

She quotes Deb Heaton, a Republican school board member in Clinton, calling her the “place to watch” when it comes to school choice.

That’s not an accident. That’s a signal.

Mansfield is telling the GOP base—and Republican legislators—that Anderson County Republicans are all-in on gutting public school funding in favor of private school vouchers. And she’s using Crank’s election as proof that they can take over school boards and push this anti-public education agenda forward.

Let’s be clear about what vouchers really do:

• They siphon public money into private schools that can reject students for any reason—disability, academic performance, behavior, or simply because they don’t fit the “culture.”

• They give taxpayer dollars to institutions that are not accountable to the public, do not have to report student progress, and are free to teach whatever they want—including religious instruction.

• They weaken public schools by draining resources, forcing budget cuts, increasing class sizes, and worsening teacher shortages.

And yet, Mansfield mocks the idea that anyone would be “terribly afraid of scary vouchers.”

If vouchers weren’t such a threat to public education, why did every major teacher’s organization in Tennessee oppose them? Why did Republicans in rural counties fight against them when Bill Lee tried to force them through?

Because vouchers don’t just harm individual students who leave public schools—they harm entire communities by defunding the schools that serve the majority of children.

If Mansfield and her Republican allies truly cared about education, they would be advocating for fully funding public schools, raising teacher pay, and ensuring students have access to modern facilities and resources.

Instead, they are fighting to undermine the very system that educated them.

This Is Not Just About One School Board Race—It’s About the Future of Public Education

Mary Crank isn’t the first Republican to be installed on a school board with zero accountability, and she won’t be the last.

The Republican strategy is clear: Take over local school boards, push pro-voucher policies, and slowly dismantle public education while calling it “school choice.”

Anderson County voters need to recognize this for what it is: a direct attack on our schools.

We cannot afford to let partisans like Crank and Mansfield dictate the future of public education in our community. We cannot let vouchers drain resources from our schools while politicians laugh off concerns. And we cannot allow school board elections to be decided by party loyalty rather than merit.

Oak Ridge schools deserve board members who show up, answer questions, and put students first. They deserve leadership that believes in public education, not politicians who see schools as just another political prize.

Anderson County Republicans have made their agenda clear: Public schools are not their priority—power is.

If we want to protect our schools, we have to fight back. We have to show up. We have to vote. And we have to hold these so-called “leaders” accountable.

Public schools belong to the people—not to a political party. And if Anderson County Republicans don’t understand that, they don’t deserve to be anywhere near our schools.