The plan comes amid a contentious special session in which funding for both public campuses and private school choice hangs in the balance.

This year specifically, almost 500 fewer students enrolled compared to last year, marking a 2.5% decrease. The trend has been ailing the school district over the last decade.

At least 25 states and the District of Columbia allow schools to suspend students for "willful defiance", according to the LawAtlas Project's Policy Surveillance Portal. This week, California became the first state in the US to ban such suspensions for all students, expanding a pre-existing ban on the disciplinary practice for students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade.

Republicans have long despised the federal government's involvement in education, but lawmakers in Tennessee are considering an unprecedented step: rejecting all federal funding in the name of ending what they call Washington's "excessive overreach."

Chief of Schools Scott Schneider, is getting eager support from education voices in Jacksonville and beyond—and was previously endorsed by several Duval School Board members when he sought superintendent jobs outside of Jacksonville.

"I want to make sure we provide a carrot to make sure this legislation gets passed," Gov. Greg Abbott said of vouchers. "Once [education savings accounts] are passed, I will put on the legislative agenda full funding for public education."

The bill would give parents $8,000 to use on a child's private school tuition or other education-related expenses, such as uniforms or textbooks.

With about 66,000 students—more than the public school enrollment in Boston or Seattle—the Pentagon's schools for children of military members and civilian employees quietly achieve results most educators can only dream of.