Tennessee State Senator Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) condemned school choice initiatives for “dumbing down” voters, but previously admitted to attending a private school, and was on the board of a private Montessori early childhood school that boasts a waiting list.
Campbell made the remarks on social media following an interaction with school choice advocate Corey DeAngelis, who questioned the lawmaker’s claim that the school choice legislation reportedly promoted by Governor Bill Lee “will destroy public [education] and raise your taxes.”
After DeAngelis questioned Campbell’s claim, she asserted without evidence that DeAngelis is “paid by big oil” to promote school choice because “the dumbing down of the electorate is advantageous to his greedy donors.”
DeAngelis forcefully denied Campbell’s claim he is paid by “big oil,” and noted that Democrats have received more than 99 percent of donations from the American Federation of Teachers since 2000.
“Heidi, however, did go to private school and sent her kid to private school,” DeAngelis claimed in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. He then condemned Campbell as “a liar and a hypocrite.”
this is a state senator lying about me.
her source shows zero evidence of me being "paid by big oil."
Heidi, however, did go to private school and sent her kid to private school.@Campbell4TN, you are a liar and a hypocrite.
delete this post and your account. pic.twitter.com/8mb9UNavVG
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) November 27, 2023
The Tennessee Star could not find evidence Campbell chose a private school for either of her children by press time, but during her campaign to become Nashville mayor, she told The Tennessean she attended St. Bernard Academy as a child.
On the school’s website, St. Bernard Academy explains that tuition for the 2023-2024 school year is $16,000, which does not include the cost of school uniforms, supplies, or lunch programs. There is an additional $500 enrollment fee, and families are invited to pay in one payment, twice annually, or in monthly installments from July to April.
Campbell also told the outlet she established and chaired the Board of Children First Montessori, a private early childhood school that educates children beginning at two months of age and continuing through their fourth grade year.
Admissions information for the current academic year were not available on the school’s website at press time, but the institution warns interested families that “some applications will be placed on our wait list,” and children are selected based on which “best complements the class, giving preference to the earliest applicants and siblings.”
The Star previously reported that Campbell condemned Israel as an “oppressive regime” and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “ruthless dictator” in social media posts made on October 8, within hours of the devastating Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on October 7.
She also joined pro-Hamas protesters at a rally in Nashville that was organized by the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), though video seemed to show her rapidly leaving the protest shortly after she recognized her presence was recorded by cameras.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Heidi Campbell” by Tennessee State Senate; “Corey DeAngelis” by Corey DeAngelis; and “Tennessee Capitol” is by Andre Porter CC3.0.
