U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is coming to Nashville on Monday to join Gov. Bill Lee in a discussion about education, the governor's office announced Sunday.

According to the governor's office, DeVos and Lee will attend a roundtable discussion with families, educators, local elected leaders and others. The visit will then end with a tour of LEAD Cameron, a charter middle school in Nashville.

The visit is aimed at highlighting what the governor's office says are the benefits of school choice.

The visit also comes as Lee pushes an education savings account program for Tennessee, more money for charter school facilities and a new way for charter schools to seek authorization to open.

One of the most controversial pieces of legislation before the Tennessee General Assembly this year is Lee's proposal to create an education savings account program.

The House Education Committee approved the plan last week. The proposal would set aside $75 million over the next three years to begin the education savings accounts.

If approved, the program would begin in the 2021-22 school year and use public money to allow parents to send their children to private school or cover other education-related expenses.

By 2024, the plan could cost taxpayers as much as $125 million.

To participate in the program under the proposal, students would need to be enrolled in a Tennessee public school zoned to a district with at least three or more schools in the bottom 10 percent of all statewide in terms of academic performance.

That list includes Shelby County Schools, Knox County Schools, the Jackson-Madison County School District, Metro Nashville Public Schools and Hamilton County Schools. Students in schools overseen by the state-run Achievement School District would also be eligible.

In addition, Lee has proposed a change in how charter schools are authorized in the state. He is calling for the creation of a nine-member Tennessee Public Charter Commission to authorize charter schools denied by a local school district.

That task currently assigned to the Tennessee State Board of Education. Under the new plan, the commission would become the local education agency and have oversight for any charter schools it authorizes.

Meanwhile, Lee has proposed adding $12 million to the state budget for charter schools to use to buy new property and make upgrades to existing buildings.

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