ABOUT US
WHO WE ARE
The Tennessee Federation for Children seeks to empower families, especially lower-income families, with the freedom to choose the best K-12 education for their children. We are a proud state project of the American Federation for Children (AFC).
OUR MISSION
The American Federation for Children seeks to empower families, especially lower-income families, with the freedom to choose the best K-12 education for their children. We believe all parents should have a wide range of high-quality educational options to choose from, regardless of income. AFC works in states across the country to help parents find the options available to them, and push for legislators to pass more programs that fund students, not systems.
“We should empower parents and prioritize funding students over systems. At American Federation for Children-Tennessee, we advocate tirelessly for children and families to be able to attend a school of their choice where each child will flourish and succeed.”
— John Patton, TN AFC State Director
MEET OUR STATE DIRECTOR
John Patton
John Patton is Tennessee State Director for the American Federation for Children where he leads AFC’s campaign to increase educational choice across multiple states across the country.
Patton has extensive experience in the world of education, having begun his career teaching and coaching high school in the St. Louis area before earning a Master of Divinity from Covenant Theological Seminary and spending six years working in higher education administration. He is also a founding board member of King’s Academy, an independent Christian school in the Nashville area launching in 2021-2022.
John is a native of the Nashville area, having been educated in a mixture of public, private, and homeschool settings. John and his wife Annie and their four children make their home in Nashville.