“If you want to know how to make the left mad, just tell them you’re not gonna take federal money, or you don’t want to take federal money.”
That was state House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) at an Oct. 25 meeting for the Republican Women of Williamson County. Not long before, Sexton and Senate leader Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) called a joint task force to consider rejecting more than $1 billion in annual federal education funding. The committee, composed of eight Republicans and two Democrats, is tasked with gathering related information to determine the feasibility of turning down federal dollars and creating “a strategy on how to reject certain federal funding or how to eliminate unwanted restrictions placed on the state due to the receipt of such federal funds” to present to the General Assembly in January.
“There is no precursor to the outcome of what this committee is going to do,” said task force co-chair Sen. Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol) during his opening remarks — though he later expressed frustration that those testifying were being “defensive” about the matter. State leaders have said rejecting the funding wouldn’t mean schools have to go without it, as the state could replace the federal money with its own.
In its first week, the task force heard from Tennessee’s Office of Research and Education Accountability and the legislature’s Fiscal Review Committee, along with think tank The Sycamore Institute, Tennessee school leaders and the National Conference of State Legislatures. According to Lundberg, the U.S. Department of Education was scheduled to testify, but declined to attend the meeting, instead offering only “technical assistance.” But as reported by Kimberlee Kruesi of the Associated Press, according to a DOE spokesperson, they were never invited.
No state has ever rejected federal education funds, and so the financial and procedural implications of this monumental move are unclear.
A major question lawmakers are discussing: What strings are attached to federal education funds, and how do they affect schools? It’s a question that four school leaders from across the state declined to answer when asked by Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis). They focused instead on the many costs that arise within districts, and the need to address them through dedicated — and increased — funding. Republicans often mention the so-called strings, but in committee meetings they’ve never stated exactly what they’re worried about. Sexton, however, mentioned Title IX as one of the concerns at the October Republican Women of Williamson County meeting.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 “prohibits discrimination based on sex.” The Biden administration has proposed adding protections for transgender students into Title IX, though nothing has been made official. The considered changes would contradict Tennessee’s 2021 law requiring transgender students to play on sports teams that reflect the gender assigned on their birth certificate, as opposed to their gender identity. In 2021, Tennessee filed a related lawsuit.
The move would mean less federal oversight for Tennessee schools
The Sycamore Institute published and presented a report on what rejecting federal funds could mean for Tennessee. The report details what the funds are used for, what requirements are attached to them and the questions that would arise should the state reject federal funds. It also highlights three programs that make up the bulk of federal funding allocation, each with its own set of processes and requirements. Child nutrition programs, which come through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, subsidize the cost of feeding qualifying students but require certain eligibility and food standards. Title I of the Every Student Succeeds Act supports students from low-income families through additional funding, but requires states to create a range of academic assessments, standards and accountability models, and Tennessee has had compliance issues with these testing requirements. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act supports students with disabilities by requiring a “free appropriate public education” — schools must create and follow individualized education plans, among other measures, to comply with these standards.
Broader requirements attached to federal funding include those of Title IX, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which “bars discrimination based on actual or perceived race, color or national origin.”
Some of these assurances, such as protections for English learners and students with disabilities, would still be required through, for instance, the 14th Amendment, the Equal Educational Opportunities Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act — but the absence of federal funding would mean less accountability.
“That’s very scary,” says Candice Ashburn, a parent of a special education student. “When I think about layers of protections being taken away — because we don’t get what we need even with the current levels of protection. … In Williamson County, we have to fight every single day to get our kids in special education — who are supposed to have the protection of the [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act] — to get what they deserve. And I’m in, supposedly, a county that is resourced.”
Ashburn continues: “I don’t trust them when they say, ‘We’ll cover it.’ … You can’t ask people to make budgets and plans based on the hypothetical ‘We’ll cover it.’”
Matt Masters contributed to this reporting.
