As we approach the midpoint of the school year, conversations about how Tennessee funds its schools are ongoing. Monday night, the Tennessee Alliance for Equity in Education, which is organized by the Education Trust in Tennessee, hosted a town hall to discuss state education funding — similar to eight other town halls that the department of education has hosted across the state.
Education commissioner Penny Scwhinn was in attendance Monday night, along with state Rep. John Ray Clemmons and state Sen. Brenda Gilmore, as well as four Metro Nashville Public School Board members — board chair Christiane Buggs, Rachael Anne Elrod, Freda Player-Peters and Gini Pupo-Walker, the latter of whom is state director of the Education Trust in Tennessee. The event was held at Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church in Nashville.
These conversations were spurred by an October announcement from Gov. Bill Lee that he plans to revamp the state’s education funding formula. The town hall lands amid a 6-year-old lawsuit including 89 counties across the state arguing that Tennessee — which ranks in the bottom 10 states in education spending across the country — does not adequately fund its schools. Per a judge’s ruling, the case, which was scheduled to take place in February, has been postponed to October through a joint motion to stay proceedings until after the 2022 legislative session, in part to allow “time for Gov. Lee to potentially approve or veto” a new formula.
The theme of Monday night was pie, as Tennesseeans took to the mic to voice their comments about the state’s allocation of education funds. Before the meeting began, a representative of Nashville Organized for Action and Hope, which also helped organize the town hall, noted that “we need a bigger pie,” prompting a call-and-response from the audience. Throughout the night, several speakers referred back to the pie metaphor and used pie charts — some of them featuring literal pies — to drive their point home. Perry Wiggins, pastor of Alameda Christian Church, even gave Schwinn an actual pie as “a delicious reminder that the people of Tennessee want a bigger pie” — that is, more funding, rather than a focus on how a smaller pie gets divided up.
Parents, students and advocates voiced their concern for education funding priorities, with some noting their desire for a formula that sufficiently addresses students who need more resources — such as English learners and those with disabilities. People also asked for better pay for teachers and support staff, plus more funding for positions like psychologists and social workers. These concerns echo what people across Tennessee have requested at other town halls.
One Pearl-Cohn High School senior said Monday night that he’s attended schools in Indiana, Texas and Tennessee, and noted that “this has been my worst experience of education … subpar, to say the least.”
Scwinm listened to the comments and noted that the TDOE will continue to solicit more feedback from individual school districts and faith-led and community organizations. Tennesseeans can also send comments to tnedu.funding@tn.gov. The comments will then be siphoned to different subcommittees, which will review them and make recommendations to the education funding steering committee.
