Bill Lee's School Funding Formula Leads Tennessee to the Bottom in School Funding

Warnings about the failings of TISA were ignored

Photo by David Pisnoy on Unsplash

A recent story about Tennessee school funding notes not only is the state dead last in the nation in school funding, but also, the state’s investment in schools has dropped by 10% since the 2023-24 school year.

Why is Tennessee Last in the Nation in School Funding?

Interestingly, that’s the first year of Gov. Bill Lee’s new education funding formula, TISA - Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement.

Though neither an investment nor focused on student achievement, those words do sound nice together.

If only there’d been some warning about the dangers of this funding formula - which came with the appetizing string of significant new funding in 2023-24 and promises of continued increased investment. Promises that some who study Tennessee school funding found unlikely to materialize.

Back in 2022, when TISA was being debated (lawmakers were being tricked into supporting it/promised big money for their districts), I wrote:

Here’s how we know this plan won’t boost student achievement. First, it does nothing to shore up the shortage of teachers needed to adequately support students now. That is, according to both TACIR and the Comptroller, Tennessee districts hire MORE teachers (11,000 more, to be exact) than the current formula funds. Guess what? TISA does nothing to change that. There is no indication that the weights will mean more teachers hired and supported by state funding.

Next, TISA does nothing to boost overall teacher pay. Sure, TISA “allows” lawmakers to earmark certain funds to give raises to “existing” teachers, but that doesn’t mean they will. Nor does it mean those raises will be significant. This year’s $125 million set aside for teacher compensation will mean what is effectively a 2-3% raise for most teachers. Based on current inflation rates and rising insurance premiums, this essentially amounts to a pay cut.

And now?

School funding in the state is dead last in the nation - and lower in real dollars than it was in the first year of TISA - 10% lower.

Teacher pay in the state?

Also lower than our neighbors - and lower in real dollars (6.5% lower) than a decade ago.

Lee’s legacy is clear: Less investment in schools, lower pay for teachers. Instead, Lee is spending $300 million next year to expand his private school discount coupon scheme - taking money from the least able to pay (and least likely to have access to private schools) and funneling it to the already quite wealthy.

Some knew TISA was bad news from the start - and now, many are finding out just how bad this experiment really is.

Don’t forget: TISA helped Gov. Lee get out of a lawsuit over inadequate funding for schools based on the old funding formula, the BEP. Lee told the courts: Trust me, there will be more money for schools with TISA.

The bait-and-switch helped Lee and his GOP legislative allies avoid real responsibility - and left the state’s public schools behind.

Now, our schools are worse off, our teachers are among the lowest-paid, and we need nearly $2 billion to catch up to Mississippi.