Tennessee, Flush with Cash, Neglects Public Education
State policymakers look to advance privatization agenda at the expense of public schools
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Here’s just a bit of history.
I first worked at the Tennessee General Assembly in 2003.
I remember legislative sessions where the conversation was around balancing the budget in super difficult times.
A state income tax pushed by Gov. Don Sundquist (a Republican) had failed.
The state was looking for all kinds of ways to cut costs.
School systems ended up suing the state for their fair share of cash - noting the state was failing to live up to the BEP promise of “adequate” funding.
During those times, if you were a legislator and your bill had a cost estimated to be $1 or more, your bill just wasn’t happening.
During those times, school systems were happy to continue receiving their BEP payments and teachers were happy-ish with at least step increases to their pay.
Fast forward to 2023.
Tennessee has experienced a decade of record economic growth.
The state routinely has annual surpluses in excess of $2 billion.
One might think that schools are incredibly well-funded and teachers are especially well-paid now.
That would be incorrect.
Here’s a link to the state’s most recent report on revenue.
In January of 2023 ALONE, the state took in $200 million ABOVE budget estimates.
By way of comparison, Gov. Bill Lee is pledging to spend $125 million on a paltry 4% teacher pay raise for the entire year.
That’s less than 30 days of our state’s SURPLUS revenue.
It’s like Lee and the policymakers going along with his charade are saying teachers aren’t worth more than a few weeks of Tennessee’s “extra” cash.
It’s likely, too, that Tennessee will end up with a surplus in excess of $2 billion this year alone.
By some estimates, the state has about $15 billion in surplus revenue in various accounts.
I’d remind readers of this story:
Tennessee Schools Grapple with $9 Billion in Infrastructure Needs
Oh, and there’s the third grade retention law.
Even if you give Tennessee lawmakers the benefit of the doubt and assume this law was well-intentioned - there’s still no funding for it.
The state has serious infrastructure needs in schools.
The state has an ambitious third-grade reading agenda.
The state’s teachers are not only among the lowest paid in the nation, but also among the lowest paid in the Southeast.
If Gov. Lee and lawmakers used 1/2 of ONLY this year’s surplus, they’d have $1 billion to spend on these issues.
That’d be like a 16% boost in teacher pay, a fully-funded third grade reading program, AND several hundred million to use on starting an infrastructure fund.
Or they can keep doing what they’re doing: Pushing an aggressive agenda of privatizing K-12 education.
Not only are schools neglected but infrastructure across the state. Roads are in horrible condition. But when the Titans need money, oh here, take half a billion. When will Tennessee residents wake up. We need a blue wave to get away from foolish culture wars and cronyism.