Tennessee’s revenue surplus for 2020-21 just keeps inching closer to the $2 billion mark. Revenue numbers for May were recently released and show a surplus of $432 million over budgeted estimates for the month. Over the first 10 months of the budget year, revenues are nearly $1.5 billion above projections.
While this is certainly welcome news, it is also worth noting that Tennessee’s public schools are underfunded by $1.7 billion according to a bipartisan commission.
Based on the current trends, it seems likely the state will have a surplus at or over $2 billion by the time the fiscal year is over.
Legislators knew this was coming during their recently-concluded session and yet chose not to invest in public schools in any meaningful way.
This actually follows a pattern of rhetoric touting education investments followed by a severe lack of actual investment.
In fact, a recent report from Education Week shows that Tennessee makes the lowest investment in schools in the nation when compared with available resources.
Tennessee has one of the lowest overall tax burdens in the United States. While that may be a positive in some ways, it can mean less overall revenue available for public investments. However, just because our tax burden is relatively low doesn’t mean we can’t make smart choices. Policymakers could dedicate significant portions of that revenue to high return public goods – like our schools.
Instead, they just don’t.
According to a newly-released report from Education Week, Tennessee spends just 2.9% of all taxable resources on public education. That’s the lowest rate of any state in the nation.
On the other hand, Gov. Bill Lee is working overtime to privatize the state’s public schools. The state is currently in front of the Supreme Court arguing that a voucher scheme in Memphis and Nashville is constitutional.
Lee is also moving quickly to advance charter schools:
On Friday afternoon before Mother’s Day weekend and just after the Tennessee General Assembly had adjourned, the Tennessee Department of Education announced 15 grants for charter school applicants – including grants for charter applications in several districts that do not currently authorize any charter schools – Rutherford County, Montgomery County, Millington Municipal, Fayette County, and Williamson County. The grants would allow applicants to plan and design their applications, and the applicants could ultimately bypass local school districts and receive charter authorization from Gov. Lee’s “Super Charter Commission.” The grants could also result in usurping the authority of elected school boards in Shelby, Hamilton, and Davidson counties.
So, while Tennessee could be making a big dent in its education funding deficit, policymakers have instead chosen to pursue vouchers and charters and leave public schools behind.
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