School Funding Discussions Continue With Hopes For Parent-Driven Educational Choices

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The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

School funding has been a hot topic in recent weeks as Tennesseans across the state have attended town hall meetings hosted by the Department of Education and Governor Lee with hopes of being able to express their thoughts regarding the reevaluation of Tennessee’s school funding formula.

Dozens attended each of the meetings, calling on officials to consider needs in a number of different areas when determining how to fund schools going forward.

School system representatives touted the need for additional funding for behavior specialists, school counselors, and other student support staff, as well as additional resources for specific subgroups of students such as English language learners, economically-disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities.

LeAndrea Ware, executive principal of The Howard School in Chattanooga, emphasized the importance of funding to support all students.

“Student-based funding is really going to help us and support us in how we come up with nontraditional, customized ways to make sure every student can leave here and be a productive citizen in society,” Ware said.

According to Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn, “One of the foundational elements of a student-based budget is that it is funding the needs of individual children…how that money then gets allocated at the district level is much more flexible.”

Many speakers, however, are hoping that the change in the funding formula leads to more opportunities for parents to make educational choices for their children. 

Kevin Cherrick, a father of seven from Chattanooga, stated that he wanted to see educational decisions placed back in the hands of parents.

“The fundamental mission of education is to allow our children to provide for themselves, and no one is in a better position to understand the needs of their child than their parents,” Cherrick said. “Funding should go directly to parents to be spent as they see fit for the needs of their kid.”

Commissioner Schwinn, who largely avoided comments regarding school choice, stated at one point that creating a school voucher system was a move that would have to be done by the General Assembly. 

Governor Lee has previously stated that he wants the new funding formula to place the emphasis on students and not school systems. He also said he wanted to “empower parents,” allowing them to be more involved in their child’s education.

Teachers countered those ideas with concerns that they would be underrepresented on subcommittees, and many questioned whether the state would actually do a thorough review since schools had never actually been fully funded under the current BEP model.

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The 18 subcommittees are set to meet at least three times each through the month of January. 

Governor Lee and Commissioner Schwinn have not committed to a timeframe for a new funding proposal, but Lee did say he hoped to have it ready to present in the 2022 session of the General Assembly.

About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Directory for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com