Image Credit: Brian J. Matis / CC
The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
Tennessee Representatives who were part of a joint committee examining the state rejecting K-12 federal education funding submitted a report on their findings without the signature of one Democrat member.
The report said Tennessee schools will accept $1.3 billion in federal funding this fiscal year, 9.9% of the funding for those schools. The state contributes $6.9 billion and local governments spend $4.8 billion.
The report offered several suggestions to the Legislature, including increasing legislative involvement in the federal grant process to “implement safeguards to protect the state from unwanted federal overreach.”
The report also suggests the state could apply for waivers of federal requirements through the U.S. Department of Education or re-work the state’s plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and have them re-authorized by the federal government, according to a copy posted by Knoxville NBC affiliate WBIR.
The House report comes after the Senate members of the joint committee filed a separate report in early January, saying they could not agree with House members on recommendations.
Both reports noted that “there are more questions than definitive answers about what rejecting federal K-12 dollars could mean for Tennessee’s obligations because no state has ever done so,” words that first appeared in Sycamore Institute’s October report on the matter.
Rep. Ronnie Glynn, D-Clarksville, will not sign the House report, he said, because “the hearings made clear how harmful such a move would be to Tennessee’s school children and how detrimental it would be to taxpayers and our state’s budget.”
Reps. Debra Moody, R-Covington, John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, Timothy Hill, R-Blountville, and William Slater, R-Gallatin, signed the House report.
“I cannot support such a fiscally irresponsible proposal that would effectively double-bill Montgomery County families and provide no additional benefit to our students and, in several cases, even less services to those who need them most,” Glynn said in a statement. “I will not support placing more financial burden on the shoulders of local officials and my constituents who would inevitably end up paying higher property taxes.
“If our state has the ability to spend over a billion more dollars annually on public education, then we should invest that money in our public school students, teachers and school buildings. Rejecting federal education dollars is a bad idea and would be a grave mistake.”
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
4 Responses
They just cannot stop drinking at the government trough. They continuously sell out our children for government graft. Time to get some real CONSTITUTIONAL conservatives in our TN Assembly. The US Constitution gives ZERO authorization for the federal government to be involved in education, the environment, marriage and most of what they do today. Time to pull back away from the federal government. Education is expensive and a total failure BECAUSE of the federal government. Get out from under and if our elected were truly concerned about REAL education they would find we can do it better and for a lot less. EVERYTHING the federal government funds or touches is always more expensive and totally inefficient. Tennessee needs to rethink its priorities. Is it to the federal government or to the people of our state?? If our Assembly won’t step up to the plate then we will find people who will.
Karen is 100% correct! The federal government’s contribution to education is UNCONSTITUTIONAL…. read that ILLEGAL. Not just against the LAW, but against the SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND and therefore our legislators are involved in a Criminal enterprise even worse than if they were receiving educational funding from Mexican drug cartels and claiming that… you know… we really DEPEND on the cartels money, and even though we KNOW it’s ILLEGAL, we just can’t afford to do without it!!
Sounds sort of like our forefathers. When they knew slavery was immoral and knew they should stop it but… ya know… they just couldn’t afford to.
When are our legislators going to Live up to their oath to the constitution!!
TN’s pubic ejikashun is near total fail.
The statists want to be sure we do not recall that the US went from #2 (Australia was #1bc of home schooling, mostly via CB radio bc of the distances between towns and farms)
to #37 in the world bc of federal acquiescence to socialist edu unions.
Since the intervention of the federal DOE was established American public schools have bn continuously dumbed down for many reasons. The paramount effect of the removal of small business and unbiased accurate US history teachings has achieved its socialist goal
of turning out individuals w.o American virtue.
*American Virtue
*Critical Thinking
*American Citizenship
*Individual Idependence
*American Sovereignty
Are just a few examples of what we hv lost.
How many students are informed enough to comprehend that an American citizens greatest burden is our own government greatly perverted by the likes and followers of Woodrow Wilson and Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.
These are just a few of the many persons wrongly held in high regard by those that hate America and Americans.
These few examples are enough to justify the jettison of the detrimental heavy yoke of the Illegal federal intervention in more than our public education system.
It’s a good start though.
It’s often mentioned the additional costs to states if we were able to free ourselves from the federal DOE.
I think the time has come to evaluate the financial burden heaped upon all municipalities due to implementing the forced schemes of the feds.
Yes, they are schemes, designed to further subjugate the American spirit.
And dangerously deepen the mind set of individual dependence in what amounts to governmental oppression.