Category Archives: School Funding

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COVID-19 and School Budgets

Even as the coronavirus highlights the value of public schools to our communities, school systems are facing significant budget uncertainty. Chalkbeat reports on how schools in Memphis are looking ahead and what COVID-19 might mean in 2020-21 and beyond.


Before a global pandemic closed Memphis schools indefinitely, Shelby County Schools was already planning staff cuts in its central office and in schools.


As of Saturday, Superintendent Joris Ray’s administration was expecting to eliminate 139 central office positions and 115 teacher positions, according to budget documents Chalkbeat obtained. Anticipated teacher raises would be 1% after state funding cuts last week. Overall spending for the $1 billion budget would be down $11.5 million, or about 1%.


Now as the new coronavirus spreads, the proposed 2020-21 budget is constantly changing as federal, state, and local governments adjust their spending plans for education.


And county officials, who provide local funding for schools, are researching what it would cost to get virtual classrooms fully functioning while also calculating an expected decline in sales tax money as households spend less on businesses that had to close or cut back operations during the pandemic. State officials rely on sales tax money for schools and are anticipating a significant drop in revenue.


“This is going to force us to be disciplined about what we invest in,” said Michael Whaley, who leads the county commission’s education committee. He added poverty should not be the reason students do not have access to online learning. “That’s just not fair to those students. I think this lights a fire to figure out how to do this.”

Funding is down under a recently approved barebones emergency budget, including money for teacher raises and other initiatives. Gov. Bill Lee has not yet earmarked money for districts to purchase equipment to launch online classes, so only districts that already had enough laptops for every student are fully switching to digital learning.

While state funding for investments in public school decreased from Gov. Lee’s original proposal, the budget does include more than $40 million to fund vouchers.

The legislature is slated to reconvene in June and it’s possible they could address long-term budget concerns for school districts based on the impact of the COVID-19 shutdown.

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Make that 2%

In Governor Bill Lee’s initial budget address, he proposed a 4% adjustment to the BEP salary component (effectively a 2% raise for teachers). Now, in the face of the coronavirus threat, his revised budget adjusts that to a 2% increase. That effectively means most teachers will see a raise of less than 1% or, in many cases, no raise at all.

Here’s the budget amendment.

It reduces the BEP inflationary adjustment and cuts in half the initial proposed increase in the teacher salary component. It also completely deletes the charter school slush fund.

Also, according to Chalkbeat, the budget proposal retains $37 million to fund the first year of Lee’s voucher scheme:


Lee retained $37 million for education savings accounts, a controversial program set to start this fall to let eligible families in Memphis and Nashville use taxpayer money to pay for private school tuition.

Meanwhile, the proposal adds significantly to the Rainy Day fund.

Yes, instead of using the state’s billions in reserves to keep schools and other services moving forward, this budget proposal actually ADDS to the rainy day fund while cutting improvements to teacher pay.

It’s up to the General Assembly to approve this measure, of course, but there’s little indication Lee’s moves will be challenged.

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School Funding: A Renewed Call to Action

Despite cancelling a planned rally to drum up support for improved school funding, the Tennessee Education Association is still calling for teachers and public education advocates to take action on or around March 16th. More from TEA President Beth Brown.

Following the announcement yesterday of our decision to cancel the TEA Rally for Our Schools, I want to challenge you to still mark Monday, March 16, as a Day of Action for the funding our schools deserve. Our public schools need a $1.2 billion investment from the state to provide the resources, services and support our students need to succeed. 

It’s affordable: Tennessee can do this without raising taxes. It’s right: Strong public schools are the foundation of strong, thriving communities. It’s time: Underfunding our schools has gone on for too long; The students sitting in our classrooms right now, and the generations to come, deserve the very best education. 

Monday, March 16, 2020, is a day we have all been looking forward to since the delegates at the TEA RA in 2019 voted unanimously that a large-scale action was needed to increase state funding. While we can no long risk a large in-person gathering, we still have the opportunity for a statewide, large-scale action. 

I am asking each local association to identify a way for public education advocates in your community to show their support for increased state investment in public education. This can be anything from wearing red on Monday (including your Rally shirts, if you have them), to posting social media videos stating why your school deserves better funding, to a flood of phone calls to your state legislators. Better yet, you could do all three!

We must remain focused on this goal and not let the loss of the rally result in lost momentum. Elected officials in Nashville need to feel the pressure from folks back home that we are watching, and we expect better for Tennessee’s public schools. 

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Coronavirus Cancels School Funding Rally

The Tennessee Education Association has cancelled a planned March 16th rally for school funding because of fears around the coronavirus (COVID-19). Here’s more from an email:

For more than 150 years, TEA leadership and staff have been committed to working in the best interest of Tennessee students and educators. It is for that reason that we have made the decision to cancel the Rally for Our Schools on Monday, March 16. In an abundance of caution for the health of educators, students and TEA staff, we cannot responsibly ask hundreds of public education advocates to gather together in Nashville as the coronavirus continues to spread across the state.

While the rally has been cancelled, the fight continues. It is more important than ever that we do not lose our momentum or focus on accomplishing our goal to increase state funding to the Southeast average. We are in a critical moment for the future of public education funding in our state. Our students and schools need a dramatic increase in state investment in public education. Please watch for communication from TEA in the coming days via email, print publications and social media for details on the next step in this fight and how you can be involved.

TEA will also be sharing information with members on how we can all support our fellow educators and students affected by the tornados in Middle Tennessee.

Sincerely,

Beth Brown, TEA President

Carolyn Crowder, TEA Executive Director

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Wilson County Voters Approve Funds for Teacher Pay Raise

Yesterday’s election provided good news for teachers in Wilson County, as voters there approved a sales tax increase with a portion of the proceeds from increased revenue dedicated to increasing teacher pay. The Lebanon Democrat has more:


The sales tax in Wilson County will be going to 9.75 percent from 9.25 percent after voters overwhelmingly gave their OK Tuesday.


The referendum passed 58% to 42%, according to complete yet unofficial results posted by Wilson County Elections Administrator Phillip Warren.

The vote came as the result of a decision by the Wilson County Commission to put the issue of where to find new revenue to fund teacher pay to voters.


The move comes as Wilson County is feeling the impact of the national teacher shortage, driven in part by low pay for educators. Additionally, new reports indicate teacher pay in Tennessee has actually fallen over the last decade when adjusted for inflation. Wilson County also suffers from a pay scale tied to teacher value-added scores.

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Comprehensive Review

A state organization tasked with providing research on the operations of state and local government has released a report suggesting Tennessee’s school funding formula, the BEP, needs at least $1.7 billion to adequately fund public education in the state. TACIR — The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations — released “K-12 Education Funding and Services.” Here are some notes:

*   Report shows local governments spend at least $1.7 billion over BEP requirements.


 *   “Comparisons of BEP-funded to actual positions show that school systems often need to hire more staff than provided for by the formula” (Page 18)


 *   “In fiscal year 2018-19, the BEP funding formula generated a total of 62,888 licensed instructional positions, but school systems employed a total of 69,633 with state and local revenue.”

“Although the changes made in 1992 and since have resulted in substantial increases in funding to support the BEP, meeting local needs and the requirements imposed by the state and federal governments often requires more resources than the BEP funding formula alone provides. Consequently, state and local funding in fiscal year 2017-18 totaled $2.1 billion over and above what was required by the BEP formula, including a total of $1.7 billion in local revenue.”

“Given the ever evolving needs of communities in Tennessee and the likelihood that the BEP funding formula could better account for these needs, the Commission recommends that a comprehensive review of the components be made by the BEPRC or other designated state and local officials and other stakeholders to ensure that the BEP funding formula supports a commonly accepted basic level of education for Tennessee students.”

The TACIR report, showing a gap of nearly 7000 teachers, comes on the heels of a Tennessee Department of Education report indicating a “teacher gap” of 9000.

Additionally, the $1.7 billion identified by TACIR is slightly more than the $1.5 billion targeted by a group of legislators seeking to bring the BEP up to a level of adequacy.

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Why Should Teachers Work for Free?

Former teacher Kat Tipton writes in Education Week that free work is expected of teachers, and suggests it’s likely because a vast majority of educators are women.

When I was hired to be a 1st grade teacher, I was given absolutely no curriculum for reading or science. While my school did have a math curriculum, it was out of date from the brand new, controversial Common Core State Standards and did not match our assessments. Instead, I was told to plan with my colleagues.

This often led to me scouring the internet for good resources. While some coworkers were willing to share, they rarely sat down and explained what they were giving me, and I certainly never had the opportunity to observe them using it. I was in over my head and had no idea what I was doing.

However, there is a growing number of disdainful educators who are downright angry that teachers are daring to sell their materials on Teachers Pay Teachers. At a technology conference last summer, I heard a presenter loudly talking in the vendor expo center. I listened as he laughed and called TPT sellers the “whores of education.” In a session later that day, I learned about a website where teachers can upload their work for free for others to use.

Why are teachers expected to give away their hard work for free? The presenters in charge of the website explained that they were there to “help kids” and not themselves. I have seen this same sentiment on Twitter often. If you really cared about kids, you would just let people have the things you make rather than sell them!

But, is that fair? Do doctors who work with children give their medical advice away for free? Does Google look around, as it makes new technology for teachers, and say, “You know what? Let’s share all this with Microsoft. After all, it’s for kids!”? Can you think of a single other profession in which those in it are not given what they need to complete their job, are expected to make their own materials, and are then expected to just give those materials away to others?

No, the real problem here is that so many teachers aren’t given what they need in order to do their job—for kids—that they have to pay other teachers to get what they need. The lack of funding in our schools is shocking, and it’s no surprise that schools can’t afford up-to-date curriculum when many can’t even afford basic furniture or actual teachers.

More than three-quarters of public school teachers are women. Would we value the work done by teachers and sold online—and would we be less likely to call those who participate “whores”—if more teachers were men? The average public school teacher makes about $55,000 a year, and the majority have at least two degrees. If a teacher had a side job at American Eagle, would she still be a “whore”? Why is selling something related to teaching as a side job considered to be the worst thing a teacher can do?

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The Impact of a Broken School Funding System

Tennessee’s school funding formula, the BEP, is broken. It fails to adequately fund teaching positions. It fails to account for actual salaries paid to teachers. It fails to provide the money necessary to adequately equip schools. There’s simply not enough funding for nurses or counselors or other key support staff. Here’s one teacher talking about what a broken school funding system looks like.

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What Matters? Money!

While some Tennessee lawmakers are pushing for a significant new investment in our state’s schools, new evidence suggests that a cash infusion is just what schools need to retain teachers and improve student outcomes.

Here’s the breakdown from Matt Barnum:

This tracks with a post I shared recently from We Are Teachers noting that a boost to teacher pay has a long-term impact on student achievement:


When teachers get paid more, students do better. In one study, a 10% increase in teacher pay was estimated to produce a 5 to 10% increase in student performance. Teacher pay also has long-term benefits for students. A 10% increase in per-pupil spending for each of the 12 years of education results in students completing more education, having 7% higher wages, and having a reduced rate of adult poverty. These benefits are even greater for families who are in poverty.

Tennessee needs $500 million just to properly staff schools — and that’s just teachers. We need more to add the proper number of counselors, nurses, and other key support staff.

Our teachers need a raise — Tennessee teachers earn about $2400 less than they did back in 2009 when salaries are adjusted for inflation.

This new round of research backs up what those on the front lines of public education will tell you: Money matters. It matters a lot.

While Gov. Lee and his legislative allies push failed charter solutions and sketchy voucher plans, our public schools are starving for support.

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Tinkering Around the Edges

State Senator Jeff Yarbro offers thoughts on Gov. Lee’s education budget.


“The governor‘s budget is not enough to even do a 4 percent increase for teacher pay. It’s tinkering around the edges in a year that we have one of the biggest budget surpluses in our history and we have the capacity to actually improve the structural education deficit problem. We think the reasonable step is getting to $1.5 billion (for public schools). That’s not that audacious of a goal. That gets us to about average in the Southeast. Right now our per pupil student funding is lower than every state in the Southeast except Mississippi.”


“What’s broken about the BEP is not the division. The pie is not big enough in the first place. The BEP assumes that we need fewer teachers then are actually in our schools. If you walk down the hallway at any school in Tennessee and see six teachers, the BEP says you only need five teachers to teach those kids and you only need the money to pay for four of their salaries.”

Yarbro and other legislative Democrats are proposing a $1.5 billion increase in education funding.

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