Tennessee is last. In school funding. In the whole country.
LAST.
Behind all our Southern neighbors. All of them.
As Gov. Bill Lee prepares to leave office this year, that’s his legacy – changing the school funding formula, spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on private school discount coupons, and leading our state to dead last in school funding in the whole United States.
A recent story about Tennessee school funding notes not only is the state dead last in the nation in school funding, but also, the state’s investment in schools has dropped by 10% since the 2023-24 school year.
School funding in the state is dead last in the nation – and lower in real dollars than it was in the first year of TISA – 10% lower.
Teacher pay in the state?
Also lower than our neighbors – and lower in real dollars (6.5% lower) than a decade ago.
Lee’s legacy is clear: Less investment in schools, lower pay for teachers. Instead, Lee is spending $300 million next year to expand his private school discount coupon scheme – taking money from the least able to pay (and least likely to have access to private schools) and funneling it to the already quite wealthy.
