Tennessee has a giant budget surplus, and one candidate for Governor is calling for investing some of it in the state’s public schools.
Jerri Green calls out the $1.2 billion surplus and says that money should go back to Tennesseans by way of investments in childcare, schools, and healthcare.
And our public schools are still not getting the investment Tennessee’s children deserve. The latest NEA data puts Tennessee’s average teacher salary at about $61,222, ranking 40th nationally, while we are dead last in the nation on dollars spent per pupil in public schools.
Green suggests taking a portion of the state’s surplus and investing it in teacher pay and support and other needs of K-12 schools.
