Let’s finally fix the way we fund our public schools in Tennessee

Written by Michael Whaley

In Making the Grade 2020, the Educational Law Center (ELC) gave Tennessee a grade of “F” for public school funding level and funding effort, as the state spends on average $3,655 less per student than the national average. But this isn’t a new problem. According to the ELC, “if they had made the same effort to fund schools as in 2008, Tennessee would have raised $1,065 more per pupil in 2018.” But the issue isn’t just a lack of effort, it’s a problem with the formula.

The call to reform the Basic Education Program

Since being elected to the Shelby County Commission in 2018, I have sponsored resolutions each year to urge action by the Tennessee General Assembly to reform the Basic Education Program, or BEP. The BEP formula determines the state funding levels for each school system in Tennessee. Originally adopted in 1992, the BEP has never fully covered the actual costs of adequate public education in the state. Unfortunately, previous attempts at meaningful reform have fallen flat as many legislators balk at revising the education funding formula.

In Tennessee, like many states, school funding is roughly divided between state and local governments with a relatively small amount of federal funding. Generally, state education funding is determined based on student enrollment (Average Daily Membership, or ADM) and a county government’s ability to pay its share (Fiscal Capacity) such that the state picks up a larger proportion of the funding split if the county has a smaller fiscal capacity and vice versa. The other major piece of the BEP is that the formula uses 47 different funding components. These are further broken into three categories: Instructional, Classroom, and Non-Classroom. The components are generally calculated as ratios. For example, the BEP funds teachers at a rate of 1 teacher for every 23 students.

Let’s just take a look at one of the 47 components funded by the BEP: school nurses. The current formula assigns 1 nurse for every 3,000 students, meaning many schools and even some entire districts are not provided a nurse in the state funding formula. Worse yet, the state assumes a flat salary for every nurse across the state in how it appropriates those dollars. So if a school district wants to offer a more competitive salary, they have to find the funds elsewhere. If a district wants more nurses than 1 per 3,000 students, or more teachers than a 1:23 ratio, they have to find those funds outside of the BEP.

The need for (and value of) school nurses

Besides the obvious health benefit even before the Covid-19 pandemic, research makes it clear that investments in school nurses pay off. Instead of taking trips to the emergency room or forcing parents to take time off work, studies have shown that having more nurses in schools can save $2.20 for every $1.00 spent. Of course, lowering the ratio of students to nurses will require additional resources in the short-term but this long-term benefit can’t be ignored.

The good news is that the BEP Review Committee set up through the State Board of Education seems to be taking notice. On August 30, 2021, they wrote to Governor Bill Lee and Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn proposing modifications to the BEP that, in part, would change the funding ratios for nurses and counselors, and increase funding for teacher compensation and technology.

What’s next for the BEP

The BEP Review Committee estimates that lowering the ratio from 1:3,000 to 1:750, which is what is recommended by the US Department of Health and Human Services, would cost the state an additional $42,981,000. That’s certainly a lot of money, but the even better news is Tennessee had an unbudgeted surplus of $2.1 billion in FY2021, with an additional hundreds of millions of dollars in pandemic-related federal aid earmarked for health and education. With such a large reserve of taxpayer funds, it would be a missed opportunity to not invest in funding equity for our students. Not only can we adequately fund nurses in schools, but we can finally properly fund school counselors, social workers, and more.

Hopefully, revising the BEP formula and ensuring more equitable funding decisions will be a top priority of the General Assembly during the 2022 legislative session. Reach out to your state representative or state senator and tell them you support more nurses, counselors, and equity in how we fund our public schools.

Michael Whaley is Chairman Pro Tempore of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners and has served as a public school teacher, school leader, and educational equity advocate.