NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Gov. Bill Lee and Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn announced the next steps for rearranging the funding formula for schools, which would mean a $750 million investment.
Dubbed the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement, the new formula would be a redo of the Basic Education Program formula. This is the first time the formula has been recalculated in three decades.
“Our approach is about funding students’ unique needs and that funding will follow the student to his or her public school,” Lee said. “I believe we have the capability, the resources and most importantly the desire to not let this become a multi-year project that turns into another 30-year, outdated formula. The time is now.”
In January, the draft framework of the new funding formula became available and an in-depth overview of the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement and associated bill language is expected to be released by mid-February.
