NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Plans are moving forward for Tennessee to potentially reject $1.8 billion in education funding. Lawmakers want the state would foot the bill instead to possibly make its own rules in the classroom.
This week House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally announced the creation of a new Joint Working Group to take a look at federal education funding. The group will look at how much funding the state is getting for education programs, how the state uses that money and look at how feasible it would be to reject that money to eliminate restrictions placed on schools in the state by the federal government.
“Any time the federal government sends money, there are always strings attached to those dollars, and there is always a possibility that it opens the state up to other regulations or restrictions,” said Speaker Sexton. “This working group will help provide a clearer picture of how much autonomy Tennessee truly has in educating our students.”
There is division on the issue. Democrats say Tennesseans are helping pay for the education funding through income taxes and one representative said this would be irresponsible and could undermine the public education system and jeopardize the state.
Tennessee would become the first state in the country to reject funding from the federal funding if the plan is passed. Things could look at lot different in the classroom. For example, it would allow the state to come up with its own standardized testing instead of certain tests that are passed down by the federal government.
“Federal dollars and the various mandates and restrictions that come with those dollars affect the way Tennessee’s children are educated. Due to our state’s excellent financial position, this is a worthy subject of examination and study,” said Lt. Gov. McNally.
The Join Working Group’s 10-member panel will submit a report of their findings by January. For this proposal to become law, the Tennessee General Assembly would have to approve the bill, and it would have to be signed by Governor Bill Lee.
