MACON COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — Cindy Gammons knows how far the money stretches.
As the director of federal programs for Macon County Schools, she said she knew the reality — lawmakers will not be able to fully fund her district if they shun federal dollars and try to do it themselves.
Tennessee just set up a bipartisan task force to decide whether the state should continue to accept $1.8 billion in federal funds, dollars Tennesseans send to the federal government every year when they pay taxes. Top Republican leaders said it's essential to evaluate what strings were attached to federal dollars before receiving them. Democrats said the state can't fund Tennessee schools with the money it already spends.
"No, there’s no way they can fund it," Gammons said. "They can’t fund what we have now. It’s my understanding we can do for it a few years, but what can we do after that? They don’t want to follow the rules, and with federal funding, you have to. They just simply don't want to do that."
As it stands, Macon County Schools received 62.7% of its total budget from the federal government in 2021, according to the latest data available from the Tennessee Department of Education. Gammons said federal funds are crucial for a district like hers, which uses it for special education and low-income students. She said those funds also played a crucial role in third-grade reading retention, a new law that dictates when kids move forward to the fourth grade based on their test scores on the TCAP test in the spring.
"I am very concerned, and I am concerned for the students. Accountability is the main concern in Tennessee. For example, we used federal funds to help with third-grade retention. That’s supposed to be our focus, as outlined in state law. I am very concerned. I wasn’t concerned at first. I thought it would fly over, and I thought the money was too big an ask. I thought legislators would see that. They have not."
What the data says
Looking at the data in the NewsChannel 5 viewing area, Metro Nashville schools receive the most money. It gets about $202 million for its more than 77,000 students. However, those federal dollars only make up 26.4% of its total budget.
Federal funding provides money for special education, students in poverty, state grants, vocational education, English language acquisition, and students without housing.
NewsChannel 5 covers 51 school districts in 45 counties. The state received $1.8 billion from the federal government. Nearly $744 million of that went to schools in Middle Tennessee.
Houston County Schools has the highest percentage of its budget from federal funding at 67.8% in 2021. NewsChannel 5 reached out to the district but never got a response. We also reached out to Rep. Jay Reedy, R-Erin, who represents Benton, Houston, Humphreys, Stewart, and Henry Counties. He also didn't respond.
Several districts in the area get more than 60% of the budget from the federal government including Houston, Hickman, DeKalb, Macon, Bedford, Smith, and Stewart Counties.
But not all districts are as outspoken on the topic as Macon. Bedford County Schools leaders say they don't care who provides them the money. They just care that they get the funding they need, particularly 46 positions that help struggling students.
"That's not money we would otherwise be able to put toward to help kids who really need extra attention at times," said Chad Fletcher, supervisor of federal programs for Bedford County Schools.
What Tennessee wants
House Speaker Cameron Sexton first raised the issue of federal education funding at the beginning of the legislative session. Months later, after both the regular session and the special session, he set up a task force to address the question.
As it stands, Tennessee receives around 30% of its annual budget from federal money, but as he said in February, Sexton would like to remove $1.8 billion from that percentage. Federal dollars are also at least 10% of the state's education budget. Sexton has not said specifically what requirements he is worried about when it comes to federal funds.
The task force — made up of eight Republicans and two Democrats — will have its first meeting on Nov. 6.
Lawmakers haven't said how the state would make up for the lost federal funding.
Tennessee has a rainy day fund but state lawmakers have been resistant to dipping into that. Most of the state's revenue comes from sales tax which experts predict will be down this year. While state sales tax revenues were up in fiscal years 2021 and 2022, those revenues are only up 5% right now, according to the state's tax database.
What lawmakers think
Senate Finance Chairman Bo Watson said he viewed the whole task force as exploratory and not one to be rushed.
"What I would like the public to recognize is that we certainly should evaluate all the money that comes from the federal government and the requirements," Watson, R-Hixson, said. "But we need to realize that most of the money that flows back to us is from Tennessee taxpayers. We are electing not to take the Tennessee tax dollars."
Watson said it was also important to note that he nor his House counterpart Rep. Patty Hazelwood were on the task force to analyze the funding. He said he fully expects Gov. Bill Lee to include the $1.8 billion from the federal government in his proposed budget next spring.
"From the Senate’s perspective, we will take the approach of, 'let's define what the money is and what it does,'" Watson said. "Fiscal restraint is important. Chairman Hazelwood and I have been preaching that for years. There are a lot of members who haven’t been through the experience that revenues don’t produce the budgetary level. Then the discussion becomes if we don’t accept some federal dollars then how do we pay for it? But first, this task force is to determine what are the requirements for this money."
Despite Sexton not publicly coming forward with his concerns about federal funding rules, Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, said she had heard rumblings of what prompted frustration from her Republican counterparts. Akbari is on the bipartisan task force to look at the money's requirements.
"We have heard some rumblings about sexual orientation and gender that the General Assembly may not want to comply with," she said. "They may want to pass some legislation around that, and if they do, they won't be able to get those funds. I think they are looking at ways around that, but that is conjecture around the Capitol at this point. At the end of the day, we use federal dollars for transportation and roads, for health care, all sorts of things. Our budget, regardless of education, relies on these federal funds. Federal funding helps us equalize in the South what services we are able to provide. It's just — why now? Why are the 'strings' now an issue?'"
Who is on the funding task force
- Rep. Debra Moody, R-Covington
- Sen. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol
- Rep. Ronnie Glynn, D-Clarksville.
- Rep. Timothy Hill, R-Blountville
- Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge
- Rep. William Slater, R-Gallatin
- Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis,
- Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald
- Sen. Bill Powers, R-Clarksville
- Sen. Dawn White, R-Murfreesboro
