Uncertainty pervaded the first three meetings of Tennessee’s task force exploring the rejection of federal education funds this week. Tennessee would be the first state to reject this money, and few others have even considered it.
Tennessee typically receives about $1.1 billion a year in federal funding for K-12 programs, or about $1,230 per student across the state according to the Sycamore Institute. That’s not including the extra funds schools received to help them stay afloat during the pandemic. The funds largely go toward programs that support low-income kids and students with disabilities. They include grants from:
- Child nutrition programs from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
- Title I offers additional funding for schools with low-income students
- Title II works to improve teacher quality and increase the number of highly qualified teachers in the classroom
- Title III supports English language learners
- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) from the U.S. Department of Education
In the first three days of meetings, lawmakers questioned state officials, researchers and school district leaders.
Before we jump in: some background
Feel free to skip to the next subheading if you’re already up to speed.
Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton first floated the idea of rejecting the funds earlier this year.
Then, this fall, he and Senate Speaker Randy McNally appointed a joint working group made up of eight Republicans and two Democrats, split evenly between the House and Senate. They have been studying what strings are attached to federal funding and the feasibility of rejecting it to get rid of “unwanted restrictions on the state.”
Republican leaders have not been particularly explicit about what those unwanted restrictions are.
“I would really love to know — them to actually spell out the burdensome requirements the federal government has regarding this money that they can’t handle coping with,” said Tracy Scott after Monday’s meeting. She’s a substitute teacher in Wilson County. Before that, she taught for 20 years, serving mostly students who directly benefitted from the federal programs.
Sexton told Chalkbeat Tennessee back in February that he wasn’t a fan of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment program, also known as TCAP. That’s the suite of tests students take annually as part of the state’s compliance with federal education law.
But Tennessee helped develop the tests and aligned them to the state’s academic standards. Lawmakers have also tied major education policies, like the state’s third grade literacy law, to students’ TCAP scores.
Multiple times throughout the week, task force co-chair Sen. Jon Lundberg emphasized that they are exploring how Tennessee could replace the funds, rather than simply reject them.
“It’s not about saying ‘no’ and cutting $1 billion. There’s no cuts that we’re talking about,” Lundberg said.
Experts and researchers highlight the unknowns
Researchers shared data with the Republican-led task force illustrating how much school districts depend on these federal funds. According to the Comptroller’s Office of Education Research and Accountability, federal formula funds accounted for about 11% of school district revenues before the pandemic. That ranges from district to district, with rural and economically disadvantaged districts relying more heavily on federal dollars than affluent districts.
The Sycamore Institute, a nonpartisan research group, presented some key tradeoffs to the task force. The No. 1 consideration from deputy director Mandy Spears:“There are more questions than definitive answers about what rejecting the dollars could mean for Tennessee’s obligations, because no state’s ever done it.”
For starters, Tennessee law is aligned with federal law. So, removing those restrictions would also require changing Tennessee’s education policies.
Experts also revealed that even if the state did reject federal funds, some requirements could still remain. Spears noted that, in 2019, school districts received $60 million directly from the federal government. She said those kinds of funds could potentially still come with federal requirements.
Spears said determining what rules apply to Tennessee and how they’re enforced “would likely be worked out in the court system.”
It’s also unclear whether opting out of one pot of money could affect the others. For example: How would dropping out of Title I of ESSA impact participation in Titles II, III, etc.?
Austin Reid, senior legislative director for the National Conference of State Legislators, said getting an answer would likely require some back and forth between the state and the U.S. DOE.
“That is frankly a question that does not have an answer yet,” he said. “That would be an unknown that you would be entering into.”
At the same time, the Sycamore Institute finds the federal government hasn’t always delivered on its funding promises. Rejecting federal funding could alleviate the administrative burden at the state level, but it’s less clear whether individual school districts would also see a reduction in paperwork.
One major question from Republican lawmakers was how much it costs to comply with federal rules. That’s not a number that speakers this week had readily available, though several noted that certain grants have a percentage set aside to cover administrative costs.
There’s also uncertainty in the state’s financial forecast. It isn’t as rosy as it was a year ago. Even so, Spears of the Sycamore Institute told the task force there’s likely still room in the budget to make up for the federal funds.
What’s less clear is what would happen if another recession hit.
“Would we still have access to relief during times of emergencies? We don’t know,” Spears said.
If not, Spears said the state could be forced to make cuts to education funding or increase taxes.
District leaders call on state to add on funding, not replace it
On Tuesday, the task force heard from leaders of four school districts from across the state. They included:
- Metro Nashville Public Schools
- Memphis Shelby County Schools
- Hawkins County School District
- Jackson-Madison County Schools
The district leaders reiterated the purpose of the federal programs and how they serve students in each of their communities.
Lawmakers asked each of them how fewer “strings” associated with the federal programs would impact their work. But school leaders were hesitant to answer the hypothetical, with so many uncertainties.
“I would love for the state to roll out a plan and for me to give an answer on all the details,” said Shelby County interim superintendent Toni Williams. “I always like to kind of understand what I’m signing up for.”
Multiple superintendents also raised concerns about Tennessee’s ability to replace the federal funds long term.
“How sustainable will this be?” asked the superintendent of Jackson-Madison County Schools, Marlon King. Williams echoed that question.
Instead of rejecting federal funds and replacing them with state dollars, district leaders urged lawmakers to consider contributing additional state funds on top of federal funding — especially for infrastructure.
Hawkins County Schools Director Matt Hixson said he’s looking at a $15 million project to replace the roofs on two school buildings.
“The only way we have to fund some of those projects is just to stand in front of my peers in the county and say we need more tax money,” Hixson said. “I’m a taxpayer too. I’m not a fan of big taxes.”
He said it seems inequitable to ask his community — which has a median household income less than $50,000 a year — for more money. He said additional revenues from the state could help level the playing field for rural counties that can’t generate the same tax revenues as suburban and urban districts.
Because the needs at schools are so great, Metro Nashville Public Schools chief of staff Hank Clay told the task force he worries about what would happen to vulnerable student populations if federal accountability requirements went away.
MNPS Board of Education chair Rachael Anne Elrod attended the meeting as a spectator. She said serving vulnerable populations is a moral obligation for Metro, but she shared Clay’s concerns for other districts.
“For all counties, there are so many desperate needs that we have, whether that’s within our operational budget, our nutritional budget or capital budget,” Elrod said. “I think that will always be a conversation, particularly with county commissions, of how they can spend those dollars in places beyond those vulnerable students — if it becomes that flexible.”
Republicans hone in on food waste
One unexpected topic brought up during the meetings was waste generated by USDA child nutrition programs. At least three Republican members of the group asked specifically about food waste.
Rep. John Ragan of Oak Ridge asked district leaders, “Is there a measure in place in each of your school districts to determine the amount of waste in that food program? And if there is, to whom does that get reported?”
Most said they were unaware of any measure. But they explained ways they prevent waste, like Metro’s grab-and-go tables where students who didn’t eat an apple, for example, can offer it up to classmates.
Hixson of Hawkins County said that his district observes what students throw away in the cafeteria and uses that to either adjust the recipe or the amount that’s prepared.
“Are you measuring it, as opposed to just anecdotal?” Ragan asked in a follow up.
“No, sir,” Hixson responded. “We don’t have scales or devices at the trashcans, if that’s what you’re asking for.”
What’s coming next
Legislators may submit questions to the U.S. Department of Education.
“The Federal Department of Education has informed us they are unable to attend our task force meeting,” Lundberg said at the close of Wednesday’s hearing. “They can only offer, quote, ‘technical assistance’ to the committee.”
However, according to a quote obtained by the Associated Press, the department said it was not invited.
Seeing folks talk about how the Feds “refused” to show up to Tennessee’s legislative panel studying whether the state should cut off federal education funding. FWIW, they say they were never invited pic.twitter.com/MybRSoj3mb
— Kimberlee Kruesi (@kkruesi) November 10, 2023
Lawmakers have at least two more meetings scheduled for Nov. 14 and 15. The task force will produce a report of their findings with a Jan. 9 due date.
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