Tennessee lawmakers will meet at the capitol Monday to examine the impact that federal education funding has on the state and what restrictions are attached to it. The move comes as some are pushing for the state to reject the funding.
Before the pandemic, Tennessee received a little over $1 billion a year in federal funding for K-12 education. House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, is pushing for the state to reject that funding. He’s put together a group of 10 lawmakers — eight Republicans and two Democrats — to look into the requirements the state must meet to receive those funds.
Mandy Spears, the deputy director of the Sycamore Institute, says most of the funding goes towards three programs.
“The biggest pieces are for school nutrition, so breakfast and lunch, for Title I of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which mostly focuses on children from low-income families. And then the IDEA, which is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which focuses on children with disabilities,” said Spears.
Whether those services can continue without federal dollars is a worry for parents whose children receive those benefits. In addition, Spears says it’d be throwing away tax dollars paid by Tennesseans.
“The money that we’re getting now would just go to other states more than likely,” Spears said.
Lawmakers will use information from these meetings to make a final decision about rejecting federal education funding.
