Tennessee transferred to a new platform for tracking students with unique educational needs.
The new platform, Tennessee Plans for Learning Success and Excellence, or TN Pulse, is free for school districts, public charter schools, and state-operated programs (SOPs).
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Data released on Friday by the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) released last week shows that Metro Nashville taxpayers are paying roughly $120 million a year over the state’s contribution to fund city schools.
Under Tennessee’s new public school funding formula – Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) – most local school districts, except Nashville Sevier County, can expect to pay one-third of the local education cost, with the state paying the other two-thirds for two districts.
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The Metro Nashville Public Schools(MNPS) board revealed its proposed budget on Tuesday for the upcoming 2023 -2024 school year. The requested budget 0f over $1.2 million is drawn from the aspirational budget submitted to Mayor John Cooper by MNPS. It reflects the additional $100 million in school funding included in his proposed Metro budget.
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A bill to update Tennessee’s third-grade reading retention law has been signed by Gov. Bill Lee.
Starting this year, the bill will update a law originally passed in 2021 where students must show proficiency in order to advance to the fourth grade.
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Tennesse’s school districts have started preparing their individual budgets for the 2023-2024 school year. They are doing it while contending with a new state funding formula and with limited guidance from the Tennessee Department of Education(TDOE). The change in formula completely alters how district allocations from the state are calculated. In the past, the state has provided calculations for local districts. This year, that too will change.
In notes obtained by The Tennessee Star from a call between the TDOE and the Superintendent Study Council, local officials were informed that the department will soon be sending out Data Verification Packets to districts that will include district-specific data from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd 20-day reporting periods. Districts are required to report attendance counts at 20-day intervals throughout the year.
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Afton Partners, a national organization specializing in school funding and education policy, has announced via social media a new partnership with the Tennessee State Collaborative for Reforming Education(SCORE) and The Tennessee Charter School Center(TCSC). The stated purpose of the budding collaboration is to help Tennessee’s charter school leaders better understand the operational and financial implications of Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement(TISA) – the state’s new funding formula for public schools.
TISA was passed by legislators during the last General Assembly and is slated to replace the current funding formula for the 2023-2024 school year. Touted as a formula that funds students over systems, the bill establishes a base funding rate of $6,860 per pupil, then distributes additional funding for students considered as being economically disadvantaged, having unique learning needs, or living in rural or impoverished communities. Tennessee charter schools are considered public schools and therefore receive funding through their charter authorizer at the same rate as traditional schools.
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Dad Gone Wild blogger TC Weber in studio to talk about Governor Bill Lee and Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn’s record on Tennessee education.
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Tennessee’s new public school funding program, the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement, continues to move forward and soon rulemaking for the program will begin a review by Tennessee’s Attorney General before publication for 90 days on the Secretary of State’s website.
While many details of TISA were spelled out in legislation passed in April and signed into law in May by Gov. Bill Lee, rulemaking is required to give more detailed specifics on how the funding formula will operate. Those rules passed the Tennessee State Board of Education’s review before moving on to the Attorney General review.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the Executive Director & CEO of Professional Educators of Tennessee, JC Bowman to explain the change of the Basic Education Program to the new TISA (Tennessee Investment and Student Achievement) and how it will create another level of bureaucracy.
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The Tennessee Department of Education is seeking public comment by August 2 on rules that govern the funding for kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) public schools.
In a tweet amplifying a previous request for public input, TNDOE said, “Informed by input from a variety of stakeholders, all Tennesseans are encouraged to submit public comment on the proposed rules on the TISA public school funding formula by 8/2.”
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the Executive Director & CEO of Professional Educators of Tennessee, JC Bowman in studio to comment upon the Tennessee Investment for Student Achievement and Governor Lee’s relationship with Bill Gates.
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the Executive Director & CEO of Professional Educators of Tennessee, JC Bowman in studio to give his predictions on the passage of the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement act scheduled for a vote in both the House and Senate.
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the Executive Director & CEO of Professional Educators of Tennessee, JC Bowman in studio to discuss the equity and mechanics of the Basic Education Program funding and how it will be dispersed.
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Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) and Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn presented details Thursday of the legislation for the new student-based funding formula, known as the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement formula (TISA).
During a livestream presentation, the governor said that, following input from people all over the state, they now have “a piece of legislation and a funding formula that Tennesseans can understand, that parents can understand, that teachers and districts can understand.”
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