Tennessee school districts face critical choices with $4B to spend from relief packages
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Tennessee ranks in the bottom five states in funding per student — but the state has a unique opportunity in front of it where it will receive $4 billion from the three COVID-19 relief packages passed by Congress.
FOX 17 News Alex Apple spoke with decision makers on Friday about how they’ll spend the money to help Tennessee students.
School districts will get $2.2 billion from the recent relief package signed by President Biden. And a chunk of it has to be spent on fixing pandemic related learning loss.
But many are still figuring out how to spend the second pot of money, which totaled $1.1 billion. This is an opportunity Tennessee schools haven’t had in years.
John F. Kennedy said of those to whom much is given, much is required. That’s how Governor Bill Lee’s administration is looking at school districts who will have millions of extra dollars to spend.
Earlier this year, Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn released a letter shaming Metro schools for not spending the first round of money fast enough. Mayor John Cooper took umbrage.
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The hope of Representative Gloria Johnson is that that tit for tat does not foreshadow more arguments over spending on the horizon.
"I hope not. It’s really interesting, but we see that tit for tat a lot," Johnson said.
School districts will report to the state what they spent money on and Schwinn is asking for monthly reports for more oversight.
Schwinn’s team tells FOX 17 News 10% of each of the three relief packages is for the state department to use — the rest goes to districts.
"I think it’s a huge opportunity because even though it’s one-time money, it’s going to allow some schools to catch up," Johnson said.
She says lasting change would come from the state’s increasing the money it commits annually.
"Your budget is a moral document, and don’t say that you want to improve schools and you want to have all kids reading if you’re not willing to make an investment that brings us up from 46th in the country in funding," she added.
Superintendents across the state have been told the one-time money can’t be used on recurring expenses like raising teacher salaries or lowering classroom sizes.