Governor Unveils $9B Education Funding Formula Based on Student Needs
Using a projected $9 billion, Gov. Bill Lee’s proposed K-12 funding formula for fiscal 2023-24 would start the state’s 1 million students with a base amount of $6,860, then add more depending on individual needs ranging from economic disadvantages to disabilities.
Lee is seeking to replace the “complex” Basic Education Program with a simpler formula. But this one also has a wide variety of factors and percentages it uses to determine the amount of money that will go to every school district in the state based on the needs of each student.
Finance, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bo Watson of Hixson pointed out “student-centered” funding is more prevalent nationally, whereas Tennessee’s Basic Education Program is the “exception.”
“Replacing a 30-year-old system with something that 39 other states are using gives credibility to the approach we’re taking,” Watson said.