Speaker: Katie Cour, President and CEO of the Nashville Public Foundation
Ms. Cour addressed the League about the Foundation’s efforts to raise awareness about problems with state support of public schools. The Basic Education Program (BEP) is Tennessee’s formula used to allocate state dollars to local school systems. Developed in response to a 1988 lawsuit waged against the state government by 88 rural school systems, the BEP was created to improve the equity of funding for all school systems.
In recent years, however, the formula has come under fire for providing too little funding to schools generally, particularly those in the state’s urban systems. The BEP has four basic components: Instructional Salaries and Wages, Instructional Benefits, Classroom Components, and Non-Classroom Components. Within these larger categories are many smaller ones, such as teachers, principals, assistant principals, school nurses, counselors as well as instructional supplies. As state officials are quick to point out, however, the BEP is a funding formula not a spending plan. This means that the formula generates certain amounts of money, but the local governments have some discretion in how it’s actually spent. In addition to state funding, state law requires local governments to contribute to public school funding; the required amounts vary according to each local government’s ability to pay. Overall, the state funds about 66% of the BEP’s total, and local governments fund about 33%. Because Nashville can raise more revenue than most other counties, however, it’s also expected to contribute more to its schools. At the same time, many
of Metro’s students are more expensive to educate than students in other places, because of a higher number of economically disadvantaged, non-English-speaking children and special education students. Consequently, Metro receives less state revenue, but must spend more than many other systems to educate its students.
Ms. Cour pointed out some of the BEP’s flaws particularly as they impact Metro Schools:
So what does the Nashville Public Education Foundation recommend that the state do to address these funding challenges?
The BEP was a major component of the Education Improvement Act, a wide-ranging piece of legislation passed in 1992 after two years of intense discussion by the General Assembly. Perhaps it’s time to focus on Tennessee’s children and their educational needs once more. The Foundation will rolling out additional materials later this summer to raise awareness about this issue