As more details emerge regarding Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s proposed K-12 education funding reform effort, some local stakeholders are expressing concerns that their school districts wouldn’t get their fair share of the new funding that the plan would make available for schools. For example, Nashville Mayor John Cooper said he was dismayed that Metro Nashville Public Schools, the state’s largest school district, would get a smaller funding increase compared to other urban school districts in the state.
“While I’m appreciative of the state’s increased investment in education across Tennessee, I am dismayed that Nashville’s share of funding will decline under the new formula,” Mayor Cooper wrote in a tweet. “We are set to receive about $12.6 million in additional funding, far less than other cities in Tennessee.”
Mayor Cooper is right that Metro Nashville Public Schools wouldn’t see as many new dollars as other urban school districts under the governor’s proposal. A Fox 17 report found that Nashville would receive an additional $159 per student under the new plan while other urban school districts like Sevier County in the Knoxville area would receive an additional $676 per pupil and Memphis-Shelby would receive an additional $1,444 per pupil. But the truth is, the governor’s education funding proposal is fair to Nashville’s students.
In order to level what is currently an unfair playing field, state policymakers have to prioritize the school districts that have the field tilted against them. According to the most recent funding data published by the Tennessee Department of Education, Metro Nashville is one of the highest-funded school districts in Tennessee—and it’s not particularly close when compared to other urban school districts.
Metro Nashville Public Schools receives $14,109 in state and local revenues per pupil. By comparison, Memphis-Shelby County Schools receives $10,861 per student from state and local sources, Sevier County School District in the Knoxville Area gets $10,620 per student, and Hamilton County Schools in Chattanooga receives $9,641 per pupil.
These significant funding differences can’t simply be attributed to Metro Nashville having higher shares of low-income students than other districts and cities. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, Metro Nashville’s childhood poverty rate is 17.48 percent. Comparatively, Memphis-Shelby’s child poverty rate is 28.26 percent, Hamilton’s is 17.8 percent, and Sevier’s is 16.46 percent. (Scroll to the bottom of the page for a full list of each Tennessee school district’s poverty rate and state and local education revenue per student.)
Generally, when states want to reform their education funding systems to be more equitable and responsive to individual student needs, they must include a substantial increase in overall funding so that no school districts lose funds under the new formula. That’s the approach Tennessee is taking now, and it’s similar to the approach California used when reforming its education funding system in 2013.
But if a central goal of the education funding reform is to reduce unfair funding gaps that exist between school districts, they can’t all receive an equal funding boost. To improve the state’s learning outcomes, policymakers should prioritize getting funding to school districts that have greater student needs and have been getting shortchanged by existing funding systems for decades.
If Gov. Lee’s funding proposal goes into effect, Metro Nashville Public Schools would still receive $12.6 million in new funding and remain the highest-funded school district compared to its urban peers. Nevertheless, Adrienne Battle, director of Metro Nashville Public Schools, criticized the new plan.
“As more details emerge about [the Lee administration’s] funding proposal, it appears that the second-largest school district in Tennessee, accounting for more than 8 percent of public school students, will receive less than 2 percent of the $750 million investment next year,” Battle said to Axios.
Suppose Metro Nashville was able to get a greater share of the $1 billion in new funding over the next two years (the plan proposes $750 million next year and $250 million in 2024). Which school districts should lose some of their new funds so that Metro Nashville can get a bigger slice of the pie?
It would be tempting to say Shelby County School District should since its funding increase under the proposal is much larger than Metro Nashville’s. But that would be deeply unfair. Shelby has a much higher poverty rate and currently receives $3,428 less in state and local dollars per student compared to Metro Nashville.
The Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement plan isn’t perfect, but it would take a big step in the right direction by making Tennessee’s K-12 funding system more student-centered.
Education funding is not about individual school districts getting their fair share—it’s about all students getting their fair share.
Tennessee School Districts’ Funding and Poverty Rates in the 2019-2020 School Year
| District Name | Per Pupil Revenue $(State + Local) | District Poverty Rate |
| Newport City School District | 9,771 | 47.90% |
| Oneida Special School District | 8,169 | 41.10% |
| Bledsoe County School District | 10,440 | 37.40% |
| Lake County School District | 11,131 | 35.80% |
| Paris Special School District | 10,005 | 35.60% |
| Rogersville City Schools | 9,559 | 33.30% |
| Hancock County School District | 12,181 | 33.20% |
| Scott County School District | 8,480 | 30.30% |
| Cocke County School District | 8,668 | 29.70% |
| Johnson County School District | 9,441 | 29.60% |
| Elizabethton City School District | 9,865 | 28.80% |
| Shelby County School District | 10,861 | 28.30% |
| Sweetwater City School District | 8,663 | 27.90% |
| Fayetteville City School District | 9,332 | 27.70% |
| Sequatchie County School District | 9,002 | 27.70% |
| Jackson-Madison County School System | 8,578 | 27.40% |
| Campbell County School District | 8,202 | 27.30% |
| Athens City Schools | 9,508 | 27.20% |
| Humboldt City School District | 9,689 | 27.10% |
| Dyersburg City School District | 9,994 | 26.80% |
| Richard City Special School District | 10,635 | 26.70% |
| Alamo City School District | 9,030 | 26.10% |
| Clay County School District | 9,888 | 25.90% |
| Union County School District | 7,943 | 25.90% |
| Haywood County School District | 9,359 | 25.70% |
| Carter County School District | 9,250 | 25.60% |
| Etowah City School District | 8,883 | 25.40% |
| Fentress County School District | 8,497 | 25.30% |
| Morgan County School District | 9,077 | 25.30% |
| Union City School District | 9,662 | 25.30% |
| Dayton City Elementary School District | 8,524 | 25.30% |
| Benton County School District | 10,971 | 24.90% |
| Hollow Rock-Bruceton Special School District | 9,026 | 24.80% |
| Perry County School District | 9,411 | 24.70% |
| Grundy County School District | 9,170 | 24.60% |
| Henry County School District | 10,065 | 24.50% |
| Hardin County School District | 9,701 | 24.40% |
| Hawkins County School District | 9,459 | 24.30% |
| Bristol City School District | 10,845 | 24.10% |
| Huntingdon Special School District | 8,677 | 24.00% |
| Van Buren County School District | 10,210 | 24.00% |
| Greeneville City School District | 11,048 | 23.90% |
| Lauderdale County School District | 9,450 | 23.50% |
| Lexington City School System | 9,643 | 23.40% |
| Monroe County School District | 8,463 | 23.40% |
| Hardeman County School District | 9,793 | 23.20% |
| Kingsport City School District | 10,865 | 23.00% |
| DeKalb County School District | 8,242 | 22.70% |
| Clinton City School District | 10,524 | 22.60% |
| Claiborne County School District | 9,598 | 22.60% |
| Houston County School District | 9,114 | 22.40% |
| Meigs County School District | 9,007 | 22.30% |
| Jackson County School District | 10,083 | 22.20% |
| Greene County School District | 8,890 | 22.10% |
| Warren County School District | 9,404 | 22.00% |
| Grainger County School District | 8,881 | 21.60% |
| Anderson County School District | 10,365 | 21.50% |
| West Carroll Special District | 9,136 | 21.50% |
| Lewis County School District | 9,106 | 21.40% |
| Tullahoma City School District | 10,771 | 21.20% |
| Decatur County School District | 8,974 | 21.20% |
| Manchester City School District | 11,159 | 21.00% |
| Pickett County School District | 9,268 | 21.00% |
| Bells City School District | 9,469 | 20.80% |
| McKenzie Special School District | 8,478 | 20.70% |
| Hickman County School District | 9,060 | 20.60% |
| Polk County School District | 8,980 | 20.50% |
| Millington Municipal School District | 10,733 | 20.50% |
| Marion County School District | 8,425 | 20.40% |
| White County School District | 8,112 | 20.40% |
| Cumberland County School District | 8,123 | 20.30% |
| McNairy County School District | 8,736 | 20.20% |
| Weakley County School District | 8,592 | 20.20% |
| Johnson City School District | 10,463 | 20.10% |
| Roane County School District | 9,731 | 20.00% |
| Smith County School District | 8,394 | 20.00% |
| Unicoi County School District | 9,018 | 19.70% |
| Trenton Special School District | 10,362 | 19.60% |
| Wayne County School District | 9,572 | 19.60% |
| Oak Ridge City School District | 12,922 | 19.40% |
| South Carroll Special School District | 9,614 | 19.40% |
| Lawrence County School District | 8,417 | 19.40% |
| Crockett County School District | 8,329 | 19.30% |
| Hamblen County School District | 9,587 | 19.20% |
| Overton County School District | 8,495 | 19.10% |
| Macon County School District | 8,340 | 19.00% |
| Rhea County School District | 8,811 | 19.00% |
| Bradford Special School District | 9,972 | 18.90% |
| Marshall County School District | 8,402 | 18.70% |
| Humphreys County School District | 8,552 | 18.50% |
| Henderson County School District | 8,581 | 18.40% |
| Sullivan County School District | 9,252 | 18.40% |
| Giles County School District | 8,997 | 18.20% |
| Cannon County School District | 9,109 | 18.00% |
| Hamilton County School District | 9,641 | 17.80% |
| Stewart County School District | 8,627 | 17.80% |
| Bedford County School District | 7,738 | 17.70% |
| Obion County School District | 9,155 | 17.70% |
| Metropolitan Nashville Public School District | 14,109 | 17.50% |
| Chester County School District | 8,239 | 17.40% |
| Milan Special School District | 10,145 | 17.30% |
| Franklin County School District | 9,215 | 17.00% |
| Putnam County School District | 8,377 | 17.00% |
| Jefferson County School District | 8,686 | 16.90% |
| Coffee County School District | 9,305 | 16.80% |
| Cleveland City School District | 9,058 | 16.70% |
| McMinn County School District | 7,997 | 16.70% |
| Sevier County School District | 10,620 | 16.50% |
| Dyer County School District | 9,552 | 16.20% |
| Trousdale County School District | 8,585 | 16.20% |
| Lenoir City School District | 9,898 | 15.80% |
| Clarksville-Montgomery County School System | 8,543 | 15.20% |
| Lebanon Special School District | 9,996 | 14.80% |
| Tipton County School District | 8,278 | 14.70% |
| Washington County School District | 8,441 | 14.70% |
| Lincoln County School District | 8,667 | 14.50% |
| Fayette County School District | 8,830 | 14.30% |
| Alcoa City School District | 10,757 | 14.20% |
| Murfreesboro City School District | 10,356 | 14.00% |
| Bradley County School District | 8,144 | 13.40% |
| Dickson County School District | 9,026 | 13.30% |
| Moore County School District | 10,684 | 13.30% |
| Knox County School District | 8,727 | 13.20% |
| Blount County School District | 9,721 | 13.10% |
| Robertson County School District | 8,668 | 12.70% |
| Lakeland School System District | 9,935 | 11.80% |
| Loudon County School District | 9,668 | 11.70% |
| Maury County School District | 8,677 | 11.10% |
| Cheatham County School District | 8,339 | 10.80% |
| Maryville City School District | 10,397 | 10.60% |
| Sumner County School District | 9,113 | 10.60% |
| Gibson County School District | 8,989 | 10.50% |
| Rutherford County School District | 8,883 | 10.20% |
| Bartlett City School District | 10,527 | 10.10% |
| Wilson County School District | 8,170 | 8.00% |
| Franklin Special School District | 17,621 | 7.60% |
| Collierville School District | 9,899 | 7.30% |
| Arlington Community School District | 9,285 | 6.70% |
| Germantown Municipal School District | 11,050 | 3.90% |
| Williamson County School District | 12,039 | 2.80% |