TENNESSEE’S FEDERAL FEUD GETS US NOWHERE

Yet again, the GOP wants the state known for the wrong things. On Monday, Republicans Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton announced the creation of a group of lawmakers who will analyze restrictions and mandates tied to accepting money from the U.S. Department of Education.

The move was prompted by Sexton’s idea to reject

$1.8 billion in federal education funding. Such a move would make Tennessee the first in the country to reject such funding, which designed to help struggling students and schools. We love being the first, apparently.

McNally and Sexton’s thinking is to make sure the federal government isn’t getting one past us.

“Any time the federal government sends money, there are always strings attached to those dollars, and there is always a possibility that it opens the state up to other regulations or restrictions,” Sexton said in a statement last week. “This working group will help provide a clearer picture of how much autonomy Tennessee truly has in educating our students.”

What exactly are these strings Sexton is referring to? Neither McNally nor Sexton talked about a specific stipulation or restriction attached to these funds.

Gov. Bill Lee came out in support of the legislative study group, saying that the group will find important information.

“I’ll be very interested in whatever options they come up with,” Lee told reporters on Sept. 27. “I think what the state has to do is look at what is the best way to spend taxpayer dollars. Not just in the short term, but in the long term.”

Touting the decision to remove federal money from the hands of Tennesseans who need it is nothing new to these lawmakers.

FEDERAL FEUD

Let’s not forget that Tennessee is one of 10 states that did not expand Medicaid. If we were to do so, more than 600,000 uninsured people would have access to health care services. Hospitals in the rural parts of the state have closed, but if we were able to expand Medicaid, would the number of closings be as high? Nope.

We’ve seen similar attempts by the state to reject funds based on little to no information.

Last year, state officials wanted to modify TennCare by turning federal dollars into a block grant so they could control how funds were used and to potentially cut costs.

In this case as well, there were no clear restrictions given by the Lee administration; there was vague language about how the state would save money.

GOP lawmakers say turning away federal money benefits the taxpayer, but does it?

“The harsh consequences of rejecting $1.8 billion of [education] funding cannot be overstated,” state Sen. Raumesh Akbari said on Monday. The Senate minority leader and state Rep. Ronnie Glynn, D-Clarksville, are the only two Democrats on the 10-member group.

The Memphis senator is right, but she will have a hard time trying to convince Republicans who have made their reputation attacking important federal funding.

Let’s just take an account how much federal funding is being used by Hamilton County in schools. According to state data, Hamilton County is allocated anywhere from 11% to 22% in federal funding (the high end of the range included pandemic relief funds). What impact would rejecting this money have on our schools community? Will the taxpayer have to fill in the gap that removing these funds would create?

Some on the right might think that the federal funding is going to the three largely liberal cities — Memphis, Nashville and Chattanooga — but an August 2023 report from the Sycamore Institute showed that the majority of federal dollars went to schools in rural areas.

In 2019, Tennessee distributed more than $1.1 billion in federal funds to school districts across the state, which made up 11% of district revenues that year, according to the study. Of those dollars, about 39% were for school nutrition programs, 27% for Title I programs targeted at low-income students, and 21% for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

According to Sycamore, districts that receive the most funds and are most reliant on federal funding have lower fiscal capacity, depend more on state dollars, and have lower local revenues per pupil.

According to a statement from the Tennessee Senate Democrats Caucus’ office, in Sexton’s home of Cumberland County, federal funding accounted for 44% of K-12 student funding in 2023. In McNally’s home Anderson County, federal funding accounts for 36% of K-12 student funding in 2023.

PICKING THE WRONG FIGHT

A better question that we should be asking is why do we even need this working group? Is staging a temper tantrum over federal requirements worth more than ensuring kids with disabilities have the funds to learn and grow in the classroom? Is this just political pandering or grandstanding to the GOP base?

Federal funding helps Tennesseans, and most importantly, the most vulnerable of our state.

What does it say to our communities if their leaders choose to make a fuss about funding that goes to help children living in poverty and with disabilities?

If we want to be first in something, let’s try common sense.