Sen. Akbari seeking $150M emergency relief for Tennessee schools, students
Funding will help schools ‘make up’ for instruction time lost to pandemic, protect teaching positions
NASHVILLE — Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) will present a budget amendment Thursday that would provide emergency relief funding to school districts grappling with local budget shortfalls while also preparing to make up classroom time with their students that was canceled by the pandemic.
Without these relief funds, many of Tennessee’s 137 local school districts could be forced to layoff teachers and classroom assistants due decreased local tax revenue, Sen. Akbari said.
“Our public school students are getting squeezed by the pandemic on both ends: they lost two months of critical time in the classroom and now the schools we need to help them catch up are facing brutal budget cuts,” Sen. Akbari said. “We set aside funds in March for the state to respond to an emergency. That emergency is here.
“It’s time to do right by our counties, our teachers and, our most important investment, our students,” Sen. Akbari said.
In Jackson, the Madison County Commission asked requested the school board to cut about 10 percent of the district’s budget. Wilson County Schools proposed a budget that eliminates 136 teachers and teaching assistants. Hamilton County Schools predict a $1.8 million shortfall. The Knox County Board of Education made $4.4 million in cuts, which includes furloughs.
Sen. Akbari’s amendment would boost public school funding $150 million for the 2020–2021 school year by utilizing money budgeted for a state contingency fund made obsolete by $2.4 billion of federal funding awarded to Tennessee.
The emergency relief funds would be distributed through the basic education program formula for growth and teacher salaries.
“Without this relief, we could see mass layoffs across the state — making a national economic recession even worse in small towns,” Sen. Akbari said. “Make no mistake: this amendment is about helping students as much as it’s about saving education jobs all over the state. We need these educators to get our kids caught up and headed down the right path.”
