KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A group of Tennessee lawmakers spearheaded by Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R - Crossville) and Lt. Gov. Rand McNally (R - Oak Ridge) are considering whether to refuse federal education dollars.
The group discussing the possibility of turning away billions of dollars has ten members — two Democrats and eight Republicans. The state receives around $1.8 billion in federal funding. It goes to schools across the state.
East Tennessee counties see about $530 million of the funding, and Knox County receives around $191 million. Speaker Sexton says he wants to reject the money because he's worried about government overreach.
"It's more of a philosophy of the state," Sexton said. "Where we can fund our priorities on what we need to without the federal government when you take federal government money, their philosophies, what they want you to do is different than probably what the state wants to do."
Information about what requirements with Title I that Sexton specifically disagreed with was not immediately available.
Title I provides funds to schools using a weighted-count formula similar to targeted grants, considering the number of children from low-income families in each school. More than 55,900 public schools across the U.S. use Title I to provide academic support and learning opportunities to help low-achieving children learn. The program served around 26 million children, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
"For example, funds support extra instruction in reading and mathematics, as well as special preschool, after-school, and summer programs to extend and reinforce the regular school curriculum," the Department of Education said on its website.
More than half of the students the program served were between kindergarten and the fifth grade. Critics of Sexton's proposal to refuse the funds are concerned about a cut of funding to rural and urban schools that rely on Title I.
The program goes toward supporting special education, programs related to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and free and reduced lunch plans.
"The impacts will be significant. And in many areas, it may not happen overnight," said Mark O'Gorman, a Maryville College political science professor. "By the time of school district gets to vote on their next year's budget, suddenly, you've got programs that they might not be able to fund."
No official decisions about what refusing federal funds for education look like have been made by the group of lawmakers. They will have to come up with a decision by the January 2024 legislative session.