New education funding formula proposed for Tennessee

Penny Schwinn

Governor Bill Lee and Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Dr. Penny Schwinn on Thursday officially unveiled their new plan to fund public schools. They call the new formula the “Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement” (TISA) and say that it is based on each individual student’s needs. If approved by the General Assembly later this year, the formula (which is similar to the ones used in 40 other states) would replace the 30-year-old funding formula called BEP.

TISA would fund each school district with $6,800 of base funding for each student. Then, based on student needs, the state would supplement that amount. Factors include:

Economically disadvantaged students
Students living in areas of concentrated poverty
Students in sparsely populated communities
Students in small school district
Students with unique learning needs

The program would also provide additional funding for students who need literacy tutoring, as well as for students in kindergarten through third-grade learning how to read.

We will follow this proposal as it works its way through the legislative process in Nashville

About Brad Jones

Brad is the Owner/Operator of BBB TV 12, and has been with the company since August of 1996. Brad is a 1987 graduate of Coalfield High School and a 1995 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Communications. He won the 1995 broadcast production student of the year award. Brad worked at Shop at Home, Inc. a home shopping network that was located in Knoxville, TN from 1993 - 1995 and then at Via TV (RSTV, Inc.) from 1995 - 1996. After some freelance work in Nashville, Brad joined the BBB Communications staff in August of 1996. A short stint at WVLT TV as a news photographer was in 2001, but he continued to work at BBB TV as well. Brad is married to Nicole Jenkins Jones, a 1990 graduate of Oak Ridge High School, who works at Oak Ridge Gastroenterology and Associates in Oak Ridge. They have 3 kids, Trevor Bogard, 27, Chandler 22, and Naomi 13. On December 12, 2013 they welcomed their first grandchild, Carter Ryan Bogard. Brad is also the assistant boys basketball coach at Coalfield High School for the past 11 years. In 2013-14 the Yellow Jackets won their first district title since 1991 and just the 4th in school history.

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