Longtime school needs dropped from State Panel report
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) – A state panel that makes annual recommendations for improving Tennessee’s school-funding formula has dropped longtime school needs costing millions from its latest report.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports (http://bit.ly/1XZL4ik) those same recommendations were cited last spring by local education boards in a lawsuit alleging the state is not meeting the costs to educate students.
Tennessee has a constitutional obligation to provide free K-12 public education, which it does through the Basic Education Program, or BEP.
One item not on the Basic Education Program Review Committee’s Nov. 1 report was continued implementation of the 2007 formula revamp known as BEP 2.0.
Dr. Sara Heyburn, executive director of the Tennessee Board of Education, said the report “reflects the BEP Review Committee’s 2015 priorities as well as a collective, ongoing commitment to Tennessee’s teachers and students.”
