Gov. Bill Lee’s overhaul of the public school funding formula passed two important steps last week despite an elephant in the General Assembly committee hearing rooms — an FBI corruption investigation coming to a head.

About 10-12 Republican lawmakers were reportedly subpoenaed last week including House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville), who confirmed to Nashville NewsChannel 5 he received a subpoena. Some expect indictments by the end of the legislative session next month.

The FBI has been investigating Tennessee lawmakers since former House Speaker Glen Casada (R-Franklin) was ousted amid a scandal in 2019. The probe is looking into kickbacks and a business operated by Casada and his former chief of staff during the 2020 campaign, but may also be interested in a possible quid-pro-quo related to Lee’s 2019 school voucher law.

Governor: Review of state’s school district funding complete

Earlier this month, another representative resigned after a wire fraud charge for her connection to Casada and his staffer’s company.

State Rep. Kent Calfee (R-Kingston) told the Tennessee Lookout — and, more importantly, the FBI — that he overheard Casada offering another lawmaker a promotion in the National Guard in exchange for a vote in favor of the voucher law. Calfee also implicated Lee, who has the power to give such promotions. Lee denies any knowledge.

NewsChannel 5 also reported state Rep. Jason Zachary (R-Farragut), the deciding vote on Lee’s school voucher legislation, received a subpoena, but Zachary did not confirm it.

Amid all this, the House K-12 subcommittee and the Senate Education Committee found time to advance Lee’s funding overhaul, known as the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act, or TISA.

State Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), a retired teacher and one of the GOP’s most vocal critics, said the investigation casts a shadow on the funding debate.

‘I think we have done our due diligence’

The Senate Education Committee approved the plan on Wednesday, March 23, adding five amendments having to do with rule-making, charter schools and more.

The plan would significantly boost funding, but not enough to lift Tennessee out of the bottom 10 states for school funding.

After decades, students ‘deserve a billion dollar increase,’ Gov. says

Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn says it’s a student-based model, as opposed to the district-based Basic Education Program (BEP). It includes a base of $6,860 per student with extra “weights” for students in poverty, in rural districts, with disabilities or who are learning English. There’s also more money for career and technical education.

It wouldn’t take effect until the 2023-2024 school year, and districts would be held harmless for higher funding obligations until fiscal 2024.

Some are saying TISA is moving too fast, concerned it could require some local governments to raise taxes to meet their funding obligations.

“The bill is incredibly unclear, and we hope legislators won’t vote on a bill without understanding its fiscal impact,” the Tennessee Public Education Commission wrote online last week.

Lee and Schwinn say there’s been ample time for public input and deliberation, pointing to a series of town halls and a group of subject-specific committees that made recommendations.

Two months ago, many Republicans were skeptical that all the details could be ironed out during the legislative session. Now, many are confident in the plan.

“Frankly, eight weeks ago, I was concerned as well,” committee chair state Sen. Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol) said during the hearing. “I feel well-satisfied that we have done well and put together a really solid plan. I think we have done our due diligence.”

‘We haven’t seen the real funding formula’

Memphis-Shelby County Schools isn’t sharing its position on TISA until it’s finalized.

“We look forward to analyzing the final legislation,” MSCS stated in an email.

Parents, educators ask for equitable school funding

Local superintendents in Shelby County are still concerned about what they don’t know as it relates to the new funding formula.

School districts know very little, Germantown Municipal School District Superintendent Jason Manuel said at a Board of Education work session Wednesday, March 23.

“I think it is a real challenge for any district across the state or municipality or funding bodies to sign on and say that we support something until we know the impacts,” Manuel told them. “This may be good for us. It may be good for the district. The challenge is we haven’t seen the real funding formula. This is just a blueprint (and) until we get into those nuts and bolts, we won’t know the impact on our district.”

Germantown used a number of grants for various services, and the district did not factor them into the general fund. But it looks like the new formula may.

“They’ve baked into it the base amount for things we’ve historically seen in grants,” Manuel said.

At first, Collierville Schools Superintendent Gary Lilly was a bit skeptical. He and Manuel said the BEP was already a student-based formula, contradicting how Schwinn and Lee describe it.

”I am positive, but I am somewhat guarded,” Lilly said. “Anytime anyone says they will scrap your funding formula and start from scratch, it creates anxiety.”

At this time, it does look like the plan will provide some additional funding to the eastern district in Shelby County.

“We pay for a lot of positions that are not currently covered under the BEP,” Lilly said. “The additional money helps fund those positions.”

The extra funding will allow more funding for quality teachers, nurses and offer a range of programming for students with disabilities and advanced class for who excel academically.

It can also help alleviate the burden of some of the current unfunded mandates.

Germantown and Collierville are both high-performing districts, and the funding formula does discuss additional dollars based on outcomes. Lilly expressed hope that the district could receive extra money based on that component.