Legislator wants to ensure Tennessee won’t cut millions of dollars from schools during pandemic
Houston High School students walk to their second period classes on the first day of school Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. With the pandemic putting hundreds of millions of dollars at risk next year for Tennessee public schools, Rep. Scott Cepicky wants to make sure education funding remains intact in next year’s budget. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian file)
Marta W. Aldrich
Marta W. Aldrich is the senior statehouse correspondent at Chalkbeat Tennessee. A newswoman for The Associated Press for most of her career, Marta has covered state government, politics, business, education and other Tennessee news. She has served as news editor of United Methodist News Service and features editor of American Profile magazine. Marta is a graduate of Memphis City Schools and the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
Rep. Scott Cepicky’s bill would stabilize state funding in the 2021-22 school year at this year’s levels, even though a statewide decline in student enrollment this fall would normally decrease the allocation by at least $320 million.
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School enrollment has dropped by 33,000 across Tennessee amid pandemic
Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn believes some families opted to home-school their children, and others enrolled their kids in private schools, especially in Memphis and Nashville. But the biggest decline was in kindergarten enrollment.
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