TN schools

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Home : 2002 : June : 7

TN schools
By MargaretH

I'm from Tennessee, too, and, unfortunately, Kim has not exaggerated how bad it is. We are primarily funded by a state sales tax. Efforts to pass a state income tax have not been successful. As a state, we barely scraped
by with a bare bones budget last year and used up all of the tobacco settlement money we collected (around $750 million) to balance the budget. That was a one time money source--we have nothing to replace it this year as we go through the same problems. A recent big drain on our economy (besides relying on sales tax, which didn't bring in enough money after 9/11) is our new state Medicaid

program, called TennCare. It does a wonderful job of providing medical coverage to low income and uninsured Tennesseans, but at a terrific cost. Our budget shortfall cut our state bond ranking and we may face the dubious distinction of the first entire state educational system to get kicked out of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (our accreditation system) in one fell swoop as we eliminate programs basic to accredited schools. Imagine a state with no music, art, guidance counselors, physical education, libraries, or school nurses and you've got a good idea of what we're facing. It's not a good time to be a teacher in Tennessee and I'm wondering if I, with 5 years of experience, will survive the deep cuts expected if the stupid state legislature doesn't suck it up and vote on a tax reform measure which will adequately fund our public schools.