Gov’s Education Budget Shifts $21 Million to ASD

Update 3/10: just wanted to post an update at the beginning of this. The ASD “increase” is a shift in funding of $21 million of BEP funds towards the ASD for new students. Still an “increase” in the sense that they are getting more money, but no new money has been allocated that wasn’t already there for schools. The title of the piece has also changed to reflect that realty. 

Snowdays. They shall always be a bloggers best friend. I decided to use my snow days productively and spend some time checking up on the Tennessee State Budget, specifically the K-12 education budget presented on March 2^nd to the State Assembly by new Education Commissioner Candice McQueen.

I’m going to break this down into two parts. First, highlights and observations from the Commissioner’s presentation (today). Second, notable moments from the Q&A with elected officials especially a heated exchange concerning the ASD (coming soon!).

In my opinion, the most noteworthy item in the Commissioner’s presentation is the increase, or “shifting,” of $21 million state dollars to fund the ASD’s growth. Additionally, teachers will receive almost $100 million more in support for salary increases and equalization across the state.

Commissioner McQueen’s Goals and Priorities

In her presentation, Commissioner McQueen outlined four goals and five strategic priorities:

• Goal #1: continue to improve Tennessee’s education progress on NAEP (a national test for 4^th and 8^th graders). We are currently 36^th
• Goal #2: Improve the rate that 12^th graders improve on NAEP
• Goal #3: move the average Tennessee ACT average to a 21 (current average last year was a 19.3)
• Goal #4: have the majority of high school graduates earn a post-secondary diploma, certificate or degree.

Here are the five strategic priorities designed to make progress towards these goals, as outlined in the budget:

• Priority #1: improve early foundations, specifically literacy in grades K-3.
• Priority #2: support educators who are identified as needing help on the state’s teacher evaluation system.
• Priority #3: empower school districts to meet all these goals.
• Priority #4: all means all – ensuring that all students are successful, not just some.
• Priority #5: work on strategies to bridge the gap between high school and successful completion of a post-secondary degree.

Goals and Priorities Analysis

It’s good to see the commissioner focused on improving student outcomes. However, it’s also telling that three of the four goals set down by the department of education have to do with test scores. The first two seem attainable given Tennessee’s recent progress on NAEP (fastest improving in the country), and if pending legislation making the ACT optional goes through, #3 might also happen without much additional effort as non-college bound juniors and seniors opt out of taking the ACT, which would presumably raise scores.

Without that legislation, however, it’s difficult to see how we could make a 2 point overall gain in our average ACT score without some major overhauls to how we educate students in K-12. Take it from a high school teacher, raising comprehensive ACT scores by 2 points won’t work if you just focus on the high school kids. The preparation has to start MUCH earlier.

That said, priority #4 should give everyone something to cheer about, especially given the Governor’s recent investment in his Drive to 55 Initiative.

Budget Breakdown

The education budget for 2015-16 is $4.48 billion. A few items of interest:

• 94% of it comes from the BEP funding formula, so if we’re going to get any more it will have to come through BEP.
• The governor’s budget increases education by $147 million in FY 2015-16 from the BEP formula. This represents approximately a 3 percent increase in the overall funding expenditures
• $97.6 million of that will be allocated to districts to use for teacher salary increases. According to the Commissioner, there is no other option for how this money could be used by districts. It must be used for salary increases.
• $6 million will be given to 83 systems across the state to help raise teacher salaries to the average under the state, in other words, make teacher salaries more equitable.
• $8.5 million has been allocated for supporting transition to new state assessments.
• Of special note, the ASD’s state allocation also grows from $71.7 million from last year to $92.7 million. The ASD projects its school numbers will rise to 30 in FY 2015-16, an increase of seven schools, according to the commissioner. That represents an estimated enrollment increase of 3000 students, from 6,500 to 9,500, and funding has been allocated accordingly. The Commissioner stated that the funding should not be interpreted as an increase, but rather as a “shift” of funding within the education budget.

Budget Analysis

The commissioner only discussed increases, not overall allocations to specific departments. Because of that my analysis focuses on what has been increased. The primary increase goes towards teacher salary increases. Teachers should be pleased by this, as it makes progress towards a pledge made previously by the Governor to make Tennessee the fastest improving state when it comes to teacher compensation.

I find it interesting that given the goals and priorities outlined by the commissioner, only $8.5 million is directly allocated to testing. There are no notable increases for college readiness either, at least in the K-12 budget.

Additionally, there’s no significant increase towards K-3, at least not as outlined in the budget hearing.

The biggest state increase other than teacher salary, $21 million, would go towards expanding ASD school numbers and enrollment. Commissioner McQueen emphasized that this is not an “increase,” rather a shifting of funds. Regardless, the funding would have to come from somewhere, and thus I don’t see how this can be interpreted as anything other than an increase in ASD funding by the state. I watched it several times to make sure I heard her right, and you can see the comments at 26:50.

Update 3/10: I wanted to add a clarifying note that the $21 million increase would specifically come from a shift in per pupil spending because of the projected increase in the ASD’s enrollment by 3,000 students. Presumably that shift would represent a transfer of $21 million to the ASD from whatever schools these students were previously attending from the BEP pot. 

My guess is that as Race to the Top funding dries up, the ASD needs to start appropriating state funds to make up the gap.

This is likely to cause an uproar ruffle a few feathers in both Nashville and Memphis, where the ASD has consistently been outperformed by a local school improvement effort, the iZone. Some will probably question why the ASD is receiving any additional funding given that it has yet to deliver on its promises thus far.

In summary, not a whole lot changes with his budget at least in the way of increases. A lot of money for teacher salaries and a big new shift for the ASD, but in relation to the overall budget these represent very small amounts.

What’s missing from the budget in your opinion? Are our priorities being adequately supported? Is the ASD getting enough/too much and are teacher salaries being given enough support? How about testing and college readiness? Leave a note in the comments or on social media.

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