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Education commissioner credits formula increases and one‑time funds for rising NAEP ranks, details K–12 investments and school‑safety work
Summary
Commissioner Lizette Reynolds summarized federal and state investments in K–12 schooling since 2020, highlighted NAEP gains in Tennessee, and described how recurring teacher‑pay increases, ARPA/ESSER dollars for tutoring and literacy, school‑safety and mental‑health investments flow to districts.
Lizette Reynolds, Tennessee’s commissioner of education, told the Finance, Ways and Means Committee on Oct. 29 that investments since 2020 have increased per‑pupil spending and produced gains on national tests as districts use state, federal and one‑time funds for literacy, tutoring and school safety.
What the department reported: Reynolds said Tennessee has added about $2.3 billion in recurring state funds to the school‑funding formula since 2020 plus more than $1.2 billion in one‑time state investments and roughly $1.3 billion annually in recurring federal grants (ESEA, IDEA, Perkins, school nutrition). She also described how roughly $3.9 billion in federal COVID relief funds (ESSER/ARPA) were distributed, with about 90% flowing directly to districts to stabilize operations, remediate learning loss and accelerate…
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