Bredsen says no to urban schools push for funding change

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — Gov. Phil Bredesen told mayors from Hamilton, Knox and Shelby counties he will not change the state’s education funding formula to give extra money to their public schools in his 2007 budget proposal.

Bredesen told the mayors he will recommend spending $20 million for at-risk students as well as children of immigrants who need help learning English.

Speaking after a meeting with the mayors on Thursday, Bredesen said changes sought by urban counties in Tennessee’s Basic Education Program formula would cost $150 million.

Bredesen said his priority is to spend money in the classroom.

Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey predicted the governor would support a formula change sometime in the future. Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton said Bredesen realizes a change is needed.

“The only question is timing and the amount of money,” Wharton said.

Officials from the three counties and Metro Nashville have said the funding formula discriminates against them. Hamilton County ranks last among Tennessee’s 136 school districts in per-capita assistance from the state, records show.

Bredesen told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that the new funding for immigrant children and for at-risk students, typically from poor families, would address a “problem that severely affects a number of the urban areas.”

Bredesen said he plans to provide about $90 million for expected overall growth in the BEP.

A BEP review committee in 2005 recommended several formula changes, including allotting state money based on a school system’s wealth rather than the county’s wealth and eliminating a cost-of-living factor.

Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale said local government leaders must work with the General Assembly to push for changes.

Some school systems contend that changing the formula would cost them money.

Sen. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, said he could not support a funding formula change without a provision to protect school systems from being penalized.

Meanwhile, Bredesen announced Thursday at a joint meeting of the State Board of Education and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission that he wants to put $1 million of his new budget toward a residential math and science high school.

“This initiative is just the first to emerge from our discussion about raising the bar when it comes to education and competitiveness in Tennessee,” he said.

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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com