Plaintiffs in small schools suit agree to Bredesen’s pay plan

Bredesen’s office said in a statement the agreement came after the group met with officials from the state Department of Education to hear details of the administration’s proposal — which would add and reallocate more than $112 million in spending on teacher salaries next year.

“This has been a long road for us, we now feel like we’ve reached an important milestone,” said Wayne Qualls, executive director of Tennessee School Systems for Equity, which sued the state. “The governor has listed to our concerns and responded positively.”

The state is under an order by the Tennessee Supreme Court to equalize teacher pay between poor and rich school districts. The court has held the state’s funding formula unconstitutional on three occasions, most recently in October 2002.

“I’m gratified that the plaintiffs in the small schools case have endorsed this proposal to equalize teacher pay, and thank them and all of our school systems across Tennessee for the spirit of cooperation they’ve brought to the issue,” Bredesen said.

The biggest single chunk of the $112 million would go to Memphis city schools, the state’s largest school system, which would get $6 million.

Rutherford County would receive $5.5 million, followed by Sumner County at $5.1 million. Both are Nashville suburban counties.

Bredesen added $27 million to the poorest-paying counties as a “down payment” on the equity issue in this year’s budget. That money, plus $12 million put into teacher salaries in the 1990s for the same purpose, will be redirected through the state’s K-12 education funding formula.

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On the Net:

Tennessee Department of Education: http://www.state.tn.us/education