Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) is reportedly in talks with state lawmakers, lobbyists, and other leaders to introduce a bill that would stop the state from accepting federal K-12 education dollars, according to a Wednesday report by The Associated Press (AP).
House Speaker Cameron Sexton told the AP that he has introduced a bill to explore the idea during this year’s legislative session and has begun discussing the idea with Gov. Bill Lee and other key GOP lawmakers. Our story: https://t.co/3Ndm8Lfdhu
— Kimberlee Kruesi (@kkruesi) February 8, 2023
Sexton, according to the AP, said the funding for education could be generated by state tax dollars instead.
The AP notes that Tennessee would be the first in the nation to pass such a law, as no state has successfully rejected federal education funds to date.
Sexton said he believes that by rejecting federal funds, “Tennessee would no longer have ‘federal government interference,’ and the state would have more authority to “educate the kids how Tennessee sees fit,” the AP reports.
At the Tennessee Farm Bureau luncheon on Tuesday, Sexton publicly touted the idea to a “packed” room full of legislators, lobbyists, and other leaders, AP notes.
“We as a state can lead the nation once again in telling the federal government that they can keep their money and we’ll just do things the Tennessee way,” Sexton said during the event, according to the AP.
The nearly $1.8 billion of education funding provided by the federal government is relatively a small amount, given that Tennessee’s K-12 education funding had an approximate $8.3 billion budget as of fiscal year 2023, not including Governor Bill Lee’s new $3.2 billion proposal of new spending outlined in his recent budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year.
In regards to Sexton’s plan, a spokesperson for Lee told the AP in a statement, “Although we haven’t seen the details of the legislation yet, the governor is always interested in working with the speaker to ensure Tennessee students have the best access to a high-quality education.”
Speaker of the Senate Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) also released a statement to the AP regarding Sexton’s idea, with his spokesman saying, “McNally thinks a discussion about forgoing this money, a relatively small part of overall education funding, in order to maintain more control over how we educate our Tennessee students is a constructive conversation to have.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
