Shelby County Schools urges the Tennessee General Assembly to adopt legislation permitting school districts with more than 30,000 students to convert to special school districts. By allowing school system to convert to special school districts, the General Assembly could empower each local school board of education with the limited fiscal authority to establish a tax rate for education with the limits bet bay a legislative act. Special school districts increase the chances for improved local education funding since residents are more likely to support adequate school funding if they know that the funds will be spent locally on education.

Only 14 states do not grant their elected school boards with any ability to raise revenue for education and only 20 percent of the elected school boards in the country must depend entirely on other bodies to raise revenue for schools.

Support Same Year BEP Funding

Replace TCÅ 49-3-352(d) in its entirety with the following:

(d) Notwithstanding any other section or law to the contrary, the BEP off every LEA will be calculated on the basis of current year ADM. Every LEA will be initially funded in the current year based on prior year ADM until sufficient ADM data is submitted by LEAs to effectuate the current year calculation. When sufficient ADM data is submitted, an estimated fifty percent (50%) of the difference between the amount funded based on current year ADM and amount calculated based on current year ADM shall be distributed to such eligible LEA by February 1, with the remainder, subject to any adjustment of numbers by the department of education that may affect the remaining amount, to be distributed by the following June 30. When a LEAs current year funding based on prior year funding ADM exceeds the calculated amount based on current year ADM, the LEA school be funded based on prior year ADM, and the current year will be the LEAs stability year. In calculating the allocations under the BEP formula, the commissioner, with the approval of the state board of education and the commissioner of finance and administration, shall establish the definitions of ADM, which will be used to determine each LEAs BEP funding. As used in tis section the definition of ADM will include FTEADM, identified and served special education students (I&S), and vocational FTEADM. It is the legislative intent that the definitions so established approximate as closely as possible full year ADM and that rounding within BEP be eliminated.