Leaders of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) told Tennessee lawmakers there may be options to get around the requirements that come with federal education dollars without outright rejecting them.
In recent months, some Republican lawmakers have expressed an interest in rejecting more than a billion in federal education dollars to avoid complying with federal requirements. Leaders created a Joint Working Group on Federal Education Funding to evaluate the idea’s feasibility earlier this year and this week members held four meetings to hear from experts.
NCSL Senior Legislative Director Austin Reid provided a briefing Wednesday morning, saying Washington is the only state the organization is aware of that has lost federal funds for refusing to comply with a federal policy. That policy is no longer a requirement.
“Of course, this is not to say that there have not been collective or specific conflicts between states and the U.S. Department of Education. Prior the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, there were occasional instances where states refused to comply with some aspect of federal law or at least courted the prospect of non-compliance.” said Reid.
Reid told the joint working group he can’t recommend a specific strategy to pursue to reject federal funds, but he did have four recommendations Tennessee could use to resolve conflicts with federal law.
The first option would be to exercise the flexibility local schools can use in federal law. These flexibilities depend on the issue and can include reduced testing time and implementing locally selected, nationally recognized, high school academic assessments.
Reid says various states including Montana have been successful in this strategy and there has been interest exploring flexibility in federal assessment requirements.
Other options, according to Reid, include requesting a waiver from requirements associated with Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) programs or for states like Tennessee to work with its Congressional Delegation to seek changes through a reauthorization of federal law.
Reid’s final recommendation is for lawmakers to work with other state legislatures to explore changes to federal law through NCSL’s standing committee on education.
“NCSL is a strong advocate for states on all policy matters, but especially education. And we believe that states have the plenary authority over governing and financing education as delegated to states through the 10th Amendment of the Constitution,” said Reid.
The joint working group plans to hold additional hearings next week to continue its comprehensive review of federal education funding. Members plan to provide the General Assembly with a full report on the feasibility of rejecting federal funds next year.
