Comptroller says Madison and Hamilton Counties are the biggest beneficiaries of Tennessee’s new school funding formula

The Jackson-Madison County School System (38.56 percent) and Hamilton County Schools (32.98 percent) led the way with the largest percentage increase in state funding. Only four school districts received less than a full percent increase according to the Comptroller.¶

Under TISA, school districts receive a base amount of funding for each student and additional funding for students meeting certain criteria, like being economically disadvantaged or having a disability. Prior to TISA, districts received funding through a “resource-based” system that allocated money on the resources the state determined schools needed.¶

The Comptroller says TISA’s design and its inclusion in additional funding combined to provide a financial benefit for school districts.¶

“In the first year of TISA, the General Assembly invested an additional $1.16 billion in K-12 education. This funding increase equated to a 21.6 percent budget increase for K-12 education, significantly higher than the annual increases of the previous 12 years. The substantial investment of additional funding coupled with TISA’s design resulted in increased funding for all locally administered school districts in TISA’s first year,” wrote the Comptroller’s Office.¶

The Comptroller’s report found that extra funding played a role in support for the TISA at the school district level. Nearly two-thirds of respondents to a Comptroller survey of school districts expressed that the TISA transition has been positive and some claimed the additional funding “has been put to good use.”¶

The funding formula transition’s biggest impact, according to the Comptroller survey, fell on staff who work with students with unique learning needs at the district level and staff who work with student data. Both categories expressed a larger workload under TISA.¶

School district’s additionally identified challenges with the state’s new TN PULSE data collection system that’s used for TISA. In 2023 the state began requiring districts to enter student service plans in TN Pulse to generate TISA funding for students with disabilities, English learners, and other students with unique learning needs.¶

More than half of district leaders responding to the Comptroller survey expressed challenges learning to implement TN Pulse.¶

The department says more than 80 school districts increased proficiency compared to last year.