Where the Candidates Stand on Public School Funding
Does the next governor raise the TISA formula, change what it weights, or hold it where it is?
What the policy is
The Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act replaced a four-decade-old formula that funded school systems by their staffing and programs. TISA funds students: a base amount follows each child, and additional weights ride on top of it for students in poverty, students in small or rural districts, students learning English, and students with disabilities.
The formula blends state and local dollars, so a change to the state share moves what every one of Tennessee’s districts can spend. The base per-student amount also sets the value of the Education Freedom Scholarship, which means a funding decision and a voucher decision are the same number.
The governor proposes the education budget the General Assembly works from, and the administration sets the weights and the annual increase it asks for.
What it costs
- Total formula
- Over $9 billion
The Department of Education describes the TISA Act as investing over $9 billion in education funding for the state. The formula includes both state and local funds.
- Added state investment
- $1 billion recurring, annually
An additional annual recurring state investment of $1 billion has accompanied the formula since implementation in the 2023-24 school year.
- In force since
- 2023-24 school year
The General Assembly passed the TISA Act on April 28, 2022; the governor signed it on May 2, 2022; districts were funded under it beginning in 2023-24.
No FY2026-27 TISA appropriation is quoted. The enacted budget line was not retrievable from an authoritative published source while this page was written.
What Tennesseans told the survey
What Tennesseans said about school funding
- 64%
- say education funds are not being spent efficiently
Blame is spread nearly evenly: local boards (31%), fraud (26%), and government regulations (25%).
500 registered voters surveyed February 5-8, 2026, ±4.38% margin of error, 95% confidence. Tennessee Firefly is a product of Tennesseans for Student Success, which conducted this survey. We publish the findings in full and name them as the yardstick wherever we use them so readers can weigh the source along with the number.
Where the nominees stand
Marsha Blackburn
Has not stated a positionHer campaign publishes twenty-one issue planks. None addresses the TISA formula, the state share of K-12 funding, or the annual education budget request. Two planks do speak to state spending in general terms, cutting wasteful government spending and stopping what she calls out-of-control liberal spending, but neither names schools, districts or the funding formula. Her one K-12 commitment is to fully implement the state school choice law, whose award is set by the same base amount TISA uses.
Source: Marsha Blackburn for Governor, Issues · read 2026-08-08
Jerri Green
SupportsHer platform commits to fully funding K-12 public education and lists what she would add: counselors, nurses and support staff, universal pre-K, special education and rural schools, a special education equity fund, and available Medicaid dollars drawn into schools. She frames funding as a values question, writing that the state funds what it values. She does not name the TISA formula or propose a specific increase.
“Expand access to school counselors, nurses, and support staff”
Source: Jerri Green for Governor, Policy · read 2026-08-08
The 13 independents on the ballot
Independent candidates qualify by petition and never appear in a primary, so they arrive on the November ballot with no primary record behind them. Each is listed here whether or not a position exists.
Misam Abidi
Has not stated a positionMisam Abidi has not stated a position on school funding.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Misam Abidi: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Dean Brewer
Has not stated a positionDean Brewer has not stated a position on school funding.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Dean Brewer: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Ray Brown
Has not stated a positionRay Brown has not stated a position on school funding.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Ray Brown: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
David Hatley
SupportsEducation is one of five priorities on his campaign site. He says he supports investing in public schools, and proposes placing expert reading coaches in the state’s 100 lowest-performing elementary schools, pointing to Mississippi’s reading gains as the model. He does not name the TISA formula.
Source: Hatley campaign, David Hatley for Governor
Wendell Jackson
Has not stated a positionWendell Jackson has not stated a position on school funding.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Wendell Jackson: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Charles Van Morgan
Has not stated a positionCharles Van Morgan has not stated a position on school funding.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Charles Van Morgan: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Eddie Lee Murphy
Has not stated a positionEddie Lee Murphy has not stated a position on school funding.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Eddie Lee Murphy: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Lauren Pinkston
SupportsHer platform states that schools should be prioritized as safe and well-funded institutions of discovery. It does not name the TISA formula or a funding level.
“We prioritize schools as safe and well-funded institutions of discovery.”
Source: Pinkston campaign, Lauren Pinkston for Tennessee Governor
Victor L. Scoggin
Has not stated a positionHis platform does not address the state funding formula or the level of school funding.
Source: Scoggin campaign, Capt Vic Scoggin for Tennessee Governor
Dave Seeman
SupportsHe has the most detailed schools platform of the thirteen independents. It commits to smaller class sizes, more counselors and special education aides, behavioral health specialists to bring counselor ratios to national standards, class size caps enforced by hiring more teachers, paraprofessionals in every self-contained special education classroom, and free breakfast and lunch in the highest-need districts sourced from Tennessee farmers.
Source: Seeman campaign, The Platform: Dave Seeman for Governor
Karl Knox Smithson
Has not stated a positionKarl Knox Smithson has not stated a position on school funding.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, Karl Knox Smithson: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
L. Webb Taylor
Has not stated a positionL. Webb Taylor has not stated a position on school funding.
Source: Tennessee Firefly, L. Webb Taylor: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list · read 2026-08-08
Robert C. Vick
Has not stated a positionHis announcement does not state a position on the state funding formula.
Source: Claiborne Progress, 40-Year East Tennessee Educator Dr. Vick Announces Independent Run for Governor
15 candidates on the certified November ballot · 4 with a stated position on this issue · 11 with none on the record
Sources
- Tennessee Department of Education, Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) Formula (read 2026-08-08)
- Marsha Blackburn for Governor, Issues (read 2026-08-08)
- Jerri Green for Governor, Policy (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, Misam Abidi: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, Dean Brewer: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, Ray Brown: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Hatley campaign, David Hatley for Governor
- Tennessee Firefly, Wendell Jackson: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, Charles Van Morgan: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, Eddie Lee Murphy: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Pinkston campaign, Lauren Pinkston for Tennessee Governor
- Scoggin campaign, Capt Vic Scoggin for Tennessee Governor
- Seeman campaign, The Platform: Dave Seeman for Governor
- Tennessee Firefly, Karl Knox Smithson: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Tennessee Firefly, L. Webb Taylor: campaign material, filings and public statements, reviewed against the Secretary of State ballot list (read 2026-08-08)
- Claiborne Progress, 40-Year East Tennessee Educator Dr. Vick Announces Independent Run for Governor
- Tennesseans for Student Success, TSS Statewide Survey, February 2026
Positions are stated in each candidate’s own framing. Where a candidate has not addressed an issue, the page says so and names the material that was reviewed to reach that conclusion. We do not score or grade candidates: the survey is the yardstick, and the comparison is the reader’s to make.
The other education issues
Does the Education Freedom Scholarship grow, hold at 20,000 students, or end?
Do annual testing and the A-F school grades stay as they are, get reweighted, or get rolled back?
What happens to teacher pay after the statutory minimum reaches $50,000 in 2026-27?
Where does the next governor put the money: four-year degrees, the technical colleges, or both?
Explore the Tracker
About this tracker
This tracker is produced by The Tennessee Firefly, an independent, nonpartisan news outlet covering education and government in Tennessee. We don't endorse candidates. We don't take political ads. We follow the money, the policy, and the people who shape your kids' schools. All data comes from official filings, verified reporting, and on-the-record sources, with freshness timestamps visible on every page that surfaces live data.