Response to Governor Lee’s Recommendation to Close Schools for the Remainder of the Year

MNEA applauds Governor Bill Lee’s decision to keep school buildings closed for the remainder of the year. This is a victory for the many educators across the state who have advocated for this decision in order to protect the health and safety of students and their families, as well as their own health and safety and that of their colleagues and their own families. Even while schools remain closed, educators are working hard to provide not only education, but food and other vital support to their students, and we are relieved to know they will be able to continue to do so from the safety of their own homes.  

We appreciate the acknowledgement of the governor that our educators provide far more than academics to our students. However, while we share the concerns of Governor Lee about making sure our students’ most basic needs are met, he needs to do more than create a child well-being task force. If Governor Lee truly wants to support Tennessee’s children, we call on him to provide much needed additional funding for public education by taking the following measures: 

-Restore the $250 million Student Mental Health Trust he cut that would have provided much-needed social and emotional supports for our students.

-Restore the $11 million for literacy programs he cut. 

-Restore the $58.5 million for increased teacher compensation that he cut.  

-Halt the needlessly early roll-out of the ESA (private school voucher) Program that will cost $37 million.  

-Provide additional funding from our $1.45 billion Rainy Day Fund to support public schools in our time of profound need.  

Tennessee ranks 45th in the nation for per pupil funding. The governor himself stated today that our state’s educators are “on the front lines” of serving and advocating for our most vulnerable children. As Metro Nashville Public Schools looks towards taking a catastrophic $100 million hit towards our current budget (the timing of the cut happening in the 4th quarter makes this cut equivalent to approximately 40% of the total budget), we call on Governor Lee to do more to support educators as we continue to make sure the educational, physical, and emotional needs of Tennessee’s children are met. A task force is not enough. Tourism in Nashville provides the lion’s share of our state’s sales tax. It’s time for our state to give back to Nashville, for the sake of our children’s future.  

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