Hamilton County Schools threatens to sue over BEP funding

Hamilton County Schools headquarters

NASHVILLE -- Gov. Bill Haslam says he may meet as early as next week with directors of the state's four biggest school systems as three of them -- Hamilton, Knox and Shelby schools -- actively consider suing the state over education funding.

"I understand their concerns," the Republican told reporters Wednesday. "If you remember, the small schools threatened to sue us last year. I'm not certain it's so much of a large school, small school issue. It's how we fund education in Tennessee."

Haslam added that "I would argue we've had a good track record of doing that through some tough times." He said his proposed budget provides $100 million for teacher pay raises and nearly $50 million to keep up with requirements of the state's Basic Education Program (BEP) funding formula.

Urban schools argue, however, that they, their students and local taxpayers are getting the short end of the funding stick from the formula. An effort that partially addressed their concerns -- dubbed BEP 2.0 -- was partially implemented in 2007 by then-Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen, who pushed a 42-cent-per-pack hike on cigarettes to fund half of it.

The rest of BEP 2.0's funding, however, never came through. And so, school boards in Hamilton, Knox and Shelby counties have been rattling their swords.

School board members for Metro Nashville Public Schools, also one of the state's biggest systems, decided Tuesday to hold off on actively exploring a lawsuit for 30 days after Metro Schools Director Jesse Register called it the "wrong way" to address the situation.

Register formerly served as Hamilton County Schools director until he left under fire in 2005. Register has recently experienced rocky relations with some Metro Nashville school board members and has opted not to seek a contract extension.

Speaking Wednesday, Haslam said resolving BEP formula issues "is not a matter of shifting [money], it's a matter of having the funds to do it.

"It's not like we're not being cognizant of the needs for K-12, if you look at how we've funded that compared to others [departments]," the governor said. He noted his administration has worked hard to cut spending elsewhere to help K-12 education.

Asked whether he philosophically disagrees with urban systems' assertions they need more funding, Haslam said, "of course that's the way people feel about government period, right? We need more money for schools, we need more money for caseworkers, we need more money for etc., etc.

"Our job is to take the resources that we have and allocate that in the very best way that we can," added Haslam, who has previously said he intends to get through his second term without seeking to raise the state sales tax. "We can only spend the money that we have. It's why we work so hard to restructure the budget all the time with cuts to other programs."

In Tennessee, major infusions of money into the state's education funding formula seem to come only where a lawsuit is threatened, filed or decided by the Tennessee Supreme Court.

The BEP was created in 1992 -- along with a 1-cent sales tax increase -- after small school systems sued the state, charging unequal treatment under the state Constitution, which mandates a free system of education. A year after the BEP passed, the schools won a legal victory from the state's highest court.

Small schools won two additional decisions, in 1998 and 2005, over inequities in teacher pay across school systems, requiring more funds.

Bredesen's 2007 BEP 2.0 initiative and the resultant cigarette tax was spurred by then-Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey's threats to sue over what he called BEP inequities that impacted county schools. A suit was never filed.

Ramsey later became Haslam's top deputy for several years before returning home.

As Hamilton County again considers suing the state, the issue isn't so much how the funding pie gets sliced, their argument is the pie itself needs to expand.

Contact staff writer Andy Sher at asher@timesfree press.com or 615-255-0550.