After lawmakers voted in a whirlwind special session last week to pass reforms aimed a securing federal dollars for schools, education officials now are sitting back and thinking of ways they could spend the money.
Tennessee officials hope to hear by March or April if the state is awarded up to $485 million in federal Race to the Top funds.
Half that money would stay with the state Department of Education. The other half would be divvied up among Tennessee’s 135 school districts, based on the number of poor students in each system.
Some Southeast Tennessee school officials said they’re hesitant to spend money they don’t yet have, but others already have dreamed up ways to use the extra funds.
Rhea County Superintendent Jerry Levengood said he’d like to see the $847,000 his county is expected to receive used to help teachers implement statewide standards and curriculum that went into effect this year.