FILE – In this Feb. 9, 2015 file photo, Gov. Bill Haslam delivers his annual State of the State address to the Tennessee Legislature in Nashville, Tenn. Years of Republican attacks on President Barack Obama’s health care law may have paid dividends at the ballot box, but they also made it much harder for GOP governors to make the case that expanding Medicaid in their states is a good idea. Haslam corralled the broad support of business groups and the state’s powerful health care industry for his plan to cover 280,000 low-income residents. He ended up losing out to a steady drumbeat of anti-Obama rhetoric and threats of primary challenges to Republican lawmakers who considered going along. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) Story updated
This story has been updated to include additional information on counties that have authorized lawsuits.
NASHVILLE — Already faced with recent votes by five local school boards to sue Tennessee over its education funding formula, Gov. Bill Haslam said Monday he’s “not sure that suing people ever helps the conversation.”
Speaking with reporters, Haslam noted he expects to meet this coming Monday with school directors from Hamilton County, which last week voted to sue the state, as well as Knox and Shelby counties, where school boards are also contemplating litigation.
Metro Nashville Public Schools Director Jesse Register, who has tried to hold his board back, is also expected to attend. Metro’s school board has given Register 30 days to get some kind of agreement from the state.
The four districts represent the largest of the state’s 141 school districts.