Gov. Haslam 'surprised' by school funding lawsuit

NASHVILLE -- Gov. Bill Haslam says he was both "surprised" and "disappointed" that school boards in Hamilton and six nearby counties sued the state over state education funding one day after he met with superintendents of Tennessee's four largest systems.

"Sure I was surprised from the discussion we had had," Haslam told reporters earlier today. "And disappointed. Because I don't think that's how you solve problems. Because we really are making an effort to address that situation."

Haslam said "nobody can say we had a budget that ignored education. We put $144 million in this year's budget. And if you've been around the state budget and realize how little new money there is to use, that's a significant commitment."

The Republican governor said "we're looking at doing everything we can to do more. I just don't know how a lawsuit helps that."

This week's Chancery Court lawsuit, filed in Nashville, alleges the state has underfunded the state's Basic Education Program funding formula, which distributes the state share of funds for public education.

Hamilton, Bradley, Polk, McMinn, Marion, Grundy and Coffee county school boards allege in the suit that the state "breached its duty under the Tennessee Constitution to provide a system of free public education for the children of the state."

Asked if he has concerns other systems may join in, the governor said, "I honestly don't know. We're still going to keep conversations going. At the end of the day the question should always be, what's best for the students in the classroom. And it's hard for me to see how lawsuits are what's best for students in the classroom."

Haslam also said, "we're not going to say, now that we've been sued we're going to shut down our efforts. We're still going to try to get to the right outcome."

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