The school funding edition

Hello and welcome to School Zone. This is education reporter Meghan Mangrum.

I hope you enjoyed the long weekend if you got one. After last week's news, I definitely needed some time to recharge.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day yesterday, I do want to share a quote from the late civil rights leader that I hope can inspire those who want to get involved in education.

“Everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”

With that, let's take a look at the news.

State drops draft of a new proposed statewide school funding framework

Today's the deadline for the public to weigh in on a draft framework for a new statewide school funding formula the Tennessee Department of Education released last Tuesday night.

On the same day lawmakers reconvened in Nashville for the start of the 2022 legislative session, the state released a four-page draft of what department officials said was a culmination of the feedback heard at dozens of town halls and hundreds of public comments over the past few months.

The draft, officials say, was also informed by the work of 18 subcommittees formed when Gov. Bill Lee and Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn launched the funding review process in October — though most subcommittees have only met three or four times for a few hours since they launched.

The framework — which you can find here — lays out a base structure for items that would be funded under a new "student-centered" formula, such as teacher salaries, nurses and school counselors, and assigns weights, or additional funding, to students who live in poverty or rural areas, charter schools and students with disabilities.

The governor is still mum on whether he will officially push legislation this session to revamp the state's three-decade-old funding formula, but Schwinn hinted that additional information might come during Lee's State of the State address.

Lee has hinted several times that he intends to increase the amount the state spends on K-12 education, as the Tennessee Lookout reported Saturday, but how much of an increase schools could see is still up in the air.

Some key lawmakers have also expressed interest in having the conversation this session, even as local elected officials and school leaders, especially in urban areas, express concerns.

Read about how national experts are helping and the urban district concerns.

Staff shortages fuel school closures

Though Tennessee school districts cannot pivot to remote learning district-wide, individual schools can switch to virtual learning with permission from the state Department of Education for up to seven days.

But even that isn't enough for some districts facing ongoing staff shortages in the wake of skyrocketing COVID-19 cases.

Both Metro Nashville Public Schools, where masks are required, and Wilson County Schools, where masks are not required, reported the highest number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases among students and staff the districts have seen all school year last week, and Memphis-area schools are also seeing a steady surge.

Knox County Schools joined other districts across the state in closing for a day last week after schools were unable to staff classrooms.

Though some lawmakers are introducing legislation aimed at districts that do not stay open or offer in-person learning all school year, even districts like Lebanon Special School District and Collierville Schools are seeing closures.

The Tennessee Department of Education announced a new partnership with the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Labor last week aimed at making it easier — and cheaper — to become a teacher in Tennessee in an effort to combat ongoing shortages, but schools' options currently are more complicated.

I want to hear from you.

With that, what is going on inside your school building?

Are you a teacher having to cover colleagues' classrooms? Are you a student sitting in an auditorium instead of math class because there isn't a teacher? Are you a parent worried about whether or not your child is learning this school year? Are you a school leader who can share what the community can do to help?

Please share your stories. The Tennessean wants to hear from you.

Reach out to me at mmangrum@tennessean.com or on Twitter @memangrum.

And thank you for reading! Our coverage of education and children's issues wouldn't be possible without Tennessean subscribers. If you aren't already one, please consider becoming a subscriber today.

Extra credit

► Centennial High School in Franklin was closed on Friday, Jan. 14 — but not due to snow or staffing shortages. Instead, the school was closed after a teenager crashed a vehicle into the building. My colleague Anika Exum reported the full story.

► Local leaders from the Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship and the NAACP Nashville branch hosted a panel discussion on a variety of topics, including education, economics and housing development, titled "Civil Rights: Then and Now" in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday. Metro Nashville school board member John Little served as moderator. My colleague Liam Adams reports.

► After several years of turmoil, including an attempt by the Metro Nashville Board of Education to revoke the entire network's charter, school board members voted last week not to renew Knowledge Middle School's charter application. Unless the school successfully appeals to the state's Public Charter School Commission, it will be forced to close at the end of this school year. Find the full story here.

► DEADLINE EXTENDED: Metro Nashville Public Schools has extended the deadline to sign-up to tutor students this spring. The district is recruiting volunteer tutors to work one-on-one with students who need help catching up in reading or math. Volunteers with the Accelerating Scholars program will be paired with a student in first, second or third grade to work on English language arts or eighth and ninth grade to work on math. Volunteers will meet virtually with students for three 30-minute sessions a week for 10 weeks. Volunteers will receive training and other resources. The deadline to sign up is Wednesday, Jan. 19. For more information: Tutor.MNPS.org.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: The school funding edition