MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The second of a series of town hall meetings across the state of Tennessee will be held in Memphis on Thursday night, as the state looks to reform how it funds schools.
That town hall meeting will be held at the National Civil Rights Museum, both in-person and via livestream at 5:30 p.m.
Tennessee ranks 43rd in the country in public education investment per student, according to the Education Law Center.
Governor Bill Lee and Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn said the current system needs a meaningful overhaul and a "student-centered" system.
Education and community leaders, teachers and state representatives have been assigned to more than a dozen committees. The state is also seeking public engagement in the process.
The "student-centered" approach, the state says, will focus on prioritizing students over systems, empowers parents to engage in their child's education, incentivizes student outcomes, ensures all students get a high-level education, reflects Tennessean values and creates flexible funding to prepare students for postsecondary success.
“We need to increase funding and we need to talk about innovation," Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare Chief of Staff Cato Johnson said.
Johnson is the chair for the Urban District Subcommittee, one of the 18 committees put together to reform public education funding. He's also a former Board of Education member for the state.
He says the problem facing schools across the states, whether rural or urban districts, has always been the same: poverty.
“When we think about BEP (Basic Education Program) and funding education, we’re 43rd in the nation," Johnson said. "We spend an average of $10,000 per pupil. The national average is about $14,000 but the BEP program has been controversial forever."
Town Hall Details:
Co-hosts: Representative John Gillespie, Libertas School of Memphis, Hyde Family Foundation, Senator Raumesh Akbari, Millington Municipal Schools, TennesseeCAN, Professional Educators of Tennessee, Memphis Lift, United Ways of Tennessee, Shelby County Schools, Southwest Tennessee Community College, Excellence in Education in Action, Tennessee PTA
o Parking: Visitor Lot, to enter the visitor lot, turn north on Mulberry Street from G.E. Patterson Avenue
o Time: 5:30 p.m. CT