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Dear Friend, This summer has been an important one for public education in Tennessee. While much of our work over the past several years has focused on changing how our state funds schools, the next chapter is just as important: ensuring those investments actually reach the students who need them most. That's why EdTrust-Tennessee continues to work alongside educators, families, community leaders, and policymakers to strengthen the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) funding formula and advance policies that make school funding more equitable, transparent, and responsive to student needs. One of the biggest questions before our state this summer is how Tennessee identifies students experiencing poverty. Our research has shown that Tennessee's current definition significantly undercounts students from low-income backgrounds, leaving many schools without the resources they need to fully support their students. At the request of the TISA Review Committee, our team recently presented recommendations for improving how the state identifies and funds students experiencing poverty. Those recommendations will inform proposals headed to the legislature later this year. This work extends beyond Tennessee. Through our Southerners for Fair School Funding initiative, we recently released our 2026 State Ratings Rubric, providing advocates across the South with a clear picture of how their states are performing on school funding adequacy, equity, and transparency. We also welcomed leaders from across the region to Nashville for our second annual School Finance Institute, where we shared practical strategies, strengthened partnerships, and reaffirmed that meaningful progress is possible when we work together.
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