Tennessee Cuts Tutoring Programs And Improves Assessment Funding

Bristol, Tenn.—Gov. Phil Bredesen delivered a lesson in economics to a government class at Tennessee High on Monday.

Juniors and seniors enrolled in Anna Booher’s government and economics class participated in a telephone conference call with Bredesen, during his budget meeting with the board of education.

The class was one of four in the state to participate in this debate.

When Bredesen opened the budget hearing in Nashville, junior Chloe Baskin watched her government in action. “They gave everyone a good viewpoint on where Tennessee stands on education,“ she said.

But the bottom line might be a hard lesson for school systems. The Department of Education added nearly $20-million worth of accountability and assessment, or mandates under “No Child Left Behind.“ They cut more than $22-million in extended contracts.

“[Extended contracts] are funds for at-risk students, or students that have particular learning needs,“ Booher said. She used them to tutor students after school and earn retirement benefits.

“Does it hurt? Sure it hurts. It hurts everybody,“ she said.

How will high-risk students meet the standards for “No Child Left Behind” when the state drops programs designed to catch them up? Administrator Elizabeth Sells says Sullivan County will pick their battles, “Unless teachers just agree to do it on their own without being paid,“ she said.

Bredesen told Senior Sarah DePew her question got to the heart of this matter—the gap between high- and low-performing students.

“I thought that under Barack Obama it would have been gone, but, the way that they were talking about it in the hearings. There were going to be minimal changes to it,“ DePew said.

President Bush signed the NCLB into law on January 8th, 2002. It requires schools to meet certain criteria before they receive federal education funding.