TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Oct 22, 2025

Tennessee school districts are urging lawmakers to include special education pre-kindergarten in the state’s school funding formula, arguing that current gaps force them to pull hundreds of thousands of dollars from K–12 budgets to meet federal requirements. According to Chalkbeat Tennessee, districts such as Germantown and Lakeland say they receive little to no recurring state funding for special education preschool programs, which serve children as young as three years old with disabilities requiring specialized instruction and therapies. Lawmakers, including Rep. Mark White, D-Memphis, have pushed to amend the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act to cover these programs, but legislation has stalled over cost concerns. The Commercial Appeal has a reprint of the article.