Tennessee legislation · 114th General Assembly

Tennessee HB2121: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 8; Title 49 and Title 67, relative to education.

Status: Chaptered, May 26, 2026

Fiscal Summary STATE GOVERNMENTEXPENDITURESGeneral FundFY26-27$55,000 Bill Summary This bill enacts the "Better Spending, Better Schools Act of 2026," which requires each LEA and public charter school to submit an expenditure report to the office of research and education accountability (OREA) in the office of the comptroller of the treasury and to the department of education by August 1 each year. The department must develop the standardized form that must be used by each LEA and public charter school to report expenditures made in the immediately preceding school year in each of the following categories:  Instructional costs. Student support service costs. School administrative costs, as applicable. District administrative costs, if applicable. Operation and maintenance costs. Professional development costs. Expenditures made using direct allocations to the LEA or public charter school. This bill requires the department to make the expenditure report submitted by each LEA and public charter school publicly available by posting the report on the state report card. The department must also include on the state report card the total amount of state funds appropriated to each LEA and public charter school through the TISA, as well as the required local contribution for the respective school year. ON APRIL 21, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2121, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to require LEAs and public charter schools to annually submit to OREA: (1) A planning and budgetary report for the upcoming school year; and (2) An expenditure report for the immediately preceding school year. This amendment requires the department of education to shall develop the standardized reporting forms for the use of LEAs and public charter sc