Tennessee legislation · 114th General Assembly
Tennessee SB2385: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 1 and Title 49, Chapter 3, relative to economically disadvantaged students.
Status: Chaptered, May 27, 2026
Fiscal Summary STATE GOVERNMENTEXPENDITURESGeneral FundFY27-28$83,703,300FY28-29 & Subsequent Years>$83,761,000 LOCAL GOVERNMENTREVENUE MandatoryFY27-28$83,703,300FY28-29 & Subsequent Years>$83,761,000 OTHER FISCAL IMPACT Expanding the definition of "economically disadvantaged" to include students enrolled on TennCare will increase the required local contributions by $35,089,400 in FY27-28; and in excess of $35,089,400 in FY28-29 and subsequent years. Local education agencies that contribute in excess of the required local match requirements may already be providing sufficient funding to cover the proposed increases to the local match requirements. Therefore, those LEAs would not be required to increase local funding amounts. Increasing the number of students identified as economically disadvantaged may shift more students from the 10 percent outcomes bonus to the 20 percent outcomes bonus; however, because outcomes funding is capped at $80,000,000 annually, any amount above the appropriation would be pro-rated. The proposed legislation may increase schools’ poverty percentages under DOE’s Title I rank-order process and cause additional schools to meet the 40 percent threshold for the 5 percent concentrated poverty weight, which may increase formula-generated funding. Article II, Section 24 of the Tennessee Constitution provides that: no law of general application shall impose increased expenditure requirements on cities or counties unless the General Assembly shall provide that the state share in the cost. Bill Summary Present establishes the Tennessee investment in student achievement formula (TISA) as the system for funding education for K-12 public schools. As part of TISA, each student generates a funding allocation that includes (i) a base funding amount, (ii) weighted allocations for which the individual student sat
What the bill says
From the amended text:
Senate Finance, Ways, and Means 1 Amendment No. 1 to SB2385 Watson Signature of Sponsor AMEND S e n ate Bill No. 2385* House Bill No. 2485 by deleting all language after the enacting clause and substituting instead: SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-3-113, is amended by designating the existing language as subsection (a) and adding the following as a new subsection: (b) Before November 1, 2026, the committee shall: (1) Review how economically disadvantaged students have been identified in this state in each of the immediately preceding ten (10) years, including how economically disadvantaged students were identified in the general appropriations acts for fiscal years 2025 and 2026; (2) Review how other states identify and fund economically disadvantaged students in public schools; and (3) Include in the annual report submitted on or before November 1, 2026, pursuant to subsection (a), recommendations for how this state may revise the ways in which it identifies economically disadvantaged students to ensure this state is accurately identifying the students in need of additional resources and recommendations for how this state may better support economically disadvantaged students through the TISA. SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it. SA1076