Following EdTrust-Tennessee’s Undercount report, the TISA Review Committee recommends a more accurate way to identify students from low-income backgrounds
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Breana Staten, tnmedia@edtrust.org
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – EdTrust-Tennessee today celebrates a major step in its ongoing efforts to ensure Tennessee’s school funding formula accurately reflects student needs. The Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) Review Committee voted to recommend expanding the measures used to identify students from low-income backgrounds, marking an important step toward addressing a longstanding gap in how the state counts students experiencing poverty and directs resources to public schools. The committee’s recommendation reflects a core recommendation in EdTrust-Tennessee’s Undercount report.
When schools have the resources they need, every Tennessee student can access a high-quality education and the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their background, zip code, or family income. Students from low-income backgrounds often come to school needing healthy meals, counselors, or extra academic support. To help every child reach their full potential, Tennessee should continue to fund schools based on their unique needs, and the TISA Review Committee’s recommendation would help direct funding to the schools where students need it most.
Tennessee currently identifies students from low-income backgrounds using enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, but this method misses many students in need. Federal policy changes may worsen the undercounting of students experiencing poverty as millions of Americans are losing access to public assistance. This masks the financial realities many students experience and limits the state’s ability to channel resources to school districts that need them most.
“Today’s vote represents a significant step toward a more accurate and equitable school funding system in Tennessee,” said Alexza Barajas Clark, Executive Director of EdTrust-Tennessee. “A student’s eligibility for public assistance should not determine whether their needs are recognized in our school funding formula. If we are serious about directing resources where they are needed most, we must begin with an accurate understanding of the students our schools serve. This recommendation brings Tennessee closer to fulfilling the promise of TISA: funding students based on their needs, not an incomplete measure of family income.”
“This is also a powerful example of what is possible when rigorous research, community advocacy, and nonpartisan policymaking come together. What began with our research identifying a critical gap in Tennessee’s funding formula has advanced through the legislative process and now earned the support of the state’s school funding review committee. We are grateful to the families, educators, advocates, and policymakers who helped move this issue forward. Our focus now turns to the 2027 legislative session, where we have an opportunity to translate this recommendation into lasting policy that better serves Tennessee students.”
Tennessee implemented significant changes to how public schools are funded in 2022 with the passage of the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA). The TISA Review Committee, which is statutorily mandated and comprised of a wide set of stakeholders including legislators, directors of schools, and school finance directors from across the state, convened for the first time in 2026, and today’s recommendations are the first-ever recommendations from the review committee to refine the formula following initial implementation.
HB 2485/SB 2375 passed the Tennessee Senate unanimously during the 2026 legislative session, as was signed into law by Governor Lee. It directed the TISA review committee to study how Tennessee identifies students from low-income backgrounds. Throughout the summer, the committee heard from EdTrust-Tennessee, advocates, and community partners who shared recommendations for a more complete way to identify students from low-income backgrounds. The committee then voted to adopt these recommendations, and in the 2027 legislative session, the General Assembly will need to take up a bill based on them.
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About EdTrust-Tennessee
EdTrust-Tennessee works to improve academic achievement and expand opportunity for students in Tennessee.
We equip students, educators, advocates, and policymakers with data, tools, and support to influence education policy. By mobilizing communities across the state, EdTrust-Tennessee amplifies collective power to better influence and inform the policy decisions being made on behalf of students from low-income backgrounds, of color, with disabilities, in rural areas, and English learners, regardless of citizenship status.
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