The Tennessee General Assembly Special Session to address Covid-19-related issues began on October 27th with nearly 80 bills filed. In the leadup to the session, Speaker Sexton proposed eight bills that covered numerous topics, such as masking in schools and private businesses, private organization vaccine mandates and partisan school board races.

Last year, when the heads of Tennessee state departments and agencies met with Governor Bill Lee, Finance and Administration Commissioner Butch Eley and state Chief Operating Officer Brandon Gibson to propose their 2021 budgets, the world was a different place. The Governor had at that time requested that the heads of state agencies identify 12% across-the-board cuts to their departments for the 2021 fiscal year, and an additional 2% cut for fiscal year 2022.

In early October, Governor Bill Lee and Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn announced a 90-day stakeholder review of the Basic Education Plan (BEP). The BEP is the funding mechanism used to finance Tennessee schools, and determines how much money each district and school gets for its operating costs.

In early October, Governor Bill Lee and Commissioner Penny Schwinn announced a 90-day stakeholder engagement effort to solicit input on possible reforms to the state's education funding formula, the BEP.

While safe, in-person education is the best option for Tennessee students, rising Covid cases across the state have made this scenario difficult to enact. During the 2020-2021 school year, most school districts recognized this reality and shifted to remote learning. The success of remote learning across the state varied from district to discrict, class to class and student to student, but one thing is certain: it protected students from contracting and spreading Covid-19.