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A resolution urging the Tennessee General Assembly to continue acceptance of federal funding for public schools in Tennessee.
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WHEREAS, the government and the people of Nashville and Davidson County are enduringly committed to excellence in public education for all our children; and,
WHEREAS, excellence in education has been central to Nashville's identity and aspiration since its founding, earning it the nicknames, first, the Athens of the West, and, later, the Athens of the South; and,
WHEREAS, there is nothing more important that we do, as a city, or as a society, than educate our children; and,
WHEREAS, Nashvillians pay federal taxes, in common with all other citizens of the United States; and,
WHEREAS, the federal government, in turn, uses those tax revenues to support public education in Tennessee, contributing about two billion dollars every year to the public education system in Tennessee, with such money to be administered by the State of Tennessee; and,
WHEREAS, the federal contribution to public education in Tennessee especially supports free and reduced school lunches, children from lower-income families, and children with disabilities, and also provides essential support for the school system as a whole; and,
WHEREAS, the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee has designated a Joint Working Group on Federal Education Funding to consider whether Tennessee should defund public education by refusing the ordinary federal contribution; and,
WHEREAS, every other state in the Union wisely accepts this funding, which contributes greatly to the quality of education provided to students; and,
WHEREAS, to reject this funding would send our federal tax dollars to support education in every other state in the Union except for our own; and,
WHEREAS, the Metropolitan Council opposes any rejection by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee of federal funds supporting public education across Tennessee and any other efforts to defund Met...
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