December 13, 2004

The school board in Nashville (TN) and the city's mayor have formed a partnership to create a task force to examine funding for the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools.

"Because our schools operate with a mixture of local, state and federal revenues, this task force will need to examine numerous existing and potential sources of dollars," said Mayor Bill Purcell.

"Public education continues to be the most important thing our city does, and I believe this study group can make significant contributions to ensure our schools have the consistent level of funds required to provide all our children with a quality education," he stressed in a news release.

School board chair Pam Garrett describes the initiative as "a phenomenal opportunity to help shape the direction of public education in Nashville." Says Garrett, "We-re not aware of any other city in the country having a similar task force, and we believe we are breaking new ground in having key shareholders intimately involved in the educational funding discussion and process."

The new task force is composed of leaders from business, higher education, the community, labor, the state legislature, the city council, the mayor's office, the school board, the parents' council and a Nashville student.

"We-re glad the mayor supports it, and are thankful the Parents Advisory Council and other key stakeholders will be involved," says Nashville Director of Schools Pedro Garcia. "It's imperative that we look at funding issues and explore new options."

Garcia notes that student enrollment in the metropolitan Nashville school system has steadily increased, generating a continuous need for capital improvement and a demand for new programs to help students succeed.

The idea of a task force came from the school system's Parents Advisory Council, which expressed concern about the consistency and level of funding for public schools in Tennessee's capital city.

The parents group approached the mayor, suggesting that a task force be formed to study funding options and propose a plan to achieve funding goals. Subsequently, Mayor Purcell agreed with the school board to create the task force.