Business Success Action Group

Holding back the tears, Teresa Short described her struggles trying to help her son, a preschooler in need of special education, catch up after the school disruptions caused by COVID. Her school district, Fayette County Schools in Somerville, could only offer summer academic programs to children in K-12, she said. The reason, she was told, was the limited funding. "So I had to find private schools to try to get him to and pay out of my pocket to try and get him an education and get him where he needs to be," said Short. Given the opportunity to weigh how Tennessee should approach its first revision of the school funding formula in 30 years, Short advocated giving more money to schools overall and ensuring more money is allocated to special education students. She joined a crowded room with parents, students, educators, boards of directors, school board members and activists Thursday at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis to visit the second of eight town ha