Better Spending, Better Schools
Helping Tennessee Students Succeed
What’s This Campaign About?
TennesseeCAN’s Better Spending, Better Schools campaign strives to make sure the money we spend on public schools supports student success. Our goal is to provide transparency in school and district spending so parents and taxpayers know where the money goes and which programs are particularly effective at improving learning and student outcomes.
What’s the Problem?
Tennessee’s public schools get a lot of money from the state, federal government, and their local communities, but it’s hard to see how school districts are spending their money—or if those spending decisions are really helping kids learn. Our goal is to help public school communities protect good investments and correct ineffective ones.
We don’t have clear answers to questions like:
Problem #1
How much money was spent on tutoring?
Problem #2
Did students learn more because of it?
Problem #3
Are we spending money the right way?
What Are We Doing?
We believe increasing transparency in spending will help support stronger public education policy, program and spending decisions at the state and local levels.
Passing the Better Spending Better Schools Act will:
- Create Tennessee’s only baseline for reporting district and school-level spending linked to student achievement
- Protect and expand proven academic strategies tied to student improvement
- Empower school boards and county commissions with tools to make data-driven funding decisions
What’s the Goal?
- Track what schools spend and how students benefit
- Launch, grow, and protect programs that help kids learn
- Provide communities and policymakers the data they need to spend money wisely
Why Act Now?
Tennesseans do not have a clear picture of how their taxpayer dollars are spent in public education.
In Tennessee classrooms, teachers deserve support and students deserve success.
Transparency in spending ensures that all decisionmakers– including parents, public schools and districts, county commissions, city councils, and state leaders– know how investments are supporting learning and improved academic outcomes.
Our Big Dream for 2027
Join us and get involved
If your organization would like to join this coalition of parents, teachers, school board members, and community leaders, please provide your information below. We’ll be in contact and keep you informed about how you can help.