Education

Plain English Breakdown

The bill did not pass and its exact fiscal impact on local education agencies remains indeterminate due to varying salary schedules and teacher step placement across districts.

Public Education Investments Act

This bill increases teacher salaries and funding for students in poverty and middle college scholarships.

What This Bill Does

• Increases the minimum base salary for teachers to $50,290 starting from the 2026-2027 school year.
• Raises the weighted allocation for a student experiencing concentrated poverty from 5% to 10%. This applies to students in schools eligible for Title I funding.
• Increases the Tennessee middle college scholarship amount by $60 per semester, starting at $2,060 for full-time attendance in the 2026-27 academic year. The scholarship will increase by 3% each year for nine years.

Who It Names or Affects

• Teachers and students in Tennessee.
• School districts receiving Title I funding.
• Students attending middle college programs.

Terms To Know

Title I

A federal program that provides financial assistance to schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families to help ensure those students meet challenging state academic standards.

Concentrated poverty

Refers to areas where a significant portion of the population lives below the poverty line, often affecting educational opportunities and resources.

Limits and Unknowns

• The exact number of teachers currently earning less than $50,290 is unknown.
• Local education agencies will not need to increase funding amounts for the increased concentrated poverty weight if they already contribute more than the minimum required local match.

Official Summary Text

Increases from no less than $50,000 to no less than

$50,290
the base salary for teachers for the
2026-2027 school year and each school year thereafter.

For purposes of the TISA funding allocations, this bill increases from 5 percent to 10 percent the
weighted allocation for a student who experiences concentrated poverty
.

Present law sets the amount of a Tennessee middle college scholarship at
$2,000 for full-time attendance for each semeste
r. This bill increases the scholarship amount to
$2,060 for each semester in the 2026-2027 academic year and increases by
3
percent for each academic year for nine academic years.
As under present law, the scholarship amounts remain subject to funding.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 2458
By Pearson

SENATE BILL 2674
By Akbari
SB2674
011040
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
relative to education funding.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. This act is known and may be cited as the "Public Education Investments
Act."
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-3-306(a)(3), is amended by
deleting subdivision (D) and substituting:
(D) Fifty thousand two hundred ninety dollars ($50,290) for the 2026-2027
school year and each school year thereafter.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-3-105(b)(2), is amended by
deleting the subdivision and substituting:
(2) The weighted allocation for a student who experiences concentrated poverty
is ten percent (10%);
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-4-909(d), is amended by deleting
the subsection and substituting:
(d) Subject to the amounts appropriated by the general assembly and any
provision of law relating to a shortfall in funds available for postsecondary financial
assistance from the net proceeds of the state lottery, a Tennessee middle college
scholarship awarded to a student enrolled in middle college for full-time attendance is
two thousand sixty dollars ($2,060) for each semester in the 2026-2027 academic year
and increases by three percent (3%) for each academic year for nine (9) academic
years.
SECTION 5. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.