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Council member: Metro Council and School Board must earn city's trust

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (OSBORNE)  --  Nashville School Board Chair Anna Shepherd says the system’s budget problems are not going away.

Shepherd told WMOT on Monday she’s grateful for the $2 million in additional funding the Metro Council voted to provide earlier this month, even though that amount was far short of the $44 million additional dollars the board requested.

Shepherd says funding will likely be even more challenging next year and she wants to get a jump on negotiations.

“We are going to start the process much earlier, so that we can articulate what our needs are on a much clearer basis.”

The Nashville School Board has a lawsuit pending against the state over what the board considers unconstitutionally low education funding. But Shepherd notes the suit won’t even go to court until sometime next year.

Metro Council Education Committee Chair Dave Rosenberg is sympathetic. He says Metro has some of the lowest education funding of any large city in the country.

But the councilman also says Metro residents have trust issues with both the Council and the School Board.

“They want to see that we’re looking out for their best interests, spending their money responsibly, and we need to make whatever changes necessary to increase that confidence.”

Rosenberg says he’s disappointed the money wasn’t there to give Nashville teachers a much needed pay raise, but he also says his constituents simply are not ready to pay higher taxes to support a larger schools budget.

Use the links below to access the full interviews with Shepherd and Rosenberg.

180625_school_boared_chairwoman.mp3
Interview with Nashville School Board Chair Anna Shepherd
180621_councilman_rosenberg_on_school_funding.mp3
Interview with Nashville City Council Education Committee Chair Dave Rosenberg