Tuesday, September 18, 2012

State Senate Candidate Dickerson commends Governor Haslam’s Decision on Great Heart Academies

NASHVILLE, TN. - Dr. Steve Dickerson, the Republican candidate for the State Senate in District 20, has announced today that he supports the expected decision by the Tennessee Department of Education and Governor Bill Haslam to withhold non-classroom, administrative BEP funding from the Metro Nashville Public Schools as consequence of the districts refusal to follow new state law.

“Later today, Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman and Governor Bill Haslam are expected to announced that the State will withhold the BEP funding to the MNPS; while this is an unfortunate situation, it is a necessary consequence for a district that has violated state law,” stated Dickerson.

The withholding will be approximately $3.4 million of non-classroom, administrative BEP funding from the school system; the BEP money is the state’s share of the non-classroom components of the state Basic Education Program funding formula. The BEP funding does not affect classroom spending for the school district.

“This issue is one that brings into opposition two of my most deeply held beliefs of maintaining local autonomy and improving education in Tennessee; at times when two principle conflict with each other, we must evaluate each situation on a case by case basis.” Dickerson continued, “In this instance, when you have a school district that has chosen multiple times to not comply with state law, even after advice from their own legal counsel advising otherwise, the State will be making the right decision to step in to ensure that the students of MNPS are afforded the right to school choice.”

Steve Dickerson is a practicing physician and founding partner of Anesthesia Services Associates. Dickerson attended the University of the South in Sewanee graduating with a B.A. in History. He then received his medical degree at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University. Steve Dickerson has been married to his wife Katrina for 19 years and they have three sons, Reid, Evan, and Bennett.

For more information about the Steve Dickerson campaign or to schedule an interview with Dr. Dickerson contact: 615-519-1896 or visit www.votestevedickerson.com

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