The Tennessee education department has withheld $3.4 million in aid from the Metropolitan Nashville district, citing its refusal to approve a charter school as a violation of state law.
The 81,000-student district repeatedly rejected an application to open a charter school, despite a state directive that the district approve the application.
District officials said the school would not serve enough economically disadvantaged students.
The $3.4 million aid was for non-classroom purposes in the state’s basic education funding formula, the state said. The district argued that the reduction in aid would nonetheless affect services for classrooms and students.
