A new peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the geography of educational opportunity. We are thrilled to announce that the Tennessee Equity-Focused Policy organization (TNEFP) is launching its inaugural academic journal — the Journal of Spatial Equity and Education (JSEE).

Today, we are proud to announce the public release of the Flint Spatial Echo, an interactive geospatial tool designed to make visible the hidden structural ties between 1930s federal housing policy and 21st-century school funding.

Nearly thirty years after Proposal A, Michigan’s funding formula still sits on a racially engineered geography that leaves some districts structurally weaker than others, even when per‑pupil revenues look adequate on paper.

The Tennessee Center for Educational Finance and Policy (TNEFP) recently participated in the 51st Annual Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) Conference in Chicago. Our Director, Dr. Rajah E. Smart, took the stage to present critical new research during the session, "The Spatial Echo of Inequity: A Critical Geography Analysis of the Sender-Receiver School Funding Model Across Michigan’s Metropolitan Regions."

The landscape of Middle Tennessee is transforming at an unprecedented rate. As Nashville, Clarksville, and Murfreesboro expand, the physical boundaries of our communities are shifting, yet the structural frameworks governing our schools often remain tethered to the past.

The Tennessee Center for Educational Finance and Policy (TNEFP) operates as a research hub committed to a rigorous, justice-oriented analysis of public school funding systems.