Tennessee
State Government
Governor
Bill Lee (R)
State Senate
6
Democrats,
27
Republicans
State House
24
Democrats,
75
Republicans
Economic well-being - Tennessee
Extreme poverty rate
0.1
Food insecurity
0.156
Minimum wage
7.25
Percent of working families under 200% of the poverty line
0.314
Poverty rate
13.5%
Unemployment rate
3.6
Number of Black or African American children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment
Number of Hispanic or Latino children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment
Percent of individuals who are uninsured
9.7
Poverty by demographic - Tennessee
Child poverty rate
0.19
Number of Asian and Pacific Islander children below 200% poverty
4000
Number of Black or African American children below 200% poverty
157000
Number of Hispanic or Latino children below 200% poverty
104000
Senior poverty rate
12.2 %
Women in poverty
3,611,301
The Tennessean, September 20, 2016: AP Test Fees Reduced for Tennessee Low-Income Students
Chalkbeat Tennessee, June 17, 2015: Low-income students stand to lose more with summer learning loss
" As one of 200 participants in the Shelby County Summer Leadership Camp, she's building solar-powered robots, learning leadership skills and making new friends. The Memphis camp, serving mostly low-income students in grades 5-8, provides fun hands-on activities focused on science, technology, engineering and math, while also incorporating reading and writing into daily leadership classes."
Nation Swell, January 7, 2015: How Can One Nonprofit Solve Two Big Problems Facing Both Veterans and Low-Income Kids?
"Bob Kincaid, co-founder of the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Get Veterans Involved (GVI), has found that it's possible to kill two birds with one stone. His nonprofit helps two groups veterans who struggle when they return from service, and elementary school kids in need of mentors at the same time. How is that possible? While veterans train for new jobs or attend college, the organization pays them to visit local elementary schools each week."
The Chattanooga Free Press, July 11, 2013: More grads would save millions on TennCare
"A report released Wednesday says that cutting the state's number of high school dropouts in half would result in annual savings of $127 million in TennCare, the state's Medicaid health care program for many of Tennessee's poor."
Chattanooga Times Free Press, June 2, 2013: Chattanooga's worst schools could get worse
"An Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies report, State of the Region Report: Education' reaffirmed that the system's poor, majority-black schools just don't do as well as schools in more prosperous usually whiter neighborhoods. School leaders don't dispute the findings, but they say it will take more money, more people and more programs if the county ever hopes to sever the link between poverty and low school performance. Right now, though, funding for poor schools is trending in the other direction."
The Commercial Appeal, May 16, 2013: (Op-Ed) Quality teachers foster student quality
"Poverty has a massive impact on our students, and it is without question an enormous challenge in the work of educators in Memphis. It is critical that states and cities, churches and nonprofit organizations, businesses and civic groups work together with schools and continue to address the underlying causes of poverty."