Department Of Education Tennessee

Department Of Education Tennessee, a U.S. state government entity headquartered in Nashville, operates as a federal grant recipient administering K-12 education programs across Tennessee, distributing the vast majority of federal funding as formula grants and subgrants to local educational agencies, school districts, and community organizations throughout the state. The entity competes exclusively under full-and-open authority; no set-asides apply to state agency recipients.

Department Of Education Tennessee's federal footprint centers on direct recipient awards from the Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and related divisional offices, complemented by child nutrition program funding from the Department of Agriculture. Over the past five years (2022–2026), the entity received 126 awards valued at approximately $5.1 million in combined potential value, though obligated dollars across all awards total $25.47 billion, reflecting the massive scale of formula grants passing through the state agency to sub-recipients. The top five customer offices account for 84 percent of recent awards: the Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (284 awards), the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (130 combined awards across two component entries), the Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (66 awards), and the Department of Education Office of Career Technical and Adult Education (25 awards). The Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences anchors the highest potential-value category with seven awards totaling $3.9 million combined potential value, including a $1.39 million definitive contract for National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) State Coordinator services running through March 31, 2035.

Representative prime grant work spans special education, civil rights compliance, and child nutrition. Under the Special Education Grants to States program (CFDA 84.027), Department Of Education Tennessee received $99.07 million on July 1, 2026, to fund special education and related services for children with disabilities ages 3 through 21 across the state, with the department setting aside funds for state administration and sub-awarding the bulk to eligible local educational agencies. The Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies program (CFDA 84.010) awarded $156.71 million on July 1, 2026, to support teaching and learning in high-poverty schools; Department Of Education Tennessee distributes these funds to local educational agencies and Indian tribal schools. The Twenty-First Century Community Learning Centers program (CFDA 84.287) awarded $27.00 million on July 1, 2026, to establish and expand community learning centers providing academic enrichment and out-of-school programming to school-aged children attending high-poverty and low-performing schools. Under the National School Lunch Program (CFDA 10.555), the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service awarded $429.44 million on October 1, 2025, to reimburse meals served through the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program; Department Of Education Tennessee sub-awarded funding to over 80 school districts, charter schools, and nonprofit organizations statewide. The entity also holds a $1.83 million project grant (awarded October 1, 2025, under CFDA 84.323) for Project PREPARE, LAUNCH, ACCELERATE, AND NETWORK (PLAN), supporting special education personnel development and professional development in early intervention and educational services for children with disabilities.

The entity's sub-award footprint involves routine pass-through distributions to over 100 local educational agencies, school districts, charter schools, county boards of education, and community-based organizations throughout Tennessee under most formula programs. Named sub-recipients appear across Title I, special education, child nutrition, English language acquisition, rural education, and migrant education awards. The entity also acts as sub-recipient to prime grantees, including recurring sub-awards to the Tennessee Department of Human Services and the Tennessee Department of Health for child nutrition block meal reimbursement, Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) services, school nurse consultant services, and COVID response initiatives. Sub-award activity dates back to at least 2022 and continues through mid-2026, indicating sustained pass-through funding volumes aligned with federal fiscal years.

Activity has remained relatively flat year over year — 37 awards in 2022, declining to 26 in 2023, recovering to 30 in 2024 and 33 in 2025, then settling to 26 awards in 2026 through the first quarter. Twenty-five awards reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating recompete exposure for the Department of Education and its peer state agencies managing comparable federal grant programs. The entity operates exclusively as a state educational agency pass-through recipient; no contract prime posture, parent vehicles, or commercial teaming relationships are present in the award record. The 92 percent prime-to-8 percent sub-split reflects the entity's role as a direct federal recipient rather than a commercial contractor or sub-contractor serving federal agencies.