The Governor’s School for Tennessee Heritage, which had been run by the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services at ETSU since 1987, was suspended last August along with all other Tennessee Governor’s Schools due to state budget cut.
The CASS Web site says the program is a casualty of the ongoing budget wars in Nashville that resulted in a no-new-revenue budget being passed this past summer.
The Governor’s School Programs are grant funded. When students are accepted into the program they receive a scholarship type award to attend the school for the summer.
The Tennessee Governor’s School Program, GFTA, has been providing education to gifted students in the state for over 18 years. The program was suspended when the state budget cut $18 million to the educational system.
“All seven Governor’s School Programs in Tennessee were cancelled for 2002,” said Georgia Greer, administrative assistant for the program at ETSU. “Once a program like this has been cancelled for over a year then it is really hard to start it back up.”
Since the cut, the GFTA and other grant-orientated programs have began a process to change their funding. This means that, when and if GFTA is reestablished in summer 2003, they must get a state representative or senator to propose a bill that would include funding for the schools.
Governor’s Schools are all across the state and provide various education experiences for those who are accepted into the program. The program is offered at most college campuses in Tennessee, including Middle Tennessee State University and the University of Tennessee to name a few.
The Governor’s School for Tennessee Heritage offers a college level Tennessee History course with a concentration in various small group areas including folklore and music, storytelling and historic preservation.
Sarah Bledsoe, an ETSU student who attended a governor’s school program at MTSU said, “I think by not having GFTA students today will miss out on what could be the best educational experience of their lives.
GFTA pushed kids to excel in every aspect of their life and I think it’s really sad that they are no longer have this program as a goal to reach for and enrich their lives with.”
Individual who are interested in supporting governor’s school can contact Gov. Don Sundquist and voice their opinion at: e-mail: dsundquist@mail.state. com., telephone: (615) 741-2001. fax: (615) 532-1352.

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