Public education in Tennessee began in 1806 when the Cession Act required Tennessee to provide land for two public colleges and to set aside additional land in order to establish an academy in each county. Progress toward a statewide public school system began in earnest in 1836, when the State Legislature created the position of State Superintendent of Schools whose incumbent would be responsible for managing all of the state's schools. In spite of this effort, the public school system remained underused in the Antebellum period.

The Civil War severely disrupted education in Tennessee and the school system was not recreated until 1867, this time with separate schools for black and white children. Both systems were woefully underfunded, a condition that would persist until the early 1920s. The Great Depression reversed this temporary gain, and schools continued to suffer throughout the decade. The state's schools were integrated after the United States Supreme Court outlawed segregation in the 1950s. Since the 1960s, the system has continued to struggle to educate Tennessee's children.