State Senator Bill Powers (R-Clarksville) took an unconventional path to politics and the Tennessee General Assembly where he’s the Vice-Chairperson of the Senate Education Committee.
The sixth generation Montgomery County resident served as former U.S. Senator Howard Baker’s page as a teenager in the 70s but didn’t run for office himself until four decades later. Baker served two terms as a Clarksville City Councilman before succeeding former State Senator and current Congressman Mark Greene in what is now Senate District 22.
Senator Powers says his time working with Senator Baker and his dad’s experience in Montgomery County politics convinced him to run for office.
“I’ve kind of forged my own path,” said Senator Powers. “I just decided it was time for me to run at age 57.”
Even before he ran for office, Senator Powers says education has been a big part of his life.
Powers spent time working with an education foundation for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System to help provide students with supplies. He’s also played an important role with the annual Wyatt-Johnson Automotive Pass and Go program that awards an Advanced Placement student with a car each year.
Senator Powers is the Managing Partner of Wyatt-Johnson Automotive Group that sponsors the program.
“It’s a game changer for some of these kids. They start taking the harder classes as a result,” said Senator Powers. “We also send our Advanced Placement teachers to different universities so they can hone their craft in the summertime.”
That background made Senator Powers an obvious choice for the Senate Education Committee where this year he started the discussion on addressing one barrier that prevents students from becoming teachers.
Currently, aspiring teachers must pay out of their own pocket for required licensure assessments. Senator Powers proposed reimbursing future teachers that expense if they pass.
“I pride myself on being a common sense candidate and that was just common sense. I mean as hard as it is to get teachers now,” said Senator Powers. “Why should the teachers have to pay it? We go out there and how much do we spend recruiting these teachers and all these things that we do trying to get teachers to stay.”
That legislation sailed out of education committees in both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly and though it didn’t make it to a floor vote this year, the proposal could return next year.
Senator Powers says he’s also looking forward to providing leadership on another critical education issue next year.
Powers was a supporter of the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) Act that passed the General Assembly last year, calling it a “game-changer.”
TISA updated the way the state funds public schools to be more student focused and added a billion new dollars to education, including vital funds to support early literacy and tutoring. The formula goes into effect this coming school year and Senator Powers says it will be important for the General Assembly to keep looking for ways to improve TISA.
“I don’t look for TISA to be the all-knowing all-encompassing, I think we’ll probably have some massaging that we need to do to TISA when it comes out,” said Senator Powers. “Make sure that there aren’t any inequities in it across the state that quite possibly can happen but if they do happen, today we have a mechanism to change it.”
Education in general is undergoing a change in Tennessee, especially in the community Powers represents.
The last two years have seen more public charter schools proposed for suburban counties across the state, including Montgomery County.
Senator Powers says he’s a supporter of providing school choice for parents and he believes public charter schools can work in communities like his, as long as they’re provided adequate support.
“I think the worst thing that we can do is to open up schools for school choice and watch em flop. So I think it’s important that we support these people and that we hold their hand along the way and do the things that are right for the parents,” said Senator Powers. “Not every child needs I guess what you would call a standard education. Some of them want a different type of education.”
