Education to play a big role in new legislative session

Perhaps no issue was more impactful in last year’s legislative session than education. The 112^th General Assembly ended with the historic passage of the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) Act that completely overhauled the way public schools are funded in Tennessee.The 113^th General Assembly that begins at noon today likely won’t pass legislation as sweeping, but that doesn’t mean legislators won’t have an opportunity to make an impact on K-12 education.Leading up to the new session there has been plenty of discussion about legislation to tweak the 3rd Grade Retention Law.  The General Assembly passed it in 2021 to ensure students in need of additional supports in reading, receive them before being promoted to fourth grade.The law has faced criticism from those who worry it will wrongfully use test scores to keep children from moving to the fourth grade.Representative Gloria Johnson from Nashville has promised to file legislation to outright repeal it.“We’ve got to turn this idea around that to be on a third grade reading level you have to score proficient on the test. That’s just not how the scores work,” said Johnson on her Facebook page.Members have also filed legislation to provide new money for classroom supplies, and expand the Education Savings Account.February the 6th is the deadline to file new bills.

New Faces

The 113^th General Assembly will include 4 new members in the Senate and 19 new members in the House. Education played a key role in shaping the races those new members won and the 113^th General Assembly is expected to be more supportive of school choice overall.Those new State Representatives include several educators with ties to education.Rep. Jody Barrett won House District 69 in Dickson County.  He has experiences as an attorney for a local school board and is a home educator to his own children.Rep. William Slater won House District 35 in Trousdale and Sumner County. He comes from a family of educators including his mother who was a kindergarten teacher and multiple siblings who work in the field.  The new Representative himself has more than 30 years of experience in education leading Christian schools in Florida and Tennessee and most recently serving as the dean of Adult and Online Studies at Welch College in Gallatin.“I think we’re on the right track when it comes to education in Tennessee but have a lot of work to do.  What I hope to do in the legislature is to help with the policy making so we can move our students forward,” said Slater.It remains to be seen if any new legislators will be assigned to either the House Education Administration or Education Instruction Committees.Members should receive assignments to those committees and others no later than Thursday.