Culleoka Representative Scott Cepicky drew cheers from public school teachers when he proposed legislation this year to provide them with $500 for classroom supplies.Tuesday Cepicky walked that number back in the House K-12 Subcommittee, by amending his bill to offer less assistance.“Discussing it with some of the stakeholders they thought that was a pretty big jump,” said Cepicky. “What the amendment does is it drops it down to $300.”Public school teachers currently $200 for the school year to buy instructional supplies and materials for their classrooms so if the legislation passes, it will provide teachers with $100 in additional resources next school year.Cepicky’s legislation passed the subcommittee unanimously and will now move forward through the legislative process.
Board of Education Recall Bill Moves Forward¶
Members of the K-12 Subcommittee also moved legislation forward to give voters more ability to remove a member of their local board of education.Current state statute only allows voters in a county with a population of 98,200 to 98,300 residents the ability to file a petition for a recall vote for a member of their board of education. Only Madison County fits that criteria.Maryville Representative Bryan Richey is proposing legislation to expand that option to voters statewide as he believes the current law may be unconstitutional.“Neither the text of Public Chapter 350 nor its legislative history provides a rational for the distinction it creates between Madison County and all other counties in Tennessee,” said Representative Richey.If Representative Richey’s legislation is approved by the General Assembly, it would allow voters to create a recall vote for a local board of education member if enough registered voters equal to 66% of the total votes received by the winning school board candidate sign the petition.Knoxville Representative Sam McKenzie worried the bill could create issues with smaller counties where a small number of voters would be needed to force a recall.“It sounded like this one probably came from a little squabble between elected officials and so we put what I consider a bad law on the books and now we’re gonna allow that law to permeate throughout all 95 counties,” said Representative McKenzie. “That’s my concern. I’d rather get rid of it.”¶
