Following Tuesday’s Senate Republican caucus elections, Tennessee’s likely Senate leadership team is set ahead of the start of the 115th General Assembly.¶
Senator Jack Johnson of Franklin was nominated to serve as speaker of the Senate and lieutenant governor, and Senator Dawn White of Murfreesboro was elected majority leader. Senator Becky Massey of Knoxville was elected caucus chair, succeeding Senator Ken Yager of Kingston, the Tennessean reported.¶
As each moves toward officially taking their seats when the new session begins on January 12, the Tennessee Firefly looks at each senator and what their leadership could mean for public education in Tennessee.¶
Jack Johnson: Student Results at the Center
Since becoming majority leader in 2018, Johnson has guided the Senate through major education debates. In 2022, he sponsored the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act (TISA), which replaced the state’s 30-year-old school funding formula with one that considers each student’s needs.¶
Under TISA, every student generates a base funding amount, and weights add dollars for students with additional needs, such as students from low-income families, English learners, and students with disabilities. The law also brought an additional $1 billion in recurring state funding each year, along with direct funding for early literacy, career and technical education, and postsecondary readiness.¶
Johnson was first elected to the Senate in 2006.¶
Dawn White: A Teacher’s Voice at the Leadership Table
After graduating from Middle Tennessee State University, White taught kindergarten at Black Fox Elementary School in Murfreesboro for seven years. She now chairs the Senate Education Committee.¶
This year, she co-sponsored legislation that would have given families a fair, consistent way to enroll their children in public schools outside their home district, with clear rules for districts and an appeal process for students who were turned away. It passed the Senate 30-0 in March before it stalled in a House subcommittee.¶
“Parent choice includes public school, private school, charter schools, ESAs, and home schooling,” said White in a 2023 interview with the Tennessee Firefly. “I believe the parent knows what is best for their child.”¶
Becky Massey: A Proven Partner on Public Education
Senator Becky Duncan Massey has served in the Senate since winning a 2011 special election after Senator Jamie Woodson resigned to lead the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE). She chairs the Senate Transportation and Safety Committee and is a graduate of the University of Tennessee.¶
She also co-sponsored this year’s open enrollment bill. Additionally, she voted for the Better Spending, Better Schools Act, which requires districts and public charter schools to report their budgets and spending each year on standardized forms.¶
Massey also voted for a 2026 law that, starting in the 2027-28 school year, places students who score “exceeds expectations” on the seventh grade TCAP math test in Algebra I, with a parent opt-out.¶
In 2023, Massey sponsored the Promising Futures bill, which proposed scholarships for high-quality child care programs focused on early literacy.¶
“This bill will have a double bottom line, because it will strengthen our workforce of today and the workforce of tomorrow simultaneously,” Massey told the Senate Education Committee, Chalkbeat reported.¶
Responsibilities
Tennessee and West Virginia are the only two states where state senators, rather than voters, choose the lieutenant governor. Johnson is in line to replace Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, who has served in the post since 2017 and announced his retirement in February.¶
The lieutenant governor also serves as speaker of the Senate and, under the Senate’s rules, appoints all officers and members of the Senate’s standing committees.¶
The full Senate will formally elect its speaker when the 115th General Assembly convenes on January 12, 2027. The Tennessee Firefly compared the education records of Johnson and Senator Paul Bailey of Sparta ahead of Tuesday’s vote.¶
