The legislation, referred to as the Tennessee Public School Accountability Act, would allow the commissioner of the Department of Education to recommend the governor, speaker of the house, and lieutenant governor to create a board of managers over specific school districts.

Senator Adam Lowe’s legislation would allow charter applicants the ability to apply directly to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission if they want to open a school in a district that has had three charter denials overturned in three years.

Bulso’s bill would require restrooms, changing areas, and showers that are multi-occupant to be segregated by sex in residential education programs involving minors.

That list includes more than three dozen schools in Shelby County and more than two dozen in Davidson.

Representative William Lamberth’s, R-Portland, bill would give school districts the option to refuse to enroll students that do not have legal immigration status.

Representative Cochran’s amendment would reduce elementary and middle school testing by continuing to require annual state ELA and math assessments but only requiring students to take science tests once in grades 3-5 and once in grades 6-8.  Additionally, middle school students would only have to take state social studies assessments once, instead of each year.

Thursday the group held one of it’s first community discussions involving panelists who acknowledged the critical issues within the district but believe these problems can be better solved at the local level.

Speaker Cameron Sexton said leaders in the House and Senate are still working out the details of legislation to create state intervention into Memphis-Shelby County Schools, but one thing that will be proposed is a forensic audit of Memphis-Shelby County Schools to look for fraud abuse and waste.

The bill would require public school districts to collect documentation during enrollment proving students are U.S. citizens, in the process of obtaining citizenship, or hold a legal immigration or visa status. If students cannot provide that documentation, the district could charge them tuition.

The bill, sponsored by Representative Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, would require local school districts to integrate 40 minutes of recess time per day for elementary school students. Currently, schools are only mandated to provide 15 minutes of recess per day.

The proposed legislation would allow charter applicants the ability to apply directly to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission if they want to open a school in a district that has three charter denials overturned in three years.

The bill requires local boards of education and public charter schools to adopt a policy prohibiting students from using any wireless communication devices during instructional time, with some exceptions.

Governor Lee’ is legislation would allow public charter school applicants the ability to apply directly to a state commission in communities with a history of denying charter schools that were later overturned.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, requires local boards of education and public charter schools to adopt a policy prohibiting students from using any wireless communication devices during instructional time, with some exceptions.

Multiple lawmakers on the House Education Administration Subcommittee expressed an interest Tuesday in requiring school districts to be more open to military recruitment and potentially require them to provide students the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test.

Beginning in the 2025/2026 school year, the State Board can call for an accountability hearing for any district operating a school that receives an “F” letter grade for the two previous years, or a school whose grade slips from a “D” to “F” in the previous two years.

The plan would reduce TSU's budget deficit by $32-37 million over the next two fiscal years through staff cuts, scholarship caps, hiring freezes and other cuts.

If passed by lawmakers, Senator Dawn White’s bill would make the $5,000 scholarship available to undergraduates and those with an existing degree that are seeking a teaching license, including the roughly 5 thousand Tennesseans who are teaching on a 3-year-permit.

The bill, brought by Representative Rebecca Alexander R-Jonesborough, would require local boards of education and public charter schools to adopt a policy prohibiting students from using any wireless communication devices during instructional time, with a few exceptions.

A new Comptroller Report released this week found all of Tennessee’s locally administered school districts received more money during fiscal year 2023/2024 when the state’s new TISA school funding formula went into effect than the prior year.