April 20, 2021
TN Legislative Corner This may be the last week that House and Senate committees will be hearing bills of substance, as most House subcommittees have closed for the year, and the Senate is swiftly working through its final committee calendars.
TSS will maintain its support of HB745 (Rep. Haston), which passed the House Government Operations Committee, as amended, on Monday and now heads to the House Finance Ways and Means Subcommittee for consideration. The bill seeks to assess and certify individuals’ career readiness using nationally-recognized assessments. While the bill does not alter the presently available 11th grade assessment, it says that LEAs and public charter schools must provide a student participating in such assessment with the opportunity to also take the ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate examination, providing students more choice in selecting a career pathway.
The House Finance Ways and Means Committee will vote this week on the BEP hold harmless legislation (HB777) and Achievement School District bill (HB74).
Finally, the TSS-supported SEM Advancement Act (SB414/HB973), which requires a local board of education or charter school governing body to develop and adopt a policy that establishes criteria for the enrollment of students in grades 7-12 into available advanced English language arts, mathematics, and science courses, has been transmitted to Governor Lee for his signature.
In a recent op-ed in The Tennessean, our friend Victor Evans at TennesseeCAN writes that high-dosage tutoring directly tied to regular classroom content may be the most cost effective solution and offer the most immediate results to help students catch up.
Read Victor’s full op-ed here.
Times Free Press (Chattanooga): Schools in Chattanooga region prepare for summer school
Murfreesboro Post: MCS exceeds summer school enrollment goal
The Chattanoogan: Hamilton County Schools And Tennessee Educators Of Color Alliance Announce Partnership To Support Minority Educator Recruitment And Retention
Data Quality Campaign: 2021 Assessments: The Researcher’s Perspective