What does this bill do?

HB0785 / SB0750  would require the Tennessee Department of Education to create a “Promising Futures” Scholarship Program that would provide scholarships to families and children to enroll in a high-quality early language and literacy skills learning program.

Eligible children include those from six weeks up to kindergarten age with working parents with incomes up to the state median income and/or who live with foster or adoptive parents. Parents may choose to use the scholarships for any learning program that meets Promising Futures’ quality standards, such as Head Start. To create the scholarship fund, sports gambling tax revenue – 80% of which currently goes to the state’s lottery for education account – would be placed into a Promising Futures Account for early learning and literacy.

Why does this bill matter?

Tennessee has a child care crisis. According to The Tennesseans for Quality Early Education (TQEE), the cost of childcare today is more than our average in-state college tuition. Quality childcare is unaffordable and inaccessible for most of our families. The average annual price of center-based childcare is $11,068 for infants and $10,184 for toddlers. For in-home childcare, the price is $7,194 for infants and $6,749 for toddlers. Pre-pandemic, childcare was a growing crisis for our families, especially Black and Latino families, families with low and middle incomes, and families in rural areas. A third of Tennessee children under age 6 live in families with incomes below $40,000 and nearly half with incomes less than $60,000. The COVID-19 crisis not only exacerbated existing inequities in childcare access for families but has also decimated the finances of childcare providers who are predominantly women of color and more likely to be low-income.

According to TQEE’s Report “Workforce of Today and Tomorrow: The Economics of Tennessee’s Child Care Crisis”, our businesses and taxpayers lose $2.6 billion annually in earnings and revenue. TQEE’s study analyzed survey results from 1,297 working parents with children under 6 to determine how childcare challenges adversely affect workforce participation and productivity. Their findings alarmingly showed that more than 80% of working parents reported employment disruptions such as quitting jobs or reducing job hours due to inadequate childcare. 58% of parents cited lack of affordability as a reason.  Moreover, 300,000 Tennessee children under the age of 6 have all available parents in the workforce. A study by the Urban Institute also revealed about 41% of these children have parents who work non-traditional hours, yet most childcare programs operate during the week till 5 or 6 PM.

Overall, the childcare crisis continues to increase the growing workforce shortage and threatens families’ financial stability and well-being. Lack of high-quality, accessible, and affordable childcare can significantly impact the development of our children. The first five years of a child’s life is when the brain grows the most, rapidly expanding neural connections and wiring the brain for future learning in K – 12 and beyond. The quality of early care that children receive profoundly impacts their school readiness, development, and our community’s future. Childcare is early education, and when it is successfully implemented, advances early learning and literacy.

What does this bill do?

HB2769/SB2754 would ensure there are 1,200 pre-kindergarten classrooms in the state for the 2024-2025 school year. The Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Education would be required to approve programs on a competitive basis.

Why does this bill matter?

Over 75% of Tennessee school districts have wait lists for pre-kindergarten, according to Tennesseans for Quality Early Education (TQEE). During the 2021-2022 school year, Tennessee preschools enrolled 16,634 children, an increase of 1,033 children from the prior year. The Hechinger Report’s latest study, published in January 2023, shows children who went to preschool are far more likely to go to college within a couple of years of graduating high school. Further, pre-kindergarten has shown relatively large benefits for children who are dual-language learners both in their English-language proficiency and other academic skills.

A voter poll conducted by TQEE in 2021 shows that Tennessee Democrats and Republicans are unified in their support of expanding early education as a fundamental strategy to improve student achievement. Eighty-nine percent said they believe Tennessee Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (TN-VPK) should be available to all Tennessee 4-year-olds, and 87% support increased state funding to make that possible.

An increase in TN-VPK classrooms yields positive long-term outcomes for students enrolled. Access to early childcare plays a vital role in setting children on the path to increased academic achievement, social competence, and emotional well-being. Investing in high-quality early childhood education benefits not only individual children but also our society as a whole.

What does this bill do?

HB2024/SB1892 states that the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) must have a contract with the testing provider of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) to ensure that language assistance services are provided to students during the administration of TCAP. Each student who received language assistance services in the previous academic year is eligible to receive services during the TCAP. If passed, this bill will apply to administrations of the TCAP test in the 2024-2025 school year and in each school year thereafter.

Why does this bill matter?

This bill impacts English Learners (EL) across Tennessee as it enacts a specific policy measure for ELs to receive language assistance services during TCAP testing. This measure is not currently written in law; as it stands, Local Education Agencies (LEAs) are only required to provide testing accommodations for students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) or 504 plans.

English Learners receive daily accommodations based on their individual learning plans (ILP). These accommodations must be met throughout the day and with any form of testing, whether it be a pop quiz or formal state assessment. However, Tennessee does not allow language translation of any portions of the TCAP or TCAP-Alt, but assessment accessibility features are available for test administrators to provide for students.

Tennessee’s English Learner population is increasing significantly across the state, nearly doubling in the past five years, increasing from 44,909 ELs in 2018 to 77,388 in 2022. In 2016-17, 132 Tennessee districts and 1,451 schools served ELs.

Providing language assistance promotes inclusion within educational settings by recognizing and valuing our students’ linguistic diversity. By providing TCAP language assistance, it sends a message that all students, regardless of their language background, are welcome and supported in their academic endeavors.

What does this bill do?

HB0784/SB0556 requires the Tennessee Department of Education to reimburse educators for licensure assessments as long as the educator: (1) receives a qualifying score and (2) receives a new Tennessee teaching license or – if they are already working as a teacher – an additional teaching endorsement. This bill also includes a requirement for the Tennessee State Board of Education to publish a report by September 1, 2024, with the number of educators reimbursed and the type of license or endorsement earned by each educator.

Why does this bill matter?

Across the country, 44% of U.S. public schools reported teacher vacancies in 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing teacher shortages, which is reflected in our ongoing struggles to attract and retain staff – especially in critical areas such as STEM, early childhood education, special education, and bilingual education. According to the Tennessee Department of Education, in the fall of 2022, a total of 3,897 positions, or 5.5% of total teaching positions in the State, were either vacant or filled with a teacher on an emergency credential. Further, the number of educators graduating from the 43 teacher training programs across the state has dropped by nearly 20% over five years, with much of that decline happening before the COVID-19 pandemic.

By 2028, Tennessee will have a projected 5,090 average annual openings for K-12 teaching positions. Taking the above into consideration, there is a clear and urgent need to support our prospective teachers by making the pathway to become an educator more accessible. Depending on the subject, taking the required licensure exams can cost hundreds of dollars, and some people may need to pay more to retake the tests before passing. Currently, teachers must pay many of these fees out of their own pocket. Studying for and completing various assessments is a burdensome process on top of other training program requirements, and the financial implications could dissuade candidates from wanting to teach.

Reducing the financial burdens of licensure exams is an important step to increasing the pool of highly qualified, effective, and diverse teachers. In 2020, the Tennessee Department of Education identified the importance of recruiting and retaining educators of color in relation to addressing teacher shortages, who remain underrepresented in our current workforce. Overall, there are many ways that Tennessee must continue improving the institutional support and long-term retention of our teaching workforce, and reimbursing educators for licensure and endorsement exams represents a step in the right direction.

What does this bill do?

HB2826/SB1726 requires the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) to establish a conflict resolution program using existing resources that Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and public charter schools can adopt and implement. The purpose of this bill is to provide age-appropriate programming for K-12 students to develop skills necessary for nonviolent conflict resolution, including, but not limited to, communication skills, social skills, and relaxation techniques. Additionally, the bill mandates each LEA and public charter school implement an intervention program for students in grades 1-6 that uses conflict resolution to support students in learning and implementing decision-making strategies.

Why does this bill matter?

In 2019, about 5% of students ages 12–18 reported being afraid of attack or harm at school during the school year. Tennessee is in the bottom quintile of states for school safety for high school students, and is ranked 44th in the country. Additionally, according to the report, Tennessee is ranked 34th in the nation for incidences of bullying in high schools. In the Tennessee Department of Education and the Department of Safety and Homeland Security Tennessee Safe Schools Report, published in 2024, there has been an increase in student possession of guns, student possession of a weapon other than a firearm, and assaults of both students and teachers. According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the most commonly reported weapon type used in schools was personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, arms, teeth, etc.).

Students from low-income backgrounds may face additional stressors and challenges in their lives, which can contribute to conflicts both in and out of school. Conflict resolution programs can provide these students with valuable skills to manage these conflicts in a positive and constructive manner. Further, Tennessee is home to a diverse population, with students from various cultural and ethnic backgrounds attending schools across the state. Conflict resolution programs can help students from diverse backgrounds learn to understand and appreciate each other’s perspectives, fostering a more inclusive and respectful school environment.

What does this bill do?

HB2492/SB2216 would prohibit Local Education Agencies (LEA) from suspending or expelling a student enrolled in pre-kindergarten through second grade. If a student’s behavior is endangering the physical safety of school personnel or other students, this bill would allow the LEAs’ director of schools or their designee to determine an appropriate consequence, including suspension.

Why does this bill matter?

Banning pre-kindergarten to second-grade suspensions and expulsions would have a foundational impact on students’ social, emotional, and academic development, encouraging our school districts to prioritize trauma-informed and restorative justice practices that help students self-regulate their emotions and behavior, support childhood growth and development, and build healthy learning environments. Research shows that it is not developmentally appropriate to expect students in early childhood education to be able to fully self-regulate, even though many teachers resort to punitive discipline practices. Instead, teachers should provide students with the prerequisite social-emotional skills needed to self-regulate. Further, supporting students’ self-regulation in early childhood supports the effectiveness of early education for all children.

Data shows that suspending students fails to reduce future misbehavior. Instead, it may exacerbate future student misconduct. Suspension also negatively impacts student outcomes. Particularly among young children, suspensions are linked to poor academic outcomes and negative feelings towards school. These outcomes make students significantly more likely to drop out of school or be pushed into the school-to-prison pipeline. Additionally, research shows that suspensions do not improve outcomes for non-suspended students.

Suspension also causes students to miss essential class time and learning opportunities. Cycles of lost class time cause students to fall further behind their peers, which is especially harmful during the pre-kindergarten through second-grade years when students are learning foundational literacy and math skills. Long-term negative impacts of suspension include lower academic achievement and an increased likelihood of future interactions with the criminal legal system. However, students who go to schools with lower suspension rates are more likely to have higher long-term academic success and attend four-year colleges.

Exclusionary discipline practices first emerged as schools were being racially integrated. Overall, exclusionary discipline practices like suspensions result in damage to a student’s development. Exclusionary discipline practices disproportionately punish students of color and students with disabilities, and finding alternatives to suspension is a tool to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline. Tennessee can further influence district policies and school disciplinary actions by setting clear goals to reduce disparities and overuses in discipline, ensuring a comprehensive set of data is publicly available on an annual basis.

HB0255/SB0208 | What does this bill do?

HB0255/SB0208 requires each local school board to establish a free meals program for breakfast and lunch for each student enrolled in a public school in the board’s district. It requires the State to reimburse each Local Education Agency (LEA) for the cost of this program after all available federal funds have been applied.

HB0255/SB0208 | Why does this bill matter?

Hungry kids are in every county in Tennessee, which means 1 in 8 kids can’t get enough food on a regular basis. Some Tennessee students are left to fend for themselves in the cafeteria if they don’t qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Up to 1 in 5 hungry kids don’t qualify for financial help with school meals.

Zooming out, food access and security for children of all stages in their lives are critical to their development. Too many students – especially Black students, Latino students, and students from low-income backgrounds – experience food insecurity. A 2021 child health survey found that 1 in 3 Tennessee families experienced food insecurity. In the survey, roughly 41% of Black families reported food insecurity, compared to 29% of all families. Furthermore, low-income communities, particularly communities of color, are more likely to experience food apartheid (i.e., food deserts), where there is limited access to healthy and affordable food or grocery stores.

Research shows that hunger has direct adverse effects on students’ academic performance. Providing meals in school is important to support students’ cognitive and social, emotional, and academic development. During the pandemic between the end of 2019 and July 2020, child hunger escalated from 4% to 14.4%. COVID-19-related waivers allowed Tennessee schools to serve meals to all kids at no cost to their families. When these waivers expired in June 2022, schools had to charge students if they didn’t qualify for free meals. School lunch debt rose statewide, and participation has dropped in some schools.

Overall, adequate and nutritious food for students and their families is fundamental to education equity. This legislation is an important step in ensuring all students are physically, socially, and academically supported in schools.

HB1914/SB1977 | What does this bill do?

HB1914/SB1977 seeks to address the problem of food insecurity on college campuses. This bill would establish the “Hunger-Free Campus Grant Fund,” funded via the Tennessee General Assembly and other gifts, grants, or donations. This fund would be available to all accredited public and private institutions, with its primary campus domiciled in Tennessee. Institutions that receive a Hunger-Free Campus Grant could utilize these funds to develop a student meal credit donation program, allocate funding for a meal voucher program, or provide financial assistance to a food pantry, in addition to raising awareness of campus resources related to food insecurity.

HB1914/SB1977 | Why does this bill matter?

A report published by the College and University Food Bank Alliance (CUFBA) and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness found that around 48% of surveyed college students experienced food insecurity in the United States. Research shows food insecurity rates are highest at community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, American Indian/Alaskan Native-serving institutions, and private for-profit colleges. Black or African American students report the highest levels of food insecurity, with more than a third indicating they experience food insecurity. Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander students and American Indian or Alaska Native students followed closely, with reported rates of 32.6% and 29.9%, respectively. 35% of students identifying as genderqueer, gender nonconforming, or another non-binary gender reported food insecurity.

In Tennessee, an estimated 30% of postsecondary students experience food insecurity. Further, 27% of Tennessee higher education administrators responded that their main campus

What does this bill do?

HB2184/SB1783 seeks permanent, recurring funding to support completion grants for Pell-eligible Tennessee Promise students. In 2021, the Tennessee General Assembly approved a four-year pilot program that granted college students who experienced a financial emergency with a coach and up to $1,000 per semester to cover non-tuition expenses. Administered by tnAchieves and the Ayers Foundation, access to these emergency funds help college students address unexpected barriers that otherwise may prevent them from continuing their education.

The Completion Grants program supports Pell-eligible Tennessee Promise students with (1) a coach and (2) up to $1,000/semester to cover non-tuition expenses.

As amended, the bill creates an account in the state treasury called the “Tennessee Promise completion grant special account.” Each year, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) may request that up to $5 million of Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship (TELS) funding be deposited into the special account. The special account will receive an initial deposit in fiscal year 2024, and funds will be made available for use on July 1, 2027. Funds may only be used to award completion grants; unused funds roll over and remain in the special account each fiscal year.

Why does this bill matter?

The completion grants program provides targeted resources to students from low-income backgrounds, who are more likely to attend community colleges. Completion grants are a highly effective tool that help students meet unexpected costs while in college, and ensure that students can continue to focus on their academics.

Cost of attendance is the leading reason that students consider stopping out of their degree programs, and this is especially true for students of color. Over half of Tennessee students surveyed by The Education Trust – Tennessee (ET-TN) indicated that they have dropped courses during a semester as a result of financial cost, and Pell-eligible respondents were twice as likely to report that they were working over 20 hours a week than their non-Pell peers. In another survey, 75% of TN Promise students indicated that work-related pressures contribute to their inability to meet program eligibility requirements, like full-time enrollment and maintenance of at least a 2.0 GPA.

In 2021-22, tnAchieves reported that they had distributed all available funding for completion grants within the first 10 weeks of the semester, highlighting significant demand for this program. Disbursing 16,632 grants to over 3,000 students, tnAchieves has reported that students who received coaching and complete grants were 79% more likely to be retained and 183% more likely to graduate than their peers. This outcome demonstrates that coaching, paired with completion grants, are an effective way to support students facing economic hardships as they pursue a post-secondary degree or credential.

What does this bill do?

HB2132/SB1672 would expand eligibility for the Tennessee Reconnect Grant by lowering the minimum age requirement for the program from 23-years-old to 21-years-old.

Why does this bill matter?

The Tennessee Reconnect program traditionally gives adult learners (ages 23+) the opportunity to earn an associate degree, technical degree, or technical diploma tuition free. This bill extends program eligibility to 21- and 22-year olds – who are some of the most likely candidates for re-enrollment and completion. Between 2019-2021, the college-going rate in Tennessee rapidly declined by 9 percentage points, likely due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic – meaning nearly 7,000 less seniors  in the Class of 2021 enrolled in a postsecondary institution. This is particularly true for students of color, with both Black and Latino student college-going dropping over 11 percentage points. Today, many of those pandemic-impacted students are under the age of 23, meaning that they still are unable to access the Tennessee Reconnect Grant.

Accessible and affordable higher education for adult learners is critical to ensure Tennesseans have access to new skills, career advancement, and economic mobility. Further, increased accessibility to higher education has a positive impact on economic growth. Targeted support is required to close this gap and support adult learners to complete high-quality postsecondary programs. Tennessee SCORE points out that since 2010, 65% of new job openings require at least some advanced education. However, today only 48% of Tennesseans have some form of postsecondary credential. Many students, particularly students of color, are deterred by the financial barriers of pursuing postsecondary education. 40% of Tennessee Reconnect graduates earn “high-needs credentials,” which underscores this program as a highly effective tool to combat recent declines in college-going while addressing critical workforce shortages.

As a state that leads in postsecondary reforms aimed to improve access and degree completion, this proposal preserves and sustains efforts to increase widespread postsecondary enrollment and attainment. Overall, expanding Tennessee Reconnect eligibility to 21-year-olds can drive Tennessee’s economy forward.

What does this bill do?

HB0902/SB0461 establishes stronger linkages between data systems and sectors in the Tennessee longitudinal data system. This bill also creates parameters to enhance public access and use, transparency, and data security in Tennessee’s data systems, and includes the creation of publicly facing dashboards that utilize education and workforce data. While Tennessee already collects significant K-12, Higher Education, and workforce data, this bill would make it easier and more accessible for education leaders, agencies, and advocates to make data-informed decisions to drive our state forward.

Why does this bill matter?

Connecting data across Tennessee’s education and workforce would tell a more complete story of Tennessee. As Tennessee’s data system currently exists, it primarily supports internal analyses, public reporting, and formal academic research, but is not easily accessible to postsecondary administrators, district leaders, and other organizations across the state. Out of the 40 states with a longitudinal data system in place, Tennessee is one of only three without a public-facing website for its system, making it difficult for leaders to leverage our state’s longitudinal education-to-workforce data system.

Better connected data systems are essential to illuminating which students are being served well by our education system and into the workforce. Local examples, like Nashville State’s “Better Together” partnership, utilize shared data that helps leaders implement targeted support where students are falling out of the education pipeline. Transparent and accessible data is key to ensuring students can make informed decisions about education opportunities, and for leaders to implement innovative practices that respond to student needs. Additionally, a comprehensive data system is key to positively impacting Tennessee’s workforce and economy. Overall, leveraging the robust data that Tennessee already collects has the potential to drive innovation and student success in education.