| It is almost time for legislative Session to begin. I will resume the weekly wrap starting with this issue. If you would, please invite your friends to receive the wrap. Please see my guest editorial in today's Tennessean. It is a shorter version of my article Basic American Principles that is on my blog. Tennessean Blog version I will send out a supplemental email this week on my state sovereignty work. 2010 Special Education Session Preview The legislative news of the 106th General Assembly Tennessee General Assembly will start 2010 with Special Session on education reform. The second session of the 106th General Assembly will start differently than most years, as lawmakers will be heading into a Special Session on January 12th to address education issues. The governor called the Special Session after it was determined Tennessee has a shot at Race to the Top dollars, a federal grant program set up through the Recovery Act. The federal government has set aside approximately $4 billion for the Race to the Top program, and states have a shot at the money provided they can come up with innovative ways to improve education in their state prior to a deadline of January 19. The U.S. Department of Education has announced that priority will be given to those states who are already implementing a plan by that date, so Tennessee must move swiftly. Legislators have not yet seen the actual proposal, and have only been given a general outline of what the plan will include. The General Assembly is expected to take up a K-12 overhaul first, followed by proposed changes to higher education. |
| Kindergarten - 12th Grade Plan Low performing schools - The governor has indicated part of the plan will be to intervene sooner in those schools that are failing. If a school is low-performing, the state would be ready to take action. In 2008, lawmakers changed accountability measures to put Tennessee more in sync with No Child Left Behind. Several schools in the state have been dangerously close to state intervention before. The new proposal will likely include new parameters by which schools will be classified as “failing,” and affix new accountability standards to the plan. Evaluation system for K-12 schools - Another part of the proposal will aim to change the way Tennessee evaluates teachers. Tennessee already has an extensive evaluation database that measures students’ achievements over time. Lawmakers will discuss tying those evaluations more closely to teacher pay and tenure. Former U.S. Senator Bill Frist’ s SCORE initiative includes some of these recommendations, such as “directly linking tenure decisions to the teacher effectiveness measure, allowing student achievement gains to be included as one component of the teacher effectiveness measure before a final tenure decision must be reached.” Graduation rates - The last prong of the K- 12 plan will be to improve high school graduation rates, placing more emphasis on preparing students for post-secondary education. Some of the discussion will center on preparing students for community college and technical schools, in addition to the state’s four-year institutions. Lawmakers are already discussing ways to encourage high school graduates to consider community colleges and technical schools as viable options. In the same vein, the General Assembly will likely consider making it - |
Susan Lynn
Susan Lynn
| The Weekly Wrap - a newsletter of Rep. Susan Lynn January 4, 2009 |
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If you do not find what you are looking for, please call my office at 615-741-7462. We are happy to assist you.
If you do not find what you are looking for, please call my office at 615-741-7462. We are happy to assist you.
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| easier to transfer credits between institutions to make post-secondary work flexible enough to meet the needs of more graduating seniors. Higher Education Plan - With higher education, lawmakers will examine the governor’s proposal to tie some funding to performance, which would be measured by the amount of students who complete their degree. Other considerations to be discussed in the high education overhaul would be changing the credit transferring process, eliminating remedial education in four-year institutions, and allowing students to dual- enroll in two and four-year institutions. The goal would be to direct more students to post-secondary work that fits their needs. The plan would include some streamlining details, such as simplifying the paperwork needed to transfer, enroll, or dual-enroll. Worker’s Compensation The Governor may also include worker’s compensation in the order for the Special Session. Lawmakers have been discussing the possibility of delaying the implementation of Public Chapter 1041. If the legislature is directed to take up the issue of worker’s compensation during the Special Session, they will likely consider a delay in the implementation of the law. This week I had another guest editorial in the Tennessean on Copenhagen |