It was a monumental year for education at the Tennessee General Assembly, with the passage of legislation that touches on education funding, libraries, colleges and universities, and a whole lot more.
A big topic going into the 2022 legislative session was the governor’s goal to replace the Basic Education Program funding formula that has been in effect for 30 years. He succeeded, and the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act is set to take effect in the 2023-2024 school year. Some lawmakers feel the legislation was rushed, while others were simply happy to move on from the BEP. We’re likely to see proposed changes to the TISA Act in next year’s session.
Alongside the passing of the TISA Act, Gov. Bill Lee added $1 billion in state education funding. Metro Nashville Public Schools will not see a significant increase in funding, however, and the Metro school board didn’t support the legislation’s passing — because, they say, it doesn’t adequately fund Nashville’s schools.
Critics fear the TISA Act will make it easier for public education dollars to flow to charter and private schools. Lee has maintained that the legislation is unrelated to vouchers, and while an early iteration of the TISA Act required local funds to charter school students, that aspect of the bill was removed. A couple of separately filed charter school bills were shelved after public pushback, including one that would have aided charters in establishing themselves and growing. One bill extending voucher eligibility for students with learning disabilities passed and was signed into law.
The funding and privatization conversations were heated, but mostly among education stakeholders. An area that saw greater mainstream attention was the content of books. Following last year’s attack on what can and cannot be taught in classrooms — most of which centered on discussion of what lawmakers incorrectly identified as “critical race theory” — Republicans succeeded in asserting even more control over curriculum, focusing on which books students shouldn’t have access to. Some folks testified that children had access to pornography in school libraries (they don’t), and outgoing Rep. Jerry Sexton (R-Bean Station) said outright that he would burn books with inappropriate materials.
Many library-related bills were introduced — and a few passed. The Age-Appropriate Materials Act, which will go into effect in the 2022-2023 school year, requires school libraries to post their collections and create a process to receive complaints, review books and possibly remove them if they are deemed inappropriate for certain age groups. Another piece of legislation will add librarians to the government-appointed state textbook commission and allow the body to issue guidance about which books are appropriate, giving the group the power to ban books across the state. The terms “appropriate” and “inappropriate” aren’t defined in either of the aforementioned laws. One bill awaiting the governor’s signature would create a library coordinator position for the state.
A vague, multifaceted censorship bill geared toward public higher-education institutions passed into law. The legislation lists the same 14 topics as the legislation applying to K-12 classrooms, plus two others, but it doesn’t necessarily prevent professors from discussing or teaching these concepts in class. Instead, it gives students and professors the ability to “pursue all equitable or legal remedies that may be available” if they feel they have been negatively impacted for not adopting the so-called divisive concepts in their work. The bill also prevents colleges and universities from requiring training that contains the divisive topics and requires a biennial survey to measure “campus climate with regard to diversity of thought and the respondents’ comfort level in speaking freely on campus, regardless of political affiliation or ideology.”
Democratic lawmakers sought to combat censorship by introducing bills that ensure Black history is taught in public schools. One law ensuring the teaching of Black history and culture in middle school has already been signed by the governor. Another that emphasizes teaching about the civil rights movement in high school passed the legislature and is awaiting a signature. High school students are also now required by law to learn about “the virtues of capitalism and the constitutional republic form of government in the United States and Tennessee.”
Amid a handful of bills that could affect LGBTQ students, two pieces of legislation ultimately passed. One will withhold state funds from districts that don’t determine student athletes’ genders based on the student’s sex assigned at birth. Another law that will go into effect in July prevents biological males from participating in sports designated for females in public higher-education institutions.
Culture-war-related issues and education funding dominated lawmakers’ attention this year, but other bits of miscellaneous legislation made it through as well. Tennessee HOPE scholarships, for example, will see an increase in funds, and one law adds a suicide hotline number to the back of student IDs. A handful of bills also aim to address teacher shortages.
Lots of matters are still up in the air — like the details of the new funding formula, or how the state intends to specify what books are appropriate for whom.
Last month marked the conclusion of the 112th Tennessee General Assembly. State lawmakers made a lot of noise. Here’s what they did — and didn’t — get done.
