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Please Call Today! Two Bills that Could Fundamentally Change Our Education System will be Heard on Tuesday
Go to www.capitol.tn.gov to find contact information for your legislators or you can email them at the addresses below:
Senators: sen.firstname.lastname@capitol.tn.gov
Representatives: rep.firstname.lastname@capitol.tn.gov
For-Profit Charter Schools: Currently in Tennessee, for-profit charter school operation is not allowed. This bill would change that and allow publicly funded charter schools to hire for-profit operators. SOCM members oppose this bill and any other that would drain desperately needed resources from traditional public schools, which continue to serve the neediest children and families in our communities. We are also concerned about the re-segregation effects that charter schools have had. Read SOCM's factsheet on this bill here.
Action: This bill is on the agenda for the House Education Committee on Tuesday, April 1st at 12pm central time. Please contact the committee members and tell them to vote NO on this bill (House Bill 1693).
The Senate version of this bill is ready to go to the Senate floor for a vote though it has not been put on the calendar yet. Be ready to ask your senator to vote no on this bill (Senate Bill 1684) soon.
Note: We are also keeping an eye on the State Charter Authorizer (Senate Bill 830/House Bill 702) which would permit the state to overrule local elected school boards and demand a charter school be opened, whether the community wants it or not, at the city's or county's expense. This legislation damages communities by 1) taking away the power to direct the education of their children and 2) severely straining local budgets. It also provides an inside track to out-of-state charter schools corporations with close ties to those in power. (From Tennesseans Reclaiming Educational Excellence (treetn.org)) The Senate and House versions of these bills are being tweaked to match. So please call your Senator and Representative and tell them we don't want this State Charter Authorizer.
________________________________________________ Restructuring Textbook Commission: HB 2249/SB 1602 is an attempt to politicize the Textbook Commission and textbook approval process. This issue is far too important and too complex to act hastily without adequate study. If mistakes are made, education will be impacted for years to come because textbooks are adopted on a six-year cycle. Also, imposing additional requirements on Local Education Authorities beyond those currently in place is unnecessary and could result in many families being excluded from the process. Public input should be accepted and respected, but the input of all parents should be treated equally.
We are asking legislators to vote NO on this bill. If changes to the Textbook Commission and textbook approval process are needed, we ask that they please take time for further study with careful consideration of the consequences.
Action: The House version of this bill is on the agenda for the Government Operations Committee on Tuesday, April 1st at 1:30 pm central time. Please contact the Committee members and tell them to vote NO on this bill (House Bill 2249). You can use these talking points, put together by the American Center for Outreach. The Senate version of this bill includes a passage that says "...the values of the citizens of this state manifested in the U.S. Constitution, the Constitution of Tennessee and other foundational documents of this nation's republican form of government." This bill is being publicly pushed by anti-Muslim groups so SOCM members are concerned about who will decide "the values of the citizens of this state..." Should this House version of the bill pass on Tuesday, we will need to tell our legislators that our textbooks should reflect an accurate education of all the rich and diverse people, faiths and civilizations that make up our history. |
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House Education Committee
Harry Brooks, Chair, 615-741-6879 John Forgety, Vice-Chair, 615-741-1725 Raumesh Akbari, 615-741-3830 Kevin Books, 615-741-1350 Jim Coley, 615-741-8201 John DeBerry, 615-741-2239 Bill Dunn, 615-741-1721 Roger Kane, 615-741-4110 Ron Lollar, 615-741-7084 Harold Love, 615-741-3831 Debra Moody, 615-741-3774 Joe Pitts, 615-741-2043 Dawn White, 615-741-6849 Mark White, 615-741-4415 Ryan Williams, 615-741-1875 House Government Operations Committee Judd Matheny, Chair, 615-741-7748 John Ragan, Vice-Chair, 615-741-4400 Joe Carr, 615-741-2180 Glen Casada, 615-741-4389 Joshua Evans, 615-741-2860 Craig Fitzhugh, 615-741-2134 Curtis Halford, 615-741-7478 G.A. Hardaway, 615-741-5625 Curtis Johnson, 615-741-4341 Gerald McCormick, 615-741-2548 Johnnie Turner, 615-741-6954 Mike Turner, 615-741-3229 |
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