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Statement from Professional Educators of Tennessee - State of the State

Feb 04, 2020 at 07:45 am by Bryan Barrett


2020 STATE OF THE STATE - EDUCATION
Press Release - Statement from Professional Educators of Tennessee

"Our commitment to public education, and our advocacy efforts, have been reflected tonight with many of the items in Governor Bill Lee's State of the State. Teachers across the state will be very pleased with several of the items the Governor identified, including salary increases and a renewed emphasis on literacy. We look forward to more in-depth details on implementation, as well as opportunities for additional input on these issues.

To our knowledge, we are the only teacher association meeting with major stakeholders, including the executive branch, on a regular basis. That has helped lead to major monetary commitments in the budget in the last decade for K12 education here in Tennessee. More importantly, we have tried to help legislators keep the focus on educators and students. This year we are focused on 4 major areas: Salary, Student Discipline, Teacher Certification, and Literacy.

We are pleased Governor Lee has identified some of these very themes tonight. Teachers do "deserve to be paid more for the important work they do." The Governor is also accurate that "education isn't just about a test score." We are very happy to see literacy will be a cornerstone of the Governor's agenda moving forward. Governor Lee is correct, that without literacy: "our other investments and work in education will always be limited." We look forward to working with him, Commissioner Schwinn and the Tennessee General Assembly on these and other issues.

A decade ago, we were near the bottom in the nation in education. Today, we are somewhere in the low 30's. We have much more left to do, and the state must continue to invest in education, and we must continue to define our priorities and work together. Working in a non-partisan fashion proves we can move the state in a positive direction. We strongly believe that children from all backgrounds can succeed when given the opportunities they deserve.

While not addressed tonight, it is important to note that our organization has confidence that the Tennessee General Assembly will work to address Teacher Certification and Student Discipline this session. We have a teacher shortage in our state. In fact, the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents (TOSS) reports roughly 1100 positions are unfilled or do not have a qualified teacher in the classroom, across the state. Urban areas are hit especially hard. In rural areas, Art, Music, and Special Education are areas that are especially difficult to fill. In particular, we will work on strengthening reciprocity laws and dropping requirements for re-taking the Praxis exam when entering Tennessee, as well as making it easier for our current teachers to add additional endorsements. Student discipline is critical, and we must work to address several of these issues through legislation.

We share the optimism of Governor Lee about K-12 education in Tennessee in making sure all children are prepared to become productive members of society. Together, we can make Tennessee the best state in the nation for education, and in turn, the best place to raise a family."

ABOVE is a Statement from Professional Educators of Tennessee

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