2024 was an "implementation year" for the Tennessee Department of Education and General Assembly, but that doesn't mean that nothing changed in the education policy world. AND, in some cases, that nothing changed IS the story! Check out what policy issues to know for the coming 2024-2025 school year here!
- Statewide Private School Vouchers – HB1183/SB503 would expand the state’s Education Savings Account (ESA) program statewide and remove financial restrictions on participation
- Currently, this program only operates in Davidson, Shelby and Hamilton Counties, and only after years of legal challenges
- This was Governor Lee’s signature policy proposal for the 2024 General Assembly session, and garnered significant national support and funding in an attempt to help it pass
- However, the bill did not pass – but Governor Lee has already stated that he plans to try again in 2024
- Why it matters for students with disabilities:
- Students with disabilities are already eligible for Individualized Education Accounts (IEA’s), which serve a similar function, but are restricted to students with disabilities
- However, it is likely that an expansion of ESA’s would significantly impact the finances of local public school systems
- This could lead to fewer teachers and support staff, fewer available services and fewer course offerings, which would harm the education of students with disabilities
- Guns on Campuses – HB1202/SB1325 allows districts to implement a policy that allows staff members to carry concealed weapons on campus
- Districts are not required to develop such a policy; the law only grants them permission to do so
- Those staff members who want to carry a gun would have to undergo 40 hours of training and sign an agreement with their districts
- Information about whether or not any school staff are carrying a weapon, and if they are, information identifying them individually, is confidential under this law
- To date, no Tennessee school district has confirmed that it will adopt a guns-on-campus policy
- Why it matters for students with disabilities:
- Students with disabilities, particularly those that manifest behaviors, are already misunderstood – adding a gun into a behavior incident is risking unnecessary and dangerous escalation
- It’s dangerous: Whether it be accident, conflict or negligence, guns are dangerous around children
- TISA Funds for Pre-K – HB2181/SB2213 establishes weighted funding for students with disabilities in Pre-K under the TISA funding model
- This bill did not pass, likely because of its substantial cost (~$155M/year)
- Currently, TISA funds additional “weights” for K-12 students with disabilities, depending on the amount of time they spend in the special education setting
- But TISA does not support early childhood education (ECE), this is typically paid for primarily by federal IDEA part C funds
- Why it matters for students with disabilities:
- Early identification and access to supports and services in the learning environment prepares students with disabilities to be ready to thrive when they enter Kindergarten
- ECE currently struggles with adequate staffing and resources to best meet the needs of students with disabilities – additional state funding would support efforts and increase capacity.
- K-2 Suspension Prohibition – HB2492/SB2216 prohibits the suspension of students in 2nd grade or younger for behavior that does not involve violence or threatens the safety of staff or other students
- This bill did not pass, and did not get a committee hearing in either the House or Senate
- Currently, suspension and expulsion policies are primarily determined at the district and school administrator level, except for universal policies established at the General Assembly (such as zero-tolerance offenses)
- Why it matters for students with disabilities:
- The research on suspension does not demonstrate any positive impact on future behavior or school culture
- Students with disabilities are disproportionately punished using exclusionary discipline (like suspension), to their detriment
- Young students with disabilities may not have been evaluated for an IEP at this age, often due to limited resources or limited access to early intervention services
- And thus may be suspended for manifestations of a disability.
- 4th Grade Retention Changes – HB2326/SB2183 makes changes to the state’s retention law for students in 4th grade
- Previously, if a student who scored below proficient in reading advanced to 4th grade by participating in summer learning camps or 4th grade tutoring DID NOT improve their reading scores, they were subject to 4th grade retention
- This law establishes a new system by which a conference held with parents, teachers and school administrators determines, by majority, whether a student will advance to 5th grade
- Students scoring below proficient but are promoted to 5th grade receive year-long tutoring, as established by this law
- The law also establishes TCAP scores as the only valid reading proficiency test, for the purposes of retention
- Why it matters for students with disabilities:
- Research on the positive impact of retention is mixed, but skews toward retention as an inadequate tool on its own to improve academic or behavioral outcomes
- IDEA is somewhat vague on retention, but in most cases, state-level policy establishes that the IEP team should make retention decisions about students with IEP’s