Education Policy
excellent pieces of legislation, HB0441 (Rep. Eddie
Smith) and HB0457 (Rep. Mary Littleton), were
introduced this session which should sufficiently
cover this issue.
Another issue that surfaced, but was not included
in this legislation, was that teachers are concerned
with numerous evaluation issues and would like
to ensure that they are evaluated only by trained
evaluators. Teachers do not mind being evaluated
for their own performance. The state may wish
to consider allowing local education agencies to
use at least one alternative growth model that
has been approved by the board of education for
evaluation of teachers in non-tested grades and
subjects. The department of education must work
to develop alternative student growth models for
grade levels and subjects that do not have growth
models. These are huge steps in addressing these
concerns, and cannot be ignored in the future.
Teachers being coerced into political activities
did not make the list, but is frequently cited. Also,
many non-union teachers have asked for the right
to have payroll dues deductions, like their union
counterparts. This was supposedly addressed
through Professional Employees Collaborative
Conferencing Act, but implementation has been
inadequate, and it does address LEAs who are
not engaged in Collaboratice Conferencing. By
promulgating a policy that establishes an arbitrary
minimum membership threshold in order to
receive this benefit, it is likely LEA’s are acting
arbitrarily and capriciously. Failure to provided
payroll deduction to ALL teachers likely violates
pertinent sections of the 14th Amendment of the
United States Constitution. At some point, the
Tennessee General Assembly must bring clarity to
the issue of payroll deduction.
Working alongside Representative Jay Reedy
and Senator Mark Green on this legislation, we
incorporated direct teacher input in this process.
We conferred with the Tennessee Department of
Education, Tennessee School Boards Association,
and the State Collaborative on Reforming
Education, all of whom added their opinion. We
carefully worked to avoid any language that may
be litigious. We also conversed with the Tennessee
Organization of School Superintendents General
Counsel Chuck Cagle on this issue. Mr. Cagle
indicated that he did not see anything currently
being proposed that would be a cause of action
if the legislation passed. That being said, needless
lawsuits are filed daily across the state. I believe
HB1196 (Representative Tim Rudd), which creates
liability protections for educational entities and
employees, would also add additional protection.
No legislation is perfect, but The Teachers’ Bill
of Rights (SB0014/HB0174) is a foundation for
building upon, and moves us forward in identifying
the rights of Tennessee Educators. Respecting the
authority of teachers is essential for fostering
the best learning environment for Tennessee’s
students, and securing an educators professional
growth and freedom in our classrooms. Educators
are willing to hold themselves to the highest
standard of professional conduct, but we should
reasonably expect society to respect those men
and women who teach our children.
We are honored to support this legislation. We
espectfully asked legislators to support this
needed legislation for the teachers in their districts
and across the state. The Tennessee General
Assembly has sent a positive message that
respecting the authority of teachers is essential to
creating an environment conducive to learning,
effective instruction in the classroom, and proper
administration of our local public schools.
Read the full text of final bill as amended:
SB0014 / HB0174
Teachers’ Bill of Rights