special section:
beth
harwell
Thank you for taking the time to share with our
educators today. On behalf of our members, I would
like to say we are grateful you are offering yourself
for Governor. Please share with educators a little about
who you are, and why you are running for Governor.
I currently serve as Speaker of the Tennessee House of
Representatives, a position to which my colleagues elected
me, and it is a great honor. I’m originally from a small town
in rural Pennsylvania, but I came here for college and never
left. I truly fell in love with this state. I have the experience to
continue the successes we have seen in this state. During my
tenure as Speaker of the House, we have enacted policies
that are resulting in a more prosperous Tennessee. We
currently have the lowest unemployment rate in our state’s
history, we’ve cut taxes, we’ve shrunk the size of government
and made it more efficient, and we have made strides in
education. I can continue and build on this success as
governor.
We made quite a few changes in public education in
Tennessee the last decade - some necessary, some
debatable. What are we doing right?
The accountability measures we have put in place are
working. We have high standards in place. We have asked
a lot of our teachers, but they have risen to the challenge.
Scores are improving, and we continue to do better in
national rankings.
In your opinion, what are the top 3 challenges still
facing education in Tennessee?
We have been evaluating the amount of testing required
by state and local governments, because we know too
much testing is hard on students. However, we still want to
maintain our standards and be able to measure progress,
so there is a balance to strike. We also need to ensure our
students are reading by the third grade—increasing literacy
should be a priority. And finally, we need to continue our
efforts to increase the number of students obtaining a
certificate or degree from a post-secondary institution. The
emphasis on the importance of this can begin in our K-12
schools.
What are the steps that the state and local districts
need to take to address the challenges you identified?
What impact will that have on classroom teachers?
On testing, the state and local governments need to have
open communication to ensure that there is not too much,
but we are still getting the information we need. This will
have a big impact on classroom teachers, and hopefully
provide more instruction time. Literacy by the third grade
will take all hands on deck—state and local governments,
educators, communities, and families. And to prepare our
students for the workforce, schools need to work with post-
secondary institutions and those in the community to ensure
we are teaching the skills needed for high-paying jobs.
Any final thoughts you’d like to share with our
educators?
From my years working on education issues in the
Tennessee House of Representatives, I know the importance
of supporting educators. When our educators have the
support and tools they need, our Tennessee students have a
better shot at succeeding. As governor, my door will always
be open to you, and I hope you will share your thoughts,
input, and expertise with me.