Bill That Would Require Tennessee Public Schools Teach “Success Sequence” Passes On House Floor

Image Credit: TN General Assembly

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

A bill that would require that public schools teach about the “Success Sequence” passed on the House floor on Monday.

Sponsored by Representative Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood-District 61), House Bill 0178 (HB0178) passed in a 73 to 20 vote along party lines, with two lawmakers – Representatives Bob Freeman (D-Nashville-District 56) and Michael Hale (R-Smithville-District 40) – choosing not to vote.

The House moved to substitute and conform to the corresponding Senate Bill 0471 (SB0471), sponsored by Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma-District 16), which was amended at the end of last month.

Called the Success Sequence Act, the legislation would mandate that schools provide instruction on the keys to a successful life, incorporating the instruction into the state’s Family Life Curriculum.

According to research and data, the steps to a successful life are completing high school, going on to higher education or becoming employed, getting married, and then having children, in that order.

“When you look at Millenials, that is adults who are now 32 to 38 years of age, for those who followed this Success Sequence, this timeline of education, employment, marriage and then children, 97% of them avoided poverty, and that includes 95% of Black students, and 96% of Hispanic students, regardless of their upbringing, regardless of whether they came from intact families or not,” said Bulso. “By the time they reached their 30s, if they followed the Success Sequence they were able to avoid poverty and enter the middle class or higher class.”

When the bill came up for a vote in the Senate, where it also passed along party lines, Bowling referred to statistics that show that children raised by married parents are twice as likely to graduate from college, while children raised by parents who are not married are twice as likely to end up in prison before the age of 30. In addition, children raised by single parents are three times as likely to be raised in poverty.

As in the Senate, minority party Representatives objected to the bill saying, among other things, that privilege cannot be taught.

Now that the bill has passed in both chambers of the General Assembly, it is on its way to becoming law in Tennessee and will take effect for the school year starting in the fall of 2026.

Similar bills are advancing around the country this year.

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.