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The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
Legislation that would allow for additional exemptions to Tennessee’s third-grade retention law is now headed to Governor Lee for additional action.
House Bill 0437 (HB0437), sponsored by Representative Mark White (R-Memphis-District 83), passed a House vote on April 20 after Senate Bill 0300 (SB0300) was substituted. 82 representatives voted in favor of the bill while 15 voted against it.
The Senate bill, sponsored by Senator Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol-District 4), passed a few days earlier on April 18 with only 4 senators voting against the changes.
The new bill allows the following:
• Allows students who receive a TCAP score of “approaching” and are in the 50th percentile or above to be promoted to 4th grade, as long as they are provided with summer school and tutoring options.
• Gives school systems permission to assist parents of third graders who are being retained with the appeals process.
• Requires that data be tracked to determine the effectiveness of summer school, tutoring, and student retention; also requires that data be reported to the Tennessee General Assembly.
• Requires that any student who is retained in grades K-3 be provided with a tutor for remediation purposes.
• Gives the Tennessee Department of Education permission to contract with up to three qualified tutoring agencies.
The original third-grade retention law went into effect for the 2022-2023 school year. Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis-District 29) proposed that legislators postpone implementation of that law until next year so the updated changes can be put into place.
“If the law needs corrections and modifications, I don’t know why students this year would be under those standards, and next year would be under a new set,” Akbari said.
Lundberg argued against that proposal, stating that school systems have “prepped” and “are reading for this.”
Senator Rusty Crowe stated, “Something’s wrong with this whole thing. I’ve got parents who are irate that they’re getting letters that their students who are getting As and Bs are going to have to go to summer school.”
Governor Lee will have 10 days, not including Sundays, to either sign or veto the bill before it would become law.
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
