Members of a proposed commission might soon prep Tennessee’s education officials for another wave of COVID-19 or even another crisis on the same scale.
But only if a majority of members of the Tennessee General Assembly and Gov. Bill Lee say yes to the idea.
Members of a Tennessee House K-12 Subcommittee on Tuesday voted to send this proposal to the full committee.
Speaker Pro Tempore Bill Dunn (R-Knoxville) said Tuesday that COVID-19 and the recent tornadoes that battered Middle Tennessee prove unexpected events can disrupt the state’s educational system in a major way.
“We need to look to the future on how best to mitigate the disruptions,” Dunn said.
“This [proposal] would create a Tennessee Commission on Education Recovery and Innovation, and it would look at both short- and long-term effects of the COVID-19 and the natural disasters that have occurred.”
Under the current proposal, this commission would have nine members. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) would each appoint three members, Dunn said.
Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis) told The Tennessee Star Wednesday that he wants members of this commission to devise the best possible strategies for Tennessee as they move forward.
“We have all this federal money coming in and also state money being dispensed. At the end of the day, 12 months from now, I don’t want to be in a place where we spend all this money as state and federal governments and nothing has really changed. Hopefully this virus is through and won’t come back on us. But we need to make sure that we are acting appropriately,” White said.
“We want the right background of people on the commission so that they can draft a strategic plan for us to make sure we are not as fumbling going forward on anything. If and when this bill passes, which I think it will, the hard part will be making sure we get the right appointees on there. And then we want them to look at the challenges that we faced when we had to recess or close school down back in March. We want some good minds. That is the gist of the bill.”
This commission, if enacted into law, Dunn said Tuesday, would meet and present their first report by Jan. 1 of next year. Subsequent reports and action plans would follow, he added.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Typical way of passing the buck. Give it to a committee and no one is held accountable. The Tennessee Assembly at its finest.
STOP this nonsense. Treat COVID-19 and any comparable diseases like any other communicable disease. Send the sick ones home to recover and keep the classrooms busy doing what they are supposed to do – EDUCATE (or has the purpose become to feed the children?). It is painfully apparent that Governor Lee and his poor choice of a director of schools made awful decisions regarding COVID-19. Their kind of thinking is what has given us “safe spaces” and “microagressions”. Children need to learn how to cope with life and not be wrapped in bubble wrap so that they are scared to death anytime they are faced with adversity. Schools should have remained open and business should have continued as normal. Life is full of risks – get used to that. I do not see any improvement coming from a committee full of suits.
STOP IT! This is a classic example of “never let a good crisis go to waste.”
How many layers of bureaucracy do we need in the public Education process? Seems to me that we keep adding these layers of “experts” and our kids just keep coming out less able to perform basic skills.
Put a teacher and a student together, with some basic materials, and get everything else out of their way, and stop trying to play God.
Hold onto your wallet. I’m fine with addressing shortcomings in public education. It has to be paid for within the current funding level. More regulation increases spending yet outcomes do not improve. Teaching children to read does not require the current level of unnecessary regulation we already have, or it’s expense.