Tennessee Lawmakers Put Students First
Tennessee lawmakers put students first on Friday by passing legislation that will improve the education children in the Volunteer State receive.
For starters, legislators voted to end the archaic practice of laying off teachers by seniority rather than by the quality of their work with children. Research shows when seniority dictates which teachers get laid off, school districts let some of their best educators go.
Ending this policy of last in, first out, or LIFO for short, will help ensure that Tennessee students have the best teachers in front of them every day. We can’t improve our schools if we don’t ensure they are staffed with our most effective teachers. Tennessee previously overhauled its teacher evaluation system to make it more rigorous as well as more fair. Ending LIFO is a critical and logical next step.
Lawmakers also voted in favor of a measure that lifted the cap on public charter schools, allowing them to expand within the state. That will lead to more educational choices for Tennesseans. Charter schools are public schools, but they operate with more freedom than traditional public schools and often serve as models of innovation within school districts. The legislation also will open up charter schools to all students within a school district. Previously, there were restrictions on who could attend them.
