MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- About 500 local school board members from across Tennessee are crowding the halls of the State Capitol today to speak to their legislators about education.
The annual Tennessee School Boards Association “Day on the Hill” gives school board members and system superintendents a chance to express their opinions about bills pending before the General Assembly.
Association spokesman Lee Harrell says members are watching a couple of bills this year, including two competing proposals that would introduce a school voucher system in Tennessee.
“We certainly feel that this is a time to provide more support and more recognition for our school systems, rather than creating an alternative program that does not have the proper accountability; that does not have the same mandate; that does not ensure that every single child has a true (educational) option.”
Harrell says association members will also tell legislators they do not support a state Department of Education proposal that would tie teacher licensure to student achievement scores.
The Association is also expressing a concern about the increased use of assessment tests, saying that students and teachers are now spending far too much time preparing for and taking tests.