The Coleman Walker Show

Please listen to Representative Susan Lynn on the Coleman Walker Show on Friday, June 8, 2018, discussing her upcoming Primary Election and her opponent's rhetoric.

TN Ready House and Senate Bills

Please accept my unreserved apology for the inconvenience the TNReady test difficulties this week.

Clearly this is upsetting, and I want you to know that getting to the bottom of this is just as important to me as it is to you.

The House was in Session on Tuesday as the problems began.  We were shocked and angry to learn of the trouble as we broke for lunch at noon. 

The House spent the next three hours investigating what had occurred.  We called in the Department of Education and the TBI to learn what was going on.  We told the commissioner that we wanted her and Questar to appear before the House Education and Government Operations Committees jointly in the morning. We each called our school districts to gather facts. We then crafted legislation to do what we thought was best to immediately to help with the issue. 

We went back into Session at 3 pm, and soon took up and passed a bill to do the following;

•  No letter grade will be given to Tennessee schools for the 2017-18 school year;
• The TNReady test will not count towards teachers' evaluations for the 2017-18 school year;
• The TNReady test will not count towards students' final grades for the 2017-18 school year, and;
• The TNReady tests will be given on paper for the 2017-18 school year.

Today the Senate sent us their own bill which does the following;

• TNReady data shall not be used when assigning the letter grade to schools for the 2017-18 school year;
• LEA’s shall not base employment termination or compensation decisions on the 2017-18 TNReady assessment results.
• Local boards of education can choose to have the TNReady assessment data apply to students’ final grade in a range of between a range of 0% and 15% for the 2017-18 school year. 
• None of the 2017-18 TNReady assessment data will be used to determine that a school is a priority school for assignment to an achievement school district, except that if the data is favorable, a school can use the data to come off of the priority school list.

As you can see there are differences between the House and Senate bills.  These differences will be settled in talks over the weekend, and by Monday we will vote on a final bill. 

I prefer the House version.  I believe it is stronger than the Senate’s bill.  The Senate does not mention using paper tests, and in Wilson County we do not have any Priority schools so that portion would never affect us.  And per the Senate bill, the 2017-18 TNReady test can still count towards teachers’ evaluations they just cannot be used to terminate or determine compensation for a teacher.

I invite you to compare these two plans and to please write me back with your thoughts.

School Seat Belt Bill Near Passage

(NASHVILLE) — State Representative Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) continues to fight for additional funding that will improve school bus safety in districts across Tennessee.

In February, Representative Lynn met with Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to discuss gaining his support of the bill to protect students who rely on the bus to travel to and from school.  As a result, the Governor announced that he has set aside $3 million in nonrecurring funds for grants in the amendment to his fiscal year 2018-2019 budget. These grants will help school districts address the extra costs associated with purchasing buses equipped with seat belts.

Additionally, Representative Lynn is sponsoring House Bill 395. It requires that any bus purchased on or after July 1, 2018, that is owned, operated, or leased by a public or private elementary or secondary school system to be used to transport students to and from schools or school-related events must be equipped with a restraint system. Additionally, these restraint systems must be approved by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for both the driver and all passengers.

Last year, Representative Lynn traveled to Indiana to research the pros and cons of restraint systems on school buses. She observed a side-impact crash involving a semi traveling 35 miles an hour and a school bus transporting crash test dummies. In this scenario, crash test dummies were both belted and unbelted. For those unbelted, the crash proved to be fatal. Those that were belted in remained safely restrained.

Representative Lynn has prioritized the safety and well-being of students who depend on school buses as part of their daily transportation.

“Every day, we count on our buses and drivers to get our children to school and back safely, and I am grateful that Governor Haslam has allocated additional funding as part of his budget amendment that will help us better protect our kids,” said Representative Lynn. “He will forever be remembered as the Governor who improved school bus safety, and I am honored to have worked with him in an effort to begin addressing this paramount issue.”

During the 2017 legislative session, Representative Lynn supported passage of House Bill 322. The measure requires all school districts, as well as charter schools to appoint a transportation supervisor to monitor and oversee student transportation. This supervisor must receive annual training developed from both the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) and the Tennessee Department of Safety (TDS) and must also implement a school transportation policy adopted by the local board of education.

Additionally, House Bill 322 requires all new bus drivers to complete a driver training program based on standards developed by the TDOE and the TDS prior to transporting any students. This bill also increases the minimum age for individuals seeking to obtain a school bus operator endorsement license from 21 to 25.

UPDATE

Those in opposition to safety restraints on public school buses have apparently started a whisper campaign to say that the bill died in committee and that Haslam is passing it anyway. 

The bill never died in committee.  Pasted below is a screenshot of the actions in the bill.  Not once was the bill ever killed in Committee.

The Restroom Bill of 2016

From the birth of our nation there has never been any need for a bill to legislate which restroom students shall use. I wrote and filed the restroom bill to ensure that students have privacy when using the restroom at their public school; biological girls will use the girls’ room and biological boys will use the boys’ room.  I wrote the bill  because Barak Obama’s restroom directive was in the works – a directive from the US Dept of Education to force school districts to allow any student who claimed to be transgender to use the restroom of their choice. 
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That is unacceptable to me and to most Tennesseans. My bill was designed to prevent the directive, which is not law but edict, from being applied in Tennessee schools. 

Note that my bill did not apply to private businesses like Target - but to public schools in Tennessee.  The bill filed last year was the language from my bill but it was not passed by the legislators.  

However, as a result of my bill, the ACLU found a plaintiff in Sumner County (a county I represented for eight years) and the ACLU served notice of their intent to sue if my bill passed. 
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To set the scene, at the time, socialists Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton were running for President on the Democrat ticket, and several Republican candidates, including Donald Trump, were running on the Republican ticket. And tragically, during the course of running my bill, Judge Antonin Scalia died putting the future of the Supreme Court in grave question. 

We legislators had no idea what kind of future our nation faced but we did know this; Nashville is not a friendly venue for the ACLU’s case. So if a lawsuit was filed we would lose the first round. Upon losing, by court order, every single school district in the state of Tennessee would be FORCED TO ALLOW students who call themselves transgender to use the restroom of their choosing. In fact, this order would stand until a final ruling by the Supreme Court.
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With the Presidency in question, with Judge Scalia’s death and the balance of the SCOTUS in question, with a threatened lawsuit putting every student in our state in jeopardy – I prayerfully, tearfully, frighteningly choose another route and MY GOD who urged me, stood with me. We would go on the offense and challenge the Obama administration because they have no right to make any edict and especially not the restroom directive. 
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It is true, few understood my decision. Politically it was stupid what politician would not pass such a bill in an election year? Certainly the best decision for me to make would have been to pass my bill and take all the glory for myself. However, I love the children of our state more than any seat so I chose the best course for the students – not the best course for me personally. 
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Perhaps you may recall, that I was faced with a similar choice in 2010 of whether to put others before myself – and I chose to put others first at that time too. 
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So in 2016, Tennessee went on the offense in a friendly court venue; when Texas filed suit against the Obama bathroom directive Tennessee joined the suit and WE WON. 
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On Sunday, August 21, 2016, a federal judge in Texas sided with Texas and 12 other states including Tennessee agreeing that the administration’s restroom directive policy usurps local control and threatens students’ safety and privacy.
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When the decision came down I made the follow statement; 
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“Tennessee delayed passage of my legislation so that we could become a party to this lawsuit, and I am delighted that Tennessee was successful with our case. I am also extremely pleased that this ruling proves that the strategy to delay passage of the restroom bill has clearly proven to be the right course of action for Tennessee.
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First, this ruling means that Tennessee schools can feel comfortable about ignoring the Obama Administration’s restroom directive - which as the Governor and Republicans said from the outset, does not have the force of law because it was not created according to law or administrative procedure.
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Second, the Justice stated that his ruling does not apply to disputes that are already in court, which includes the cases in North Carolina and Virginia. 
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However, because Tennessee never gave the opportunity for the ACLU to sue us this also means that the ruling perfectly applies to Tennessee because we have not been sued in court. This could have turned out very differently for Tennessee because had we passed my bill we know that we would have been sued in court by the ACLU and this ruling would not have applied to us – that would have been tragic.
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Third, as stated in the decision, the ruling also does not apply to schools that already accommodate transgender students’ choice of restrooms. Tennessee schools have always supported biological identity for restroom use. Any student who claims to be transgender is offered a private, safe and secure alternative so Tennessee students are safe.
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I think Tennessee played our hand very well. Now it is up to the voters to make the right choice in November because we know that a second Clinton Administration would aggressively pursue violating the privacy rights of biological boys and girls in our schools regardless of what the local school district decides is best for students.”
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Let me repeat these points; because we won the lawsuit in Texas, Tennessee schools could do what they have always done and that is have students who do not feel comfortable in the bathroom for their biological sex use a private restroom designated for them. 
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Had Tennessee been in a lawsuit, the Texas ruling destroying the Obama restroom directive WOULD NOT HAVE APPLIED TO TENNESSEE
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Had Tennessee already lost a lawsuit and a judge forced transgender bathrooms upon Tennessee, the Texas ruling destroying the Obama restroom directive WOULD NOT HAVE APPLIED TO TENNESSEE
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Praise God that Donald Trump won in November, 2016; after being sworn into office it only took him a few weeks to tear up the Obama Restroom directive – so it is no more. 
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If I am wrong and the Obama directive is not dead why didn’t any lawmaker in Tennessee file a restroom bill this year?
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I have protected every child in Tennessee including my six precious grandchildren. With Gods help WE DEFEATED THE OBAMA RESTROOM DIRECTIVE IN TENNESSEE! 
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Every day I pray for wisdom and trust my Lord and savior. He carries me every day. I am His servant and I listen to Him – not to you. 

The IMPROVE Act and SR 109

75% of respondents to my legislative survey support the IMPROVE Act; 7% are against and 19% are unsure.  Respondents are 100% Republican because I did not pay for the survey through my state account.  

The IMPROVE Act was the largest single tax cut in Tennessee History - $250+ million of the $500+ million surplus was returned to Tennesseans through tax cuts on food and other items, and $250+ million was transferred to the Highway fund through strategic rate adjustments.  

The SR 109 project that we broke ground on in early March, 2018 is due to the IMPROVE Act.  It was planned in two phases and each leg was to take nearly two years - but because of the IMPROVE Act the entire project will take just two years.  

Phase 1. From South of Dry Fork Creek to South of the Cumberland River @ $32 million.

Phase 2. From North of US-70 (SR24) to South of Dry Fork Creek @ $32 million.


Phase 1 was announced in the 2016-17 TDOT Transportation Improvement Plan but never built due to land acquisition issues.  

Phase 2 is an IMPROVE Act project.  It was passed into law last string, codified in law and named in the 2017-18 Transportation Improvement Plan;  

Bill (pp 49, item 957)     -     TCA Code     -    IMPROVE Act Docs.  


Phase 1 was put off in 2016 due to land purchase delays because TDOT must own all of the land before a project begins - they will not build into a bottle neck(s).  


The land issues were not cleared up until last November 2017.  But once cleared up - due to the IMPROVE Act TDOT had the money to compete both Phase 1 and Phase 2.  The entire Project will be complete in just two years.  


I held 11 Town Hall meetings on the IMPROVE Act.  Over whelmingly, once voters heard the information they told me they supported the plan.  I have an opponent who is claims that SR 109 is not an IMPROVE Act project.  However, as I just proved above by linking to the primary source documents - it certainly is an IMPROVE Act Project.  

MORE INFO ON THE DOCUMENTS

Language of the IMPROVE Act bill - scroll to page 49, item (957) it says; 

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For the very FIRST TIME EVER all of the road projects in the IMPROVE Act were codified into the Tennessee Code including all of Wilson County's IMPROVE Act the projects in Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-3-912 and you will see the following.  

In January, 2017, as part of the information provided to us on the IMPROVE Act, TDOT provided the legislators with a list of our counties many backlogged and new road projects.  [Click link]

As you can see, the two SR 109 projects are on the backlogged list it indicates that the only funding needed is the construction funding - that is why it says Construction next to each project.  The engineering and right of way were completed in previous years and so all that remained was the construction funding.

Note that most of our new projects need funding for the entire project.  Needed is funding for PE- preliminary engineering; ROW – right of way acquisition; CONST – construction.

In 2017, TDOT also provided us the the plan for the IMPROVE Act to build all of these project with in the next twelve years. The Improve Act readjusted Tennessee’s tax rates in order to move half of the annual budget surplus from the General Fund to the Highway Fund; ensuring funding into the future for $10.5 billion in backlogged road projects to be built over the next 10 years; and used the other half of the surplus to cut taxes for Tennesseans.  

The Improve Act lowered General Fund tax rates by $500+ million (food tax, income tax, business tax, and low income senior and veterans property taxes), and the Highway Fund fuel and electric car tax rates were raised by $250 million.  Assuring a net tax cut for Tennesseans of $250 million and also assuring that tourists, travelers through our state and truckers contribute more to Tennessee's roads while they are here. 

  

Due to the IMPROVE Act both legs of the SR 109 project are now funded and the entire project will be finished in just two years rather than waiting for each leg to be constructed separately.  

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Phase 2 - the leg from North of US-70 (SR24) to South of Dry Fork Creek @ $32 million, was announced in the 2017-18 transportation plan (see pic). Entire 2017-18 TDOT Project List

And, Phase 1, from South of Dry Fork Creek to South of the Cumberland River @ $32 million was carried forward and reauthorized in by 2017-2018 budget.  Click here to see the  project on the never completed SR 109 project on the 2016 project list;  2016-17 TDOT Project List.

The IMPROVE Act made it possible to complete ALL of SR 109 in just two years.  The 2017-18 budget included enough money for the entirety of SR 109.

ENDING REMARKS

I work hard to maintain a very good relationship with TDOT and they reward us with millions of dollars worth of road projects.  TDOT has announced that SR 109 is an IMPROVE Act project.  I do not know why anyone would poke TDOT in the eye by saying that they are lying about SR 109.  


If you know me, you know that I am a very exact person.  I am a financial analyst for one of the largest accounting firms in the world. 

Perhaps because as a child my father strongly cautioned me “Young lady, if you are going say anything, you had better know you are are correct before you say it.”  His words are deeply ingrained in me.  As a state legislator, I work hard to understand the facts, and I keep important papers so that I can verify information in the future. 

I hope that political foes realize how easy their rhetoric is to disprove. 

2018 Legislative Surey Preliminary Results

View early results of the 2018 Legislative Survey at this link -

Press Releases

Keep up with Representative Lynn's official press releases at this link;
http://www.tnhousegop.org/newsroom/57/ 

Beware of Gifts

I don’t enjoy the high price of popcorn when I go to the movie theater; no one can convince me that it costs very much to pop a bucket of popcorn.  However, it is clear that there are high operating expenses for the grand movie theaters around today, and by selling overpriced popcorn, theaters are able to provide a great surround sound experience, very comfortable seating and a choice of up to 14 different movies to attend. 

Let's face it - bills fail every day at the General Assembly and most just professionally take it in stride. 

The failure of a gift card bill made the news this week.  The sponsor wanted to do away with the dormancy fee charged by the cards in favor of a fee charged to every consumer who uses the card.  

Good idea or not; the business model of these cards is to use the lost/unused cards to cover the operating overhead for transactions made with the active cards.    

The legislator explained that he had been given a gift card and never used it - the dormancy fee angered him so he filed a bill - I totally validate his feelings. 

The bill isn't about the restaurant and store gift cards that are limited to a single business. Those don't have dormancy fees.  In their business model, the stores absorb the cards' operating expenses because they figure that by buying the card, they are guaranteed purchases at their store, and oftentimes purchases will total more than the value of the gift card. 

The bill is about the gift cards that look like a bank credit card; the ones that can be used anywhere that accept charge cards.  Under the business model for these credit card lookalikes, the operator recoups the operational overhead for transactions made with the card through fees charged to the lost/unused cards that will likely never be redeemed, and not from consumers' individual purchases made with the cards.  These cards are already highly regulated under federal law, and per federal law, a card is considered lost/unused, if it is unused for a year. On the back of the card, it very clearly informs card purchasers and owners about the $2 fee. 

Further, if you use the card after the dormancy fee begins to be charged, not only does the one-year clock reset and the fees stop but upon request, most banks will refund any dormancy fees charged within the current year.  Obviously however, to avoid the fee, simply use the gift card. 

These cards have unique features;

1. They look like a credit card.
2. They are a good option for anyone who doesn't have a credit card but needs to make purchases with a credit card. 
3. The cards have an option to be registered with the bank in your name so that if lost, the card can be canceled and you can get the remaining balance refunded to you. 
1. In that way too, you or anyone else can prove your payment or proof of purchase.
4. However if unregistered, the transactions are untraceable to you...[insert mischief here :-(]   
5. The card can be "refilled" with funds so that more purchases can be made - helpful for college students away from home. 
6. The card can be used anywhere that takes credit cards and no per purchase fee is charged.
7. Again, on the back of the card it states in large letters that if you do not use the card in a year (for some cards two years} the card will be charged a two dollar per month dormancy fee. 

While these cards make a convenient gift, and help those without access to credit, they also have a nefarious side.  Because unless you register the card, the transactions are untraceable which leads some to buy the card purely for the ability to make untraceable purchases that require a credit card. 

Still others use the cards as a form of currency.  They buy the card and trade with it, often for drugs.  Police know that cards like this are traded again, and again, and again.  I bet criminals don’t like to learn that a dormant card is now $2, $10 or $20 less than was presented to them when the “deal” was made to trade for the card. 

However, as I stated, the business plan calls for the operational costs of the card to come out of the dormant funds of the lost/unused cards – not out of the cards that people use right away as most people do.

In economics we are taught that there is no free lunch.  If you go to the jazzed-up movie theater with all of the whistles and bells, you will pay a higher price for tickets and popcorn.  If you purchase a gift card and give it as a gift, your recipient can use it like cash at anyplace that takes a credit card with no additional charges to them.  The cost of operations is taken out of the lost/unused cards, not from the people who used them as intended.  It would be a different matter if the fee wasn't fully disclosed on the back of the card and packaging - that would be theft. 

We have too many legislators today who try to use the strong arm of government to run the economy, legislate every product to their own personal liking, and rewrite business plans for movie theaters and everyone else. 

In Tennessee, we have been about getting government out of the way not dictating how to price a product or to operate a business.   We have made tremendous government policy changes in Tennessee to get government out of the way.  We have lowered taxes by $800 million dollars and deleted regulations.  Today, Tennesseans pay less in taxes than they did seven years ago.   

When I go to the movies or buy a gift card, I simply try to make the best consumer choice for me; I generally buy the popcorn and give the store gift cards.  Legislators should not use the power of government to dictate or do away with our own pet peeves just because we might be able to get away with it.   

We regulate monopolistic utilities because consumers are captive customers. We ensure restaurants are clean because too often they proved an extreme danger and people have became sick and even died.  

When we regulate business, it is always with a mind to prevent, deter or punish genuine fraud, or to prevent, deter or punish harm done to one's body or to one's life as a result of the product or offering. 

Don't misunderstand, I am not defending this or any other product.  I have simply articulated the business model for the product in question. 

We won't like every business model - but it is the business' business model - it is not the state's business model - and we don't dictate business models.  If a business is not a monopoly, not committing fraud, if a product is not harmful to life or safety, legislators do not have the right to use legislative force - our founding fathers called that tyranny.

Like it or not, as lawmakers, we may agree with the spirit of a bill - there are a lot of things I don't like but to prevent tyranny at every level we must acknowledge that we don't simply have the right to target every personal pet peeve we have.  There must be proven fraud, or physical harm.  Emotion cannot reign, we must have data and facts to prove a case for regulation. 

2018 Legislative Survey

State Representative Susan Lynn To Serve On New Wellness Caucus

Panel tasked with improving health and well-being for Tennesseans

(NASHVILLE) — State Representative Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) today announced that she will serve on a new Wellness Caucus created by members of the Tennessee General Assembly and in collaboration with the Governor’s Foundation for Health and Wellness.

The caucus is chaired by State Representative Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville) and Senator Bo Watson (R-Hixson). It consists of 37 members — including 28 Republicans — from both the House and Senate who will study and propose new solutions to important health and wellness issues in communities across the state. 

While Nashville is considered a health care hub for our entire nation, Tennessee still remains one of the least healthy states in the country. Approximately one in four adults smokes, and one in five high school students uses tobacco. Additionally, 33 percent of the state’s population is classified as obese, and type-2 diabetes and high blood pressure are at near-epidemic levels in all regions of the state.

Caucus members will help shape future public policy so that Tennesseans impacted by some of these adverse health conditions are able to make lifestyle changes that will improve their overall health outcomes.

“As an elected official, the health and well-being of our residents is one of my main priorities,” said Representative Lynn. “I believe this opportunity will provide unique perspective into some of the health issues impacting our citizens; additionally, it will allow us to create new solutions to these issues which will lead to improved health trends across our state.”

For more information about the Governor’s Foundation for Health & Wellness, please visit: http://healthierTN.com.

Susan Lynn serves as the Chair of the House Consumer & Human Resources Subcommittee. Lynn is also a member of the House Consumer & Human Resources, House Finance Ways & Means and House Ethics Committee, as well as the Joint Fiscal Review Committee. She lives in Mount Juliet and represents House District 57, which includes Wilson County. Lynn can be reached by email at Rep.Susan.Lynn@capitol.tn.gov or by calling (615) 741-7462.

New Report on the Local Burden of Housing State Prisoners in County Jails

TACIR has completed its report on the financial burden and other effects on county governments from housing state prisoners in county jails, prepared at the request of commission members at the May 2016 meeting.

This report revisits the 2007 report Beyond Capacity: Issues and Challenges Facing County Jails.  TACIR staff conducted a examining the number of state prisoners being held in county jails and whether the number is increasing, capacities and overcrowded conditions in county jails, the cost borne by counties for medical care (including addiction treatment) of state prisoners held in county jails, whether the current amount the state reimburses a county for housing a state prisoner is reasonable, how the state chooses which prisoners are left in county jails, how state prisoners are assigned jobs like cooking or laundry service, and contractual obligations and limitations to housing state prisoners in prisons operated for counties by private contractors.

The final report suggests three recommendations:

First, Tennessee could improve access to the behavioral health services provided by the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services’ criminal justice liaison program by expanding the program statewide.

Second, Tennessee could target funding to improve outcomes by providing financial assistance to counties to help implement programs proven to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for prisoners and communities, rather than only increasing per diem reimbursements to cover basic costs.

Finally, because adequate oversight and regulation of local jails is necessary for the state to balance its need for fiscally responsible management of the felon population with the responsibility to achieve the best prisoner and public safety outcomes, state law should be amended to give the Tennessee Corrections Institute clear legal authority to require local correctional facilities to comply with set standards, including authority for its Board Control to recommend that the Tennessee Department of Correction remove state prisoners from noncertified jails when conditions warrant.

This report is available on the Internet at http://www.tn.gov/tacir/topic/tacirpublications-by-date.

TNECD NOW ACCEPTING BROADBAND ACCESSIBILITY GRANT APPLICATIONS

Program to award $10 million to projects that expand broadband to unserved areas

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) announced that it is now accepting Broadband Accessibility Grant applications until November 17, 2017.

Established by the recently enacted Tennessee Broadband Accessibility Act (TBAA), this program aims to spread broadband access to more Tennesseans while promoting practices that increase deployment and encourage adoption. In total, $10 million is available in the first round of grants.

“Rural economic development is a top priority for TNECD and reliable broadband is a lynchpin of our efforts to encourage job growth in Tennessee’s rural communities,” TNECD Commissioner Bob Rolfe said. “About one-in-three residents in rural Tennessee do not have broadband access at recognized minimum standards. It is critical that we address this gap and ensure all Tennesseans have reliable internet access. Thanks to Governor Haslam’s leadership and the overwhelming support of the Tennessee General Assembly, TNECD will now be able to provide grants to help make broadband available to residents and businesses that currently go without it.”

The Broadband Accessibility Grants are meant to help offset the capital expenses of deploying broadband in currently unserved areas. Projects must serve locations without access to download speeds of at least ten megabits per second (10 Mbps) and upload speeds of at least one megabit per second (1 Mbps). Preference will be given to areas that are unlikely to receive broadband service without grant funding. Applicants must be authorized to provide retail broadband in the proposed service area.

Following the close of the application period, TNECD will hold a three-week online public comment period to receive additional input and information regarding submitted applications.

TNECD anticipates announcing grantees in January 2018 with projects underway in early in 2018.

More information on Broadband Accessibility Grants and TNECD’s broadband initiatives can be found here.

About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development

The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s mission is to develop strategies that help make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs. To grow and strengthen Team Tennessee, the department seeks to attract new corporate investment in Tennessee and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. Find us on the web: tnecd.com. Follow us on Twitter: @tnecd. Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/tnecd.

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School Bus Driver Shortage Solution?

News accounts of Wilson County Schools bus driver shortage are not unique; a similar situation can be found all over the state. No wonder too; driving a school bus is a great responsibility, that is filled with stress, distractions and is prone to criticism.

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The Lap and Shoulder Belt Bill may provide a solution to aid this stubborn problem. The school bus is the only vehicle on the road today for which a lap-shoulder belt is not federally mandated. The argument against school bus lap-shoulder belts wears thin as one considers that across the country there are about 20,000 injuries on school buses each year...a school bus accident locally last week certainly unnerved many. Parents wonder, "Why does my child leave the safety of my car where their car seat or lap-shoulder belt ensures the highest degree of safety, to get onto a school bus without any restraint system at all?
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Two weeks ago I observed a simulated but very real school bus accident in Indiana. A big rig was driven into the side of a school bus at 35 mph. The bus was fitted with cameras and other data collection equipment. In the bus, crash dummies were both belted and unbelted. The horrific crash proved "fatal" for some unbelted dummies while the belted remained safely restrained.
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A safety supervisor who began phasing in safety belts on all buses in his school district 5 years ago, told me of the benefits of the restraints beyond obvious improved safety. Because the students are buckled, discipline issues have reduced by 90%, and better behavior has considerably reduced driver distraction. Initially, only a few drivers wanted to drive the buses with restraints but as the other drivers saw how much improved the students' behavior was, they began to request buses with lap-shoulder belts. Before long all the drivers wanted safety belts on their buses.
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Bullying is now minimal on district school buses. The penalty for bullying is suspension from school, and suspension is often a catalyst for dropping out. In his district, the safety belts have positively affected student retention. Today, not buckling up is now the most common offense. Because the rule is that if they don't buckle they don't ride; parents quickly fix that problem because not riding inconveniences them.
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I asked if it was difficult to get the students to buckle up. He said that today, kids expect to wear a lap-shoulder belt so it wasn't hard at all. He added that even parents of kindergartners like the system as the first row or two are reserved for their little ones. A seat quickly converts from a lap-shoulder belt to a 5 point system. Parents get on the bus and buckle their wee one; upon arrival at school, the buckle is quickly released by the child with only 2 lbs of pressure.
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Besides overall safety, two of the most important daily effects are that driver satisfaction and retention has greatly improved - which helps avoid shortages - and many parents who had previously driven their children to school, now send their kids

 on the bus because the bus now has a safer and calmer atmosphere.
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Every day we entrust the safety of our community's children to our bus drivers. We count on them to ensure our children get to school and return home to us, each day, safely.
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We also know that we need to attract the best, and ensure our best want to stay, by making their jobs less stressful and more rewarding.
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The solution to both problems, it turns out, may be the same: let's pass House Bill 395 so that every student has a safe ride, and every driver has a safe bus.

GRANT AWARDED TO MT JULIET

Representative Susan Lynn today announced that the city of Mt. Juliet has received a grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation to complete the second phase of the Woodridge Place Sidewalks Project.  The grant was submitted by the Mt. Juliet BPAC.  In recent months BPAC has also received the Safe Routes To Schools (SRTS) grant, twi the grants for the Cedar Creek Greenway projects and a grant to build a guard rail for the Eagle Park bicycle park for children.

State Representative Susan Lynn further commented “When the state legislature funds TDOT’s budget it makes grants like this possible.  I am very proud to be supportive of transportation and to be an advocate for these grants because I know how important these projects are to my constituents’ safety and quality of Life.” 

The project will be administered by the city of Mt. Juliet; the grant funds will enable Mt. Juliet to move ahead with engineering preparations and construction.

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The State of Education in Tennessee

• The state has the highest graduation rate in Tennessee history.
• The state has the highest average ACT composite in Tennessee history.
• More students than ever before are earning postsecondary credits while in high school.
• The state has continued to invest more in education, including a $100 million increase for teachers’ salaries and $22 million for English learners.
• The department’s Read to be Ready coaching network, which is helping educators to improve how they teach elementary-aged students reading and literacy skills, has expanded to include 200 coaches that serve 83 school districts, ultimately reaching more than 2,500 teachers who teach 44,000 students.
• This summer, over 9,000 elementary students who are not on track in reading are being served in statewide Read to be Ready camps across 107 school districts.
• The department, along with thousands of education community members across the state, developed a robust plan to transition to the new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, and aligned that plan to Tennessee Succeeds. It refines and deepens our work in areas like school improvement, how we support historically underserved student groups like English learners, and well-rounded school accountability.
• Through a new Ready Graduate indicator, we have a renewed focus on ensuring all students are truly ready for their next step when they graduate high school, whether that’s through taking early college courses, earning industry credentials, or meeting scoring benchmarks on the ACT or military entrance exam.
• Commissioner McQueen has now met with more than 13,000 teachers and visited 770 classrooms in 118 school districts through her Classroom Chronicles tour.
• And with the release of new scores from the most recent National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) science tests, Tennessee now ranks in the top half of all states on three key national assessments – a tremendous improvement from just a decade ago, when the state began to think differently about how it approaches education after receiving two “Fs” from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for how students were being prepared.

You can read more about the state of education in Tennessee on the department’s blog and in a letter she is sending to stakeholders this week. The strategic plan update is available on the department’s website.

TNReady high school scores improve across all subjects in second year of new assessment

Thousands of additional students now meeting or exceeding course expectations

NASHVILLE—Education Commissioner Candice McQueen announced today that Tennessee high school students improved across all subject areas – English, math, science, and U.S. history – on the 2016-17 TNReady end-of-course exams. Thousands of additional students are meeting course expectations compared to last year, and the state reduced the percentage of students scoring at the lowest achievement level across all subject areas.

TNReady is the statewide assessment administered to all students in grades 3-11. It is a more rigorous assessment, compared to past state tests, that is fully aligned to Tennessee’s academic standards, which are based on what students need to know and be able to do each year to ultimately be prepared for college and their careers. In 2015-16, high school students set a new baseline in the first year of TNReady, and as expected, their scores are beginning to increase as teachers and students adjust to higher standards that ensure students are ready for the next step in their academic journey.

“This growth is encouraging, and it shows our students are capable of reaching the high bar we’ve set with our expectations in Tennessee,” McQueen said. “It’s also promising to see not only overall improvement, but some bright spots in the performance of historically underserved student groups. The results from TNReady shine a light on what’s working and help us to identify where we need to better support students and teachers – so every student in Tennessee reaches his or her fullest potential.”

Students show growth in all end-of-course subject areas

Overall, scores improved in all subject areas and on nearly every end-of-course exam. Students’ scores on TNReady fall into one of four performance categories: below, approaching, on track, or mastered. Those students who score on track or mastered met or exceeded course expectations.

• In English, students take three end-of-course exams in high school: English I, II, and III. Results on each exam improved this year, and across all three tests, 34.3% of students performed on track or mastered, a jump from 30.4% in 2015-16. Students had the biggest gains in high school English, with more than 11,000 additional students scoring on track or mastered compared to last year.

• Across all high school math courses, 21.5% of students performed on track or mastered, up slightly from 20.8% last year. Altogether, over 4,000 additional students scored on track or mastered on high school math in 2017 compared to 2016.

• In high school math, districts choose one of two tracks: algebra I, geometry, and algebra II or integrated math I, II, and III. Integrated math combines algebra and geometry throughout the three courses.
• On four of the six math exams, the percentage of students who scored on track or mastered improved, and there were slight dips on two tests: algebra II and integrated math II. Notably, the districts participating in these two tests shifted as some districts continue transitioning to integrated math track.

• There are two end-of-course exams offered in science: biology and chemistry. Results on both improved. This year, 51.0% of students scored proficient oradvanced on the high school science exams – up from 48.9% last year. That means about 4,600 more students were at or above course expectations.

• The science exam has yet to transition to TNReady and includes the performance levels from the old TCAP: below basic, basic, proficient, andadvanced. In 2018-19, Tennessee schools will transition to new, more rigorous Tennessee academic standards in science, and that year, students will take a TNReady exam aligned to those higher standards.

• In U.S. history, there was also an uptick in the percentage of students who performed on track or mastered – 30.8% in 2017 compared to 29.9% in 2016. That means about 2,800 additional students are now meeting course expectations in U.S. history.

Student groups show encouraging growth and highlight areas to improve

This year’s results also show some encouraging performance from Tennessee’s historically underserved student groups. In particular, for end-of-course exams in English, all student groups – students with disabilities, English learners, economically disadvantaged students, and Black/Hispanic/Native American students – improved on TNReady.

In many cases, student groups had fewer students who scored in the lowest performance level, either below or below basic, compared to last year. For example, last year on English I, 33.7% of economically disadvantaged students scored as below, but this year that percentage dropped to 20.7%. Notably, the percent of student with disabilities scoring at the lowest level of achievement decreased in every individual content area and fell by over 19 percentage points in English I. 

And, in a couple of cases, performance gaps narrowed between student groups and all students. On high school science, Black/Hispanic/Native American students outpaced the larger student population, and on high school math, the gap between students with disabilities and all students also narrowed. The progress shown by students with disabilities is particularly encouraging given that there has been an increase in the number of students with disabilities who participate in TNReady over the past two years, since the elimination of the modified TCAP.

Transition to online assessments continues

For the first time this year, high school students in 24 districts took TNReady online. This was the first year of a three-year transition to online assessments, and in 2017-18, all high school students will take TNReady end-of-course exams online. Additionally, districts will have the option for students in grades 5-8 to take TNReady online in 2017-18 before fully transitioning those students to online assessments in 2018-19.

In consultation with national experts, psychometricians with Questar and the department analyzed the results this year to ensure that scores are comparable regardless of whether the student took TNReady online or on paper.

Additional information coming soon

The release of the statewide end-of-course results starts the cascade of additional TNReady information that will follow over the next few months. Within the coming weeks, school districts will receive their embargoed district-level end-of-course results, as well as TVAAS growth data and their parent and teacher score reports.District-level high school end-of-course results will be released publicly after districts have had a chance to review their data. This fall, the department will finalize the scores and release the results for grades 3-8 at both the state and district level.

For more information on TNReady and the results, including specific details and additional data about today’s announcement as well as more information on the 2017-18 assessment, please visit the department’s website at TNReady.gov. For media inquiries, contact Sara Gast at 615-532-6260 or sara.gast@tn.gov.