A separate budget bill allocated funding for the new programs, including giving districts money to provide 4% raises for Tennessee educators. Teachers are to receive a 2% raise in the meantime, ahead of the full increase set for later this year. The pay increases amount to $43 million.
Lee said the General Assembly would work to ensure that those raises reach teachers, though additional legislation may be necessary.
While Lee opened the special session with a speech to lawmakers lambasting schools that don t have classrooms open, the governor this week repeatedly declined to say whether he believed those districts should be punished if they don t hold in-person class, as some Republicans in the legislature are proposing.
Bill to hold educators harmless for student assessments passes but some call for halt to testing altogether Yue Stella Yu, Nashville Tennessean
As schools continue to navigate the disruptive pandemic, lawmakers approved legislation designed to hold teachers, schools and districts harmless for standardized testing results from the 2020-21 school year.
The House and Senate on Thursday afternoon passed Senate Bill 7001, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, and Sen. Dawn White, R-Murfreesboro.
The bill eliminates penalties for teachers based on how well their students perform on annual state tests, a move first put in place last year as schools closed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Gov. Bill Lee today on Tuesday called for the Tennessee General Assembly to convene for a special legislative session on Jan. 19 to address what he said are urgent education