Martin: Tennessee schools would not have been hit nearly as hard during the pandemic had our schools been properly funded before. Recent data - including state test scores showing that reading proficiency has returned to pre-pandemic levels in almost all grades - suggests Tennessee students are recovering well. With the help of partners in the General Assembly, we created summer learning camps and targeted interventions for literacy. That action made Tennessee a national leader in early interventions for kids. Lee: In January 2021, we called a special legislative session to address learning loss. What is the single most important way the governor can help stabilize and support Tennessee school communities moving forward? Chalkbeat: COVID-19 has caused the biggest disruption to education in modern history. 3.īelow, you can read our questions and the candidates’ responses, which have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity. “Decisions that affect our schools, teachers, and students should be made by those closest to the community,” Martin said when asked about a new law allowing a state panel to overrule school board decisions and ban certain library books statewide.Įlection Day is Nov. Making his own first bid for public office, he consistently sides with policies that uphold local education control.
Martin, a Nashville physician who has been critical of Lee’s hands-off approach to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Tennessee’s biggest educational challenges are rooted in inadequate school funding and wraparound services to support students both in and out of the classroom.
“Nothing is off the table when it comes to expanding opportunities for Tennessee families,” the Republican governor responded when asked if he wants to widen the state’s recently launched private school voucher program beyond Memphis and Nashville, where local officials opposed the policy.
Lee, a Williamson County businessman and farmer who was elected governor in his first run for public office, staunchly defends initiatives he’s championed since 2019 to give the state more control - at the expense of local officials - over classroom instruction, books, school choice, and education spending. In fact, the two men hold widely divergent positions on charter schools, book bans, the state’s new third-grade retention law, and most of the biggest education issues facing Tennessee for the next few years, according to their responses to Chalkbeat’s 2022 candidates survey. Jason Martin, agree that Tennessee students need timely and relevant vocational training opportunities, but the two candidates for governor don’t concur on much else when it comes to K-12 education. Bill Lee and his Democratic challenger, Dr.
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