Gov. Lee calls for special legislative session on education

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Gov. Bill Lee is calling for a General Assembly to convene in January for an urgent issue facing students for the 2021-22 school year.

The news release from Governor’s Office says that preliminary data shows an estimated 50% decrease in proficiency rates in third grade reading, and an even greater decrease for math at 65%.

Gov. Lee says this loss is only making issues that existed before the pandemic worse.

“Even before the virus hit, and despite years of improvement, too many of our state’s students were still unable to read on grade level. I’m calling on the legislature to join us in addressing these serious issues so we can equip our hardworking educators and districts with the resources and supports they need to set our students on the path to success,” Gov. Lee said.

The release says this special session would be held on January 19, and would would focus on five main issues:

• Learning Loss
• Funding
• Accountability
• Literacy
• Teacher Pay

The release says that the Tennessee Department of Education will be releasing details on the proposals in the future, as well as on the plans for the new literacy program, “Reading 360.”