TN Senate Okays Teacher Tenure Bill
The Senate has given final approval to Gov. Bill Haslam’s bill to make teacher tenure more difficult to obtain.
The chamber voted 21-12 on Thursday to agree with minor House changes to the measure that is a major part of the new Republican governor’s education agenda.
Sen. Douglas Henry of Nashville was the only Democrat to vote in favor of the bill.
The measure will require a teacher to be on the job five years instead of three to secure tenure, and create a way for job security to be revoked for poor teaching performance.
Critics say the evaluation system for tenure isn’t in effect yet and that it has not been determined how best to rate educators whose subjects aren’t covered by the state’s value-added test scoring program.
