Education

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Education is Tennessee’s best long-term economic development strategy. The jobs of the future will not look like the jobs of today. They will require more education than ever before. While everyone may not need a four-year college degree, jobs that pay enough to provide for a family will require at least some training after high school. Unfortunately, our state’s education system is failing many of our children. Today, Tennessee’s students rank 42nd on national tests, behind students from the vast majority of our neighboring states. If today’s children are going to have the same opportunities their parents had, Tennessee must improve its education system.

As both a private citizen and Mayor of Knoxville, Bill has been committed to education reform. Troubled by low high school graduation rates, Bill helped found Project GRAD, an effort to ensure at-risk children in Knoxville graduate high school prepared to enter and be successful in college. As Mayor, Bill also helped found Knox Achieves, a program which provides mentors to help Knox County high school students apply to college and community college scholarships to nearly 500 students a year, many of whom are first generation college students.

The state has taken an important first step in improving its education system by passing new high school graduation standards that require all high school students to take four years of math and either chemistry or physics. However, simply requiring more classes is not enough. As governor, Bill will build on these new standards by working to ensure every classroom is led by a highly effective teacher, every school by a strong leader, and every district by a great superintendent.

As a part of this reform, Bill will support innovative efforts to improve the educational experience for Tennessee students, including increasing the number of high-quality charter schools in the state and working with parents who choose homeschooling. Bill will also work to increase the number of children enrolling in a postsecondary program, whether it be a four-year college, two-year community college, or one-year technical training program. Most importantly, Bill will make these improvements in a fiscally responsible manner by rethinking how existing education funds are spent and ensuring funds are used in the ways that most improve outcomes for Tennessee students.

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