The Knox County Board of Education has identified the following legislative priorities for 2025:
FUNDING FOR PRESCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE TISA FUNDING FORMULA
The Knox County Board of Education urges the General Assembly to allocate full funding for voluntary preschools, as well as preschool special needs students and the required typical peers, in the TISA funding formula.
ABILITY TO CONDUCT LOTTERIES FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES
The Knox County Board of Education urges the General Assembly to enact an amendment to Article XI, Section 5, of the Tennessee Constitution to allow Boards of Education to conduct lotteries or lottery-type events to obtain funds that will be solely and exclusively used to supplement the educational and extracurricular programs officially recognized and approved by said Boards of Education.
ACADEMIC AND RETENTION DECISIONS
The Knox County Board of Education urges the General Assembly to allow school districts the ability to make retention decisions for students based on school district information on each individual student and clarify that the decisions regarding student retention or promotion shall be made by the professional staff of each school district in coordination with the student’s parents/guardians.
TEACHER EVALUATION
The Knox County Board of Education embraces evaluations as a critical professional development and instructional improvement tool. The Board urges the General Assembly and State Board to develop guidelines and criteria for teacher evaluation models using local educator input and multiple measures that adequately represent performance and course content, including the use of benchmark assessments as an evaluation component.
ADDRESSING UNNECESSARY REQUIREMENTS
The Knox County Board of Education urges the Governor, General Assembly, and State Board of Education to establish a comprehensive, collaborative, and thoughtful review of Tennessee laws, rules, regulations, and policies governing teachers and to make improvements that will reduce workloads to facilitate teacher focus on the mission of educating Tennessee’s children.
Processes, procedures, reporting, and burdensome data collection should be streamlined and simplified (or eliminated, when possible) to allow more time for teaching and learning.
LOCAL CONTROL
Local boards of education are best equipped and informed to make decisions regarding the needs and challenges of their local schools. The Knox County Board of Education urges State legislative bodies and regulatory agencies to seek input from local boards and to determine the full impact on LEAs before acting on proposed legislation, regulations, and guidelines.