There has been some confusion about the recent amendment made to Tennessee's Education Code which passed in the last session.

As it was originally proposed by House Representative Harold Love and State Senator Reginald Tate, House Bill 1755 would have allowed "every candidate for a full high school diploma to enroll and complete one (1) computer science class and accept this class as satisfying the fine arts requirement for graduation." Had this passed with its original language, it would have created the potential for devastating effects on fine arts enrollments, staffing, and scheduling in high schools across the state.

However, the bill was amended on the floor of the house on February 29. The amended language, which passed through both the house and senate unanimously and was signed into law by the governor on March 31, states: 

"Beginning with the 2016-2017 school year, the state board of education shall approve appropriate computer science courses that every candidate for a full high school diploma may enroll in and complete to satisfy the elective focus requirement for graduation. As used in this section, "computer science courses" shall include, but not be limited to, software engineering, computer programming, computer graphics and design, and computer-aided design" (Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-6-6004  (2016)).

This places computer science within the elective category of graduation requirements and should have no impact on the 1 credit fine arts requirement already in place.

If you did not have the opportunity to attend NAfME's webinar on the Opportunity to Learn Standards and how they can be used to justify Title IV-A funding for your district's music education programs, the webinar and associated resources are archived here.

The state Department of Education has published the results from the 2016 Tennessee Educator Survey. Nearly half of all teachers in the state participated in the survey, and the responses are influential in both the creation and justification of a number of policy initiatives. Results are also available by district for districts with a 45% or higher response rate.

As the election approaches, Education Next has released the results of their 10th annual poll of American public opinion on education issues, available here. Topics include school funding, teacher pay and evaluation, privatization, and the instructional time that should be devoted to each academic subject.