Graduate Tennessee

Graduate Tennessee

Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak to you today.

As school superintendents, I know you are very busy juggling the demands of everything from improving student test scores to maintaining school buildings to making sure buses are in good working order.

I'm reminded of the school superintendent who had two sons who were preschoolers. He would bring them and a pile of their picture books along to PTA and school board meetings. The youngsters learned to sit quietly and often received compliments on their behavior from other adults.

The superintendent figured he had attained a semblance of balance between his parenting and professional roles until the day his 5-and 6-year-olds asked for his secretary's office phone number.

When he asked why, the eldest explained. "Dad, we want to call your secretary to make an appointment so we can have a meeting with you."

Today I would like to discuss with you a major problem facing our state: how do we help more of our teenagers graduate from high school. Our high school drop out ranking has fallen from 30th in the nation to 45th.

This means we are not keeping pace with other states when it comes to the number of Tennessee students graduating from high school. And in a national and international economy, this has a long-term negative impact of the lives of the students and the success of our great state.

My goal - and I believe the goal of every educator in Tennessee - is simple: Graduate every student from high school. It is a big goal. So we must start now. If we can put a man on the moon in the 20th century, then surely we can graduate all our kids in the 21st.

My plan is called Graduate Tennessee and I want to use this time to talk about how we move toward the goal of improving the future of every child in Tennessee .

First, we must embrace the fact that students are not taught by the state or federal government - they are taught by local schools and specifically the classroom teacher interacting with those students.

Truancy officers and the addition of another mandated layer of testing and assessment from the state won't increase our graduation rates.

To do that, government must ensure you have the resources you need to make the strides forward other states have made. Funding adequacy and local control are crucial. And a big part of local control is flexibility.

I believe flexibility is the essential factor currently missing from an equation that equals increased Tennessee graduation rates. To provide the funding and flexibility to achieve our goals, I will take many steps:

First, I will implement a Graduate Tennessee Community Grant Program to invest at least $100 million over 4 years in programs to make grants available to local school districts for programs designed to improve graduation rates. Schools can apply for the grants and are held accountable for improving their graduation rates with the money.

With the flexibility to have different school districts using various methods and techniques, Tennessee can become the national leader in educational innovation.

Second, I will form the Graduate Tennessee Education Foundation Partnership. I will bring business, education and community leaders together to form local foundations that work with local schools.

I would like for each of you in this room to help lead this effort locally to make sure each partnership best fits the community it seeks to serve.

The foundation would support the school board's efforts to improve education locally, specifically to improve graduation rates. Extremely successful examples of this already exist in Tennessee .

The Ayers Foundation Scholars Program in Decatur County provides both encouragement and resources for students to set early educational expectations themselves. By providing college counselors and renewable last-dollar scholarships, available to all Decatur County graduates, the program has transformed the life horizons of students in Decatur .

Before the foundation began, fewer than 30 percent of Decatur County 's high school graduates pursued post-secondary education. Now, just 6 years later, over 92 percent of graduates pursue higher education. This program has had a direct and immediate impact on high school graduation rates.

Greene County also has a model Partners in Education program that creates school-business partnerships that are as varied - and flexible - as the needs of students and the interests of the community.

As Governor, I will be very involved in this initiative and use the power of the "bully pulpit" to promote the development of local community-school partnerships.

Third, I will create the Graduate Tennessee Advisory Council - A council of volunteer educational leaders dedicated to evaluating Tennessee 's problems with graduation rates and assisting the Department of Education and the local school districts to implement actions to effectively help graduate our children.

I believe the people in this room and educators throughout the state have great ideas on how to improve graduation rates. Through this council, you will have the Governor's ear and your insight and ideas for improving graduation rates will be implemented quickly.

There will not be a top-down, inflexible system preventing educational improvement.

I want to invite you to join me in making the right changes for the future of our children and our state. Together we can make Tennessee THE national leader in high school graduation rates.

I believe in teachers and their daily dedication and commitment to the children in their classroom. And I want to make sure they are rewarded for excellence.

I will provide support to local educators by making available teacher retention pay to schools that perform well. All school staff can earn a significant annual bonus for high performance. The concept will make it easier to have the administration, the teachers and the staff working together as a team.

When they are successful, they are compensated together. When they are not successful, they are not compensated and the team is given an even greater incentive to make appropriate changes.

In the profession of education, arguably the most important in our society, teachers and administrators who excel by equipping their students and our state for the future should be rewarded for a job well-done.

Teachers also deserve a choice when it comes to joining any union of their choosing or not joining one at all. Our state law protects one particular union by not allowing teachers the option of using payroll deduction to join a competing union.

Both my mother and my sister are teachers, so I know many teachers join unions solely for liability insurance. I will work to lower teacher liability by eliminating frivolous lawsuits against teachers. Hard-working teachers should feel confident they will not face legal action for doing their job.

A crucial component in increasing graduation rates is the involvement of parents. Parents must be a part of local efforts to increase graduation rates and provide the type of home environment conducive to learning.

Parents should also have as much choice and flexibility as possible in the education of their child. This is particularly true when schools are failing.

When schools fail the children, the parents should be able to move the students to better schools or have access to charter schools, in the elementary, middle school and high school levels.

Out of 41 states with charter schools, only 9 states have weaker charter school laws than Tennessee . We must expand the charter schools concept to allow educators the flexibility to tailor their programs to student needs.

To improve graduation rates, we should focus very early on children who seem to be having problems reading.

Legislation I sponsored in the Senate last year - called Reading Recovery - would focus on children in 1st and 2nd grade who are behind in reading with intense, individualized instruction to bring them up to grade level.

Once they achieve grade level in reading, they move out of the program and are prepared for classroom success. The Reading Coach then refocuses on another child having problems.

This comprehensive literacy program has many other aspects that will increase graduation rates in the long term. It will:

* Create a fund to provide two-year grants to schools to help teachers improve reading skills of struggling readers in the elementary grades.
* Create the Tennessee Council for Literacy to advise the Tennessee Board and Department of Education concerning implementation of the fund.
* Establish three literacy development centers in the higher education system.
* Develop a comprehensive research agenda evaluating early reading models, and
* Establish and maintain demonstration and training sites for teacher training programs.

This legislation received the support of both the House and Senate Education Committees but did not become law. When I am Governor, it will become law. This program is individualized and effective.

We must also create a better learning environment by moving our children out of decaying buildings, portables and classrooms unable to offer new technologies.

To do this, I will implement a Building 21st Century Schools initiative.

Building 21st Century Schools would be a matching grant program that utilizes annual excess lottery proceeds to fund building renovations in districts that cannot afford it.

It could also be used for matching grants to deploy broadband internet and other technology to schools in need. Since it is non-recurring money, the program would be available when lottery proceeds exceed their primary use, education scholarships.

Finally, as you can see, when I am Governor the Department of Education will be a resource center for local school systems. It will be charged with assisting and supporting local schools.

The goal will be to aid the flexibility required of local systems if they are to individualize learning and educational success.

The department will also devote increased time and energy to GED programs across the state. It's never too late for any Tennessean to begin the road to educational achievement that leads to success in every facet of life.

In closing, I would like to say that my "Graduate Tennessee" initiative provides a fiscally responsible framework for the flexibility to get the job done when it comes to increasing our graduation rates. And it won't lead to a funding crisis and potentially divisive tax debate.

As your Governor, I will work continually to improve graduation rates and stop the freefall in our dropout rankings. We have to start now to provide the kind of future we all want for our children.

Thank you and may God bless each and every one of you.

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