AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, relative to opportunity public charter schools.
SB1931 amends Tennessee’s laws governing opportunity public charter schools by requiring the Department of Education to annually collect and publish additional school performance data on its website. The new reporting requirements go beyond the existing four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate and add five- and six-year graduation rates, credit-attainment measures for grades 9-12, and detailed college- and career-readiness indicators such as ACT performance, AP/IB/CLEP/dual credit outcomes, industry credentials, ASVAB results, and the share of students meeting at least one readiness benchmark.
The bill also requires that all reported data be disaggregated by student subgroup, including race, ethnicity, gender, disability status, and socioeconomic status, and reported at the school, district, and state levels. In addition, if a director of schools, juvenile court judge, or Department of Children’s Services caseworker knows a student is at risk and eligible for an opportunity public charter school, that official must provide the student and parent or guardian with enrollment information and the locations of nearby opportunity public charter schools. The act takes effect upon becoming law.
This legislation expands Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-13-133, by adding new statewide reporting and notification duties related to opportunity public charter schools. It affects the Department of Education’s data collection and public reporting obligations, and it creates a new informational outreach requirement for school officials, juvenile court judges, and DCS caseworkers when they identify eligible at-risk students. The bill does not directly change charter school authorization rules, but it strengthens transparency, accountability, and access pathways for these schools.
The bill appears to have broad support and little visible opposition in the legislative record. It was recommended for passage unanimously in the Senate Education Committee, passed the Senate on third consideration without dissent, and later passed the House with a larger but still favorable margin. The voting pattern suggests the measure was generally viewed as a technical or policy-supportive expansion of reporting and student notification rather than a controversial overhaul of charter school law.
The main policy issue is the role of opportunity public charter schools in serving at-risk students and whether the state should actively steer eligible students and families toward those schools. Supporters likely view the bill as improving transparency, accountability, and access to educational options, while any concerns would center on the expanded reporting burden, the use of subgroup data, and the requirement that public officials provide enrollment information for charter schools. However, the available record shows no significant committee debate or organized opposition.