AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, relative to accountability.
Summary
SB2047 amends Tennessee’s school accountability law to change how the state handles intervention for the lowest-performing priority schools. Under the bill, the Department of Education must recommend an intervention option to the State Board of Education for any priority school placed in tier three of the progressive tiered intervention system, and the State Board—not the department—selects the intervention option. The affected school is then required to implement the option chosen by the State Board.
The bill shifts decision-making authority within the accountability process from the department to the State Board of Education for the most serious category of priority schools. It applies to Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, and specifically amends the statute governing intervention for schools identified for state accountability action. The act takes effect July 1, 2027, giving the education system time to prepare for the revised process.
Impact
SB2047 changes the statutory framework for school turnaround and accountability by requiring the Department of Education to make a recommendation while vesting final intervention-selection authority in the State Board of Education for tier three priority schools. This affects the state’s intervention process for struggling public schools and the roles of the department, the State Board, and the schools subject to intervention. The bill does not create a new accountability system, but it reallocates authority within the existing progressive tiered intervention structure.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed both Senate committees unanimously and cleared the Senate floor by a 29-0 vote, indicating strong bipartisan or at least cross-chamber agreement on the change. The lack of recorded opposition or committee discussion suggests the measure was viewed as a technical or administrative adjustment to the state’s school accountability process rather than a highly disputed policy shift.
Contention
No major contention is reflected in the available record. The only substantive policy issue apparent from the text is the reassignment of final intervention authority from the Department of Education to the State Board of Education for tier three priority schools. Any disagreement would likely center on whether the department or the board should have the final say in selecting turnaround interventions, but the unanimous votes suggest that concern was not significant in committee or on the floor.