WHB/6/3
Sponsored by Luke Spirko, Nick Jackson of West High School
This legislation was filed in the Education category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | Be it enacted by the Tennessee YMCA Youth in Government that Private Schools accepting state |
| 2 | funds must demonstrate student success as defined by the Tennessee State Accountability Model |
| 3 | that holds all other K-12 educational institutions accepting state funds accountable. |
| 4 | |
| 5 | Section 1 - Terms in this act will be defined as follows: |
| 6 | a) State Funds as defined by Cornell Law - Funds raised under the authority of the state or any |
| 7 | political or other subdivision thereof, and made available for expenditure under the direct control |
| 8 | of the governing State Department. |
| 9 | b) Accountability as defined by the Tennessee Department of Education - A process defined by the |
| 10 | Tennessee State Accountability Model, where institutions are monitored through a formula |
| 11 | involving student test scores, graduation rates, the Ready Graduate indicator (Percentage of |
| 12 | students who have earned either a 21 on the ACT, Early Post Secondary Opportunities, and/or |
| 13 | National Industry Credentials), and attendance, determining a certain amount of student success. |
| 14 | Depending on the status of the data monitored by the Tennessee Department of Education, |
| 15 | institutions may not receive state funding. |
| 16 | c) Private Schools - A school that is owned and operated by a private organization or private |
| 17 | individual. |
| 18 | d) K-12 Educational Institutions- Any educational institution that serves students in Kindergarten |
| 19 | through Grade 12 or at any point in between. |
| 20 | e) Assessment Tools - Testing materials, print or electronic, grading services, any preparation |
| 21 | materials, or other systems to allow institutions to properly meet the accountability requirements |
| 22 | to the best of their ability. |
| 23 | f) 504 Plans as defined by the Tennessee Department of Education - A civil rights law that |
| 24 | prohibits discrimination based on disability through protecting a qualified student with a disability |
| 25 | regardless of whether the student needs special education. |
| 26 | g) Individual Education Plans (IEP) as defined by the Tennessee Department of Education - The |
| 27 | written plan for the provision of special education services based on the student’s current skills, |
| 28 | needs, and goals. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | Section 2 - All Tennessee schools that accept state funds must fulfill the accountability |
| 31 | requirements as defined by the Tennessee Department of Education. |
| 32 | |
| 33 | Section 3 - The Tennessee Department of Education must provide the assessment tools to fulfill |
| 34 | the accountability requirements |
| 35 | |
| 36 | Section 4 - All Schools participating in the State Assessment system must provide |
| 37 | accommodations and modifications as defined in students’ 504 plans and individual education |
| 38 | plans (IEP). |
| 39 | |
| 40 | Section 5 - Private Schools maintain autonomy over their curriculum choices. |
| 41 | |
| 42 | Section 6 - Public reporting on educational outcomes will be released for private schools accepting |
| 43 | state funds on the same timeline and in the same format as the reporting for public schools. |
| 44 | |
| 45 | Section 7 - The fiscal impact of this bill is approximately $200 per private school student enrolled |
| 46 | in an educational institution accepting state funds. |
| 47 | |
| 48 | Section 8 - All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this are hereby repealed |
| 49 | |
| 50 | Section 9 - This act shall take effect June 1, 2024, the public welfare requiring it. |
| 51 |