WHB/8/1
Sponsored by Isabel Mzumara, Emma Wanucha of St. Cecilia Academy
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 |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section 1: Terms in this act, unless the context requires otherwise, are defined as follows: |
| 4 | a)Minority - A person who is Black or African American, a person having origins in any of the black |
| 5 | racial groups of Africa; Hispanic or Latino, a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or |
| 6 | South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race; Asian American, a person |
| 7 | having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian |
| 8 | subcontinent; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, a person having origins in the Pacific |
| 9 | Islands; or American Indian or Alaska Native, a person having origins in any of the original peoples |
| 10 | of North America. (TCA 49-4-706) |
| 11 | b)Retention rate - the proportion of teachers in one year who are still teaching in the same class |
| 12 | the following year. |
| 13 | c)Financial compensation - the act of providing a person with money in exchange for goods or |
| 14 | labor. |
| 15 | d)Debt assistance - to reduce or refinance debt to make it easier for the borrower to repay it. |
| 16 | e)Tennessee Minority Teaching Fellows Program - a program that Program provides student debt |
| 17 | assistance to minorities who are college juniors, seniors, and post-baccalaureates. |
| 18 | f)Grow Your Own - a program by the Tennessee Department of Education that supports |
| 19 | partnerships between EPPs and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to provide innovative, no-cast |
| 20 | pathways to the teaching profession by increasing EPP enrollment and growing the supply of |
| 21 | qualified teachers. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Section 2: Mentorship opportunities |
| 24 | Provide opportunities in which future educators can speak with more experienced teachers in their |
| 25 | area. |
| 26 | - Jury-duty-like selection in which randomly selected minority teachers already employed will help |
| 27 | to inform future educators and encourage already employed educators to ensure retention. |
| 28 | - Modeled after the Grow Your Own Program, future educators and already employed educators |
| 29 | and their corresponding mentors will congregate at colleges already partnered with the Grow Your |
| 30 | Own Program |
| 31 | |
| 32 | Section 3: Mental and Social Wellness Support |
| 33 | - Free initial sessions with local therapy and counseling centers, to aid in minorities’ increased |
| 34 | social disadvantages and the effects these disadvantages have on the minorities’ mental health |
| 35 | and social actions |
| 36 | |
| 37 | Section 4: Student Debt Assistance |
| 38 | |
| 39 | - In collaborating with the Tennessee Minority Teaching Fellows Program, this assistance will then |
| 40 | also be applied to minority teachers in Tennessee who are post-education and still have student |
| 41 | debt. |
| 42 | |
| 43 | Section 5: This act will require no funding from the state budget. |
| 44 | |
| 45 | Section 6: All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this are hereby repealed. |
| 46 | |
| 47 | Section 7: This act shall take effect at sunrise on July 11th, 2024. |
| 48 |