BSB/1/13
Sponsored by Amelia Keller, Grace Wehby 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 One: Terms in this act will be defined as follows: |
| 4 | |
| 5 | a) Future Minds of Tennessee Action (FMTA): 5-year plan that will implement specialized educators |
| 6 | into public elementary schools in Tennessee to foster, nourish, and enlighten young minds who are |
| 7 | at a disadvantage, regardless of financial status. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | b) State Certified: having obtained a state license to teach; is required in order to teach at public |
| 10 | schools in Tennessee. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | c) Academic Standard: what students in schools are expected to learn and be competent in their |
| 13 | respective grade. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | d) Board of FMTA: group of specialists and educational experts that will set up FMTA programs in |
| 16 | public elementary schools (these experts will be hand selected by school district leaders from a |
| 17 | pool of respected academic specialists from all throughout the country). |
| 18 | |
| 19 | |
| 20 | Section Two: FMTA will address the rising illiteracy, underdevelopment, and lack of resources |
| 21 | faced by children specifically in public elementary schools. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Section Three: This program entails: |
| 24 | a) State certified educators with degrees in education will stay 3 hours after school every day with |
| 25 | children flagged by teachers who are below the academic standard for their particular grade level. |
| 26 | b) All children will be provided with one-on-one learning opportunities in order to receive the |
| 27 | attention necessary to help them academically develop and catch up with their fellow classmates. |
| 28 | c) Children will additionally be exposed to group learning activities with other children to help them |
| 29 | gain confidence and social skills necessary for children's development. |
| 30 | d) Once this bill is passed a team of learning specialists and experts with extensive knowledge on |
| 31 | how to teach students below the standard level will be brought in to create a suitable and efficient |
| 32 | program to nourish underdeveloped minds; this team will be known as the Board of FMTA. |
| 33 | e) The board will be tasked with considering the size of each public school and administering a test |
| 34 | required to be taken by every student, which will determine the percentage of students below the |
| 35 | academic standard. |
| 36 | |
| 37 | Section Four: FMTA and its effect on Poverty and Homelessness Levels in Tennessee |
| 38 | a) Through education, FMTA participants will have the skill levels necessary to be eligible for |
| 39 | higher paying jobs. |
| 40 | b) Access to better jobs thus will provide a decrease in the vicious cycle of poverty, which is |
| 41 | perpetuated by the lack of attention and resources necessary for children faced by financial |
| 42 | instability to overcome academic challenges, as well as homelessness in Tennessee in years to |
| 43 | come. |
| 44 | |
| 45 | Section Five: FMTA will be free for all participants and will be completely state funded |
| 46 | |
| 47 | Section Six: The Cost and Feasibility of FMTA: |
| 48 | a) $25 per hour salary- 3 hours a day, 5 days a week- $375 per week per teacher |
| 49 | b) On average, 8 specialized teachers per school- $3,000 per week goes towards salary |
| 50 | c) Each school spends on average $3025 per week |
| 51 | d) 36 weeks (about 8 and a half months) per school year: $108,900 per year per school |
| 52 | e) Around 1,480 public elementary schools in Tennessee: total of $161,172,000 |
| 53 | f) Considering teacher development programs and other factors, we will ask for $200,000,000 |
| 54 | from the Tennessee Department of Education to make FMTA into a reality |
| 55 | (This is taking into account that the Tennessee Department of Education's budget for the following |
| 56 | year is 10.2 billion dollars) |
| 57 | |
| 58 | Section Seven: This bill will go into effect January 1, 2025, and the next seven months will act as |
| 59 | a transition period for the program to be put into full effect the following school year, which will |
| 60 | begin in August 2025. The program will continue for the next five schools' years and then will be |
| 61 | reevaluated to ensure that the program is effectively providing youths sufficient education and |
| 62 | helping bridge the academic gap. |
| 63 |