Legislative Advocacy

TSBA keeps a constant watch over all legislation and State Board of Education Rules and Regulations affecting local school districts. The staff works with members of the General Assembly, state officials and education-related organizations in developing state policy that serves the interests of local boards of education. Following are some examples of how TSBA represents its members in the legislature:

• TSBA was a leader in launching the Basic Education Program (BEP). Meetings of the committee that developed the BEP proposal were held at Tennessee School Boards Association offices and TSBA representatives held key leadership positions on that committee. Since the inception of the BEP, TSBA has fought to preserve the spending flexibility inherent in the program.
• TSBA worked for many years to gain authority for school boards to employ superintendents rather than have them elected. TSBA was the sole education organization working to pass this legislation. Consider how much it is worth for your school board to be able to select its chief executive officer and have that chief executive officer be accountable to the board of education.
• TSBA was responsible for the legislative provision that allowed school boards members receive a $75 per day stipend for attending school board academies.
• TSBA was successful in securing health insurance options for those school board members interested in joining the state insurance plan.
• TSBA continuously works to prevent bills from becoming law that would take management authority from local boards of education, i.e., legislation that would severely limit boards' policy-making authority regarding personnel; provide instant tenure to teachers; and expand the scope of collective bargaining in Tennessee.
• TSBA has successfully worked against countless numbers of bills aimed at mandating school curriculum and forcing school system consolidation.
• TSBA has been instrumental in working with Congress and the Tennessee General Assembly in making common sense changes to No Child Left Behind and the state's accountability system.
• TSBA fought to preserve local board authority on the conversion of existing public schools to charter schools.
• TSBA works both through courts and in the legislature to defend school board authority from efforts by county commissions to gain more control over school system finances including the authority to select sites for school buildings as well as the selection of architects and contractors for those facilities.

In addition to serving as an advocate for local boards of education in the legislature, the Government Relations Department provides members with all current and relevant legislative information. TLN Notes, a legislative newsletter, is published weekly during the legislative session. This update provides information and legislative advocacy direction to TSBA members. The Legislative Scoop, which contains information on every bill pertaining to K-12 education, is updated continuously throughout the session to allow board members to analyze and track bills from the time they are introduced. As members of TSBA, boards also receive a comprehensive legislative report at the end of each legislative session.

TSBA's state legislative efforts are supported by the Tennessee Legislative Network, or TLN, which is composed of board members representing each of the school districts in Tennessee. The TLN is governed by a board of directors, which sets TSBA's legislative priorities based on resolutions and position statements adopted by delegates of local school boards at the delegate assembly.

TSBA's federal legislative efforts are supported by the Federal Relations Network, or FRN. The FRN was established by the National School Boards Association and consists of board members from each congressional district. Each year TSBA takes part in the NSBA Federal Relations Network Conference, where Tennessee school board members visit the nation's capitol to meet with the state's senators and congressmen to discuss the needs of local school systems.