Education in Tennessee can and must keep improving

• The state is on the right track, but questions remain.
• Austin McMullen serves as chairman of the board for Tennesseans for Student Success.

Tennessee’s students are better prepared today than ever before.

They are getting ready for college, getting ready for jobs and getting ready to be active, engaged citizens. Our students’ successes include higher on-time graduation rates, fewer remedial college classes, and Tennessee being named the fastest improving state in the nation in education – again.

The success of the last few years was not an accident. It resulted from a dedicated, bipartisan mission to implement student-centered, common-sense reforms so that every Tennessee child has the opportunity to succeed.

This mission is critical because we know that student success today opens doors to even greater success tomorrow.  We are grateful to join in this work with everyone who values strong students, strong teachers and strong classrooms.

Tennessee is on the right track, but questions remain. How do we maintain and extend Tennessee’s historic gains in education while preparing our children for life after high school? How do we ensure that every child in our classrooms is ready to succeed?

There are still too many students who are graduating unprepared for the future. There are still students not proficient in grade-level literacy requirements. There are still teachers without access to real-time student-achievement data to ensure students are on the right track.

We know that we can’t focus simply on Tennessee’s past achievements. As we move into the 110th General Assembly, we must continue protecting, advancing and multiplying those achievements into consistent, repeatable successes for our children.

How? We renew our commitment to the four valued principles that Tennesseans for Student Success has championed for years: accountability for everyone involved in classrooms, fewer and better tests for students, more public choices for parents, and high standards for Tennessee’s future.

In the 110th General Assembly and throughout 2017, Tennesseans for Student Success will continue advocating for reforms. As in previous sessions, we’ll study each piece of legislation filed and determine its effect on Tennessee classrooms. The bar is set high, as it should be.

We are confident that the students and teachers of Tennessee, along with everyone accountable for the work in our classrooms, will clear that bar again.

Austin McMullen is a partner at the Nashville law firm Bradley and serves as Chairman of the Board for Tennesseans for Student Success.