Tennessee bill would allow temporary permits for not just teachers to teach most courses

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--A bill under consideration in the Tennessee General Assembly would allow the state's Department of Education commissioner to issue temporary permits to people -not just certified teachers- to teach most classes.

The bill would allow people to secure emergency teaching permits without requiring any formal teacher training. They could teach with a permit for up to three years.

The bill comes as new data shows the pool of new teacher candidates is shrinking in Tennessee. According to data from institutions offering educator programs, there was an 18% drop in people completing teacher training programs in 2020 compared to 2015.

HB1901/SB1863 is sponsored by Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald-D28) and Representative Terri Lynn Weaver (R-Lancaster-D40). Specifically, the bill would amend Tennessee Code 49-5-106(g) which in its current form states "upon the request of a director of schools or the director of a public charter school, the commissioner of education may issue an endorsement exemption to a teacher in accordance with state board rules or a temporary permit to a person in accordance with subsection (a) to teach any course or subject area."

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The new bill removes the section specifying a temporary permit can be issued to a teacher, substituting "upon the request of a director of schools or the director of a public charter school, issue a temporary permit to a person in accordance with subsection (a) to teach any course or subject area, except for special education courses or a physical education course."

The bill also amends Tennessee Code 49-5-106 to state " The commissioner may grant a person, on behalf of the state board, a temporary permit to teach a course for which a Tennessee comprehensive assessment program (TCAP) end-of-course assessment is administered."

If passed, the bill would allow the issuance of temporary teaching permits and temporary endorsement exemptions for individuals to teach during the 2022-2023 school year "or in subsequent school years."

Bill sponsor Rep. Weaver said in a recent hearing on the bill, the intention behind the bill is to fill open teacher positions, saying “a warm body in the classroom is better than none.”

Opponents of the bill took offense to that statement, saying Tennessee children deserve more than a “warm body standard.”

“For teacher quality in the state of Tennessee, first of all, our teachers deserve more respect than that. And we need to make sure that we're providing our children all the resources and proper teaching that they need and deserve,” Rep. John Ray Clemmons said.

Representatives with the state Department of Education also expressed concern, saying this bill is appropriate in an emergency but not indefinitely.

Rep. Weaver says the temporary teachers would still be qualified, as they serve under the discretion of local school directors and are evaluated annually.

“Our Directors of Schools and people in your district and my district are very capable of knowing what teachers are good to put in front of their classrooms,” she said in a hearing.

FOX 17 News reached out to Rep. Weaver for comment but our requests were not returned.

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