Moms For Liberty Williamson County Legislative Recap and my thoughts on the bills.

by Rod Williams, May 16, 2023- The following are a list of bills that were passed and enacted in the just completed legislative session.  This list comes from Mom's for Liberty and was in its May 13 newsletter. Clicking on the bill number will not take you to the bill as this is a cut and paste from Moms email letter.  To find the bill follow this link and enter the bill number. 

I support almost all of these bills and have added my comments. 

The above passed unanimously in both houses, so I assume this is a good bill.

The first three of the above seem to be common sense bills and were not controversial. 

 HBO437 amended the 2021 reading law by putting fewer third graders at risk of being held back this year. The change was necessitated due to the COVID-19 shutdown which resulted in drastic student learning loss.  Last year, around 65% of third graders statewide did not meet the threshold. In the House this bill passed 73 to 21. Republicans favored it and Democrats opposed. Here is some background on this bill as explained by a Knox.News article: 

In January 2021, Tennessee legislators passed a law requiring third graders who do not score “met” or “exceeded expectations” on TN Ready tests to attend a summer reading camp or tutoring program, or to repeat the grade. English language learners and those who have already been held back a grade are exempt. Students at the end of third grade right now are facing this issue.

After pushback, the law was tweaked. Next year, third graders won't have to face the worry of one test determining their fate. Gov. Bill Lee signed a law that will go into effect for the 2023-24 school year altering how third- to fourth-grade promotions are handled.

The new law takes another benchmark test into account when considering whether kids get held back, streamlines the retention appeals process and tracks summer school, tutoring and retention data to allow the state to measure the policy’s success. (There is more to it and to learn more follow this link.)

I am not sure what Democrats wanted exactly but they wanted a change that would result in even fewer retentions. I know COVID was rough, and I know canceling that beach vacation so your third grader can go to summer school is a bummer, but we must have standards. If we advance students automatically, we will return to a time when kids graduated high school unable to read. 

Given the heavy-handed abuse of parental rights by DCS, I have concerns about HB1109. I wonder if this bill was not a result of the case involving attorney Connie Reguli. 

I wholeheartedly support HB1269. It passed in the House by a vote of 72 to 22. Republicans in favor; Democrats opposed.

SB0300 is addresses the same issues as HB0437 above. Republicans favored; Dems opposed. 

I support both of the above. Certain divisive concepts such as that one race is inherently superior or inferior to another race should not be taught in our schools. 

I support. Dems opposed this bill.
Good bill!

Good bill!

I have reservations about HB0841. First of all, I doubt the necessity of the bill. I doubt there are publishers who knowingly distribute materials that violate state obscenity law to public schools and school districts. If that is a real problem, I could be persuaded this bill is needed. To read more about this issue follow this link. 

I doubt that the problem of harmful obscenity in public schools is a serious problem. Maybe it has occurred, but I think it is rare.  I have attended a Moms event where they displayed blown-up pages from books Moms found objectionable, and I did not find what was exhibited objectionable. 

There are books that address adult topics, but they are not addressed in a manner designed to arouse or titillate. I assume that if students can read at the reading level required and have the interest to read a book like The Kite Runner, they have the maturity to handle the subject matter. The book should not be required reading, but if a student decides to read the book, I am glad he is reading rather than watching Tic Tok or playing video games. 

While I am concerned about books that normalize deviancy being available to young children, I think we need to be cautious in banning books. There is a book in probably all school libraries that includes reverences to infidelity, having multiple wives, genocide, infanticide, bestiality, and gruesome torture. It is the Holy Bible. I would not want it removed from school libraries. 

I support HB0306.

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