Dear Fellow Tennesseans,
In recent years, Tennessee has pledged to reach ambitious education goals. We want our students to
rank in the top half of the nation on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and to get there
we aim to be among the fastest-improving states for academic achievement. In recent years, we have
reached milestones, including fastest-improving state in math and reading and top 25 for fourth-grade
math and fourth- and eighth-grade science. These increases are a direct result of bold policy changes
and the hard work of educators across Tennessee, which have resulted in thousands more Tennessee
students graduating from high school ready for college and career.
Since the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) began its work in 2009, we have been
committed to student-focused policies and practices that are proven to dramatically increase student
achievement, with the ultimate goal that every child in Tennessee graduates high school prepared for
postsecondary education or the workforce. In keeping with our belief that the best policy and practice
decisions must be based on the best available information, SCORE has produced this guidebook as a
resource for legislators, policymakers, community leaders, and other citizens invested in improving public
education in Tennessee.
The pages that follow include a discussion of how public education is governed and financed and
background information to establish the context of our state’s current education landscape. SCORE
presents this information in keeping with our non-partisan approach to providing materials that can
inform decisions in the best interests of improving educational outcomes for our state’s students.
This guidebook is intended to provide needed information and serve as a starting place for deeper
consideration of the challenges and opportunities faced by Tennessee to ensure that all of our students
have the skills and competencies they need to be successful.
We have made tremendous progress over the last few years, and our state and our children depend
on well-informed policy decisions made by state leaders to ensure a brighter, more vibrant future for
the next generation of leaders. We hope this publication will be a resource to which you can turn in
making those decisions.
With warmest regards,
Senator Bill Frist, MD
Founder and Chairman
3 | P U B L I C E D U C AT I O N I N T E N N ES S E E
Jamie Woodson
Executive Chair and CEO