Letter From The Editor
The two main events around ProEd headqaurters
during the first half of the year are representing our
members during the legislative session and preparing
for our annual professional development conference,
Leader U. Naturally, the Spring issues of TREND tend
to center around these events as well.
January kicked off the 110th Tennessee General
Assembly. Despite a reprieve from the mid-state’s
typical winter weather events, the education
committees did not really get moving along until
late February. Although the committees finished
considering bills and adjourned mid-April, many bills
are still being calendared in Finance and awaiting their
turn to be heard by the full House and Senate.
You can find a summary of some of the bills we
followed closely, and highlighted in Advocacy Update
emails, beginning on page 12. The Teachers Bill of
Rights, introduced by Sen. Green, was our highest
priority this session. We are elated by this cornerstone
piece of legislation, and will be presenting awards to
Senator Jim Tracy and Representative Jay Reedy at
Leader U on June 30th. Other 2017 award winners are
on page 6.
Ensuring Equity and Excellence in Education is
the focus of this year’s professional development
conference, Leader U. In this issue, we highlight some
of the speakers expounding on the importance of the
topics on which they will be speaking. We are also
planning to expand Leader U on-site professional
development into other parts of the state over the
coming year and look forward to announcing more
details soon.
We know many of you are wrapping another year of
a new assessment once again, and we welcome your
feedback that we can pass along to the department.
You are always welcome to call us or send your
thoughts and concerns by email.
Thank you for all that you do throughout the year,
and we hope that you can find some time to relax this
summer!
TREND
The Official Publication of Professional Educators of Tennessee
JC Bowman, Executive Editor
Audrey Shores, Editor
ProEd BOARD
State Officers
Cathy Kolb, President
Tim Childers, Vice President
Karolyn Marino, Secretary
Kim Blevins, Treasurer
N ATALIE B EACH
Dewey Esquinance
Karen Stroud
Penny Sutton
ProEd STAFF
JC Bowman, Executive Director
A UDREY S HORES , COO
Mike Sheppard
Director of Benefits
Bethany Bowman
Director of Professional Learning
K AREN S TROUD
M EMBER S ERVICES C OORDINATOR
Trend (ISSN #10) is electronically published quarterly in
fall, winter, spring and summer with a focus on the Issues,
Ideas and People shaping education in Tennessee. We
advance the profession by offering a modern approach to
teacher representation and educational advocacy, as well
as promoting professionalism, collaboration and excellence
without a partisan agenda. There is no attempt to influence
any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to
candidates for public office. The opinions expressed in this
publication represent the beliefs, views or attitudes of the
contributor whose name appears in the article and do not
necessarily represent the views or policies of Professional
Educators of Tennessee or our members. Subscription rates
are included in membership dues for members of the
association; non-members may secure an online version of
the current issue for $25 a year. TREND may contain
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Professional Educators of Tennessee reserves the right to
refuse advertising contrary to its purpose. All rights reserved.
Permission to reprint, in whole or in part, without permission
is prohibited. Permission will customarily be granted if the
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