Bipartisan lawmakers: Remove unnecessary requirements on Tennessee educators | Opinion

At no time in history have teachers had more requirements, bureaucracy or public scrutiny placed on them.

It is time for a review of policies, trainings, testing and evaluations required of our educators. We support a statewide initiative that strives to reduce needless or redundant requirements on educators.

The initiative would include a comprehensive, thoughtful assessment of all requirements to identify practices and procedures that are duplicative or no longer produce sufficient return for the effort expended.

This initiative is not a review for revision of content, it is specifically to identify where requirements have become duplicative, outdated or ineffective.

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Some requirements have outlived their usefulness

Typically, as new requirements are added, existing requirements have not been reviewed to identify any necessary eliminations. The goal is to reduce unnecessary burdens on educators, allowing them to focus more on things that clearly support state and local efforts that improve education for the young people of Tennessee.

Over many years, state and local governing bodies have created policies, practices, procedures and other requirements that impact educators in Tennessee.

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The requirements may have been well-intended and, in many cases, helpful. Some of the requirements, however, are a reflection of the time in which they were implemented and have outlived their usefulness or duplicated other requirements, placing unnecessary burdens on Tennessee’s educators.

There has not been a review of existing requirements when new requirements are added over the years and this initiative is long overdue.

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Leaders at state and local level should unite to make these changes

We can all agree that educators are some of our most valuable professionals and vital to the well-being of, not only the children, but all people of Tennessee.

We need educators focused on efforts that genuinely work and produce impactful outcomes. We can’t afford for them to use their valuable time, resources, training and talent on requirements that don’t make a difference.

One county school district last year brainstormed with principals and teacher leaders to identify what district administration could do to reduce teacher and staff demands that were distracting from the core mission of serving students. That review helped identify redundancies and areas of work that could be done more efficiently.

We believe the initiative would be supported by a wide array of stakeholders, regardless of their political beliefs and affiliations. We call on groups of educators, parents, school board members, superintendents and other interested organizations to support such an initiative statewide.

We ask for support by Republican and Democratic legislators as well as the Governor’s office and Tennessee Department of Education.

The time is now to show our educators we hear them and take their concerns and feedback seriously. We can do more to help our educators have the time they need to focus on their real work, and be relieved of the stress of unnecessary requirements for a better Tennessee.

Rep. Sam Whitson, R-Franklin, represents District 65 and Rep. Darren Jernigan, D-Old Hickory, represents District 60 in the Tennessee General Assembly.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Lawmakers: Remove unnecessary requirements on Tennessee educators