SLOWLY DRIVING TOWARD 55

BUT LOW ON COLLEGE ENROLLMENT

A decade ago, then-Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam was pushing his Drive to 55 initiative, which had a goal of 55% of Tennesseans earning a post-high school degree or advanced certificate by 2025.

Several tenets of that initiative, including the Tennessee Promise program, Tennessee Reconnect, Degree Compass program, TNCollege Advisor website and college success courses for high school students, were established to help students get in the door.

However, according to a survey of data from the National Student Clearinghouse by personal financial experts Wealth of Geeks, Tennessee is the seventh lowest among U.S. states for college enrollment of its population.

The Volunteer State, according to the data, has 3.37% of its population enrolled in college. That compares with Utah, which has the highest percentage of its population (6.83%) enrolled, and Alaska, which has the lowest percentage (2.39%) enrolled.

The data aligns with a survey released in 2023 by WordsRated that ranked Tennessee as the ninth lowest state for college students as a percentage of the population.

As to Haslam’s goal, according to the Lumina Foundation, which tracks higher-education attainment of Americans ages 25-64, 47.9% of Tennesseans have some kind of post-high school degree. According to the foundation, that number has jumped 16 percentage points since 2009.

‘TELEPROBATION’ ADVANCES

You’ve heard of telehealth? A bill sponsored in the Tennessee Senate by state Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, and co-sponsored in the House by state Rep. Greg Martin, R-Hixson, might be called teleprobation.

It allows the use of a “technology portal” for meetings between a probationer and a probation officer as an alternative to an in-person meeting. The idea is that such meetings would better accommodate work schedules of probationers attempting to get back on their feet. It also allows an employer to submit weekly reports verifying the probationer’s current employment, again, instead of the probationer having to meet in-person with a probation officer.

The bill passed the House 90-0 this week, was recommended for passage by the Senate Judiciary Committee 9-0 and was sent to the Senate Calendar Committee to schedule further action.

Martin, in his weekly legislative update, referred to it as a measure of “grace” for those who have committed a crime but have proved their willingness to turn their life around.

“Navigating life after incarceration must be a challenging event,” he said. “And it is a tedious process to get back on track. For responsible people that work to reintegrate themselves into society and gain meaningful employment, this bill offers a virtual probation meeting so that the individual doesn’t have to miss work to attend a probation meeting.”

PONDERING GARDENHIRE’S SEAT

Two weeks after an unsuccessful run for the Hamilton County Board of Education, onetime Chattanooga Education, Arts & Culture administrator Missy Crutchfield may be eyeing a higher office, one once held by her father.

Crutchfield, daughter of former longtime state Sen. Ward Crutchfield, picked up papers this week for the possibility of running as a Democrat against three-term state Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga. Earlier this month, she picked up 29.2% of the vote in a two-way race for the school board with Jackie Anderson-Thomas.

Ed LeCompte, a former two-term Red Bank commissioner, also picked up papers for a potential primary run against Gardenhire this week. He was elected to the Red Bank post with 68.5% of the vote in a two-person race in 2014 and was unopposed in 2018. He chose not to run for a third term in 2022.

Gardenhire has not faced a primary opponent since 2012, the year he was elected to the Senate.

GEORGIA ON THE MIND

We were proven wrong when we opined last week in this space that Georgia wouldn’t pass its education savings account act, figuring that the strong opposition to a similar bill last year would not have relented as much despite changes in the measure. But, in fact, the bill is on the way to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk.

It will give students who live in attendance zones of the bottom 25% of public schools the opportunity to receive $6,500 to use toward private school tuition or other educational expenses.

Both Alabama and Georgia have passed what some call “voucher” legislation this year, while separate Senate and House bills in Tennessee await further action.

Tennessee was the first state in the nation last year to mandate that companies receiving taxpayer incentives hold secret ballot elections for union representation, and now Georgia has passed a similar law. That measure, too, is on the way to Kemp’s desk for his signature.

Unions prefer a process called “card-check,” where workers are urged in front of other employees to sign cards indicating their desire for union representation or are repeatedly visited at their homes.

Georgia is expected to end its 2024 legislative session early next week.