Schools Report Card issued by the Department of Education

The 2012 state Report Card—posted Thursday on the Tennessee Department of Education website—offers detailed breakdowns of last year’s unprecedented statewide student achievement growth and presents the most recent data on graduation rate, demographics and school-level test scores. This summer, the department released statewide and district-by-district achievement results, and now Tennesseans can view data by grade level, subject and subgroup for each of the 136 districts and 1,784 schools in the state.

They can also see the achievement and gap closure measures that earned various designations under the new accountability system, such as Exemplary District and Reward School status.  “We think it’s important for parents and students, as well as school and district leaders, to know how well their schools are doing each year,” said Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman. “Tennessee is focused on continuous growth, and our Report Card shows us where we are making gains and where we need more work.”

As Tennessee continued to implement its First to the Top education reforms, performance on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) improved for the second year in a row in 2012, as students made the largest gains in the history of the test.  Last year, elementary and middle school students grew in 23 out of 24 TCAP measures, and proficiency levels on several high school End of Course exams improved, even as more students enrolled in higher-level classes such as Algebra II due to more rigorous graduation requirements. The statewide graduation rate increased from 85.5 percent to 87.2 percent for the Class of 2012.

Nearly every district in the state grew student achievement overall, but many did not successfully narrow achievement gaps or saw declines among particular student subgroups.  As the state strives to advance outcomes for all Tennessee students, these results allow educators to identify areas that need the most improvement. Through its regional offices, the department provides resources, support and expert analysis to help districts and schools with data-driven interventions.

Complementing the data released today in the department’s Report Card, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission released a report card on teacher preparation in Tennessee. The department also re-released its public TVAAS site, giving parents and community members an in-depth look at the academic growth in the state’s schools and districts. When used together, these three tools help paint a picture of the state of Tennessee education.

For the 2012 state Report Card, visit: www.tn.gov/education/reportcard
From this page, you can also access the public TVAAS site and archives of prior years' report cards.

For the Tennessee Report Card on the Effectiveness of Teacher Training Programs, visit: www.tn.gov/thec/Divisions/fttt/report_card.shtml.

State Budget Hearings Begin Today

Governor Haslam's cabinet members will begin public hearings today with regard to next year's budget and continue through Thursday this week.  Information about the hearings and a link to streaming video of the hearings can be found here: http://news.tn.gov/node/9851

The schedule is as follows:

Davidson Room, 3rd Floor, Tennessee Tower, Nashville


9:30-10 a.m. CST – Safety

10-10:30 a.m. – Tourist Development

10:30-11 a.m. – Military

11-11:30 a.m. – Veterans Affairs

11:30 a.m.-noon – Agriculture

Noon – Break

1:30-2:30 p.m. – Education

2:30-3:30 p.m. – Environment and Conservation

4-5 p.m. – Health



Wednesday, November 7

Budget hearings

Davidson Room, 3rd Floor, Tennessee Tower, Nashville

10:30-11 a.m. CST – Revenue

11 a.m.-noon – Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

Noon – Break

1:15-1:45 p.m. – Commerce and Insurance

1:45-2:30 p.m. – Human Services

2:30-3 p.m. – Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

3-3:45 p.m. – General Services

3:45-4:30 p.m. – Transportation



Thursday, November 8

Budget hearings

Davidson Room, 3rd Floor, Tennessee Tower, Nashville

10-11 a.m. CST – Children’s Services

11 a.m.-noon – Correction

Noon – Break

1:30-2 p.m. – Education Lottery Corporation

2-3 p.m. – Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

3-3:30 p.m. – Finance and Administration

3:30-4 p.m. – Labor and Workforce Development

4-4:30 p.m. – Financial Institutions

Election Day

If you haven't already, get out and vote.  It's an exciting day.  The Presidential election of course gathers the most attention, but after today we will also see a new General Assembly for Tennessee.  With the number of retirements and the changes that occurred back during the primaries in August, there will be a significant number of new faces to work with at the state legislature.

Regional Meetings Begin Next Week

Over the next few weeks TCCA will host a series of 8 regional meetings across the state. These meetings are a great time for discussion, learning and networking.  This year former Senator and former Montgomery County Commissioner Rosalind Kurita will be speaking at the meetings about an important health issue affecting all Tennessee communities.  She was recently appointed by Governor Bill Haslam as a Health Policy Advisor to spearhead an initiative to address the growing obesity problem in our state.  During the meetings, we will also hear presentations about programs and services that can save counties money, enhance economic development and improve communities. And of course, the program always includes a discussion of current and upcoming legislative issues of interest to county government. 

A number of incumbant state legislators and candidates for state office have already indicated that are coming to one or more of these meetings.  The meetings are a good opportunity to share the concerns and thoughts of county officials on the topics impacting our state. The regional meetings all start with a dinner (we begin serving at 6:30 p.m. local time), followed by presentations and discussions.
The dates and locations for the meetings are as follows:

Tuesday Sept. 4th, Jonesborough Visitors Center (Washington County)
Wednesday Sept 5th, Knoxville City County Building (Knox County)
Thursday September 6th, Leslie Town Centre (Putnam County)
Tuesday Sept. 11th, Mountain View Inn, Cleveland Tennessee (Bradley County)
Tuesday Sept 18th Paris Landing State Park (Henry County)
Thursday Sept 20th UT Ag Extension Center, Jackson TN (Madison County)
Tuesday Sept. 25th Catfish House Restaurant, Springfield TN, (Robertson County)
Thursday Sept. 27th Henry Horton State Park (Marshall County)

I hope to see you at one of these events!

Brownfield Workshops

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be hosting brownfield grant writing workshops across the state in August and September. Brownfields are real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. EPA plans to offer millions of dollars in Brownfields Redevelopment Grants for the upcoming year. Brownfields funding is from $200,000 to $1,000,000 to help assess and cleanup properties.

At the workshops there will be a presentation designed to empower communities and stakeholders to work together in a timely manner to assess, safely clean up, and reuse brownfields in a sustainable manner. EPA's Brownfields Program provides financial and technical assistance for brownfields revitalization, including grants for environmental assessments, cleanups, and job training. The workshop will also include a hands-on class exercise on how to write specific sections of a brownfields grant, followed up by discussion on what constitutes a winning grant proposal.

Please RSVP to Paula Larson by August 24, 2012 at Paula.Larson@tn.gov or 615-532-0926 with your name, contact information and the workshop location you’d like to attend. General information about brownfields is at www.epa.gov/brownfields

The workshop schedule is as follows:

Memphis, August 28th
Rhodes College
Paul Barret Jr Library, Room 051
2000 N Parkway
1 PM to 3:30 PM

Jackson, August 29th
Southwest Tennessee Development District Office (SWTDD)
102 East College Street
9 AM to 11:30 AM

Knoxville, September 5th
Chamber of Commerce
Markethouse Room
17 Market Square, #17
9 AM to 11:30 AM

Nashville, September 6th
Nashville Public Main Library
Conference Room 2
615 Church Street
9:30 AM to noon

Grant Assistance Programs through TDEC

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has posted information about grant assistance programs available through that agency.  These grants relate to alternative energy, energy conservation, healthy watersheds, local parks and recreation, trail development, recreation initiatives, recycling equipment, waste tire recycling and clean-up, used old recycling, brownfield assessment and clean-up, historic preservation and more.  There is an on-line document available through the state's website that provides simple summaries of the grants, overviews of the eligible projects and applications and information about deadlines all in one place.  This information can be accessed at: http://www.tn.gov/environment/grants/docs/tdec_grant_program_summary.pdf

Your community may be able to benefit from one of these programs.  I encourage you to take a look at the available opportunities and consider whether your county should pursue one of these grants.

SERDC Workshops

The Southeast Recycling Development Council is holding workshops in Tennessee on August 13th in Oak Ridge at the UT Outreach Center, August 14th in Burns at the Montgomery Bell State Park Conference Center and August 15th in Jackson at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center.  These workshops will bring together members of industry with state and local officials to discuss how recycling can play a role in job creation and economic development in Tennessee while also reducing landfill costs.

Registration for the workshops ends this Friday, August 10th.  To register for a workshop in your area, contact SERDC nat (828) 507-0123.

CTAS Index of Acts for 2012

The University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service has released its summary of all new legislation affecting county governments in Tennessee.  The Index of Acts can be downloaded here http://www.ctas.tennessee.edu/PUBLIC/web/ctas.nsf/0/846F0034AA0CD08086257A1A004E7F3C/$file/Index+of+Acts+2012.pdf?openelement.  It is divided into summaries of general law, public acts of local application and private acts.  The summaries are listed by subject categories. 

New AG Opinion on Open Meetings Act

The Tennessee Attorney General issued an opinion earlier this month answering a question related to the Tennessee Open Meetings Act.  The question posed to the Attorney General was whether members of a county or city legislative body could share a meal together and casually discuss issues before the governing body if the discussion is for informative purposes only and no decisions are reached or attempts made to obtain commitments.  The opinion discusses much of the case law interpreting these statutes and advises that while public business could possibly be discussed without violating the law, the discussion of the members must not constitute "deliberations."  The opinion cites a recent court case out of Metro Nashville to provide guidance on what are "deliberations."  The court defined the term to mean examining and consulting in order to form an opinion or weighing arguments for and against a proposed course of action. While the A.G. Opinion (the full text of which can be found here: http://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/op/2012/op12-60.pdf) allows for the possibility of informal discussions about county business that would not violate the act, it is hard to imagine a substantive conversation about county business that included no content that could be challenged as related to forming an opinion or weighing sides of an issue.

State Revenue Collections for April

Tennessee revenue collections continued an upward growth trend in April, with a net positive growth of 9.67% over April collections one year ago. Finance and Administration Commissioner Mark Emkes reported this month that overall April revenues were $1,386.4 million or $82.8 million more than the state budgeted.


“Sales tax collections recorded the 25th consecutive month of positive growth dating back to April of 2010,” Emkes said. “In addition, corporate Franchise and Excise tax collections continue to be very encouraging, but the Hall Income Tax recorded a negative growth over last April and fell considerably short of the budgeted estimate.

Sales tax collections were $42.9 million more than the budgeted estimate for April. The April growth rate was positive 8.77%. For nine months revenues are over collected by $183.4 million. The year-to-date growth rate for nine months was positive 7.26%.

Hall Income tax collections for April were $15.7 million less than the budgeted estimate. For nine months collections are $18.1 million below the budgeted estimate. The growth rate for the nine month period was negative 4.41%.

Of note to County Highway Departments, gasoline and motor fuel collections for April decreased by 4.07%, and were $2.7 million less than the budgeted estimate. For nine months revenues are negative 1.03%, and $6.4 million below the budgeted estimate of $625.9 million.

From all sources, year-to-date collections for nine months were $412.9 million more than the budgeted estimate. The general fund was over collected by $400 million and the four other funds were over collected by $12.9 million.

CTAS Updates Model Debt Policy

The UT County Technical Assistance Service has recently updated its guidance for county debt policies.  The revised memorandum is available at the CTAS website: http://www.ctas.tennessee.edu/ under the news and featured items.  Beginning January 1, 2012, the Tennessee State Funding Board requires counties issuing debt to have adopted a written debt management policy that complies with certain minimum requirements.  The 43 page memorandum on the CTAS website will help any county that has not already adopted its policy. 

TBI Releases Crime in Tennessee and School Crime Reports

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation recently released the "Crime in Tennessee 2011" report which showed a 1.7% decrease in overall crimes reported in Tennessee in 2011 compared with 2010. This is third year in a row that reported offenses decreased when compared with the previous year. The full report is available for download on-line at:

http://www.tbi.tn.gov/tn_crime_stats/publications/Crime%20in%20Tennessee%202011.pdf

For the 2011, the largest majority of crimes reported were committed against property at more than 58% which is a decrease of 2.5% from the previous year. Crimes against persons also decreased approximately 2%, however, crimes against society increased 3%. Overall, Tennessee has seen crime drop a total of 4.6% since 2009.

In addition, the TBI has also released its special study on crime in Tennessee's schools. Produced by TBI's Crime Statistics Unit, the study spans a three-year period between 2009 and 2011 This report is the second of its kind, following up on the state's first ever school crimes study released in May of 2009.

The reported number of crimes that occurred at schools decreased by 5.5% from 2010 to 2011 with an overall decrease of 6.7% between 2009 and 2011. There were 12,435 crimes reported at schools in 2011 compared to 13,155 in 2010.

The 33 page full report on School Crime can be accessed here:

http://www.tbi.tn.gov/tn_crime_stats/documents/SchoolCrimeStudy2011_FINAL.pdf

It profiles both the offenders and victims of the crimes on school campuses and discusses the involvement of weapons, drugs and alcohol and gangs.

Tennessee Gets No Child Left Behind Waiver

Tennessee was one of ten states today to receive a waiver from the Obama administration from requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. For a full article on this issue from the Knoxville News Sentinnel go here.

Next TCCA Board Meeting - February 2

President Ronnie Raper of Rhea County has called for the next meeting of the board of the Tennessee County Commissioners Association from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. central time on Thursday, February 2nd in Nashville in the ground floor conference room of our office building at 226 Capitol Boulevard. Much of this meeting will focus on specific legislation and consideration of policy positions for the upcoming legislative session. New bills are being filed on a daily basis with bill filing deadlines of February 1 for the House and January 26 for the Senate. To date, approximately 600-700 new bills have been filed in each chamber. It's expected that number with grow to around 2000 total new bills by the end of the month.

State Revenue Collections

Higher than expected business tax collections in December pushed Tennessee revenues past budgeted projections. Finance and Administration commissioner Mark Emkes reported that state revenue collections for December were $965.7 million, or 16.54% above December 2010. December collections posted the eighth consecutive month in which the growth rate has been 5.0% or higher.

“While it's encouraging to see an improvement in business profits, the unexpected overcollection in December could be a timing issue, and as a result future months could be negatively impacted," Emkes said. "Typically, about one-fourth of all franchise and excise tax collections are realized in the month of April, so we’ll continue to closely monitor our spending for the balance of this year.

“We’re very pleased with December sales tax collections, which reflect renewed consumer confidence in our economy. It's important to remember, though, that we’re still not back to pre-2008 collection levels on sales taxes.”

December collections were $123.2 million more than the budgeted estimate. The general fund was over collected by $118.9 million and the four other funds were over collected by $4.3 million.
Sales tax collections were $12.9 million more than the estimate for December. The December growth rate was 6.78%. For five months revenues are over collected by $56.3 million, and the year-to-date growth rate is 6.29%.

Gasoline and motor fuel collections for December increased by 7.65%, and they were $3.2 million above the budgeted estimate of $64.6 million. For five months revenues are under collected by $3.0 million.

Year-to-date collections for five months were $194.2 million more than the budgeted estimate. The general fund was over collected by $188.4 million and the four other funds were over collected by $5.8 million.

The State Funding Board met on December 9th and 14th to hear updated revenue projections from the state’s various economists. The board met again on December 19th and adopted revised revenue ranges for 2011-2012. The revised ranges assume an over collection from the July 2011 budgeted estimate in the amount of $187.8 million to $220.5 million in total taxes and in the amount of $177.0 million to $209.6 million in general fund taxes for the current fiscal year.

Treasurer Lillard Proposes New Pension Options for Local Governments

To give local governments more choices for their employees’ retirement plans, Tennessee State Treasurer David H. Lillard Jr. today proposed several new options to state legislators for their consideration.

Lillard stressed that none of the suggested changes would affect K-12 teachers, state employees or higher education employees who are covered under the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS). The changes, which would require approval by the General Assembly, are optional for local governments and would only affect new hires. The proposed options do not affect any current retirees of TCRS.

“Our city and county governments across Tennessee have to balance the need to be good stewards of taxpayer money with the need to offer fair retirement benefits to their employees,” Treasurer Lillard said. “The goal is to make sure pension benefits are affordable, sustainable and sufficient. That’s why I am recommending some choices that would give local governments greater flexibility to meet their specific needs.”

The options presented today were:

· local governments may take no action and remain in the current TCRS defined benefit pension plan with retirement generally at 30 years of service or age 60; or
· local governments may adopt a TCRS defined benefit pension plan with an annual service accrual rate of 1.4%, with an increase in retirement age, limits on cost of living adjustments, a cap on maximum allowed benefits and a revised employee contribution structure; or
· local governments may adopt a TCRS defined benefit pension plan with an annual service accrual rate of 1% to offer reduced pension benefits, but with a supplemental deferred compensation program; or
· local governments may decide to offer only a deferred compensation program as a stand-alone option.

The proposals were developed following open meetings held throughout Tennessee with more than 200 local government representatives last fall.

“Over the last couple of years, we have had several local governments either withdraw or give notice that they planned to withdraw from TCRS due to changes in market conditions,” Treasurer Lillard said. “We are offering these options because we want local governments to remain part of TCRS, which is in the best interests of local governments, their employees and the citizens they serve. We believe local governments will be more inclined to do that if we’re offering more choices.”

Treasurer Lillard presented his ideas during a meeting of the General Assembly’s Council on Pensions and Insurance. For a copy of the local government pension option proposals and other documents, go to http://treasury.tn.gov/tcrs and look at the tab titled “Proposed Plans for Local Gov’t.”

Governor Haslam, Commissioner Hagerty Release Regulatory Reform Report

Federal and State Regulations Reviewed for Potential Negative Impact on Businesses

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty last Friday released the Regulatory Reform Report, an ECD-led review of federal and state rules and regulations impacting businesses. One of the key strategies of the governor’s Jobs4TN economic development plan was to conduct this review with the goal of identifying obstacles to investment.

“To reach our goal of becoming the No. 1 state in the Southeast for high quality jobs, we must always be focused on strengthening our attractive business climate to attract and grow Tennessee jobs,” Haslam said. “This regulatory review process was important to identify areas for improvement both through internal and external evaluations.”

In conducting the review, ECD surveyed Tennessee business leaders, advocacy groups and state departments to identify federal and state laws, regulations and processes that could have a negative impact on economic development and job creation in the state.

“I want to thank those who gave of their time and participated in the regulatory review process, including Tennessee businesses, local stakeholders and our fellow state government departments. Their cooperation and feedback were essential to producing the Regulatory Reform Report,” Hagerty said. “Identifying areas where there are opportunities for improvement is the first step in streamlining and modernizing our regulatory environment and better serving the people and businesses of our state.”

The report suggests a number of recommendations, which include:

- Implementation of an assessment process for all regulations prior to being finalized.
- Improved customer service by regulatory enforcement entities in working with constituents on regulatory compliance and clearly communicating inspector expectations.
- Strengthening the culture of customer service throughout state government by employee training and accountability measures.
- Working with each state department to eliminate or modify redundant or cumbersome regulations identified through the review process.
- Conducting an annual survey of businesses to track problematic federal regulations.
- Reviewing procedures and processes performed by multiple departments to assess opportunities for streamlining them.
- Continuing ongoing dialogue with businesses about issues of concern such as workers’ compensation and unemployment laws.
- Requiring every department that enforces regulations to create uniform regulatory guidance, where applicable, in order to promote certainty, consistency and oversight within the process.
- Developing an interactive, “one stop” website that allows constituents to easily find regulatory information with appropriate departments, boards or commissions posting relevant notices and information on the site.
- Assessment of the necessity and function of state boards and commissions.

The regulatory review process involved three steps: a broad survey of businesses, a series of statewide roundtable discussions and regulatory self-evaluations by each department of state government.

More than 150 surveys were completed and compiled, and then used as a framework for a series of roundtables involving nearly 200 businesses statewide. Details on survey findings and notes from the roundtables are found in the report.

Each department within state government was also asked to evaluate regulations within their jurisdiction that could be streamlined, eliminated or deemed burdensome to business. Many departments are already going through this process as part of their top-to-bottom reviews.

The complete Regulatory Review Report can be found at: tn.gov/ecd/pdf/Regulatory_Reform_Report.pdf.

Governor Unveils Public Safety Strategy

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today announced a comprehensive, multi-year action plan designed to improve public safety statewide.

The Governor’s Public Safety Subcabinet Working Group, which includes commissioners and representatives from 11 state agencies, submitted the plan after months of meetings with more than 300 public safety professionals and stakeholders across the state.

The three goals of the public safety action plan are to significantly reduce drug abuse and drug trafficking; curb violent crime; and lower the rate of repeat offenders. There are 11 objectives and 40 action steps outlined in the plan, all specifically linked to those goals.

“Keeping our citizens safe is one of state government’s primary responsibilities,” Haslam said. “This action plan is a detailed road map that addresses some of our toughest safety challenges head on. I am proud of this group – whose members bring a number of different perspectives to the table – for working together to recommend meaningful solutions. They are coordinating their efforts and moving in the same direction to implement this plan.”

While it is a multi-year strategy, the subcabinet working group expects to launch approximately 20 of the steps in 2012. Several of these steps include:

Making improvements to the current prescription drug data base to make it easier to identify abusers;

Developing regional alliances with other states to tackle prescription drug abuse;

Placing non-violent drug addicts into drug court treatment programs;

Imposing tougher sentences for certain types of gang-related crimes;

Enacting tougher sentences for gun possession by those with prior violent felony convictions;

Realigning under the Department of Correction the supervision of adult felony offenders to include probation, parole and community corrections; and

Mandating incarceration time for repeat domestic violence offenders.

Eight of the identified action steps are already underway. Some of those steps include:

Development of a real-time database to track the purchases of pseudoephedrine products (commonly used to make meth);

A statewide meth lab clean-up system;

Development of a new anti-meth communications campaign;

In-depth training of all state road troopers on drug interdiction; and

A pilot effort in Shelby County to create a one-stop shop for assistance and services to inmates returning to the community.

“While we have seen an improvement, Tennessee continues to have a violent crime rate far above the national average and the highest among southeastern states,” Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons, who chairs the working group, said. “This plan addresses many of the underlying factors that lead to crime in our state and takes a comprehensive approach to addressing the problem.”

The Public Safety Subcabinet Working Group includes commissioners of the departments of Safety and Homeland Security, Mental Health, Children’s Services, Correction, Health and Military along with the chairman of the Board of Probation and Parole, the directors of the Governor’s Highway Safety Office (Department of Transportation), Office of Criminal Justice Programs (Department of Finance and Administration), Law Enforcement Training Academy (Department of Commerce and Insurance) and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

The subcabinet working group has received additional support from the Tennessee Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, and the Center for Non-Profit Management.