Legislation To Overhaul Tennessee Textbook Selection Process Moves Forward In House

Bill ensures parents, teachers, and everyday citizens have a say in which textbooks are used in Tennessee classrooms

House Republicans moved forward this week with legislation that will move the Tennessee educational bar forward by overhauling the way our State Textbook Commission conducts business while also helping to empower parents to become more involved in the daily lives of our students.

The State Textbook Commission, which is responsible for recommending an official list of textbooks for approval by the State Board of Education, has come under fire in recent years by parents statewide for having adopted books containing inappropriate language and controversial interpretations of historical facts.

House Bill 2249, which passed out of the House Education Committee this week, is designed to remedy these problems by providing greater transparency and more public and parental input in the way textbooks are selected for use in our communities and local schools.

In summary, the bill has four major components, the first of which establishes specific criteria for reviewing textbooks by the Commission, including verifying information contained in the text is factually accurate. Second, the legislation allows the legislature to appoint members to the current governor-only appointed Textbook Commission, ensuring more legislative oversight of the textbook selection process with the input of Tennesseans across the state. Third, the bill requires that any book currently being reviewed by the Textbook Commission or set to be reviewed in the future to be placed online for public review and public comment. And, finally, the legislation gives parents, teachers, and local education experts who are knowledgeable on the subject a place at the review table by allowing them to be appointed to local textbook review committees.

Once passed, this legislation will completely overhaul the way textbooks are chosen in Tennessee. Currently, the State Textbook Commission is not even required to look for factual errors in the reading. This new legislation will create a stronger, more accountable textbook review process that ensures our children’s textbooks are factually correct, free from grammatical errors, and do not contain the historical inaccuracies we see in so many schools today.

Over the next several months, leaders in our state must continue to build on the momentum we are currently experiencing in moving the educational bar forward. By revamping our state textbook system and creating new initiatives to bring parents more fully into the selection process, we will better prepare our students for life after school. By ensuring our students are equipped with sound educational knowledge, tools, and resources, we help maximize their future potential in fulfilling their dreams.  By pushing to implement positive education programs like the legislation described here, we can continue down the path of making Tennessee the best place in the nation to live, work, and raise a family.