NOTE: POST A MESSAGE TO MAKE SUGGESTIONS!

WHEREAS, an educated populace is essential for self actualization, democracy and economic development, and
public schools are the backbone of the education system in Tennessee and the nation; and

WHEREAS, quality early childhood education is an investment in the future of Tennessee children, especially
disadvantaged children who need and benefit from it most, but approximately 20,000 four-year-old children in homes with incomes at a level of eligibility for free and reduced priced school lunches do not receive these vital services; and

WHEREAS, studies show every dollar spent on quality early childhood education saves $7 in cost avoidance for
unnecessary expenditures in areas such as special education, grade retention, school drop out, teen pregnancy, juvenile delinquency and adult criminality, and long term welfare dependency; and

WHEREAS, test scores for children in Tennessee who have experienced quality early childhood education reveal
they score not only better than a matched group of children who did not receive the services, but better than the state average, indicating this is the best way to raise the educational levels of all children; and

WHEREAS, in 2001 8,549 referrals were made to Juvenile courts in Tennessee for truancy (accounting for 20
percent of all referrals in some counties) and in 2002 6,488 driver’s licenses were suspended for poor school attendance while a total of 29,806 students were suspended from school for poor school attendance; and

WHEREAS, truant students may be more likely to use drugs, exhibit poor academic performance, drop out of
school and become involved in delinquent behavior -- all of which lead to increased costs to the school and community; and

WHEREAS, the Class of 2005 will be required to pass the three phases of the Gateway exam to receive their
diploma, while currently in Shelby County only 50.8 percent of 11th graders have done so, and in some selected rural counties 84 percent of special needs students have failed at least one phase, and across the state performance for economically disadvantaged students is even lower; and

WHEREAS, adequately funded and staffed alternative schools are important resources for students who have
behavior problems, including truancy, to enable them to remain in and succeed in school; and

WHEREAS, at least 14 percent of Tennessee teens are high school drop outs and for every 100 ninth graders, only
55 will graduate from high school four years later, only 34 will enter college, and only 14 will graduate with an associate or bachelor degree; and

WHEREAS, the annual income of those individuals without a high school diploma is barely above the poverty
level for a family of four; and

WHEREAS, the March 2004 Comptroller's Report, "Teaching Tennessee Adults," estimated that 53 percent of
adult Tennessean’s were functionally illiterate; and

WHEREAS, the Tennessee Department of Correction estimates that 43 percent of persons under their authority
have less than a 12th grade education, also 44 percent of Families First recipients lack a high school diploma or GED, and 24 percent of all Tennessee adults over 25 do not have a high school diploma or GED;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that TCSW support efforts to expand the availability of early
childhood education through the use of lottery proceeds and the inclusion of early childhood education in the Basic Education Program funding allocations; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that TCSW support efforts to address and reduce truancy, including the efforts
of the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet directed toward truancy reduction; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that TCSW support the availability of sufficient alternative schools in all
systems to provide meaningful educational services to help the children in these school settings get back on track and succeed in school; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that TCSW support efforts to provide remedial services to students to enable
them to pass the Gateway Exams and receive a regular high school diploma, as well as efforts to improve adult literacy through family reading programs, adult high schools, GED preparation, and other appropriate strategies.