TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

Houses Passes Bills on Political Flags, Overhaul of Standardized Tests

Posted by: Paul Burch on Feb 27, 2024

House Bill 1605 passed Monday with a vote of 70-24. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, would prohibit the display of any flags that “represent a political viewpoint, including but not limited to, a partisan, racial, sexual orientation, gender or other ideological viewpoint.” The bill does not explicitly prohibit the display of the Nazi or Confederate flags, reports the Tennessean. Bulso confirmed that he sponsored the bill on behalf of parents in his district who are concerned about display of the pride flags in Williamson County Schools classrooms. A companion bill could be up for a final vote in the Senate as early as Thursday, having passed the Senate Education Committee in a 5-4 vote last week. HB1183/SB0503, a wide-ranging amendment that would overhaul Tennessee's standardized testing requirements for public school students and make sweeping changes to teacher and principal accountability procedures, was filed Monday. The Tennessean reports that the new, 39-page House amendment is vastly different from a 17-page Senate version and Gov. Bill Lee's seven-page bill that more narrowly deals with school choice. A first committee hearing on the bill was scheduled for today in the House K-12 Subcommittee, and the Senate Education Committee is set to take up the bill on Wednesday afternoon.

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