Students from Across Tennessee Lend Their Insight To Issues Facing Public Education
Students from Across Tennessee Lend Their Insight
To Issues Facing Public Education
Students from Lewis County High School joined 353 of their high school peers in Nashville on March 3 to express their views on public education in Tennessee at the Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA) Student Congress on Policies in Education (SCOPE). The event took place on the campus of Belmont University.
Now in its 43rd year, SCOPE is designed to give students a voice where public education issues are concerned and to involve young people in finding solutions to the topics that are discussed. Attendees participated in mock school board sessions, where they assumed the roles of school board members, school officials, parents, students, and concerned citizens. The sessions were led by school board members and superintendents from across the state. Students then chose speakers to represent each of their 16 small groups who went on to take part in full-scale debates on current education issues.
SCOPE delegates elected the following 2027 SCOPE officers:
- President: Marc Williams, Hollis F. Price Middle College High School, Memphis-Shelby County
- 1st Vice President: Emily Byrd, Eagleville High School, Rutherford County
- 2nd Vice President: Connor Webster, South Side High School, Jackson-Madison County
The Tennessee School Boards Association was organized in 1939 to provide a united voice in education for local public school boards. In 1953, the State Legislature officially recognized TSBA as the “organization and representative agency of the members of school boards in Tennessee.”
The Tennessee School Boards Association is a service organization to all the state’s school boards. It serves as an advocate for the interests of Tennessee’s public school students and school districts and provides in-service training and assistance for the state’s 987 board of education members.