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2024 Legislative Wrap Up
2024 Legislative Wrap Up Each year from January through April or May when the Tennessee General Assembly holds its legislative session TQEE advocates for a set of legislative and budget proposals that would have a meaningful impact on one or more of the priorities outlined in our Policy Blueprint. This year, we supported a number of bills and budget proposals -- you can check
Tyson Foods: Solving for Employee Child Care Pays Big Dividends
The Challenge Finding quality, affordable childcare for working parents – and especially for shift workers who often have non-traditional hours – can be a huge challenge that impacts both working families and the businesses that employ them. Across Tennessee, more than 80% of parents of young children report employment disruptions due to inadequate childcare, citing affordability, quality and access as major challenges.1 For
Paid Family Leave is Good for Babies – and Business – in Tennessee
TQEE Applauds Passage of 2023 Paid Family Leave Legislation Tennesseans for Quality Early Education applauds the General Assembly and Governor Bill Lee for passing legislation to provide six weeks of paid family leave to state employees (including public educators) and a new state tax credit to help businesses provide paid family leave to employees. The new tax credit matches the existing federal
Statement on Tennessee’s gains in third grade reading
Following the release of statewide third grade reading test scores by the Tennessee Department of Education, Tennesseans for Quality Early Education issues the following statement: “We are glad to see that Tennessee students made historic gains in third grade reading scores this year. The 40 percent proficiency rate marks a 4.3 percentage point increase from the previous year, and the largest percentage
2023 Legislative Wrap Up
Momentum builds for early care and education in Tennessee During the first year of the 113th Tennessee General Assembly, a large number of policy initiatives that align with Tennesseans for Quality Early Education’s Policy Blueprint 2.0 gained momentum. Below, we outline important legislative and budget items related to our priorities of high-quality birth-through-age-eight learning environments, child physical and mental health and development,
Serve & Return: How Child Development Starts at Home
Before children are old enough to walk or talk, their brains are being wired in ways that will impact how they learn later in life. Parent-child interactions serve as the earliest building blocks for physical, cognitive, and emotional development, particularly during early childhood. Parents can support the development of their children by actively participating in attentive and reciprocal exchanges. These exchanges
Reading 360: Tackling Tennessee’s Literacy Crisis
What is Reading 360? Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, only a third of Tennessee’s 3rd graders were reading on grade level. To help tackle this crisis, the Tennessee Department of Education dedicated $100 million to an initiative called “Reading 360” to help school districts, teachers and families help struggling Tennessee students learn to read. Read more about it in The Tennessean. Reading 360 is
Ongoing child care crisis costs Tennessee $2.6 billion annually
New report details adverse economic impact on parents, businesses and taxpayers Prior to the pandemic, child care was a growing crisis for families and our economy. Fast forward to today, Tennessee’s working parents of young children continue to struggle to find and afford child care. For Tennessee employers the situation is likewise acute, with the child care crisis exacerbating the state’s workforce
TQEE responds to 2022 Nation’s Report Card
Following the release of the 2022 Nation’s Report Card by the National Center of Educational Progress (NAEP), which showed declines in student achievement nationwide and in Tennessee, Tennesseans for Quality Early Education issues the following statement from President and CEO Blair Taylor: “The 2022 Nation’s Report Card unfortunately highlights what we already knew – the COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on
TQEE Appoints Rebecca Lofty Woods VP of Government Relations
Tennesseans for Quality Early Education (TQEE) has announced the appointment of Rebecca Lofty Woods as vice president of government relations. In this role, Woods will serve as the organization’s chief lobbyist and work closely with Tennessee state legislators to help advance policies that support Tennessee children and their families. “We are thrilled to welcome Rebecca to the TQEE senior leadership team,” said Blair
