Policy Priorities
Education
Core Principles
We believe our state succeeds when our public education systems, with the influence and partnership of the business community, deliver the knowledge, skills and credentials which Tennesseans require in order to succeed in our present and future workplaces.
We aspire to create and facilitate innovative partnerships to build a strong connect between business and education to prepare our students for a rapidly evolving marketplace.
Since its inception, our Roundtable has understood the need for a robust education system. In order to have a thriving economy, an educated populace is a necessity. Rigorous standards, high expectations of students, and aligned assessments are the building blocks of a prepared workforce.
K-12 Funding Reform
In 1992, separate K-12 public school funding mechanisms were consolidated into the Basic Education Program (BEP), a single yet complex formula outlining state and local shares of K-12 public education funding. Today, the Roundtable works with policymakers and advocates toward creating an equitable, student-based funding formula that better-supports academic achievement by our 21st-century workforce.
Educating the Workforce of Tomorrow
The Roundtable collaborates with SCORE and other workforce advocates on efforts to improve post-secondary readiness among succeeding generations of Tennesseans – the future workforce members who hold the key to our state’s long-term economic success.
Early Literacy
Business leaders know that today’s youngest Tennesseans must “learn to read” proficiently by the end of third grade so that they may then “read to learn” for a lifetime. Our Roundtable stands as a leading business supporter of policies aimed at improving early literacy proficiency through high-quality classroom materials, instructional methods, curricula, and teachers.
College Completion
While it’s not true that ‘everybody needs to go to college’, Tennessee’s employers will tell you that ‘everybody needs something after high school.’ As a member of our state’s Drive to 55 Coalition, the Roundtable actively supports policies and initiatives aimed at equipping more working-age Tennesseans with post-secondary credentials signifying career readiness.