Students from Cleveland High School joined approximately 300 of their high school peers in Murfreesboro on March 9 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 Middle Tennessee State University campus. Attending from Cleveland High School were Logan Foley, Phoebe Han, Chase Henderson, and Lauren Rutledge. As a SCOPE delegate for the past three years, Lauren Rutledge said, “What I love about SCOPE is the fact that the Department of Education cares about getting the ideas of students as much as they do the ideas of administrators and parents. I have learned that speaking up even when you are nervous or scared of what others will think is what allows for change in our school system and education.”
Now in its 33rd 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 actual school board members, superintendents and education leaders 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. This year’s four debate topics and results from the poll were:
1. A basic computer coding class shall be required for graduation. (Agree: 26.9% Disagree: 73.1%)
2. All textbooks shall be in electronic format. (Agree: 44.0% Disagree: 56.0%)
3. Benchmark testing shall replace high stakes testing. (Agree: 71.0% Disagree: 29.0%)
4. Teachers shall incorporate social media into classroom instruction. (Agree: 28.0% Disagree 72.0%)
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 945 board of education members.