Education and Workforce

Build a Legacy-to-Learn pathway so every child can learn, lead, and leave a legacy in the State of Tennessee.

(a) Education is the bridge to opportunity. A strong education system is crime prevention, workforce development, and economic growth all in one. We will invest in a Pre-K to Paycheck pathway: birth-to-three supports, expanded Pre-K access, real work experience for teens, and clear job connections for adults. It connects the classroom to a career field to ensure every child from Memphis to Bristol is ready for their next journey of success.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE A HUMAN RIGHT

TENN B.E.A.R. (Better Education Advocacy Reform)

In the State of Tennessee, it is time for an education reform that benefits the students and not rich billionaires making money off of the educational system. TENN B.E.A.R. will be that vehicle to set the stage for real educational change.

Rescind and abolish the school voucher takeover. To promote true systemic organic change in the public school system, I would encourage and engage a collaboration between youth, parents, teachers, principals, the Tennessee Education Association, Department of Human Services, community leaders, and stakeholders to have a seat at the table for equitable growth and a pathway to teachers' control of their classroom again.

All children living in the United States have the right to a free public education, and the United States Constitution requires that all children be given equal educational opportunity, no matter what their race, ethnic background, religion, gender identity, zip code, or whether they are rich or poor, citizen or non-citizen. Public education is a human right!

As the next Governor, I stand 100% for public schools, and I am of the belief that vouchers for private charter schools take funds from public schools and further bring harm to students across the State of Tennessee. Under my leadership, more funding would be allocated to school revitalization in urban and rural communities, classroom supplies, food programs for home outreach, housing assistance for homeless families, and the Teacher’s incentive program.

We must take progressive action to restore the foundation of our public schools. The education of children must become a top priority of our Tennessee policymakers. In an era of shrinking budgets and increasing mandates, my unique leadership, parents’ voice, and teachers’ advocacy are needed to help make a significant difference in preserving our public schools. If political leaders can allocate trillions of dollars to new infrastructure such as hotels and luxury apartments, certainly funds can be used to develop schools for the education of our children, who are our most precious resources.

As you drive across the State of Tennessee, you will encounter public schools that have unsafe playgrounds, mold in schools located in underserved communities, lead in water, outdated classroom technology, a lack of security in schools due to limited SROs, and inadequate extracurricular programs for marginalized students, especially homeless students. In my new administration, I would address the WHOLE CHILD.

Just the mere fact that this present Governor and legislative body have entertained implementing laypersons in teachers’ positions for the next three years is absurd. This is an insult to the professionals who have acquired academic training, professional development, and continuing education. These individuals would never possess the skill sets, classroom management, child development skills, proper disciplinary methods, child assessment protocols, etc.

Although this present administration is aggressively pushing vouchers implemented in Tennessee, national studies have proven vouchers to be ineffective at improving academic outcomes. Studies show that students who participate in private school voucher programs actually fare worse academically than students educated in public schools.

Trying to move vouchers is not in the best interest of all children in Tennessee; the present Governor proposed a partnership with Michigan-based Hillsdale College to open 100 new charter schools across Tennessee. Hillsdale has had some disturbing problems of its own. I will stop any future merger immediately as the next potential Governor.

In March 2022, the Tennessean reported, “To make matters worse, voucher programs and charter schools lack adequate oversight and transparency but divert millions of public tax dollars to unaccountable private operators. Charter schools in Tennessee have opened the door to fraud and corruption. Here are just a few of many charter school horror stories in our state:

• Memphis Academy of Health Sciences closed, displacing 750 students, after three leaders were indicted for stealing $400,000 for personal use for trips to Las Vegas, a hot tub, NBA tickets, and auto repair.

• New Vision Academy in Nashville shut down after a state and federal investigation into financial irregularities, failure to comply with federal laws concerning special needs students and English language learners, and cramming too many children into classrooms in violation of the fire code. The husband/wife team leading the school of 150 students earned $563,000 per year.

• Gateway University Charter School in Memphis shut down after it was accused of falsifying grades, using uncertified teachers, giving credits for a geometry class that didn’t exist, and pulling children out of classes to clean the school’s bathrooms and other areas.

• Knowledge Academies in Nashville lost hundreds of thousands of tax dollars in an online phishing scheme (after which its founder and CEO suddenly disappeared); used uncertified teachers; understaffed the school and stopped paying teachers; operated with a deficit of $835,878, despite an annual revenue of $7.1 million; failed to meet federal requirements for English language learners and special needs students; and ran side businesses out of the school building. Nashville shut the school down, but the state forced it back open. It’s now operating with a $7.9 million deficit.

• Nashville Global Academy forgot a child on a bus parked offsite all day, misappropriated funds to the tune of $149,000, and collapsed over $400,000 in debt with unpaid bills worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

We must stop the political corruption in Tennessee regarding our public schools, and I am prepared as the next potential Governor to do just that. I am committed to redirecting adequate funds to our public schools, paying our teachers a fair wage, and supporting our neighborhood schools rather than allocating taxpayers' money to fly-by-night charter schools that have committed atrocities on our students and public schools.

Continuing to privatize Tennessee’s schools through so-called “school choice” initiatives will only increase the chances that our taxes will be misused and wasted through abusive tactics to dismantle our public schools for money.

History has shown that unregulated school privatization will provide our underserved and marginalized students with a substandard education while enriching profit-making entities with no vested interest in Tennessee students. Students in the public schools are our most precious asset, and as the next incoming Governor, I am prepared to bring equity and fairness to all students. Rural schools must be allowed to provide up-to-date technology in classrooms and broadband home services.

We must strive for a more equitable and inclusive environment in our public school system. Educational equity is about confronting and overcoming the barriers that deprive students of equitable educational opportunities because of their disability, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. As the next Governor of the State of Tennessee, I am committed to bringing about equity that recognizes children have unique needs and that obstacles to learning must be identified and eliminated. No child should attempt to learn on an empty stomach due to food deserts, lack of sleep because of living in a crime-riddled neighborhood or surviving in an environment of homelessness.

In order to achieve our ultimate goal, we must address the human rights of our educational system, which has been overlooked by the present administration. We must view our public school system through the lens of human rights to address the holistic child and family.

Human rights education promotes values, beliefs, and attitudes that encourage all individuals to uphold their own rights and those of others. It develops an understanding of everyone’s common responsibility to make human rights a reality in each community, especially our public schools.

As an incoming Governor, I would integrate public education, social, economic, and cultural rights, such as health care, housing, or a living wage, as human rights in the educational scheme. A child living in poverty cannot benefit fully from the educational process unless their holistic needs are met by addressing their living arrangements, poverty status, food deserts, lack of health care, mental health status, trauma from long-term exposure to crime and deaths, Adverse Community Experiences (ACEs), economic disparities, and disinvestment in their community.

Tennesseans who do not know their rights are more vulnerable to having them abused and often lack the language and conceptual framework to effectively advocate for them. A growing consensus recognizes education for and about human rights as essential; thus, this concept must be addressed in our public school system. This concept can contribute to the building of a free, just, and peaceful educational environment that can thrive in the State of Tennessee. Human rights education is also increasingly recognized as an effective strategy to prevent human rights abuses.

With the derogatory statements made about teachers by Hillsdale College President, it is my belief and desire as the next potential Governor to rescind all financial agreements past and future with this organization and send them packing back to Michigan. Our teachers are the backbones of our society, and we will not tolerate any disrespect of any kind in Tennessee on my watch as the next Governor.

Commitment:

We will build a countywide education-to-employment system where learning leads to earnings. This system recognizes that when mothers and families have access to childcare, clear information, and economic pathways, children succeed at higher rates, especially addressing the underlying problems and not just isolated issues in a vacuum.

Atwater's Goal and Strategies:

• Legacy-to-Learn Pathway

• Education Compact

• Parent Empowerment & Enrichment Power (PEEP) Hubs

1. Legacy to Learn Pathway: Pre-K to Financial Literacy  

• From Birth-to-4 Family Support

  Expand nurse and mental health home-visiting, parent coaching skills and development, early literacy kits for new parents, and developmental assessment & screenings.

• Pre-K

  Ensure every 3- and 4-year-old has access to high-quality early learning; Grow early childhood instructor pool through recruitment and training incentives

• Middle Matters

  Partner with businesses and nonprofits to provide mentorship, skills exposure, and career exploration beginning in grades 5-8

• Next Level Cohorts

  Paid youth and college student jobs & internships over six summers to build skills, income, and a clear next step into college, industry certification, and/or full-time work. 

  • City, County, State, and Federal tax incentives linked to businesses that hire cohort participants.

  • Support with Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act dollars and publish an accountability report.

  • The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Youth Program helps young adults (ages 14-24) overcome employment barriers. It provides access to paid internships, job training, mentorship, and career counseling to build foundational workplace skills and achieve long-term career success.

2. Tennessee Education Assessment Compact Hub (T.E.A.C.H.)

• Adequate funding must be allocated to schools across the State of Tennessee, especially rural and urban schools, which have been neglected for too long, taking a backseat to the economic development of elite apartments and manufacturing companies. It is time to place our children's education first. Our educational priorities have been misguided and derailed for decades.

• From a holistic approach, parents must be at the table of engagement to ensure the success of their children. A child's first teacher is their parents, and that will be our starting point to progressively raise the literacy rate and educational level of every child using a multicultural approach. Every child should have the opportunity to experience their heritage in this learning process.

• Convene a Governor's Education Day across the State of Tennessee (virtually), municipal districts, charter operators twice annually led by the Education Outreach Committee and anchored by a shared outcomes commitment from non-profits, retired educators, foster grandparents, corporations, literacy agencies, churches, specialized community organizations, etc.  

  • Review district outcomes, set priorities, align county resources (funding, health, housing, workforce supports, transit)

• Establish a Tennessee Education Outreach Board

  • Connects businesses, chambers, Southwest TN Community College, TCATs (Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology), and all school districts

  • Quarterly work sessions to monitor progress and remove barriers

  • Host GoPro Day for presenting meaningful career opportunities that position students to go pro in something in addition to sports (healthcare tech, logistics, data, skilled trades, sports science)

• State-wide public “Legacy to Learn” scorecard with key indicators for all districts disaggregated by race, income, disability status, English learner status, and geography:

  • Early Foundations

    Pre-K enrollment rate (3–4-year-olds), Kindergarten readiness, K–3 reading proficiency, Chronic absenteeism (K–3 and overall)

  • Middle & Secondary Readiness

    8th-grade math and literacy benchmarks, On-track to graduate (credits earned by end of 9th grade), High school graduation rate, FAFSA completion rate

  • Career & Postsecondary Outcomes

    Industry certifications earned, Paid work-based learning placements (internships, apprenticeships), Postsecondary enrollment or job placement within 6 months of graduation

  • Stability & Accessibility

    Students experiencing homelessness or housing instability, Average commute time to school or training, Students connected to mental health or counseling services

3. Parent Empowerment & Enrichment Power (P.E.E.P.) Hubs

Let’s face it, things have changed dramatically since our parents were in school, and resources should be accessible across the state to improve how families experience the State of Tennessee. Parent Empowerment & Enrichment Power Hubs will intentionally support mothers, women, grandparents, fathers, and foster parent caregivers navigating education systems, workforce transitions, and access to benefits across the state. 

Enhance Family-School Communication

Empower communication and collaboration through the use of two-way messaging.

Improve Transparency for Families

With more transparency, families can view school updates, events, and community newsfeed posts in a single location.

Centralize Information for Families

(a) Centralized information enables quick access to grades, assignments, news, messages, and more.

(b) Because parents are the engine of student success, we will collaborate to empower families through:

• Childcare subsidy support

• Multilingual workshops on rights, services, and supports in community centers

• Understand Your Child’s Data sessions

Alternative Methods for Empowerment and Enrichment

• Workforce Development

• Adequate Affordable Housing

• Continuing Education - GED, Housing Management, Financial Literacy, Carpentry, Masonry, Data Entry, Computer Applications, Electricians, Coding, Webpage Design, etc.

• Specialized Training & Skill Development - Artificial Intelligence Data Center Educational Training and Certifications