A new piece of legislation, if passed, will penalize low-income families in Tennessee by reducing their welfare benefits if their child performs poorly in school.<\/p>\n
Sponsored by Sen. Stacey Campfield (R-Knoxville) and Rep. Vance Dennis (R-Savannah), the bill \u201crequires the reduction of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) payments for parents or caretakers of TANF recipients whose children fail to maintain satisfactory progress in school.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bill (Senate Bill 132, House Bill 261) applies to low-income families, with no mention of penalties to middle or high-income families whose children perform poorly in school.<\/p>\n
Bill branded \u2018discriminatory\u2019<\/p>\n
Tennessee state representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) calls the bill \u201cdiscriminatory.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just one more way to punish families who have fallen on hard times,\u201d Johnson told theGrio. \u201cI don\u2019t believe for a second this will be anything to improve a child\u2019s education.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a high school special education teacher, Johnson said this kind of bill is not what at-risk students need.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo add the responsibility of the family budget on these kids, it\u2019s not going to help these kids. It\u2019s not going to move them forward,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The bill] sets up a terrible relationship between families and educators,\u201d Johnson continued. \u201dIt sets up animosity between school and home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson recommends after school or weekend programs, such as \u201ccommunity schools\u201d where parents spend time with their children and can see what they are doing and how they are doing in school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are the kinds of things we can do if we are really interested in moving our kids forward,\u201d Johnson said. \u201dNot making them responsible for their families losing money.\u201d<\/p>\n