The Tennessee Public Schools Beyond Educating Campaign outlines the importance of the public education system. The contributions made by educators to our local communities are more apparent now than ever before. Tennessee families face numerous challenges that extend far beyond the classroom. Many Tennesseans are dependent upon their public school for support beyond education including, but not limited to, nutritional support, mental health issues, and child-care so parents can go to work. The totality of these issues create hurdles for students and clearly show the challenges faced by our teachers.
Problem:
Public schools are often a microcosm of their communities, facing ever-increasing social problems, including poverty, single-parent households, opioid, and other drug abuse, juvenile crime, hunger, homelessness, and unemployment. These are local community problems that public schools must deal with because they accept ALL students, no matter their race, religion, social class, family income, or special needs. To understand the importance of public schools, you must understand the issues beyond educating.
Goals:
- Raise public awareness of the issues that public schools deal with beyond educating students
- Improve community perception of public schools in Tennessee
- Raise public awareness of funding inadequacies related to social services provided by public schools
- Seek additional education funding sources outside of the funding formula
- Develop innovative revenue sources to support social service programs in public schools
- Improve funding for public schools through policy and legislation
Promoting Local Stories:
This Campaign functions primarily through social media and public content contribution from teachers, administrators, school board members, parents, and others. The Campaign uses the primary hashtag #beyondeducating. The Campaign will focus on a different social issues in schools (e.g. food insecurity or mental health issues).
Followers are encouraged to share the programs and stories in their school related to the campaign topics. For example, a district could share content on food insecurity such as pictures of a bus driver delivering meals along his route during the summer. This will serve as a forum for educators and support staff across the state to highlight the issues and share solutions. Participants can include a link to a story, an encouraging quote, a new program, or other outstanding things their district has achieved.
Get Involved: Share your local stories.
Email your stories to Jennifer White at jwhite@tsba.net.
Follow the campaign’s social media accounts:
Twitter: @TSBA_beyondedu
Facebook: Tennessee Public Schools – Beyond Educating: @TSBAbeyondeducating
Use the Hashtag: #beyondeducating