Education reform has been critical to Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam’s campaign since he began running, and Thursday night’s bipartisan forum put on by the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) signified its importance to the future of Tennessee.
“Last night, Tennesseans won because the first gubernatorial forum focused on one of the most critical issues facing our great state,” said Haslam today. “Education reform is central to my plan to make Tennessee the Number One location in the Southeast for high quality jobs.”
Before joining more than 200 supporters at a post-forum rally, the Knoxville Mayor highlighted his executive experience in the private and public sectors during the bipartisan forum at Belmont University Thursday night, hitting key points of his education priorities.
Haslam cited his time as Knoxville’s mayor, saying any education reform will take courage and experience. “Courage because any time change is involved there’s pushback, and there will be pushback on this,” Haslam said. “It will take executive experience.”
Haslam encouraged educators and administrators to use Tennessee’s extensive student data to improve the educational experience because every child deserves a great principal and a great teacher.
“We use that data to say – like a doctor would if a patient is sick – ‘Now that we know what the issue is, how do we intervene?” Haslam continued.
Haslam said teachers must be treated like professionals and given feedback on their performance. He said principals set the tone for the institution, and the state could leverage existing resources to set up principal leadership academies to help improve efficiency and effectiveness.
“The quality of the leader determines the quality of the institution,” Haslam said.
