Bill tying student performance to welfare benefits advancing in Legislature (TN)

[alp227]

Last edited Mon Apr 1, 2013, 04:25 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Knoxville News Sentinel

Legislation to cut welfare benefits of parents with children performing poorly in school has cleared committees of both the House and Senate after being revised to give the parents several ways to avoid the reductions.

The state Department of Human Services, which worked with Republican sponsors to draft the changes, withdrew its previous opposition to SB132. But the measure was still criticized by Democrats, including Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville.

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, and Rep. Vance Dennis, R-Savannah. It calls for a 30 percent reduction in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits to parents whose children are not making satisfactory progress in school.

As amended, it would not apply when a child has a handicap or learning disability or when the parent takes steps to try improving the youngster’s school performance — such as signing up for a “parenting class,” arranging a tutoring program or attending a parent-teacher conference.

Read more: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2013/mar/31/bill-tying-student-performance-to-welfare-in/

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Found via "Tennessee Advances Legislation That Would Tie Welfare To Children's Grades" by Travis Waldron at Think Progress.

Campfield was behind the infamous now-defunct "Don't Say Gay" bill that would ban TN public schools from even discussing homosexuality. He was on the David Pakman show back in 2011 to debate the bill:

And then again in Jan. 2013:

[leftyohiolib]

1. no pressure kid do well in school or we're homeless

[McCamy Taylor]

2. "The horror."

This is what Kurtz was talking about. Not anything they do in Africa. The horror of a rich, supposedly enlightened society that is willing to toss humans into the trash heap for a buck.

[diabeticman]

3. These jerks are unbelievable! They should try concentrating on school work when they have empty

stomachs OR try taking a test when they spent half the night trying to keep warm because the heat got turn off. They should try and do a project without any supplies!


What Effin JERKS

[Yo_Mama]

13. Thank you

The phrase "The beatings will continue until morale improves" comes to mind.

[Duer 157099]

4. ...because nothing helps poverty like poverty

Fucking idiots.

[JoePhilly]

5. The words "advance" and "Tennessee Legislature" should never appear in the same sentence.

[antigop]

6. OMG...nt

[One_Life_To_Give]

7. Bill tying student performance to Tax rates?

So Mr. 1%er your kid only scored 1500 on the SAT. Well we won't tax you too bad say 45%

[obama2terms]

8. This guy makes me sick

I think even our governor is somewhat embarrassed by Stacey Campfeild.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

9. This has got to be an April fools joke, right.

Making children responsible for their parents well-being.

[BigD_95]

10. I might actually support this

Might. It says parents can avoid cuts if the sign up for parent classes , Tudors ... Etc.

If this forces parents to actually start caring about their kids education it might b good.

My opinion is schools are not failing. Parents are. It's not the teachers. The parents don't care.

[Yo_Mama]

12. Except in some cases it is the parent that will be the cause of the student's deficiency

You have kids with ailing parents on TANF. You have kids with parents with mental disorders on TANF. In some cases, older kids in families in crisis take over a parenting role for the younger kids, which can very adversely affect school attendance and performance.

Cutting family benefits when Mom's in the hospital or having a breakdown or just on a drunk won't get Mom to attend parent-teacher conferences. So is then the response to a family in crisis to fuck 'em a little more? And is this going to work?

Note that in no way am I implying this always the case for welfare families, and believe me, there are plenty of addictions, illnesses, and mental health problems in higher-income families. But their kids won't have benefits curtailed to make the parents behave better.

A little bit of realism should be applied. The assumption here is that it's all just willful neglect and I don't think that's true. TANF is a program designed for families in crisis, and in many cases the families are fully functional - just hit by a bad economy. But in the other cases the families are in crisis, and this proposal does not make sense.

[Yo_Mama]

11. I don't think this is fair

Also, if there is a problem with the student (poor attendance, not studying, behavioral, etc), it seems unlikely to be fixed by starving the family!

[blkmusclmachine]

14. How long til enough are hurt to flip these f/ckers out of office?

It's TN, I know, but STILL ...

[Art_from_Ark]

15. When I was in school, it was pretty much accepted

that if you give kids a stable environment and food in their stomachs, they will have an easier time learning. So we had a half pint of milk in the morning for a nickel, and lunch for a quarter. And lower income kids qualified for free or reduced price lunches.

That was The Great Society. I sorely miss it

[xxqqqzme]

16. I am convinced there is a

nationwide competition among states to see which state can pass the most laws to keep struggling families in their 'place.

"...The state Department of Human Services, which worked with Republican sponsors to draft the changes, withdrew its previous opposition to SB132...." I have no words.



Florida, Texas and Tennessee seem to be in the lead.

[LeftishBrit]

17. Horrible

This is even worse than the infamous 'Payment by Results' system for teachers that virtually strangled state education at its birth in 19th century England. It will pervert and damage parents' relationships with their children, and is just one more vile way of punishing poor people for being poor.

This won't apply to the rich. I don't suppose anyone would have thought of docking GHW Bush's pay for his son's poor performance. It's always those who have the least who get beaten down even further.

BTW, I've just come back from a trip to Finland. There the government does not see itself in the business of punishing either teachers or parents for pupil performance; does not go in for constant inspection and testing; funds education generously, and has an effective social welfare system, and little poverty. And you know what? They get better results in international school achievement comparisons than almost anywhere in the world! Tennessee might take note.