- Associated Press - Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Recent editorials from Tennessee newspapers:

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Feb. 25

The Johnson City Press on workforce reentry programs for former prisoners:

Far too many formerly incarcerated offenders and former addicts are forced to re-enter society without the life and employment skills and community support necessary to succeed. A lack of opportunity is among the chief reasons felons reoffend and wind up back behind bars. Second chances can be hard to come by, especially for those without adequate education or vocational skills.

Good Samaritan, a faith-based organization known primarily for providing food and clothing for people in need, is working with the local construction industry to offer Free to Live, a yearlong training program. As Senior Reporter Sue Guinn Legg reported in Saturday’s edition, the stated goals are twofold:

- Breaking the cycle of addiction, relapse and recidivism.

- Reversing a labor pool decline impeding the construction industry.

Participants will gain on-the-job experience in carpentry, mechanics, plumbing and electrical skills. Free to Live also will provide mentoring and sober living counseling, as well as spiritual guidance.

This is yet another example of faith communities stepping up to fill a societal void to everyone’s benefit. Far too much of that support falls on their shoulders.

The vast majority of transitional living programs for recently released offenders in Tennessee are either wholly faith-based or supported by ministries in some fashion. Many have waiting lists. Only two approved programs exist in all of Northeast Tennessee.

While Tennessee prisons provide some classes or work programs offering prisoners chances to learn skills - in some cases toward certification - the state is not doing enough toward successful reentry, as evidenced by the number of failures.

It’s in the state’s best interests to facilitate a former inmate’s success. In announcing Free to Live, Good Samaritan Executive Director Aaron Murphy said the average annual cost to incarcerate one person is $26,000 while the statewide recidivism rate is 48%. Half of all people return to incarceration within two years of their releases.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee made reentry programs a major part of his platform when he ran for the office in 2018. Citing experience with his own company, he talked of increasing partnerships between the state and private businesses to provide more training for prisoners before they are released. It’s time for that concept to gain real traction - both with state government and the private sector. The legislature must address this both with state prisons and with county jails. County jails hold about one-fourth of all state prisoners, yet are not afforded the resources for transitional job training.

Our secular institutions have good reason to get involved. By providing the necessary training and experience, they may develop readymade candidates to fill their own employment needs, while raising the skill level of the state’s population as whole and reducing the impact of addiction on the workforce.

It’s also time for secular society to rethink blanket attitudes toward felons. Many companies will not even consider applicants with felony records, even those with nonviolent offenses. Yes, trust is an important factor for employers. They’d be foolish not to give felons necessary scrutiny on a case-by-case basis, but blanket policies only exacerbate the burden on society.

That’s why it’s so significant to see the local construction industry get involved with Good Samaritan’s Free to Live initiative. Other local businesses and industries should take note. So should the state of Tennessee.

Online: https://www.johnsoncitypress.com/

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Feb. 25

The Crossville-Chronicle on expanding early education programs:

Many working mothers bristled at comments from state. Sen. Janice Bowling last week when she indicated she did not support public funds for early childhood education.

Bowling, speaking in a legislative committee meeting, said, “My generation was encouraged to forgo a career and stay home until kids were school aged. If a family decides they want a two-income family, then that certainly is there, but then are taxpayers obligated to assist in that?”

Most mothers would love the opportunity to stay home with their children until they enter kindergarten, or even longer.

But economic realities make it difficult for a two-income family to miss that extra income for years. And it’s simply impossible for a single parent to support a child without working.

Early childhood education also helps many young students gain a strong foundation in some academic basics before they start kindergarten. State standards for pre-K include helping children learn to persist in solving a problem or question, or to spark imagination and learning through productive play. They’re taught pre-literacy skills that help them learn to read. They’re getting vital numeracy skills that help them take those first steps in mathematics.

They’re taught how to take part in a classroom environment, with social interaction with their peers. And they’re taught that it’s important to go to school regularly.

Tennessee’s voluntary pre-K program launched in 2005, focusing on at-risk children from economically disadvantaged homes, though services can be extended to children with special needs.

Cumberland County’s 12 pre-K classrooms serve 224 students.

Cumberland County data follows a long list of studies that support the value of early childhood education, with increased academic success for students later in life. Rebecca Farley, academic supervisor for pre-K through eighth grade in Cumberland County, said pre-K students continue to score higher on literacy and math tests, have better attendance and fewer behavioral issues than students who did not attend pre-K.

The program is not without challenges. Each classroom can only serve 20 students, and the school system can’t provide transportation. So families must figure out how to have someone drop off and pick up their child every day - something that can be incredibly difficult for families.

We urge our lawmakers to look for ways to expand access to early childhood education to help those families who want and need that service. This could be through increasing how much the state invests in the school system’s voluntary pre-K programs - which have been funded at the same amount since the program began in 2005. It could also include expanding eligibility for child-care assistance for younger children.

Online: https://www.crossville-chronicle.com/

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Feb. 21

The Kingsport TimesNews on who should receive money from the sales of former school buildings:

Sullivan County officials remain at odds over who sells and gets the proceeds from the sale of former school buildings. It seems to us that county government and not the school district should dispose of surplus public property unless legal issues determine otherwise.

At issue are four pieces of property: the old Holston Institute near Tri-Cities Airport and an adjoining ball field, and two former middle schools - Bluff City and Holston Valley. The Board of Education recently voted to declare the properties surplus and is planning to sell the Holston Institute and ball field properties.

However, Mayor Richard Venable objected to selling the Holston Institute property. Another wrinkle in the matter is a deed restriction on the property - a reversion clause to the heirs of those who donated the property. If the land ceases to be used for educational purposes, it would then revert to them.

Venable said he has asked County Attorney Dan Street to look into the matter and that he will do everything he can to keep any of the school properties from being sold until ownership is established, even if that requires going to court. BOE Chairman Michael Hughes has instructed board attorney Pat Hull to do likewise.

Until 2015, the board generally - but not always - followed a practice of declaring a closed school as surplus and turning it over to the County Commission for disposal, usually via auction. Hull says county officials in effect told the school system that it could dispose of surplus schools, though Venable denies that, as does Street.

The board has previously disposed of schools, once in 2015 with Brookside Elementary and again in 2018 with the sale of Weaver Elementary.

Street said he looked into the issue around that time and determined the school system, through the school board, had every right to sell property deeded to it. “The statutes clearly say they (school systems) can sell property,” Street said. “The way I remember it, the school board did it on its own.”

But it is the County Commission, not the school district, which levies and collects the taxes that pay for everything the county consumes, buys or builds, including schools. And it should be the County Commission, and not the school district, which disposes of and receives compensation for old school buildings.

School districts have but one purpose while the County Commission is responsible for everything else necessary to operate a county. The proceeds from the sale of old schools in effect belong to the taxpayers and should be put to the widest possible use.

Online: https://www.timesnews.net/

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