Haslam to Serve on Federal Education Working Group

Tennessee and Colorado to lead the way in regulation and assessment evaluation

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam will join Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in serving on a bi-partisan, federal study group co-chaired by U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Michael Bennett (D-CO).  The group’s mission is to review the effectiveness of education regulations and assessment evaluations in Tennessee and Colorado.

“We are already at the center of historic education reform, and this effort will keep Tennessee at the forefront of the national discussion,” said Haslam.  “This is one more way that we can focus on education as a state and ensure we’re making children in Tennessee classrooms our top priority.

“Senator Alexander has devoted his career to improving education in Tennessee and around the country, and I look forward to working with him and the other distinguished members of this working group.”

Alexander and Bennett announced the study group as part of a bipartisan bill they introduced today aimed at cutting red tape and improving schools.  The bill calls for a long term, national task force that will examine federal, state and local regulations as well as testing and assessment systems that govern public schools.

The Colorado-Tennessee Working Group will begin immediately to address these issues as first steps in the broader task force’s charge.

Bennett, former superintendent of the Denver Public Schools, and Alexander, former Education Secretary, are members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and are part of the committee’s negotiating team crafting a bill to reform No Child Left Behind.