September 23, 2020
Governor Bill Lee:
Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining us for our press briefing today, we will be talking at length about education. Commissioner Schwinn will be here to give an update on our efforts to get kids back into the... as well as providing insight into the short-term and the potential long-term impacts on Tennessee students as a result of the extended time away from the classroom.
Governor Bill Lee:
Director Mike Krause from the Higher Education Commission will be here as well to talk about our higher ed... Ginsburg. Flags at the Capitol are at half-staff as they are at state buildings across the state in honor of her service to this country on the high court.
Governor Bill Lee:
And I'd also like to comment because I've been questioned about the constitutional process to fill Justice Ginsburg's vacancy. The vacancy should absolutely be filled. The president has a responsibility to provide a nominee. And by the way, a third of our US presidents in history have... a nominee or a Supreme Court justice in an election year. The Senate also has not only the responsibility, but an obligation to consider that nominee, and in my view, to vote on it. I think that the constitution's clear and leadership has a right to proceed.
Governor Bill Lee:
And I want to thank Senator Alexander and Senator Blackburn for their care, for the process and their care for the court, and for their deep understanding of the profound impact that the Supreme Court has on our individual lives and on the future of our country.
Governor Bill Lee:
Commissioner Schwinn today will be sharing data regarding how our students are performing after an extended time away from the classroom. The department has identified trends that indicate real challenges that have been experienced by students at all levels, learning loss, especially in the areas of reading and mathematics.
Governor Bill Lee:
It just shows how important it is that our kids get back into the classroom. And that's why we've put such a strong effort in making sure our kids do return back to classrooms for in-person learning. We are seeing through this report an alarm that's been sounded, especially with regard to not only the short-term impacts on kids, but the long-term impact on our state. And Commissioner Schwinn will talk about that today. And I am particularly concerned about the disproportionate impact that this learning loss has on minority and low income students. So Commissioner, if you would come forth and give us your report.
Commissioner Schwinn:
Thank you very much. To start out with, briefly I want to give some of the reporting data related to COVID on our dashboard. First and foremost, 95% of our districts have now reported on the dashboard related to positive cases. And in terms of operating models for our districts, we are seeing that 96% of our districts have an in-person model available for students.
Commissioner Schwinn:
Now for learning loss. So we know that every year when students enter summer break, we expect there to be something called the summer slide. We expect there to be a slight decrease in proficiency as a result of multiple months outside of school buildings. And our students have been out of school for a very long time. Many of them shut down. Buildings were closed beginning in March, March 2nd of 2020. So some of our schools have not had their buildings open for over six months. What we would traditionally refer to as the summer slide is compounded by the fact that we had three additional months of school building closure, and many of our students are learning remotely. Again, it is why it's so important that children get back into classrooms where the strongest learning can take place.
Commissioner Schwinn:
Because of some of these building closures and because of the impacts of COVID-19, we are seeing a significant decrease in the proficiency of students entering school this fall. Specifically, we are estimating a 50, five zero, 50% decrease in proficiency in third grade reading. And we are projecting a 65% decrease in proficiency in third grade mathematics. 50% for third grade ELA and 65 for mathematics. We know that this is impacting our youngest learners more than anybody else. It's really hard to teach a child to read, but it is really hard to teach a child to read through a computer. We know that our students from our most vulnerable populations, our children with disabilities, our students who are in low income communities, our students who need additional services and supports in a regular or traditional school setting are being more negatively impacted. In fact, what we're seeing is that those students who are lower proficiency at the end of last year are having two and a half times more of a negative impact on their overall proficiency.
Commissioner Schwinn:
We also know, as I said, that youngest grades are more impacted than older grades. We are seeing some relatively consistent data across the state. So this is impacting folks whether you're in an urban, a suburban, or a rural community very similarly. We also know that this has lifetime impacts. This is not something where we can just catch up quite quickly if we don't do something, we don't act urgently. The research in the economics of education, and this is a recent report from September of 2020 in partnership with OECD, shows that each additional year of schooling increases life income by an average of seven and a half to 10%. So in other words, a loss of one third of a school's worth of learning, a school year's worth of learning, would reduce the subsequent earned income of every student by about 3%. So you can imagine when we have three, six months of closed school buildings, if we do not act to catch kids up and reduce learning loss, this has a long-term effect on their future income.
Commissioner Schwinn:
Similarly, we know that a loss in academic skills that result from school closures have untested ways of what that might look like for overall student achievement. So for example, if students are not in buildings, they are not with peers, they are not getting that direct instruction from an adult, from a highly qualified teacher in the classroom, we know that there is an extraordinary cost in things that we don't measure through standardized tests. The way in which students interact with one another, the way in which they think about how to solve problems, the way in which they are able to ask for help and receive immediate feedback on their work.
Commissioner Schwinn:
What we know is that children from disadvantaged backgrounds and students with learning difficulties have a particularly difficult time because the quality of services or the amount of services has significantly reduced. Further, due to some of the different pressures, school closures will also create burdens on families. And so families who might be able to focus on supporting their children at home are balancing the needs of working from home, taking care of the home, and then educating their students. That often means that students are not getting that consistent six and a half hours of instruction if they are not in school buildings.
Commissioner Schwinn:
All of this means, and to give you some direct data, we know that in third grade, we typically have a 33% literacy rate. We are probably going to look at somewhere between 12% and 14% literacy statewide. We know in mathematics, we typically have a 33% to 35% proficiency rate in fourth grade. We are currently looking at 17% due to some of the losses as a result of the COVID slide. This is incredibly urgent, as I said, especially for our youngest learners and our most vulnerable students. It is going to be critical that together with our districts, the Department of Education, and our legislature, we work to be able to provide really strong solutions for districts. And we've got some great things coming up. So thank you for that.
Governor Bill Lee:
Thank you, Commissioner, for that and for your work to get that information out so that we can all understand just how important it is that we get our kids back on track. And Director Krause, why don't you give us an update on what we're doing in higher education? Specifically regarding lowering the barriers for kids to engage in higher education through financial aid.
Director Krause:
Thank you, Governor. And the challenge that we're facing in higher education right now is really two-fold. First, we have the immediate task of retaining and graduating the students that are already on our campuses. Second, though, we have a pipeline challenge. We have to ensure that this year's high school juniors become next year's college freshmen. And there is no doubt that COVID-19 has disrupted many of the ways we would ordinarily engage with those students. And I think our ultimate concern is that the intensity of this moment leads to us losing students who would have otherwise been successful. And so, as such, we have taken a series of emergency financial aid actions around the Tennessee Promise and the HOPE Lottery Scholarship in the hopes that we are taking down every possible hurdle for students in route to one of our campuses.
Director Krause:
First on Tennessee Promise. So each semester that you're enrolled with Tennessee Promise, a student has to complete eight hours of community service. We believe obviously, in this time, that would represent an undue challenge to many students to get a community placement. And so we have waived the community service requirements for Tennessee Promise during this fall semester. I believe that community service is a key part of the program. I think helping students to have some skin in the game for their higher education is a worthy goal. But we weigh that against the immediate challenge of ensuring that we don't lose students in the scholarship program.
Director Krause:
Second, we have a small state student loan program that is important though, and it's especially important to math and science teaching candidates and some of our nurses. When we began to evaluate the economic crisis we're all facing right now, we took a hard look at whether or not the right thing to do was to give those students the option of deferring all student loan payments, potentially up until June 2021. We have taken that action. Additionally, we have frozen interest on all of those programs that the students requested it occur.
Director Krause:
Finally, on the HOPE Lottery Scholarship program. We have 50,000 Tennessee students who utilize this program every year. The reality is this is a 16 year old program that really wasn't built with some of the circumstances that we're currently seeing in mind, particularly during the spring semester. When our campuses had to instantly pivot online, most of them also instantly pivoted to pass fail grading. The HOPE Lottery Scholarship was not built to have a GPA calculated that's binary. So as a result, we have issued clarifying guidance and flexibility to our campuses to ensure that no student faces a penalty due to the fact that the campus went to a pass fail grading system.
Director Krause:
So this is a really appropriate time to bring this update also because this is college app week in Tennessee. And this is a partnership with Commissioner Schwinn and her team. When you look at the momentum that we've had in our state over the last few years, it's really a story about people working really hard, whether it's school counselors, whether it's our own state Advise Tennessee and GEAR UP team, or whether it's our community partners like the Ayers Foundation and Tennessee Achieves, we have a lot of people focused on helping high school seniors take their next step. And that's especially the case this week during college app week. We're all doubling down on a single message to our seniors. And that is the aid that you've seen the classes before you get is still there for you.
Director Krause:
A lot has changed. We're looking at a high school senior class that probably faced an end of their junior year that they never imagined. And their senior year may not look quite as they had pictured either. But what has not changed is in Tennessee, you can graduate and go to tuition free community or technical college, get a college degree, and get a great job. We want to help our seniors do that. We're trying to deliver a very clear three-pronged message to them. First, we need you to apply for Tennessee Promise, preferably this week, but no later than November first. Second, we need you to complete your free application for federal student aid no later than February 1st. And finally, we need you to apply to college, but we're also here to help you do that. We're asking our seniors that need assistance to reach out to us on collegefortn.org at any time.
Director Krause:
And we're also really taking a moment to help seniors think through the fact that there are opportunities here that aren't present in other states. When we take a look at what our career and technical education pathway looks like, we know for a fact that our students that go to our TCATs are graduating. 90% graduation rates, 85% job placement rates. And so in the midst of a lot of these changes, we hope our seniors are kind of keeping their eye on that north star. We will continue to adapt to make sure that we're able to serve our students during this time. Thank you.
Governor Bill Lee:
Thank you for both of those reports. And the reason that we have talked today so much about education and why this is the primary focus of today's briefing is because of this new data that's come out and this new awareness that we have around the need for higher education engagement. Tennessee has been a leader for many years in the area of education. We have worked. We have set trends in higher education, in the engagement of students with our education. We have advanced achievement in Tennessee through our K-12 programs for years. We've been one of the fastest improving states in outcomes. The reason why this matters so much to Tennesseans is because these kids that we're talking about are the future of our state. And this pandemic has had tremendous impact, negative impacts on our country. But what we're looking at right now are the potential for it to have negative impacts long into the future in Tennessee.
Governor Bill Lee:
That's why we are so committed and working so hard to develop strategies, programs, engagement, and communication with folks all across the Tennessee. How important this issue is, how much we have to be engaged in it, how much the future of Tennessee depends on the education of our young people. And we are committed to that from K-12 all the way through higher education. So we want to make sure that those efforts continue, we want to make sure that we work with local districts. We have partnerships. The teachers in this state have done an incredible job. Added responsibilities on top of the work that they normally have to get kids back into the classrooms. And we thank them for that. We thank superintendents, we thank school boards for partnering with us and engaging with us, and we will continue to work with you to make sure that Tennessee does everything it can to overcome the challenges. That's what we do, we overcome challenges. And we'll do so in our education system as well.
Governor Bill Lee:
Dr. Piercey's available for our Q and A for any health questions that we have. We also have members of Unified Command here as well. So why don't we get to questions?
Speaker 1:
Thank you so much, Governor.
Governor Bill Lee:
Yes, sir.
Speaker 1:
My question to you is what is your message to Nashville restaurant and bar owners who clearly feel that they were crushed based on insufficient data that we all now have, including yourself?
Governor Bill Lee:
My message to Tennessee business people from one end of the state to the other, including Nashville businesses, is that we have a responsibility to mitigate the spread of this virus to protect lives, but to protect livelihoods as well. That's the reason that we have made an effort to loosen and take off restrictions to businesses. People's very livelihoods depend on these small businesses across our state. It's the reason we've injected coronavirus relief funds into small businesses, including bars and restaurants. Like I said last week, we need our state to open. We need our businesses to be operating. We need jobs to be created in our state. We need livelihoods to be protected. And we're going to do everything we can to do that.
Speaker 1:
Thank you, sir. And my brief followup would be do you think there was sufficient data at July 2nd for this massive closing as well as the rollback of restaurants in Nashville?
Governor Bill Lee:
Well, I think that we have worked with local leaders to make decisions regarding their data. And I expressed last week, the mayor made a request to me specifically for funding for our state, I said that I think our strategies have been different. I have had a much stronger belief that we need to open up our businesses. We did that very soon in the majority of our counties across the state. And that's the strategy that I believe is best and we'll be committed to.
Speaker 2:
Good afternoon, Governor. The Tennessean reported about a week ago that the Department of Health had conceded that about roughly 14,000 cases of COVID had been mislabeled as active when they weren't at one point, inflating the numbers significantly. At least one school board member in Williamson County said had they had accurate data down there, they likely would have opened schools in person. Some people are saying that this was part of a conspiracy by the state, of course, to make the outbreak seem worse than it was. So could you speak to the first part of that question? Do you think the state's error here has complicated the reopening decisions for communities? And secondly, was this an intentional ruse by the state to [crosstalk]?
Governor Bill Lee:
Well, I'll let Dr. Piercey talk about the specifics of that data, but I'll speak to your point about reopening the state and somehow implying that there's a desire to make the virus worse than it is. I have a strong commitment to open this state. We were one of the last states to shut down and one of the first states to open up. We understand that opening businesses is an incredibly important part of addressing this virus. So I welcome any data that shows improvement. It certainly has to be right data and true data, but we look for any data that allows us ... and by the way, we're very cautiously optimistic about the data. It's going in the right direction. It's why we're having success opening schools and opening businesses and the virus case continues to go down while we continue to open up. So that's our commitment at the state. Can you address the specifics ...
Speaker 2:
And while she's coming, Governor, would you concede that the state's error had made it more complicated for school districts or ... [crosstalk]
Governor Bill Lee:
It depends on how people use data for decision-making. We've been very clear about what that data is, what it is not, how it should be used and how it should not be used, recognizing that data is complicated. We want to give more and more data whenever we can, but people have to be very ... we have to be very careful about how we use that data to make decisions. That's something that we try ... that we work at very hard at the state, is to use data to make informed decisions, but to use it wisely.
Dr. Piercey:
The Governor just made a very good point and I'll come back to that in just a second. I think you're referencing what we call the data refresh that we did I believe it was September 3rd. It was the Thursday before Labor Day. And in the press briefing on that day and in the press release and in the private session with press beforehand, the pen and pad, we talked about always constantly updating that data. And that is one of those adjustments that we made. Certainly nothing was intentional or a ruse and a conspiracy, as you mentioned.
Dr. Piercey:
Specifically what you're referencing is the categorization of active versus recovered. I want to make note the case count was never incorrect. The case count was never adjusted. Active and recovered is a calculated number, and you'll recall on September 3rd, we made the calculation. We changed it from 21 days to 14 days to define that.
Dr. Piercey:
So the case count was never altered. This was a calculated number that was shifted. But the most important thing to remember here is what the Governor just said before he stepped away, which is you have to be really careful how you use that data. We never advocated or endorsed for any type of formula to be used for active case count. In fact, in this setting and in many settings, we repeatedly talked about it being a multifactorial or a multi-faceted decision that should be done in combination with one's local health department. It has to do with positivity rates and case rates and trends, not one specific number. So I think the most important part here is how people use data and how certain calculated numbers may not be the most accurate.
Speaker 2:
Thank you. And Governor, a few months ago, you were speaking to the death of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement, and you said that police brutality is not law enforcement, and that the officers who were responsible for his death should be brought to justice. And today in Louisville, we see that that officer was not charged with any kind of homicide-related charge. Is that justice ...
Governor Bill Lee:
Well, we would ...
Speaker 2:
... and was that police brutality?
Governor Bill Lee:
So in response to the George Floyd death, and in response to the understanding that we have that law enforcement plays an incredibly important role in our society and the rule of law and law and order are incredibly important part of America and set us apart as a nation, we have an ultimate ... we have a real responsibility to make sure that our policing engagement with the community is as it should be. That's why we created the police task force, brought together stakeholders, gave them 60 days. They in fact provided a report 60 days later, the first step in ensuring that we do have professional law enforcement, which we do have professional law enforcement agencies all across our state, but that we hold ourselves accountable, that we look for continuous improvement, and that we look for ways to make sure that that law enforcement isn't police brutality. That's what we're trying to do in Tennessee as a response to any number of instances we've seen across the country.
Speaker 2:
And do you have any remarks on what's happening there?
Governor Bill Lee:
What's happening in Louisville?
Speaker 2:
Yeah. Is that officer being brought to justice?
Governor Bill Lee:
My comments on that are that we're working really hard to make sure that doesn't happen here.
Speaker 2:
And is there any update on the Mayor Cooper situation? Have you spoken with him or had the meeting ...
Governor Bill Lee:
Not beyond what I just said, which was a response to his letter and ...
Speaker 2:
No meeting yet?
Governor Bill Lee:
I'm sorry, we haven't met yet, no.
Speaker 3:
Good afternoon, Governor. Following up a little bit on Natalie's question, earlier today, Senator Akbari said that she was planning on bringing legislation next year that would end no-knock warrants in Tennessee.
Governor Bill Lee:
That would ... I'm sorry?
Speaker 3:
That would end no-knock warrants in Tennessee. If that were to be passed by the legislature, is that something that you would consider signing?
Governor Bill Lee:
I think there'll be a number of ideas that the legislature brings forth that we should all look at. We should continue to engage in this dialogue. The task force will continue to bring forth ideas. I look at any idea that the legislature brings forth certainly that will improve our understanding of how policing operates in this state, and particularly if law enforcement believes and agrees that that's an appropriate step, whatever that step is.
Speaker 3:
And then a question on education, and I'd love for you to answer it, but also Commissioner Schwinn to weigh in. Yesterday, superintendents that were speaking to the house education committee cited very low numbers. At least one said that no cases were related to schools in their county. Another said that I believe it was five cases. You've advocated very strongly for in-person learning. Do you believe that the position that you've been advocating for is particularly risky to students and families?
Governor Bill Lee:
Do I believe the position is ...
Speaker 3:
Is particularly risky to students in their families?
Governor Bill Lee:
I think that we have ... Commissioner Schwinn, you can give me this specific data if I'm wrong about this, but I think we have 0.5 of 1%, half of 1% of our schools have had a closure or have some level of closure. Most of those are a classroom closure in our state. The vast majority ... I think we have seven or eight schools that have a partial closure out of about 1800 schools that are operating with in-person learning. Our teachers, our districts have done an incredible job of preparing a safe environment for teachers and students. We're very encouraged so far with the outcomes there. We also recognize and see today just how important it is that we have kids in the classroom. So I think we've taken the right approach.
Speaker 3:
Thank you.
Governor Bill Lee:
Sam.
Sam:
Thank you. Considering all the talk yesterday in the House Education Committee about the problems that the students are having and the problems that Commissioner Schwinn and you all have just described, would you recommend that teachers be given a whole harmless deal on TNReady this spring?
Governor Bill Lee:
I think that what's most important is that we have an assessment of students in the spring so that we know where they are. If we don't know where our students are, then we don't know how to improve. And so I think we ought to have an assessment and we ought to make sure we know where our students are.
Sam:
I understand that ...
Governor Bill Lee:
With regard to assessment, with regard to teachers, the legislature obviously has a decision to make about changing responsibility of how assessments impact teachers.
Sam:
But would you support teachers being held harmless [crosstalk 00:40:53] from those scores?
Governor Bill Lee:
I would support the legislature at that, and understanding that fully in order for them to make a recommendation or for them to actually make a decision regarding that. Do you have comments on that, additional? Yep.
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
Thank you. So I think what we heard yesterday is very similar to conversations that have happened over the last six weeks, which is we've got to focus on school reopening. As the Governor said, 99.6% of our schools are open at any given time. Those are offering in person instruction. Now we are at a space where we know we have to measure how students are doing. It's critically important, as you heard the data earlier. What we do with that information, what I certainly heard and we heard from the committee yesterday, was that we need to have a more broad conversation in the coming weeks around what that means in terms of accountability, what it means in terms of teacher evaluation, et cetera. And so I don't think in these first early weeks of school that there's a definitive decision on that. It does take an act of the legislature, but we are planning to have robust sets of conversations in the next four to six weeks around what that means, especially as we move into the remainder of the school year.
Sam:
Yes, but you just issued a release saying that their math is going to be down, what, off 60%, reading off 50%. I mean, how can you put teachers in this situation where the students are struggling so hard and then expect them to do well on their ... the teacher's evaluations?
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
Yeah. And I think what you said is really important. You said the word students three or four times, and I think what we need to really focus on, especially in these first several months, is what is it that our students need for all of us to do to ensure that we can recover that learning loss and then accelerate achievement.
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
Especially in these first couple of months, when I'm speaking with superintendents, when I'm speaking with teachers in the classroom, those conversations are rooted in what do we need to do that's best for kids? And as we move and progress into the remainder of the semester, that's when we need to have that robust conversation about what does that then mean with what we do with the assessment data? But again, that early conversation, these first eight weeks in a very different school year has got to remain focused on what do we need to do right now to recover on the learning loss and accelerate achievement for children? And that will continue to be the focus of the department and I know our districts as we have these other conversations in the coming four to six weeks.
Sam:
So are you saying it's too early to tell whether the teachers should be held harmless?
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
I'm saying that there are a lot of people who weigh in on that, and that includes the legislature, our superintendents, et cetera, and the next four to six weeks, we're going to have some robust conversations.
Sam:
Okay. One more question, Governor. Representative Scott Cepicky said yesterday that he had talked to you about the Child Wellbeing Check Program and that you said, or you told him that when you first saw it, you wanted it taken down immediately, yet when I asked you about this a couple of weeks ago or so, you defended the program and said you didn't feel it was overreach. Do you want me to clarify that?
Governor Bill Lee:
I don't believe I told you that I defended it and didn't believe it was overreach. I told you that when I saw the program, I wanted it taken down, and the commissioner would agree with the fact that I made that decision when it became clear to me.
Sam:
Okay, that's not what my recorder said.
Governor Bill Lee:
Well, that's fine. You tell me what you said, but when I saw the report, and I think as you saw, my response to the report was that we need to take it down. I defended the process, but I asked for the report to be taken down. And I think Commissioner Schwinn sent the letter or communication saying such.
Sam:
And one more thing. They talked in the House Education Committee this morning about the need to take a new look at the assessments instead of having TVAAS, some other process to evaluate teachers and how they're performing. Would you support a change in that?
Governor Bill Lee:
Yeah, I'll tell you what I'd support. I'd support that we have really good conversation with all the stakeholders on what we do with assessments in this next year, and the data that comes from those, having strong conversation from stakeholders about what we ought to do with that information.
Sam:
Okay. Excellent.
Speaker 4:
I'd like to ask Commissioner Schwinn a question.
Sam:
I'm sorry?
Speaker 4:
I'd like to ask Commissioner Schwinn a question. Excuse me. Sorry. It's the mask. Hey, Commissioner Schwinn.
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
Hi, how are you?
Speaker 4:
What would be your message to the parents, specifically the ones that are seeing their students really struggle right now, the ones that maybe were having a hard time last year, you said 2.5 times harder now. Deficiency numbers, 50% in reading, 65% in math. What immediate changes need to happen? What's your message to those parents?
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
Yeah. So I really appreciate that question even more so because I've got two school-aged girls at home who are ... we're doing our best to make sure that they stay on track, especially in that critical area of early reading.
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
So I would say to families, look, there's a few things. Number one, we have ... a number and he majority of our schools in the state are open in-person and that does provide the strongest place for a child to be educated, especially in those early grades. And it's critically important that every student has a fair shot. I think second is when we think about the importance, especially of early reading and early mathematics, families can continue to support learning at home, reading to their child. We have resources available for families on our website that allow them to really do some of that at home work.
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
And then third, I would say, be in close touch with your schools and your teachers. A lot of our schools and districts right now are giving those early assessments, those checkpoints at the beginning of the year. And that gives you a good idea of where your individual child is performing where they might have otherwise been performing. And I think those are the rich conversations that personalize this work, because I want to know how Ellie's doing. I certainly want to know how every child in the state is doing, but I want to know how my own daughter is doing as well. So those are the conversations that I think are going to be critically important for families. And I do want to say that our districts are working incredibly hard to make up that time, make up some of that loss, but it is going to take families, districts, and the state working very closely together.
Speaker 4:
Can you tell parents what the Department of Education is doing with these numbers coming out today that might want to say, "My kid falls under this. I ... they're not reading well."
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
Yeah, sure. So there's a couple of things. So I think one is districts will be providing families ... as they're giving these assessments, typically what happens is teachers will be having those conferences with parents, letting them know how each individual child is doing. I will also say that as a state, we have been working very closely with superintendents. We'll continue to engage with the legislature on things like literacy programs, on things like how to remediate for mathematics. We have a website that allows for videos that you can show your child. PBS is another great example where students can engage in real time in at home learning. But I think that we've got some really great programs that are out and some that are yet to come, but they are really geared towards how to make sure that families know where their children are and where their child is, and the best ways to support them at home as teachers are working really hard to support children in classrooms.
Speaker 4:
Thank you.
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
Yes.
Speaker 4:
[crosstalk] Commissioner off stage.
Governor:
[crosstalk] You might stay up. You might as well stay close.
Speaker 4:
[crosstalk] What data and research are you basing these projections on specifically?
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
Sure. There are two different studies that have happened. I shouldn't say studies. There are two different sets of data and information that we are using. So first is that there was a study that was done in late June, mid June. And that was a partnership between the department, an organization called Credo and NWEA. It was a predictive model to map out how students were projected to perform, or at least what their proficiency rates would be coming back to school after building closures and after an extended period of time outside of the classroom. So that was one set of data.
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
The second set of data is a combination of a couple of factors. First is data and information that our districts are providing to us voluntarily. And it is combined with our beginning of your checkpoints that the department is offering for free. At this point we've had over 30,000 students who have completed those beginning of year checkpoints. That's given us a relatively good landscape or at least a prediction of what that will look like statewide. So those two data points together, especially when compared with one another have allowed us to be able to project what we think that learning loss measure it.
Speaker 4:
And forgive me, what does a beginning of the year checkpoint look like?
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
Sure. So at the beginning of the year checkpoint is a free resource that was provided by the department. We were intending to provide it in two years, but certainly accelerated to address COVID. And that is a short form assessment that matches the T cap from the last year.
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
So if you were a fourth grade student, you would be able to take a short form or an hour long version or less of what that third grade assessment would have been the year before. And that helps the teacher identify what mastery level generally that child had for the third grade standards. And that's something we provide for free in the same assessment platform that you would take the T cap in.
Speaker 4:
And I have a quick question for Governor. Governor, from the looks of it. It seems like the state of emergency and a whole bunch of other executive orders are up for renewal or expiration on the 30th at the end of the month. Do you plan on extending the state of emergency and do you plan on extending the one that allows local governments to require masks?
Governor Bill Lee:
So there are a lot of components to that state of emergency, or at least a lot of implications that have to be considered every month. And we take them month to month and we're doing that right now. So we'll have that determination certainly before they run out.
Speaker 4:
Okay. Thank you.
Speaker 5:
Good afternoon Governor. With the recovery of learning loss among third graders seemingly something that you want to take immediate action on, might you consider a special session? We've heard the legislature's name invoked several times here today. Might there be thoughts in that direction or a legislative package that is immediate or something executive action immediate?
Governor Bill Lee:
So we've just gotten this information and we have ...
Speaker 5:
You said you were sounding the alarm.
Governor Bill Lee:
Yeah, I am sounding the alarm. I'm sounding the alarm that we have a real challenge here. But just like questions about "What are you going to do with that data?" We have a lot of folks who are engaged to decide what to do, when to do it, how to do it. It's very important that we address it.
Governor Bill Lee:
And so we're going to evaluate this data, see what impacts it has in the short term and longterm, and then start developing a strategy to address it. We've already begun developing a strategy. We knew this was coming. We didn't know the extent to which it was coming. But now we have some data to substantiate what we expected-
Speaker 5:
[crosstalk] Can it wait until January?
Governor Bill Lee:
No, we will not wait until January to begin to develop a plan to address it. Absolutely not. And we're looking at ways already to address that. There's some funding that we've received federally for illiteracy program. You want to address specifics. But I'll just say broadly, we've just gotten this data. We have a real urgency to address it and we'll be doing so in the weeks ahead.
Speaker 5:
And one more question, if I may. To the immediate right now going on in lieu of the decision in Louisville concerning Breonna Taylor and potential protests that we've been hearing about ... We've been hearing about law enforcement being on alert. Do you have a message for Tennesseans about this?
Governor Bill Lee:
Yeah. It's tragic, what occurred there. It's complicated, what occurred there. And we want to do everything that we can in this state to make sure that it doesn't happen here. Everything is a very comprehensive word. And there are a number of ways that we're approaching that from the reforms to meeting with community leaders, addressing the comprehensive challenge that turned into a tragedy in the George Floyd situation and the Breonna Taylor situation.
Governor Bill Lee:
Those are tragedies. Families profoundly negatively impacted. And we have a desire in this state to do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen here.
Speaker 6:
Thank you. My first question is about you referenced a little bit earlier how you sent thank you cards to Senator Alexander and Senator Blackburn talking about the Supreme court vacancy and their commitment to filling that.
Speaker 6:
There are several Republican lawmakers who are facing some backlash over concerns they made in 2016 saying they don't feel like it's right to fill a Supreme court vacancy in the last year of an election cycle. Now we're in the same boat, obviously a different president, a different political party. But what do you say in response to Republican lawmakers who are appearing very wishy-washy on where they stand on this issue?
Governor Bill Lee:
I'm not wishy-washy on where I stand on the issue. And that is that our founding fathers understood very clearly that there would be seasons like this which is why they constructed the constitution as it is. It's happened. This is no new precedent.
Governor Bill Lee:
As I said before, a third of our presidents have filled vacancies in election years. There's no doubt in my mind about this process being fulfilled and being fulfilled swiftly. It being an obligation and a responsibility. And I can only speak to what I believe should happen today. And that's what I think should happen today.
Speaker 6:
Okay. And then my next question is for Commissioner Schwinn, actually. Talking about the literacy rates that you were referencing earlier, since this is such a concern, are you anticipating this being an issue for years to come? I guess the pause that COVID has put on children's learning. How long do you anticipate people having to recover from this kind of setback?
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
Yeah. So thank you for that question. And I think it's important to be able to provide that context. So what we're looking at is unprecedented and I think that the drops that we're seeing in terms of learning loss as a result of school building closures is going to take more than a school year. So I want us to have realistic expectations for the hard work that's happening with our superintendents, teachers, principals, and more.
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
And it means that we have to act with urgency. These are students in buildings right now who deserve to have the same educational opportunities as those from the year before and the years before that.
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
A couple of things that I'm very grateful for in terms of that quick action, the department of education has received $40 million in competitive grants to specifically to support literacy remediation and supports to address COVID. That is more than any other state in the country. $20 million of those grants are specifically targeted for our most vulnerable and our lower performing students, allowing parents to make choices about how they want those students to receive additional support. So very excited about those opportunities that can happen this year.
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
We also have 20 million additional dollars to support in school programs specifically for our districts that will allow them to get teacher level support, additional resources and the ability to work closely with one another to develop statewide regional plans to address learning loss in those critical early grades especially related to literacy. So those are two concrete actions that we'll be taking this year in real time, thanks to $40 million in federal support for those competitive grants.
Speaker 6:
Thank you.
Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Speaker 7:
Governor. That's the time we have for today.
Governor Bill Lee:
Thank you. And Chris, I hope that answered a little bit of your question that I didn't answer about some opportunities that we know that we have right now to begin to address the information.
Governor Bill Lee:
So thank you all for your questions. Thanks for being here. I want to close out on a different subject. A message to all those who enjoy the outdoors, especially those who enjoy hunting and fishing. In anticipation of a statewide hunting and fishing weekend or statewide hunting and fishing day this Saturday, I issued an executive order today establishing a commission on Asian carp. So Asian carp isn't just a nuisance for those who enjoy boating or fishing, but it is actually a very destructive part of a destructive force in our natural resources and our waterways that are treasures for all of us.
Governor Bill Lee:
And I look forward to working with this commission to address what is actually a very serious problem for anyone who enjoys the outdoors and for anyone who cares about our natural resources and our rivers. And that would be all Tennesseans.
Governor Bill Lee:
This weekend is not only important for anglers, but it's opening day of deer season in Tennessee. And I want to thank TWRA for really putting in place everything to ensure that we have a safe and successful hunting year. And I look forward in participating in that myself. So thank you all for being here today, we will return.