Broad Support For Pre-K, Raising Teacher Pay As Gubernatorial Candidates Talk Education

Preschool programs and raising the pay for teachers both got votes of confidence, as five of the major candidates for governor lined up at Belmont University Tuesday night to discuss education.

Sharing the stage for one of the first times this election year, the three Republicans and two Democrats who spoke at a forum organized by the Nashville-based education non-profit SCORE each argued that higher salaries are needed to attract and keep good teachers.

MORE: The SCORE education forum in tweets 

Five minutes to show time. The audience is practicing applauding. The candidates are practicing standing at their podiums.— Chas Sisk (@chassisk) January 24, 2018

Five candidates are on the stage tonight for SCORE education forum. Dems: Craig Fitzhugh and Karl Dean. Repubs: Beth Harwell, Bill Lee and Randy Boyd.

Mae Beavers is absent. Her mother died. Diane Black is also not here. Twitter showed her campaigning in Giles Co. today.— Chas Sisk (@chassisk) January 24, 2018

They also offered praise for Republican Gov. Bill Haslam and the improvements made to Tennessee’s education system in his nearly two terms in office. Among Haslam’s initiatives has been expanding pre-Kindergarten programs.

Former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, a Democrat, said he’d like to see pre-K taken statewide. That was a sentiment also shared by his primary opponent, House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley.

“And the reason is, it works,” Fitzhugh said. “My only sister-in-law is a 30-year elementary school teacher. And she and other teachers tell me there’s no question, that they know a child that’s been in pre-K.”

Though they also praised Haslam’s pre-school initiative, the Republicans who took part — House Speaker Beth Harwell, Franklin businessman Bill Lee and former state economic development commissioner Randy Boyd — were more measured about the benefits.

They cited research from Vanderbilt University that pointed out some limits to pre-K. The GOP candidates said they’d want to figure out why some programs work and some don’t before expanding to more districts.

Former state Senator Mae Beavers missed the debate; her mother recently died. Congressman Diane Black also wasn’t present. She blamed a scheduling conflict.