On Wednesday, Rep. Craig Fitzhugh sent the following letter to Governor Bill Haslam concerning the new teacher evaluation system.

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11/02/11

Governor Haslam,

I am writing today to request your review of the new evaluation standards implemented for this academic year. After two days of testimony in the House Education Committee, I believe that the hasty implementation of this system has led to unintended consequences. My fear is that these unforeseen issues are working against larger reform goals and costing our children many quality teachers.

During the two days of testimony, members of the House Education Committee heard from teachers, principals, administrators and various interest groups. The sentiments were near universal. Our teachers are concerned about the time consuming nature of new planning requirements and the uneven application of standards across school districts.  Principals are overwhelmed by the number of conferences and evaluations they must complete each year, in addition to their multitude of other duties. Even superintendents have concerns about the new standards, citing a lack of adequate training for evaluators. In short, I believe the problem is real and widespread enough to warrant review.

Like our teachers, I know that we need tough accountability standards in education. I also understand that no system is ever going to be perfect. We will have growing pains, but that is precisely why we need to implement new evaluation standards with caution. If we gave our schools a year long “practice run” with the new system—which was a common request in committee—we would allow teachers, principals and administrators to feel more comfortable with the changes. It would also give the legislature a year to vet the evaluation standards and fix the multitude of problems that have arisen with input from teachers, principals and other stakeholders.

I know that you and Commissioner Huffman share my commitment to the students of Tennessee. Your efforts to improve education in our state are laudable and I hope to be a partner for you in the legislature. On this issue, however, we disagree and I ask you to reconsider your position. Review the testimony from the House Education Committee and you will see the serious nature of issues raised by teachers, principals, superintendents and legislators from across Tennessee. Education is one of the most important issues we deal with as a state and we need to get this right.

Thank your for your time and I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Craig Fitzhugh

Everywhere I go—from the grocery store to the doctor’s office—people tell me the number one issue I should be dealing with is jobs. I absolutely agree and I want you to know I’m working hard in Nashville to help get our people back to work.

 A few weeks back, I told you I was working with my fellow legislators to come up with a Jobs Package. This legislation, which is bipartisan and focused on common sense solutions, is off to a positive start. Over the next few weeks, I am going to write about this legislation. It’s my hope that you will share your thoughts with me about these proposals and help me get them passed in the legislature.

 The first proposal I have introduced is the Small Business Sales Tax Holiday. Each year individuals enjoy a 48-hour period where you don’t have to pay sales tax on certain items. This has the duel effect of saving people money and stimulating the local economy by encouraging purchases. Under my proposal, the sales tax holiday would be extended to include purchases made by small businesses. Specifically, it would allow businesses with less than 10 employees to take advantage of a $5,000 tax credit. This would have the same stimulating effect on local economies and allow our struggling small businesses to purchase copiers, machinery and other big ticket items at a reduced rate.

 The second proposal I have introduced is the Jobs for Tennessee Act. For years now local leaders have worked hard to prepare the West Tennessee Megasite in Haywood County. This megasite has the potential to attract many long-term and good paying jobs to our area. Under my proposal, the state would be required to release the funds needed to complete the megasite by June of 2012. This would allow work to be completed on the megasite, so we can start recruiting jobs to our area. A megasite like ours helped bring Volkswagen to Chattanooga. If we pass my bill, we can do the same thing for West Tennessee.

 I’m serious about getting people back to work in West Tennessee. While I know that government doesn’t have all the answers, I believe it does have an important role to play. When local and state governments work together with the private sector, jobs are created and people get back to work.

 If you have any questions about this new law or would like to hear more about another issue, please contact my legislative office and we’ll get your questions answered as soon as possible. Have a great week!

Over the past few weeks, I have talked a lot about education and many people have asked me what “real education reform” means. Today I want to address that issue as we wind up this series on education.

 First, we need to note what education reform is not. Education reform is not taking away teachers rights to bargain for things our students need like new text books, smaller class sizes, janitorial services and other classroom items. Taking away our teachers’ rights to bargain for the tools our students need to be successful is not about education reform, but instead about politics.

 Education reform is not about a back door process to get rid of tenure for our best teachers. Last session the General Assembly passed new laws, which I opposed, governing tenure. Under this system, teachers are arbitrarily scored on a scale of one to five. Teachers must teach for five years and score excellent two years in a row in order to receive tenure. On the surface this sounds like a good system, but the devil is in the details. As I talk to teachers & principals across my district—and across the state—they tell me that this new system simply doesn’t work. Administrators don’t have time to evaluate all of their teachers fairly; teachers are forced to spend too much of their day preparing to be evaluated and not enough focus is being placed on classroom instruction.

 Furthermore, the state department of education is failing to do its job training administrators on new evaluation procedures. In fact, training for these new evaluations lasted only four days and by all accounts was vague, confusing and unproductive.  This coupled with the fact that 60 percent of teachers don’t receive the data the state uses to evaluate teachers, completely undercuts our teachers and the goals of last years Race to the Top grant.

 So what is real education reform? Real education reform is giving our teachers the tools they need to help our students succeed. We achieve this when we allow them to bargain as a group for what they need to be successful. Real education reform is a system of tenure that works. We achieve this when we set high, but realistic standards for reaching this professional goal. Real education reform is a fair evaluation system that’s not just an overly burdensome mandate on schools. We achieve this when we bring everyone to the table-teachers, principals & administrators- to set fair, realistic and simple rules for evaluations.

 In the end, real education reform is about letting our teachers focus on what is important—educating our students. When we give teachers what they need to be successful, when we make tenure an achievable goal, when we evaluate them fairly they will rise to the occasion and prove once again that they are professionals up to the task of educating the next generation. That is real education reform.

If you have any questions about this new law or would like to hear more about another issue, please contact my legislative office and we’ll get your questions answered as soon as possible. Have a great week!

“Across the country and here in Tennessee, we are stuck in a jobs crisis, and it’s going to take everyone working together to get us out of it,” said House Democratic Leader Craig Fitzhugh. “Jobs are the number one priority for Tennesseans, and they also must be the top priority for their elected officials.”

Members will begin the tour Monday, Sept. 19, in Memphis, with stops throughout rural and urban areas across the state. The tour will end Saturday, Sept. 24, in Putnam and Smith Counties.

The unemployment rate in Tennessee currently sits at 9.8 percent, meaning more than 306,000 Tennesseans are looking for jobs and can’t find one. County unemployment rates are as high as 19.8 percent.

“People want their lawmakers to do something to combat the unemployment crisis, especially in rural areas that have been hit the hardest,” said State Senator Eric Stewart. “There’s a lot we can learn from going out there and listening to the people who are creating jobs, as well as the people who are looking for jobs.”

The tour will include several discussions and events open to the public, as well as daily press briefings and updates through traditional and social media. Members participating on the tour have pledged to use the feedback they receive on the tour to draft legislation directly addressing job growth throughout the state.

“The tour is our opportunity to listen, gather ideas and make decisions on what we can do as a state legislature to promote jobs in Tennessee,” Fitzhugh said. “We hope it will mark the beginning of a sustained focus on jobs and economic growth from all of our elected officials as we enter the next legislative session.”

Ripley, TN – State Representative Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley) is pleased to welcome Quaprotek USA’s announcement of a new factory to be located in Ripley.

“This has been a long time coming,” said Rep. Fitzhugh. “Many people have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make this happen. Mayor Rod Schuh, Mayor John Paveletic, our county commissioners, city aldermen, the chamber of commerce and our community banks have all put in the work that has now paid off big for Lauderdale County.”

Quaproteck USA is a German manufacturing company that builds metal parts for cars, engines and power trains. The company’s decision to relocate to Lauderdale County will bring 126 jobs and a $22 million dollar investment to Ripley.  

“I’m very pleased with our company’s decision to make Tennessee our newest home,” Klaus Kielwein, general manager of Quaprotek USA said. “I’m convinced our Ripley location will become an important asset in meeting the needs of our customers.”

Quaprotek will begin operating out of the Volz Road building in Ripley, while outfitting the 63,000 square foot Spec Building on Highland Street, which will serve as the company’s permanent location. The Ripley facility is expected to employ 126 people, with the majority of those jobs opening up in 2012.

“People want to work; the jobs simply aren’t there. What this project shows is that when local government, state government, community groups and the private sector work together, jobs are created and the people reap the benefit.  I’m proud to have been part of this endeavor and I look forward to more companies coming to West Tennessee in the future,” said Fitzhugh.

Those interested in applying for positions with Quaprotek USA should contact the Tennessee Career Center in Ripley at 731-635-3479.

Last year under Governor Phil Bredesen, Tennessee made great strides in education reform when we won the Race to the Top Grant. Unfortunately, one year later, we have back tracked and jeopardized our standing as a national model for education. Over the next few weeks, I want to cover these changes and show why I think it’s so important to reverse course next session and preserve our public education system.

Among the multitude of anti-public education bills filed this session was HB 1030, commonly known as the “Virtual Schools” bill. Under previous law in Tennessee, any school board could start a virtual education program for students enrolled in their public schools. This was commonly used to provide students with classes not offered at their institution or for students home bound by illness. It was provided free of charge and operated on a non-profit basis.

Under HB 1030, local school boards can still start their own virtual school, but now the state has opened the door to for-profit businesses running virtual schools as well. I opposed this legislation because I believe it will have several negative consequences.

First, I opposed this bill because public education is not intended to be a for-profit business. Tennessee’s constitution requires us to provide free public education to every student in the state. Under HB 1030, school boards can now charge tuition to students for virtual schools. Additionally, millions of your tax-payer dollars will go to private companies and the state will still be forced to provide computer and internet access to students enrolled in these for- profit virtual schools. This goes against the spirit of public education and is fiscally irresponsible.

Second, I opposed this bill because it is a prime example of special interest groups infiltrating the legislative process. K-12 Inc is a multi-million dollar virtual schools company founded by a convicted felon. During the last legislative session, K-12 Inc hired 3 lobbyists to push through the virtual schools bill. Don’t be fooled, K-12 Inc didn’t do this because they care about education; they did it because they stand to make millions by starting for-profit, tuition charging schools with your tax-payer dollars.

Finally, I opposed this bill because it is a step too far. While I support virtual education programs for homebound students or for students wanting to take more advanced classes not offered in their school, I am opposed to this legislation because it promotes for-profit virtual schools as an alternative to traditional, in-classroom learning. It is irresponsible to do this because, as the National Education Policy Center points out, we have no data to show us how these for-profit virtual schools will perform against traditional public schools. Until we have this data, it is premature to use tax-payer money to open hundreds of for-profit virtual schools.

As always, if you have any questions about this new law or would like to hear more about another issue, please contact my legislative office and we’ll get your questions answered as soon as possible. Have a great week!

Our economy is still in recovery. Businesses are hurting, it’s getting harder to send the kids off to college & even buying groceries has become a struggle for many families. That’s why I believe it’s time for state government to stand up and do something to help working people.

For the past several months, the State of Tennessee has brought in more money than our budget anticipated. In layman’s terms, this means the public paid more in sales tax than we intended and we now have a surplus. Rather than finding a place to spend this surplus, I believe we need to use it to provide businesses & working families with some much needed relief.

That’s why earlier this week I filed the “Tennessee Tax Payer Relief Act.” As introduced, this legislation would take the surplus revenue each year and invest it in two ways. First, half of the surplus would go to provide need based college scholarships through the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation. Second, the remaining half of the surplus would go toward a reduction in the sales tax rate on food & food ingredients.

This kind of tax relief will have 3 positive impacts on our economy in Tennessee.

First, it will help families struggling to pay for college. We know that an educated workforce is the key to attracting good jobs to our community. By investing some of this surplus money in our kids now, we are helping our economic prospects down the road.

Second, it provides tax cuts for working people & brings our sales tax on food down to levels more like other states. Our current sales tax rate on food is 5.5%. This rate is burdensome, especially to working families already struggling to pay for food, gas, clothing & a mortgage. It’s also disproportionately high when compared to states around Tennessee.  Arkansas, for example, taxes food at 2%, Missouri at 1.2%, Alabama at 4% & Kentucky has no tax at all on food. Our food tax rate is too high for this economy and we need to bring it in line with other states.

Finally, this bill will stimulate our local economies. By reducing the tax on food and relieving some of the burden of increased tuition, we are putting more money into people’s pockets. As a result, these individuals are more likely to spend that money elsewhere. This will generate more sales tax revenue for our state and help boost the profits of local businesses.

All in all, this is a win-win situation for our state and our citizens. I am proud to join my Democratic colleagues in introducing this legislation. I hope Republicans will join us and provide some real tax relief to the people of Tennessee.

As always, if you have any questions about this new law or would like to hear more about another issue, please contact my legislative office and we’ll get your questions answered as soon as possible. Have a great week!

NASHVILLE –Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh and the House Democratic Caucus filed a bill Thursday to allocate any surplus state revenues to cutting sales taxes on food and providing for need-based college scholarships.

“When the state is taking in more money than needed, as we’ve seen over the last few months, then this money needs to go back to Tennesseans not into the state’s pocket book,” said Fitzhugh (D-Ripley). “I and my colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus plan to push this bill forward in January when the Legislature returns to Nashville.”

The bill says that “surplus revenue” is defined as any amount of state revenue generated from sales & use taxes beyond budgeted estimates. 

Each April, the Commissioner of Finance & Administration, along with the Commissioner of Revenue, would certify the exact amount of surplus revenue the state has collected for the current fiscal year. The Commissioners would then notify the Governor, Lt. Governor & Speaker of the House.

Out of the certified surplus, half of the amount would be placed in a reserve account for the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation for the purpose of need-based scholarships. The following fiscal year, the remaining half of surplus revenue would be used to adjust down the sales tax rate on food & food ingredients for human consumption.

“The current sales tax rate on food in Tennessee is 5.5 percent,” Fitzhugh said. “Tennessee has a revenue surplus. This money belongs to the people and should be used to their benefit. This will help put food on the table for working families and stimulate the economy.

“Arkansas has a two percent sales tax on food. Kentucky has none.”

For the academic year 2011-2012, the University of Tennessee raised tuition anywhere from 9.9-15 percent. This is on top of a 9 percent increase from academic year 2010-2011.

For academic year 2011-2012, the Tennessee Board of Regents raised tuition anywhere from 8.8-11 percent. This is on top of a 5-11 percent increase from academic year 2010-2011

“Families are hurting in this recession and it’s getting harder to send our kids to college. As a result more and more students are qualifying for need-based scholarships through the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation; we need to pay for as many scholarships as we can,” Fitzhugh said.

State Representatives who have agreed to co-sponsor the bill with Leader Fitzhugh are Caucus Chairman Mike Turner (D-Old Hickory), Speaker Emeritus Jimmy Naifeh (D-Covington), Rep. Lois Deberry (D-Memphis), Rep. Joe Pitts (D-Clarksville), Rep. Jeanne Richardson (D-Memphis), Rep. Gary Moore (D-Joelton), Rep. Janis Sontany (D-Nashville), Rep. Mike Stewart (D-Nashville), Rep. Johnny Shaw (D-Bolivar), Rep. Mary Pruitt (D-Nashville), Rep. Mike McDonald (D-Portland), Rep. Karen Camper (D-Memphis), Rep. Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis), Rep. Tommie Brown (D-Chattanooga).

While Republicans & Democrats had many honest disagreements this past session, we were able to come together and solve some serious problems facing Tennessee. In no area is this cooperation more apparent than in our response to the new drug crisis involving methcathinone and its derivatives.

Methcathinone is a well know psychotropic drug with a high potential for addiction. In the United States, it is a schedule 1 drug and carries a Class B Felony for its production, distribution or sale. However, drug makers in China have found a way around this prohibition with new products known as “Molly’s Plant Food” or “Bath Salts.”

These two products, which were banned by the European Union in 2010, have no real purpose according to officials with the TBI. Commonly sold in gas stations throughout the state, these methcathinone derivatives have proved particularly popular among young people who snort them for a cheap high.

Since the products are derivatives of methcathinone and not technically the drug itself, law enforcement didn’t have the ability to go after people using or selling this highly addictive drug.

Responding to calls from local law enforcement officials, a bipartisan group of legislators introduced HB 457 commonly known as the “Bath Salts Bill.” This legislation makes it a Class A Misdemeanor to knowingly produce, sell or manufacture six specific derivatives of methcathinone-including Molly’s Plant Food & Bath Salts.  

This legislation, which does not outlaw legitimate bath salts like those found in a health & beauty store, passed 96-0 in the House of Representatives. I was proud to cast my vote for this bill, because we need to close the loophole and give law enforcement the tools they need to get these highly addictive drugs off the street.

On another note, this summer I am starting a new e-mail program where I send out bi-weekly updates-including “Craig’s Corner”- to subscribers. If you would like to get e-mail updates from me, you can sign-up at www.craigfitzhugh.com. Also don’t forget to find me on Facebook www.facebook.com/craigfitzhugh & Twitter www.twitter.com/craigfitzhugh.

As always, if you have any questions about this new law or would like to hear more about another issue, please contact my legislative office and we’ll get your questions answered as soon as possible. Have a great week!

NASHVILLE – State Representative Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley) &  State Senator Eric Stewart (D-Belvidere) announced Monday that they are filing a bill to make it a punishable crime when parents or guardians fail to timely notify authorities when a child under their care is missing.

“With any missing person’s case, and especially with children, every second counts,” Fitzhugh said. “If a child in our state is missing, we want authorities to be able to begin searching immediately. This law would make it a crime for any parent or guardian to delay the process that could bring a child to safety.”

The bill, known as “Caylee’s Law,” requires that authorities be notified as soon as a parent or guardian has reason to believe that a child within their custody or care has gone missing. Currently, Tennessee law (TCA 37-10-202) requires parents to report such information, but does not provide any means for enforcement.

Under Fitzhugh and Stewart’s bill, failure to notify authorities would constitute a misdemeanor. In situations in which bodily injury or death of the child resulted, the crime would be elevated to a felony. 

Tennessee currently participates in the AMBER Alert system, which brings the state’s law enforcement community, media broadcasting agencies and the public together to locate missing and abducted children. Those resources can’t be used, however, until the parent or guardian picks up the phone and notifies authorities. 

“As Tennessee lawmakers, we cannot do anything to change the outcome of the Casey Anthony trial in Florida, but we can and should strengthen our laws here in Tennessee,” Stewart said. “If a child is missing, the authorities should be notified immediately, not one day or 30 days later.”

Stewart and Fitzhugh said they are speaking with district attorneys and legislative lawyers to determine reporting timeline requirements that could vary based on the age of the child.  

The bill follows last week’s verdict in the Casey Anthony trial, which garnered national attention after the mother waited 31 days to report that her 2-year-old daughter Caylee had gone missing. The girl’s remains were later found near her Florida home.