In Nashville, Tennessee’s public schools may soon be mandated to teach a specific life path as a formula for achieving success. This path proposes high school completion followed by employment or higher education, marriage, and then having children. The proposal is presently gaining traction within the state’s Republican-majority Legislature, mirroring similar initiatives advancing in various states this year.
Recently, the Tennessee Senate approved the bill with a 25-5 vote, leaving additional progress necessary in the House before it becomes law. Republican Sen. Janice Bowling, representing Tullahoma and the bill’s sponsor, emphasized that some students do not have the privilege of knowing or living within this proposed sequence. Hence, this educational guidance would act as a key to success for them.
Advocates of the so-called “success sequence” argue that it could potentially aid individuals in escaping poverty by postponing key life events, such as marriage and having children. However, Democratic critics contend that these teachings could influence personal decision-making while making students from single-parent families feel inferior.
This legislative effort aligns with similar proposals emerging in states like Texas, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Ohio. Notably, Utah has already seen its governor enacting a comparable law. Support for the policy shift is also being driven by advocacy groups, including the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation.
Under the proposed Tennessee bill, the family life curriculum from kindergarten through high school would need to include age-appropriate instruction about the positive societal and personal outcomes stemming from following the sequence. Importantly, under current state law, parents have the choice to opt their children out of family planning lessons.
Sen. London Lamar, a Democrat from Memphis, is a single mother and comes from a single-parent household. Sharing her personal success story, she expressed that she has outpaced many individuals who were born into two-parent families. Criticizing the bill, Lamar stated, “I think this bill is misguided, it’s very offensive, and I’m living proof that this bill has no merit.”
Supporters of the bill argue that the proposed life sequence is backed by research, even if it may not be applicable to everyone’s circumstances. However, critics caution that this perspective oversimplifies the diverse factors keeping individuals in poverty, suggesting it relies on correlation without definitive proof of causation.