Amends TCA Title 4 and Title 49.

ON MARCH 24, 2022, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 918, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to make changes to present law concerning textbooks and instructional materials. Present law prohibits a teacher or principal in the public schools from using or permitting to be used in the person's school, whether as a supplement to the LEA's or school's adopted textbooks and instructional materials or otherwise, textbooks or instructional materials created to align exclusively with the Common Core State Standards or that are marketed or otherwise identified as Common Core textbooks or materials. This amendment removes the language "or otherwise identified" in order to clarify that the prohibition applies to textbooks or instructional materials created to align exclusively with the Common Core State Standards or that are marketed as Common Core textbooks or materials. This amendment makes a similar change by removing the language "or otherwise identified" from a provision of present law concerning the recommendation and approval of textbooks and instructional materials by the state textbook and instructional materials quality commission and the state board of education. This amendment also changes a cross reference in present law to clarify that the commissioner of education is required to withhold a portion of the state education finance funds that an LEA is otherwise eligible to receive if a teacher or principal employed by the LEA purposefully uses, or permits to be used, in the person's school, textbooks or instructional materials created to align exclusively with the Common Core State Standards or that are marketed as Common Core textbooks or materials. Beginning with the 2021-2022 school year, present law requires each LEA to locally devise, adopt, and implement a program of family life education in conformance with the curriculum guidelines established for such programs by state law. This amendment removes references to the family life curriculum developed by the state board of education that LEAs were authorized to implement as an alternative to developing and implementing their own program prior to the 2021-2022 school year. This amendment requires the department of education to coordinate with the Tennessee public charter school commission in developing the application template for charter schools. This amendment authorizes the Tennessee public charter school commission to require a charter school authorized by the commission upon appeal to delay opening for up to one school year through the charter agreement. This amendment deletes a provision of present law whereby the benefits, procedures, and standards for determining eligibility must comply with the personal injury rules of the state board of education for a teacher who is absent from assigned duties as a result of personal injury caused by a physical assault or other violent criminal act committed against the teacher in the course of the teacher's employment activities with an LEA that does not have workers' compensation coverage. This amendment specifies that, in LEAs that establish or contract for the operation of alternative schools, the transition plans for integrating students into and out of the alternative school must also address integration of public charter school students into and out of the alternative school. Present law requires LEAs to implement and conduct learning loss bridge camps for students, including students enrolled in a public charter school located within the geographic boundaries of the LEA, annually beginning in the summer of 2021. This amendment adds that the camps must be available to students enrolled in a state-authorized public charter school, located within the geographic boundaries of the LEA. This amendment requires that admissions rules promulgated by the board of trustees of the University of Tennessee and the state university and community college system must be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act. ON APRIL 18, 2022, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 918 FOR HOUSE BILL 757, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 918, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #2 removes the requirement that admissions rules promulgated by the board of trustees of the University of Tennessee and the state university and community college system be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act.