Tennessee Senate Bill 471 was passed, signed by the Tennessee Senate Speaker on April 9, signed by the Tennessee House Speaker on April 10 and is currently transmitted to Governor Lee for action beginning on April 11.
“WHEREAS, couples who have children within marriage have higher family incomes and lower poverty rates than their unmarried counterparts; and
WHEREAS, over the past forty-five years, the number of children living with married parents has declined by twelve percent; and
WHEREAS, approximately twenty-five percent of all children today do not have married parents; and
WHEREAS, children raised by married parents are more likely to flourish compared to children raised in single-parent families; and
WHEREAS, children raised in stable, married-parent families are more likely to excel in school, and generally earn higher grade point averages than children who are not; and
WHEREAS, children raised by married parents are about twice as likely to graduate from college than children who are not; and
WHEREAS, children not raised in a home with married parents are twice as likely to end up in jail or prison before reaching thirty years of age; and
WHEREAS, children raised by a single parent are more than three times as likely to live in poverty than children raised by married parents; and
WHEREAS, the strongest negative community predictor of children from low-income families realizing the American dream, which includes going from poverty as children to affluence as adults, is the share of single parents in a community; and
WHEREAS, among millennials who finished high school, entered the workforce, and were married before having children, ninety-seven percent did not live in poverty when they reached adulthood; now, therefore,
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. This act is known and may be cited as the “Success Sequence Act.”
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. This act is known and may be cited as the “Success Sequence Act.”
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-1301, is amended by adding the following as a new subdivision:
“Success sequence” means a method by which a person completes the following in the following sequence:
(A) Obtains a high school diploma or high school equivalency credential;
(B) Enters into the workforce or pursues a postsecondary degree or credential;
(C) Enters into marriage; and
(D) Has children.”
The state House approved the bill 73-20 and state Senate passed the legislation 25-5. This will require public education to teach that the keys to a successful life include following a proper sequence of events: high school, job or higher education, marriage and then children.
Similar bills have been brought forward in other states, including Texas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio. In Utah, the governor has already signed a bill.
Senator London Lamar is a single 34-year-old mother and the daughter of a single mother. She said she knows a lot of people born into two-parent households, whom she has far exceeded in life. “I think this bill is misguided, it’s very offensive, and I’m living proof that this bill has no merit,” Lamar said.
What does this kind of curriculum teach to students who have widowed parents? What does this kind of curriculum teach to students who have a parent that abandoned their family? Or students who have broken homes because of adultery, assault or abuse?
Will this truly help the declining birth rate in America, or will this promote self-loathing for circumstances beyond a student’s control? This takes effect July 1, 2025, applies to the 2025-2026 school year and each school year thereafter.
