No one told Erin Simmons she had to go to college.
College was for the smart kids. College was for professionals.
She wanted what her parents had -- to marry after high school, settle down with a family and work for one company until retirement.
But at 42, with five children in the midst of the recession, her plan wasn't working anymore.
Her high-school diploma didn't provide much more than odd jobs in fast food and bar tending. Her husband had a college degree and a decent job, but it wasn't enough.
"The car would break down, and there was no (financial) buffer," she said. "I couldn't give the kids $20 for a school field trip. Last year we had to draw straws for who got to play sports because I could only afford for one to play."
So Mrs. Simmons, like thousands of other Tennessee residents who hit a salary ceiling with only a high school education, headed to community college to improve her chances for success.
"I knew I had to get a marketable skill," said Mrs. Simmons, who is in a yearlong program to be a medical assistant at the Chattanooga State Technology Center. "Now I am pounding college into my kids."
Cultural attitudes about the value of education have taken a turn in recent years. The recession and employer demand for a more educated, trainable work force have underscored the importance of quality secondary and higher education. A survey of Chattanooga Times Free Press readers showed broad agreement that public education is among the top three more critical challenges facing the area.
State education leaders have worked feverishly to monopolize on changing mindsets by increasing academic standards and pushing for higher levels of educational attainment.
The recent special legislative session on education kick-started some of the most important reforms to K-12 and higher education in recent history and has attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in federal and nonprofit dollars for schools and colleges.
Tennessee, now on the bottom of almost every national educational ranking, could be poised for a turnaround, officials say.
"The special session was monumental," said David Wright associate executive director of policy, planning and research at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. "I think what Tennessee did with that session was draw a line in the sand and say, 'We aren't doing things the way we have done before.' I think we will look back in history as say this is when Tennessee began to change."
THEC has received several national grants to boost the number of college graduates, especially returning adult students who weren't encouraged to pursue college after high school. The state also will use about $500 million in Race to the Top federal money for innovative education reforms that will prepare current high schoolers for college curriculum.
"The world is changing"
And state education leaders are looking to harness the momentum for reform and excitement over winning the Race to the Top funds.
Tennessee SCORE, or the State Collaborative on Reforming Education, spearheaded by former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, plans to launch a statewide marketing campaign within the next year, which could include billboard and television advertisements, to encourage families to embrace high educational standards and aim for college.
Parents and students need to prepare as high school curriculum changes under the Tennessee Diploma Project and a more rigorous Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program are required, said Will Pinkston, a spokesman for SCORE.
"We as a state have had historically low standards, and that has led to poor student achievement," Mr. Pinkston said. "There is a real possibility that when test scores come out that students who used to be proficient aren't going to be proficient anymore. ... Change is jarring to people, and absent someone explaining these changes, you run the risk of great ideas being poorly implemented and poorly received."
Education leaders agree that although change will be difficult, Tennesseans recognize a need for reform.
The recession has created stiff job competition as hungry college graduates compete with laid off workers for shrinking employment opportunities. New manufacturing jobs, such as those with Volkswagen, which traditionally would have hired high school graduates, now want a college degree.
"The world is changing," Mr. Pinkston said. "The economy has shifted. Jobs that you used to be able to do with a toolbox you now need a computer and training on how to use that computer."
President Barack Obama has made education a priority. He wants every American to have at least one year of college, a goal he is supporting by increasing Pell grants significantly and putting millions of dollars toward increasing the profile of community colleges.
By the end of the decade more than 60 percent of jobs will require a college education, according to national report by Complete College America. The U.S. now ranks 10th globally in the percentage of young adults with a college degree and could lose its edge in business and industry, according to the report.
The shifting culture was evident during the Tennessee General Assembly's special session, which passed some of the state's most significant education reforms in January without much fanfare or partisan bickering, officials say.
"Not everyone in the General Assembly has agreed that we should promote college for everyone," Mr. Wright said. "There has been some in the past that said, 'A high school diploma was good enough for my parents and it's good enough for me.'"
Tennessee top 10 education facts
1. Seventy-seven percent of eighth-graders are not proficient in math.
2. Seventy-five percent of eighth-graders are not proficient in reading.
3. Tennessee ranks 41st in student achievement nationally.
4. Last year, 134 Tennessee schools failed to meet No Child Left Behind minimum performance standards.
5. Nearly 28,000 students dropped out of Tennessee high schools last year.
6. 1.2 million Tennesseans over 18 do not have a high school diploma or GED.
7. Twenty-one percent of Tennesseans over 18 cannot read well enough to fill out an application, read a food label or read a simple story to a child.
8. Sixty-seven percent of Tennesseans who receive the HOPE lottery scholarship fail to keep it for four years.
9. Of every 100 Tennessee ninth-graders, only 72 will graduate from high school and only 17 will graduate from college within six years of leaving high school.
10. Thirty-one percent of Tennessee's young adults, ages 25 to 34, have a college degree.
Source: Complete College America, Tennessee SCORE