By LUCAS L. JOHNSON II
Associated Press
NASHVILLE – A batch of new laws are taking effect in Tennessee on Friday, including a measure that toughens tenure requirements for teachers and another that is billed as fighting terrorism but that Muslim residents worry has targeted them for unfounded suspicion.
The tenure law, another bill that took away teachers’ collective bargaining rights and anti-terrorist legislation were the most contentious of roughly 500 bills that passed the Legislature in this year’s session. Opponents showed up at the Capitol to protest the proposals throughout the legislative process.
The tenure law requires a teacher to be on the job five years instead of three to get tenure and creates a way for job security to be revoked for poor teaching performance.