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Committee advances bill to add 'success sequence' to family‑life curriculum after extended debate
Summary
House Bill 178, proposing that Tennessee’s family‑life curriculum include the 'success sequence' (education, employment, marriage, children) drawn from federal data, passed the Education Committee 15‑4 after prolonged debate over whether the approach shames students from non‑traditional households and whether the data are conclusive.
House Bill 178, proposing the addition of the so‑called "success sequence" to the family‑life curriculum in Title 49, passed the House Education Committee and will move to the calendar and rules after extended debate over educational content and messaging.
Representative Boso, the bill sponsor, said the proposal builds on work by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and cited data the sponsor said showed that millennials who followed the education‑employment‑marriage‑children sequence were much less likely to experience poverty. Boso told the committee one data point in his presentation: "97 percent of those millennials avoided poverty." He characterized the approach as presenting factual, data‑driven options to students aimed at avoiding poverty.
Other members strongly criticized the bill. Reverend McKenzie and Representative Johnson argued the proposal risks shaming students who do not come from a “nuclear family” or who follow different life paths; they said success depends on qualities such as grit, determination and opportunity, not a single prescribed life order. Representative Reeves asked a procedural question that the sponsor confirmed: the bill’s second step allows trade school, TCAT certificates or workforce entry as valid post‑secondary pathways, not exclusively traditional college.
Supporters said the curriculum would present data and options; opponents said it prescribes a single pathway and questioned the conclusiveness of the research. After the debate, the committee called the question; the clerk reported the result: 15 ayes, 4 nays. The bill was recorded as moving to calendar and rules.
