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Gov. Bill Haslam calls Tennessee's community college graduation rates 'miserable'

Overall graduation rates for state community college students are about 28 percent, which the governor called 'really embarrassing.'
Credit: Hoar, Lauren

Gov. Bill Haslam offered a biting critique of Tennessee's community college graduation rates, calling them "miserable" during a Thursday event.

“You can be blunt about things once you’re getting ready to leave,” said Haslam, who later pointed out he’s down to roughly 90 days in office.

But he added work over the years has led to a path toward better outcomes for the state's residents during the event hosted by the State Collaborative for Reforming Education, a reform-minded advocacy group. And he pointed out that more work needs to be done.

That includes improving the TNReady test developed under his leadership, which has been marred by consistent problems. Haslam said he is concerned leaders will altogether halt some of those changes.

“My biggest fear is that we’ll lose heart now, because this is hard stuff,” Haslam said.

28 percent rate is 'really embarrassing'

Haslam, who served as the opening speaker during the SCORE summit, reflected on his work on education and how it plays a role in recruiting businesses to Tennessee.

“Every, every, every conversation comes back to, do you have the workforce you need,” he said, explaining that’s why he launched Drive to 55, which has a goal to get 55 percent of the state's residents equipped with a degree or certificate by 2025.

Haslam has also launched Tennessee Promise and Reconnect, two programs that get Tennessee students to college free of tuition and fees.

But he said his administration quickly realized that giving people access to free education is not beneficial unless they’re ready when they get there. He noted that 70 percent of students who get to community college needed remedial work.

That has impacted the overall graduation rates for state community college students, he said, which are about 28 percent.

"That’s still really embarrassing," he said.

Haslam: Better college results start in K-12

He said better outcomes for the state's colleges means getting Tennesseans better prepared in K-12.

One major shift for the state, he said, was looking at ways to accurately measure what students know through the launch of the TNReady statewide assessment in 2016.

“I love it that we’re the fastest improving state in the country in education,” he said. “But it’s worthless if we stop here.”

Later, speaking to reporters, Haslam elaborated on his concern, pointing out that his potential replacements — Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill Lee and Democrat Karl Dean — have called for a reset on the state’s K-12 testing.

“This is hard, and you all see when we have difficulties with the TNReady situation, everybody says we’ll just throw the whole thing out,” he said. “I think it’s important to remind people why are we doing this.”

“My concern is because it’s hard — it’s hard to get assessment right, it’s hard to get the evaluation right — that people after a while say let’s just go back to where we were before,” Haslam said.

Overall the governor said he was “pleased” with the education issues the gubernatorial nominees have discussed throughout the campaign.

Reach Jason Gonzales at jagonzales@tennessean.com and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzlaes.

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