Do you know how your elected officials voted on education issues this year? A new tool will help.

Stock image of the Tennessee capitol

This year the members of the Tennessee General Assembly spent more than three months debating, voting, and passing legislation that will impact classrooms across the state.

Keeping track of all those bills can be a challenge for busy families, but education advocacy organization Tennesseans for Student Success (TSS) is launching an online tool to provide some help. The organization’s ninth annual TN SuccessCard will provide the public with an evaluation on how members of the General Assembly voted on key education policies during the 2025 legislative session. The Tennessee Firefly is a product of and supported by Tennesseans for Student Success.

A total of 94 legislators received an "A" score of 90 to 100 and 27 lawmakers received a failing score of a "D" (60 - 69) or "F" (below 60). 

The organization said in a news release that its staff analyzed committee and floor votes for nearly 20 pieces of legislation that were “most impactful for student success” and the “foundational policies that are driving Tennessee's national education ranking.”

"This year's legislative session had many key votes, including the passage of a bill that will provide fairness in the public charter school application process and the defeat of harmful legislative provisions that would have rolled back school classroom transparency," said TSS President and CEO Lana Skelo. "The TN SuccessCard provides families with an easy-to-access tool that grades the decisions their elected officials made this year. Lawmakers receiving an “A” prioritized supporting students and those receiving a failing grade likely placed outside interests above the success of their own communities."  

The organization said in the release that it hopes the online tool will provide parents, caregivers, educators, and all those with a vested interest in education the ability to see how legislators voted, read bill text and summaries, and learn more about what was done to protect accountability, and expand economic opportunity.

The public can access the TN SuccessCard online here.

Sky Arnold

Sky serves as the Managing Editor of the Tennessee Fireflly. He’s a veteran television journalist with two decades of experience covering news in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and Tennessee where he covered government for Fox 17 News in Nashville and WBBJ in Jackson. He’s a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and a big supporter of the Oklahoma Sooners.

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