House Speaker Proposes Removing Bachelor’s Degree Requirement for Elementary and Middle School Teachers

Speaker Cameron Sexton (Photo by Cameron Sexton)

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, says the state needs to look for “out of the box” solutions to its teacher shortage problem.

In an interview with the Tennessee Firefly, Sexton said one option he’ll propose next year is to create an associate’s degree program for future kindergarten through sixth grade teachers.

Currently, public school teachers must hold a bachelor’s degree and be enrolled in or complete an educator preparation program. Under Sexton’s plan, K-6 grade teachers would only need two years of higher education and an internship.

He says the option might entice those who can’t afford a four-year degree to go into teaching, along with retirees and those in areas where it’s challenging to staff classrooms.

“And I think with the junior colleges being in more rural parts of Tennessee, you’d have a lot more opportunities and probably a lot more individuals willing to go into the teacher profession who may not have done it because a four-year degree was not something they wanted to go do,” said Sexton.

Passing the Praxis

Teachers in Tennessee are also required to pass the Praxis exam, and Sexton says participants in the associate’s degree program would have a similar requirement.

Tennessee’s elementary education content Praxis has a pass rate of 67 percent for first-time test takers.

Sexton tells the Tennessee Firefly that he believes teachers with an associate’s degree would have a similar, if not better, Praxis pass rate, because the teaching program itself would be highly specialized.

“I think the quality comes from the classroom experience and how you’re teaching them and what they’re doing, and I think there are a lot of great junior colleges in our state that are just as successful as a four-year college,” said Sexton.  “I don’t think that you have to have a four-year degree to be successful in life.”

Comparison to Nursing

Sexton says he doesn’t plan to propose requiring participants in the associate’s degree program to earn a four-year degree later, though he does believe many would do so on their own.

In that respect, he envisions the program would be similar to the nursing profession, where students can become a licensed practical nurse by obtaining a GED, completing a 12-month program, and an internship. Registered nurses must get a bachelor’s degree, and an advanced degree is required for nurse practitioners.

“They all three work in nursing, but they all three can do different things, meaning the RN can do more than the LPN, and the nurse practitioner can do more than the RN. I could envision the school system being the same,” said Sexton. “No, we’re not lowering the standards in Tennessee. We’re giving people more opportunities to do something that makes a difference in a highly specialized area and create a new system where it’s really driven for their day-to-day function in the classroom, where they can be successful.”

Sexton and other members of the Tennessee General Assembly will reconvene in Nashville on January 13, 2026.