‘What Gets Measured Gets Done,’ Rep. John Rose Commits to Protecting Tennessee’s Assessment and Teacher Evaluation Systems if Elected Governor

John Rose speaking at the Tennessee Republican Statesmen's Dinner (Photo by John Rose)

U.S. Rep. John Rose says his experience starting an IT business set the foundation for his run for governor.

Rose says the job of governor takes exactly the type of CEO leadership experience that he has, and he says it’s a key difference between his background and his Republican primary opponent, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn.

“Generally, the most successful governors have had that kind of background and experience, and it makes sense,” said Rose. “I don’t think this is a retirement job. I don’t think this is about putting a trophy on my shelf. I think it’s about helping Tennesseans take on the challenges that face our state.”

Support for Accountability

The 6th District Congressman says he’d approach running Tennessee’s education system using the lessons he learned as a businessman, and that includes the state’s testing and teacher evaluation systems.

Last month, a state task force held a hearing to discuss potential tweaks to the teacher evaluation system, and lawmakers are planning a similar hearing later this month to discuss testing.

In an interview with the Tennessee Firefly’s On the Fly podcast, Rose said he’d be open to tweaks to assessments and evaluations, but believes the state should “keep on keeping on” with both systems that polling has shown Republican voters support.

“My experience in business taught me that, and it’s an old adage, what gets measured gets done, so I think the truth is we need those measurements,” said Rose. “If we want our school systems, education system, to be successful, then we need to have accurate measures to see what’s working and what’s not.”

Rural Tennessee Roots

Rose is an eighth-generation Tennessean who grew up in Putnam County. His mother was a public-school teacher, and he worked with his father on the family’s more than 230-year-old farm.

He previously served as Tennessee’s Agriculture Commissioner and says he decided to run for Congress in 2018 because he had concerns about the country.

Rose expressed a similar concern, playing a role in his decision to run for governor.

“I think it’s a critical time for our state. I think we face some critical times ahead that will test the ability of our state to remain true to the values that we cherish and maintain the character and nature of Tennessee.”

Support for Tennessee Teaching Experience and Dismantling the U.S. Department of Education

Rose announcing his campaign in March (Photo by Sky Arnold)

When Rose announced his campaign on a cold afternoon last March, he expressed support for two education priorities - appointing an Education Commissioner with Tennessee teaching experience and President Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

Rose says his support for a commissioner with Tennessee teaching experience came in part from conversations with voters who felt that past state leaders may not have fully understood challenges in the public education system.

“I think it needs to be someone who has been in the primary or secondary classroom and has some meaningful experience there, so that they’ve proven that they could succeed there,” said Rose. “The key for me would be to find someone who has that proven track record of success who can lead by example, who has the experience, knowledge, background to demonstrate to the people that they’re leading that they understand the challenge that those folks face.”

Rose believes President Trump’s plans for the U.S. Department of Education offer a solution to one of those challenges. He tells the Tennessee Firefly that school districts must spend too much time complying with federal rules and regulations.

He believes dismantling the Department of Education and returning more power to the states, as Trump has suggested, will solve that issue.  Rose says he’d, in turn, use that flexibility to give local education officials more influence on their own students’ education.

“Within Tennessee, I think we let local education governing organizations figure out what’s right in their local communities, as much so as possible, because those folks closest to the point of contact are going to make the best decisions by and large.”

Support for School Choice

Arguably, the biggest education issue in Tennessee this year was the passage of Governor Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act, which provides public dollars for 20,000 families to send their children to private school.

The program faced opposition from some Republicans and every Democrat in the Tennessee General Assembly because of concerns it could eventually sap money from traditional public schools.

Rose describes himself as a strong supporter of public schools and tells the Tennessee Firefly that he also supports the Education Freedom Scholarship program, in part, because he feels like it will introduce competition.

“Competition is a very good thing, and so when you can introduce more choices, more options for parents and for children, I think that’s a good thing. We have to be honest with ourselves, public schools in some communities are failing us, and so we need to prod those schools by providing effective choices for parents and competition.”

Like his Republican primary opponent, Rose says he would like to expand the Education Freedom Scholarship program beyond its current 20,000 student cap.

Rose also says he would support expanding school choice options to public schools. Currently, only five counties have public charter schools in Tennessee, but Rose says rural communities could benefit from them, and he’d like to see the state provide more funding to make them successful. Charters, for example, do not receive local funding for facilities like traditional public schools.

“They get public support, but it’s not the same complete support that we give to (traditional) public schools, and so if we want them to thrive, we need to make sure that they have the tools that they can use there.”

The Race Ahead

Tennessee’s Republican gubernatorial primary will be held on August 6, 2026. It will include Rose, Blackburn, and State Representative Monty Fritts, as well as any other candidates who qualify by the March 10 deadline.

Polls show the Republican winner would be heavily favored over the Democratic nominee in November.