Tennessee Clergy Speak Out Against Bill To Cut Welfare For Children Who Get Poor Grades
As Tennessee prepares to consider two bills to reduce welfare assistance for needy families whose children are not doing well in school, a Change.org petition has popped up to fight the measure. The petition was started by Clergy for Justice, a Tennesse-based organization of clergy that has previously advocated for causes including immigration reform, health care, and anti-bullying laws. Within 36 hours, their petition garnered over 2,000 supporters from at least 145 cities and towns in Tennessee.HB 0261 and SB 0132 would make family benefits from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program conditional on a child’s educational performance. While Tennessee already ties welfare assistance to students’ attendance, this new proposal would essentially make poor children responsible for keeping their families afloat.
In an email to ThinkProgress, Clergy For Justice co-organizer Kathy Chambers highlighted one petition comment by Melissa Jennings, a former TANF recipient who pointed out that the bill penalizes children who are already being left behind by schools:
The public school system fails our kids time and time again, not reaching out to the children that need it, not being available to tutor, and leaving behind the
