By: Meili Powell, Assistant Director of Advocacy & Engagement
EdTrust-Tennessee

Collective advocacy for equity in 2025 will be more consequential than ever. While there is uncertainty over the implications of the next four years, I am certain about the urgent need to work in community with others to achieve educational justice for our students.

Powered by EdTrust-Tennessee, our work is deeply rooted in community through the TN Alliance for Equity in Education—a coalition of over 85 diverse partners united by a shared policy agenda.

We cannot enter this year business as usual. There are real, imminent threats impacting students from low-income backgrounds, students of color, students with disabilities, those in rural areas, justice-impacted students, student parents, LGBTQ+ youth, and undocumented students. For example, with Plyler v. Doe at risk, it is vital to uplift our partners serving undocumented students to protect undeniable access to education.

Fall Engagement Tour 2024 regional convenings with Alliance members in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville

As the 114th General Assembly begins, our Alliance understands the importance of maintaining our flag in ground for what we hope to be true for students with the belief that schools and postsecondary institutions create pathways to a more just Tennessee. However, more work is needed to remove systemic barriers along the educational continuum.

To highlight our shared values, we release a shared policy agenda that reflects the diverse issues EdTrust and our partners are prioritizing. Throughout our 2024 Fall Engagement Tour, we connected with over 200 Alliance members to get feedback and ensure all partners see themselves reflected in our collective advocacy. Partners are not actively engaging on all issues, but each brings their own expertise. We may not agree on each issue but recognize that varying perspectives make our collective advocacy stronger.

Our partners activate our policy agenda at the local and state level through advocacy campaigns, programming, and community engagement. Here are a few examples:

Foundational Priority: Better Data for Better Decision Making

Priority 1: Promote Accessible, Rigorous, and Affirming Learning Experiences

  • Save the Children Action Network is building a coalition through a series of trainings targeting parents and caregivers in rural communities to connect early childhood education and childhood hunger to the policymaking process, teach advocates how to tell their stories, and how to meaningfully connect with lawmakers.

Priority 2: Address Funding and Resource Equity

Priority 3: Increase Educator Diversity and Quality

Priority 4: Support Students’ Social-Emotional and Academic Development

  • AWAKE (Advocates for Women’s & Kid’s Equality), as a leader in the TN Menstrual Equity Coalition, launched a campaign and advocacy toolkit around the Menstrual Hygiene Product Accessibility Act (HB29), which would address period poverty by requiring all public high schools to provide period products at no cost to students.
  • TNSTEP (Special Education Support for Tennessee Families), a member of the TN Disability Coalition, established a youth council and training series to empower young advocates to take active roles in shaping the policies affecting them and issues including voting, disability rights, and self advocacy.
  • TN Justice Center launched a Healthy Meals Healthy Kids campaign, advocacy toolkit, and coalition to push for legislation that would require each local school board to establish a free meals program for breakfast and lunch for each student enrolled in a public school in the board’s district.
  • Youth Justice Action Coalition (YJAC), a program of Stand for Children TN , is a powerful initiative where justice-impacted youth advocate for systemic change in the youth justice system and an end to the school-to-prison pipeline through their “Break the Chains Demands”. YJAC is developing “YJAC in Schools” to extend empowerment experiences to meet youth where they’re at, particularly in schools.

Priority 5: Expand Access and Success in Higher Education

The above examples are not representative of all our partners’ advocacy, so I encourage you to follow all Alliance members. Stay engaged with EdTrust by signing up for our weekly newsletter, which includes our 2025 Bill Tracker. Our Policy Agenda will inform our Ten for Tennessee awards, ten bills that best advance educational equity for our students. Check out our future events and stay connected with the Alliance’s collective advocacy efforts.