Tennessee lawmakers set no good example for “success sequence” bill

Tennessee’s legislature recently overwhelmingly passed the Success Sequence Act, requiring public schools to teach about the positive outcomes of a life path that goes, in order: graduation from high school, moving on to jobs or further education, marriage and then having children.  It’s not bad advice, but one wonders about the merits of our state legislature offering it.  After all, we do not have required don’t-run-with-scissors instructional modules, or charity-is-a-good-thing week, and we are still waiting for success to come from decades of harangue-kids-about-drugs modules.

So, what’s really going on here? On one level it’s as simple as our legislators effectively yelling, “Hey, you kids are having sex way too casually and way too early!” One wonders if they ever thought about how the message would have been received decades ago by their teenage selves. Further, it is likely to be as ineffective as abstinence-only sex education. A November 2024 research article in the Journal of School Health put it succinctly, “Multiple studies indicate comprehensive sexuality programs are more effective than abstinence-only programs at reducing risky sexual behavior, and improving knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to sexual activity,” the researchers wrote.

On another level, however, this holds true to a political reality described in the books “Moral Politics” and “Don’t Think of an Elephant!,” both by George Lakoff. Self-described conservatives, and they dominate our state legislature, think of successful and wealthy people as having obtained this status because of moral clarity and good life choices. The impoverished are in that position by laziness, promiscuity, and bad choices. Liberals look more to social conditions; wealth often comes from inheritance, and poverty from things like low wages and poor health care.

‘Success sequence’ bill passes House, heads to governor’s desk for signature

Our legislature’s Success Sequence Act is virtue signaling to voters and not virtue referencing to students. It’s cut-and-paste legislation from the right-wing Heritage Foundation, already adopted by Utah and under consideration in Mississippi, Kentucky, Texas, and Ohio.

Tennessee’s sponsor, Rep. Gino Bulso of Brentwood, thinks such posturing in favor of nuclear families is the best remedy to poverty. Not exactly, at least not from him. He is in a public policy position so he should approach this from a public policy perspective — increasing the minimum wage, making even more opportunities available for post-secondary education, restricting child labor. Sadly, Bulso — and other lawmakers — are woefully deficient on these policy angles.

Members of the Tennessee legislature also might not be the best ones for giving such success in life advice. Former Sen. Brian Kelsey reported to prison after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations, only to be pardoned by President Trump. A jury found former Sen. Katrina Robinson guilty of wire fraud  Sen. Ken Yager faces Driving Under the Influence charges in Georgia. In January 2021, former House Speaker Glen Casada and several other Tennessee legislators had their homes and offices raided in a Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry into laundered campaign money. 

Casada and his former chief of staff were indicted by a federal grand jury, charged with theft, bribery, and kickbacks, and the pair will go on trial April 22. Even if all those charged are not convicted, “life success” could be a stretch for their expertise. It’s fine that our legislature wants to pontificate on success in life, as long as they remember they are not the pontiff. We can seek our moral clarity from our pastors, parents, successful relatives, and other positive forces in young lives. As for our legislators, some legislation opening doors for young people would be a better use of their time.