Tennessee State Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) is pushing to reshape how the state approaches college admissions, arguing that Tennessee’s students and parents deserve more options than the traditional ACT and SAT pathway.
During a Monday appearance on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pody highlighted a bill he filed in the Tennessee General Assembly which would add the Classic Learning Test (CLT) alongside the ACT and SAT so that CLT scores can be used for college admissions, scholarships, and related eligibility requirements.
Pody said the changes proposed in his bill, filed as Senate Bill 150, would expand educational choice, align better with classical and homeschool learning models, and help address the persistent problem of students entering college unprepared.
He noted that the ACT and SAT are produced by large for-profit companies that do not welcome competition, while the CLT offers an alternative particularly suited for students educated through classical or homeschool curricula.
Pody said the CLT measures students’ knowledge differently from the ACT and SAT as it is more rooted in traditional, classical education and less influenced by modern “woke” trends.
“The CLT is going to focus on the classical learning that we used to do, the things that we know were tried and proven years ago,” Pody explained.
A major theme in drafting SB150 was parental choice, Pody said, arguing that parents should choose the best educational path for their children – not the state.
“The more we can give the parents the choice, I think the better that our education system’s going to be…The parents are supposed to be involved. They’re supposed to be actively asking what is the best educational path for their children. The more options I think we can give the parents, the better it’s going to be, and this can be a better option for the parents going forward,” he said.
Pody went on to frame the bill within the larger issue of Tennessee’s education performance, saying that while there has been some improvement since before 2010, he believes the state remains only “middle of the pack” and must continue strengthening accountability and parental involvement.
“Our students deserve more. They deserve better,” he said.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “State Sen Mark Pody” by Tennessee General Assembly and “College Campus” is by Emory University.
