SB0471 • 2026

Education, Curriculum

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 13, relative to the Success Sequence Act.

Children Education Housing Labor

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: Bowling, Bulso
Last action: 2025-04-29
Official status: Effective date(s) 07/01/2026
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and text do not provide specific details on how schools should implement the curriculum or what evidence must be provided.

Success Sequence Act

This act requires schools in Tennessee to teach students about the positive outcomes associated with completing a series of life steps: finishing high school, entering the workforce or pursuing higher education, getting married, and having children.

What This Bill Does

Defines 'success sequence' as obtaining a high school diploma or equivalency credential, entering into the workforce or pursuing postsecondary education, marrying, and having children in that order.
Requires schools to provide instruction and evidence about the positive personal and societal outcomes of following this success sequence.

Who It Names or Affects

Students in Tennessee who will be taught about the success sequence starting from the 2026-2027 school year.
Schools and teachers in Tennessee who must include this curriculum in their family life education classes.

Terms To Know

Success Sequence: A series of steps that people are encouraged to follow for better personal and societal outcomes: obtaining a high school diploma or equivalency credential, entering into the workforce or pursuing postsecondary education, marrying, and having children in this order.

Limits and Unknowns

The act does not specify how schools should teach about the success sequence.
It is unclear what specific evidence must be provided by schools regarding the positive outcomes of following the success sequence.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HA0269

Amendment 1-0 to HB0178

Plain English: The amendment changes when a specific education law will take effect.

Changes the effective date of the Success Sequence Act from an unspecified date to July 1, 2026.

The original text does not specify the initial effective date of the act, so it's unclear what date was originally planned.
It is not clear why this specific date change is necessary or what impact it will have on schools and students.

HA0315

Amendment 2-0 to HB0178

Plain English: The amendment changes the introduction of Senate Bill No. 471 by adding a new preamble that highlights the challenges faced by millennial women in forming families due to economic instability.

Adds a new preamble focusing on the difficulties millennial women face with marriage and family formation because of wage stagnation, student debt, unaffordable housing, and high child care costs.

The amendment text does not specify any concrete changes to the bill's content or policies beyond altering its introduction.
It is unclear how this new preamble will affect the actual implementation of the Success Sequence Act.

SA0171

Amendment 1-0 to SB0471

Plain English: The amendment changes when a specific education law will take effect.

Changes the effective date of the Success Sequence Act from an unspecified date to July 1, 2026.

The original text does not specify the initial effective date of the act, so it's unclear what date was originally planned.
It is not clear why this specific date change was made or its implications for education in Tennessee.

Bill History

2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly
Effective date(s) 07/01/2026
2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly
Pub. Ch. 224
2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly
Comp. became Pub. Ch. 224
2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly
Signed by Governor.
2025-04-11 Tennessee General Assembly
Transmitted to Governor for action.
2025-04-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Signed by H. Speaker
2025-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly
Signed by Senate Speaker
2025-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly
Enrolled and ready for signatures
2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed H., Ayes 73, Nays 20, PNV 2
2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly
Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0269)
2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly
Subst. for comp. HB.
2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly
Comp. SB subst.
2025-04-03 Tennessee General Assembly
H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/7/2025
2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/3/2025
2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee
2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly
Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly
Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 25, Nays 5
2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly
Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0171)
2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Education Committee for 4/1/2025
2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/27/2025
2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly
Action def. in Education Committee to 4/1/2025
2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly
Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 7, Nays 1 PNV 0
2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/25/2025
2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly
Action def. in Education Committee to 3/25/2025
2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/19/2025
2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/18/2025
2025-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly
Action def. in Education Committee to 3/18/2025
2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/11/2025
2025-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Education Committee
2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Education Instruction Subcommittee for 3/4/2025
2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee
2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Introduced, Passed on First Consideration
2025-01-29 Tennessee General Assembly
Filed for introduction
2025-01-28 Tennessee General Assembly
Assigned to s/c Education Instruction Subcommittee
2025-01-27 Tennessee General Assembly
P2C, ref. to Education Committee
2025-01-16 Tennessee General Assembly
Intro., P1C.
2025-01-15 Tennessee General Assembly
Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

ON MARCH 27, 2025
, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 471, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 changes the effective date from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2026, and applies the bill to
the 2026-2027 school year
, instead of the 2025-2026 school year,
and each school
year thereafter.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HOUSE BILL 178
By Bulso

SENATE BILL 471
By Bowling

SB0471
001271
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
Chapter 6, Part 13, relative to the Success
Sequence Act.

WHEREAS, couples who have children within marriage have higher family incomes and
lower poverty rates than their unmarried counterparts; and
WHEREAS, over the past forty-five years, the number of children living with married
parents has declined by twelve percent; and
WHEREAS, approximately twenty-five percent of all children today do not have married
parents; and
WHEREAS, children raised by married parents are more likely to flourish compared to
children raised in single-parent families; and
WHEREAS, children raised in stable, married-parent families are more likely to excel in
school, and generally earn higher grade point averages than children who are not; and
WHEREAS, children raised by married parents are about twice as likely to graduate from
college than children who are not; and
WHEREAS, children not raised in a home with married parents are twice as likely to end
up in jail or prison before reaching thirty years of age; and
WHEREAS, children raised by a single parent are more than three times as likely to live
in poverty than children raised by married parents; and
WHEREAS, the strongest negative community predictor of children from low-income
families realizing the American dream, which includes going from poverty as children to
affluence as adults, is the share of single parents in a community; and

- 2 - 001271

WHEREAS, among millennials who finished high school, entered the workforce, and
were married before having children, ninety-seven percent did not live in poverty when they
reached adulthood; now, therefore,
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. This act is known and may be cited as the "Success Sequence Act."
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-1301, is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
"Success sequence" means a method by which a person completes the following
in the following sequence:
(A) Obtains a high school diploma or high school equivalency credential;
(B) Enters into the workforce or pursues a postsecondary degree or
credential;
(C) Enters into marriage; and
(D) Has children;
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-1304(a), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
(15) Provide instruction and evidence regarding the positive personal and
societal outcomes associated with the success sequence.
SECTION 4. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it, and
applies to the 2025-2026 school year and each school year thereafter.