Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB2766, removing sexual orientation and other named protected classes from the educator code of ethics

On May 1, 2024, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed SB2766 into law as Public Chapter 780, amending the state's K-12 educator code of ethics under Title 49 of the Tennessee Code. Before the change, the statute prohibited an educator from unfairly excluding a student from a program, denying a student benefits, or otherwise disadvantaging a student on the basis of an enumerated list of protected characteristics that explicitly included sexual orientation, race, sex, disability, national origin, religion, and family, social, or cultural background.

As enacted through floor Amendment #1, the bill struck that enumerated list entirely and replaced it with a generic prohibition on excluding or disadvantaging a student "on any basis." The Tennessee General Assembly passed the measure — sponsored by Sen. Janice Bowling and Rep. Gino Bulso — and Lee signed it. The official bill caption describes the effect as revising language "prohibiting educators from discriminating against students on certain, specified bases to generally prohibiting educators from discriminating against students on any basis."

The Tennessee Equality Project had urged Gov. Lee to veto the bill, with executive director Chris Sanders stating that it "removes protected classes like sexual orientation, race, and sex from the teacher's code of ethics in favor of vague, general language." The nondiscrimination statute itself was not repealed; the change narrows the substantive standard by removing the named characteristics that had previously been specified.