Nia Vaughn testifying in Nashville. Courtesy photos

By Vivian Shipe

KNOXVILLE, TN — She is 11-years-old and by all indications is going to be a great legislator in the very near future. Nia Vaughn created a bill to make the financial burden on the lives of teachers across the state of Tennessee much lighter. The Teachers Promise Bill will ensure teachers have the supplies they need to stock their classrooms. for the year.

Vaughn testified before the legislature in December and spoke of the needs of the teachers and how covering the cost of the supplies the 78,000 teachers across the state have to purchase with their own money would allow them to buy needed items for their own families.. She presented facts and figures and even showed how the current supply dollars amount to only four dollars per student.

Clarence Vaughn, left, stands with his daughter Nia and her sister Jada and Rep. Sam McKenzie

Vaughn is an honor student at Karns Middle School, a member of the cheerleading team, the school choir, a sprinter on the Knox Area Youth Track Team and is a competitive baton twirler for Spectra Twirlers. She is an active member at Overcoming Believers Church, and is also a published author. Her book, “The Super Chronicles: Stories of the Power to Make a Difference,” was written when she was five-years-old. 

Her proud parents are Clarence and Syreeta Vaughn and she has two younger sisters, Jada and Zya.

Her amendment to Tennessee Law HB 2604 request an increase of $100 to all of K-12 teachers in Tennessee.

The amendment is up for a vote in the coming weeks.