It is no secret that TSEA disagrees with many of the initiatives established within the Tennessee Department of Correction under Commissioner Schofield. Our public disagreements span his entire tenure as Tennessee’s Prison Chief. However, to his credit, and despite our differences, Commissioner Schofield was always willing to meet with our association to keep a dialog going. We are surprised today to hear he is resigning, but we wish him well in his future endeavors.
TSEA will reach out to whoever is the new commissioner to see how they plan to make progress on reducing assaults on officers, correcting issues with how overtime is calculated, and addressing issues with the 28-day work cycle. We appreciate the recent improvements to employees’ pay and will continue to work for adequate pay for all state employees, including those in the Department of Correction.