State Representative Bo Mitchell of Nashville has filed a bill that would abolish the Tennessee Achievement School District (ASD) at the end of the 2015-16 school year.
The Bill (HB 508/SB 975) would give control of schools run by the ASD back to the LEA in which they are located. Charter schools authorized by the ASD would now be under the authority of the LEA in which they are located. The bill is sponsored in the Senate by Thelma Harper, also of Nashville.
One reason the two Nashville lawmakers may be looking to rid the state of the ASD is a particularly nasty episode involving Neely’s Bend Middle School and Madison Middle School. Ultimately, Neely’s Bend lost the battle and is now being taken over by LEAD Academy per arrangement with the ASD.
The ASD has struggled of late, with PR challenges in school takeovers in both Memphis and Nashville. Additionally, some early data suggest the ASD has a lot of work to do to reach its once lofty goals.
It seems unlikely the ASD will be closed at the end of 2015-16, but the filing of the legislation suggests the ASD will have some explaining to do and the path forward won’t be easy.
MORE on the ASD:
Our Interview with the ASD’s Chris Barbic
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Chris Barbic is a 2011 graduate of the Broad Superintendent Academy. Eli Broad is one of the 3 largest funders of Common Core. He believes in the privatization of public education. Once a candidate has completed the Broad course on how to destroy public education they Academy works to find it’s evil doers jobs within the education industry generally in roles of authority. Their job is to privatize public education not turn around poor performing schools. And Chris Barbic is good at what he does. He and the ASD need to be run out of Tennessee before we find ourselves in the same situation as New Orleans. Charter schools do not have elected school boards. When you lose elected representation you as parents have NO VOICE at all. What do you do when a Charter tells you to take a hike (and they will). You have no recourse but do as you are told. ASD MUST be shut down and shut down NOW. I give these two elected officials major KUDDOS for taking on this challenge. Sen. Thelma Harper was one of only 3 Senators back in 2010 that voted against Race To The Top. She voted against it because she said it would privatize public education. She was very smart to pick up on that then and she is very smart to do something about her prediction now. She is to be given a MAJOR Thank you. Call your state Rep. and Senator and tell them to vote YES for these bills.
Pingback: Dad Gone Wild | Time to End the ASD Fiasco