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Not Good Execution

Chalkbeat has the story of a letter sent to parents around the state based on guidance from the Tennessee Department of Education:


The letters inform parents that, based on state systems for rating school performance, their school has been targeted to receive additional federal resources and support because a historically underserved group of students within the school is in the state’s bottom 5% for that group. And based on guidance provided to districts by the state Education Department, most districts are telling parents which student group or groups are struggling.


“Specifically, Cedar Bluff is a Targeted Support and Improvement school based on the following student groups: Black student ethnic/racial group,” says one letter sent to parents of students at Cedar Bluff Middle School, a Knoxville school that is mostly white.


Other letters have identified Hispanic students as the source of the designation, as well as students who have disabilities, are economically disadvantaged, or are English language learners.

While lawmakers and advocacy groups have criticized the move, the Tennessee Department of Education’s Director of Communications, Jennifer Johnson, had this to say:

“This was not good execution of a template letter and goes beyond the scope of what the federal law requires,” acknowledged Jennifer Johnson, a state spokeswoman. She added that the matter will be reviewed by the Education Department.

So, Jennifer Johnson, who is in charge of communication for the state department of education is indicating that information was not communicated well by the state.

No matter what the review finds, the damage is already done. Seems like someone tasked with overseeing communication at the state level would be tuned-in to how a message might sound.

Not good execution could, in fact, describe pretty much all of Governor Bill Lee’s term so far — from an FBI probe into the vote on his voucher bill to shafting teachers while boosting charter schools.

Will the man who inherited a successful HVAC company ever learn to actually be Governor? It’s not looking good.

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This is a Joke, Right?

The Tennessee Department of Education continues to demonstrate they don’t give a damn about teachers (or their students) as evidenced by the handling of the Pre-K/Kindergarten portfolio fiasco.

Here’s the latest email from the TNDOE on the portfolio situation and the very, very slow process of developing an alternative:


In August, the department submitted the pre-K and kindergarten (pre-K/K) portfolio review committee report to the House and Senate education committees. One of the recommendations included developing a path forward to support districts in pursuing alternative growth options in lieu of portfolio. The department is working closely with the State Board of Education on potential alternatives with the below timeline:

In November 2019, the department submits proposed alternatives to pre-K/K portfolios on first reading.

In February 2020, proposed alternatives submitted to the board for final reading.

By March 1, the department will communicate to districts a list of alternatives approved by State Board.

Districts will indicate in the annual evaluation flexibility survey any approved alternatives for pre-K/K they opt into for the 2020-21 school year or if they will continue with the current pre-K/K portfolio models.

To recommend an alternative growth option for consideration, directors of schools should submit any proposed pre-K/K alternatives to David Donaldson. All proposed alternatives will be reviewed to determine if they are nationally normed and are valid measures of student growth. We will be accepting proposed alternatives through Nov. 1, 2019. 

Here’s what this means: If you have a child in Kindergarten, they are losing valuable instructional time while their teacher complies with a ridiculous state mandate that Kindergarten teachers have repeatedly said is of little to no value.

Do these portfolios even get graded? NO!

Let’s be clear: Governor Bill Lee is trying to accelerate his voucher scheme (which will harm students) but the state department of education can’t get a portfolio alternative ready in time to actually help students.

What, exactly, is Bill Lee’s education agenda?

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Not Worth It

That’s how teachers view standardized testing in Tennessee, according to a statewide survey.

The Cookeville Herald-Citizen reports on attitudes toward standardized testing (TNReady) among teachers in Putnam County and notes the results are similar statewide:


Most teachers in Putnam County say information received from statewide standardized exams is not worth the investment of time and effort.
The results come from the state’s 2019 Tennessee Educator Survey released Thursday.
The state Department of Education said more than 45,000 Tennessee educators completed this year’s survey, representing 62 percent of the state’s teachers — an all-time high response rate. In Putnam County, 80 percent of the teachers took the survey, as did 88 percent of administrators.
According to the results, 62 percent of Putnam teachers either disagreed or strongly disagreed that standardized testing was worth the effort. Statewide, that percentage was 63 percent.

It’s no surprise that educators find little value in TNReady given the challenges with test delivery over the past five years:


We moved from a different type of test to an online test that failed to a paper test, to another online failure, and back to a paper test. Can we really measure any actual growth based on those circumstances?

It will be interesting to see how lawmakers and Governor Lee respond to this crisis of confidence in state testing. I suspect many promises will be made and, ultimately, nothing will change.

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Bonus Statement

The Metro Nashville Education Association (MNEA) has this statement regarding the awarding of $5000 bonuses to first-year teachers in “priority schools.”


MNEA has contacted MNPS leadership with the following concerns about the recent decision to give $5000 bonuses to new teachers at priority schools:


First, we are deeply concerned that veteran educators who have chosen to work in priority schools for more than one year did not receive this compensation. The message this bonus sends is that new employees are more valuable than those with experience. In some cases, the $5000 bonus for beginning teachers means they are now earning more than teachers with more years of experience at the same school. This is deeply troubling, especially since the more experienced teachers are often charged with mentoring new teachers, which increases their workload for no additional compensation. Quite frankly, many current employees of priority schools feel this is a slap in the face.


Secondly, we strongly believe that it would be beneficial to the district to inform MNEA of any initiatives that involve changes to compensation ahead of time. Learning about this initiative from the news after it had already happened did not allow for proactive feedback at our end. We have heard from many angry employees about this issue, and we feel overall the bonuses have done more harm than good. As Dr. Majors reminded the Board of Education at last night’s meeting, the best recruiters are current employees. We want to ensure that MNEA is able to give the district feedback from an educator perspective, as we feel this will lead to better workplace morale and make recruiting educators easier.


In addition, we are also worried that this bonus was given in one lump sum at the beginning of the year. It is statistically very likely that a number of the first-year teachers who received this bonus will either leave before the year is out or will not return next year. They will take that bonus with them while at the same time veteran teachers will see nothing for their dedication to stay. In addition to making sure that all employees at priority schools are rewarded for their dedication to serving our students with the greatest needs, any bonuses should be given out at the middle and end of the year, to ensure the bonus is actually earned before it is given.


In conclusion, we have asked what steps the district will be taking to reward veteran employees who have chosen to remain at priority schools. After all, it is unlikely that priority schools will make academic progress without not only recruiting but also retaining the professional educators who are charged with doing the work of making sure that every student succeeds. These veteran educators not only have more experience and tools to teach, but they have built the lasting relationships with students and their families that are required as a foundation for academic success. It is in the best interests of our students to make sure they have equitable access to veteran employees.

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Leaving Rural Schools Behind

While Tennessee’s two largest school districts (Nashville and Memphis) are suing the state arguing the BEP funding formula is not adequate, new concerns are being raised about the equity of current funding. Three previous lawsuits (the “Small Schools” suits) challenged the state funding formula and each time, the Tennessee Supreme Court directed the state to take action to improve funding and make it more equitable for rural districts.

Despite these changes, it seems familiar concerns are being raised about funding distribution to rural districts. Chalkbeat has more:

But a new report says rural schools also face significant challenges in providing an equitable education to a third of the state’s students, all while serving a growing Latino population drawn to those areas mostly by agricultural work.

High poverty rates, lower median household income, opioid addiction, and limited access to technology and healthcare are among the issues in rural Tennessee, where fewer people are likely to attend college and more are likely to receive food stamps than their urban counterparts, according to economic research.

And with less industry and lower local tax bases to support their schools, rural districts also struggle to recruit, support, and retain effective educators.

Governor Bill Lee inherited this problem, and so far has done nothing to help it. Instead, his push for vouchers could end up hurting rural school systems by taking as much as $300 million out of the state funding formula for public schools.

Additionally, for years, the BEP formula has been broken, failing to deliver needed funds to districts at even a basic level. Now, the state’s Comptroller suggests Tennessee would need at least $500 million a year in new investments to properly fund schools.

So far, there has been zero indication Lee has any desire or inclination to address the funding shortfall that disproportionately impacts the state’s rural schools. Sure, he dresses up like a farmer every weekend and records neat videos, but that’s not doing anything to put dollars into the schools that need them most.

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No Positive Gains

As Governor Bill Lee seeks to accelerate implementation of his school voucher scheme amid an FBI probe into the House vote on the legislation, more evidence is emerging suggesting school vouchers are harmful to students.

Two professors studying the issue offer this analysis in a recent article in The Hill:


Researchers — including several voucher advocates — have conducted nine rigorous, large-scale studies since 2015 on achievement in voucher programs. In no case did these studies find any statistically positive achievement gains for students using vouchers. But seven of the nine studies found that voucher students saw relative learning losses. Too often, these losses were substantial.


For instance, research on Louisiana’s program indicates that when some children performing squarely in the average range use a voucher to enroll in a private school, their scores fall almost to the lowest performing quartile of students overall. And initial hopes that those losses were temporary have not panned out.

Why would Tennessee’s Governor push a voucher scheme he knows won’t work?

It’s because he doesn’t care.

Bill Lee has long been a voucher advocate and ally of and donor to organizations backed by Betsy DeVos.

His service to the DeVos agenda means more to him than doing what’s best for Tennessee kids. Lee is willing to take money from Tennessee public schools and transfer to unaccountable private entities no matter what the evidence says. Here’s why:

The answer is shockingly simple and unsurprising: money. The details, though, reveal an unrelenting push to dismantle America’s public schools. Yes, this story includes familiar characters like Betsy DeVos and the Koch brothers joining forces with a Tennessee cast to advance their vision for our nation’s schools. That vision: Public money flowing to private schools with little regard for the impact on students. In fact, the evidence is pretty clear—vouchers simply don’t achieve their stated goal of helping kids improve academic outcomes. Tennessee’s plan could result in taking more than $300 million away from local school districts to support private entities.

What’s more disappointing is the willingness of members of the Tennessee General Assembly to go along with this charade.

Instead of improving Tennessee’s investment in public schools, our state continues to lag behind — we’re at least $500 million short of properly funding the BEP – the state’s funding formula for schools.

Let me point out again that the authors reference nine studies — in seven, students LOST GROUND academically as a result of accepting vouchers. There were NO POSITIVE GAINS.

Vouchers don’t work. At all.

Governor Lee knows this. His team knows it. The leaders in the House and Senate know it.

They just don’t care. If they did, we wouldn’t see numbers like this year after year:

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Probe of Voucher Vote Continues

The Tennessee Journal makes note of Sam Stockard’s reporting on the investigation into improper conduct surrounding the vote that led to the passage of Governor Bill Lee’s signature legislative achievement. Here’s more:


Despite the housecleaning that has taken place in the lower chamber of the General Assembly, state and federal officials are still looking into allegations that former Speaker Glen Casada offered inducements to lawmakers in exchange for supporting controversial voucher legislation, The Daily Memphian’s Sam Stockard reports.


The publication confirmed that agents with the FBI and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have spoken to lawmakers about allegations that Casada and his staff about made promises as part of an effort to break a 49-49 vote on the bill in May. Casada kept the board open for more than 40 minutes to try to make the case to various lawmakers, including on the balcony outside the House chamber.


Casada has denied any wrongdoing, calling allegations of inducements “unequivocally false.”

Some reports indicate that new House Speaker Cameron Sexton may be backing an effort to repeal the voucher law pending the outcome of the FBI investigation. This puts him at odds with Governor Lee, who is moving to accelerate voucher implementation.

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Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad

Chalkbeat has the story of how 1 in 3 Tennessee teachers is seeking a way out of the profession. The data comes from the annual Tennessee Educator Survey released last week. Here’s more:

A third of Tennessee teachers say they would leave the profession for a higher-paying job and also would choose a different career if given a do-over, according to the results of a new statewide survey.

The bad news comes amidst a national teacher shortage that is definitely impacting Tennessee. In fact, Metro Nashville schools opened the year with more than 100 vacancies and a number of schools have few math teachers. Nearby Sumner County opened school with as many as 30 vacancies and has taken action — raising pay by $4000.

It’s no wonder Tennessee teachers want to leave the profession. Not only do they earn less than their peers in similar states, as Chalkbeat notes, they also earn nearly 30% less than similarly trained professionals:

This year’s results indicate a national average teacher pay gap of 23.8%. Tennessee’s gap is 27.3%. That’s an improvement of two points for Tennessee, which had a gap of 29.3% two years ago.

Of course, Bill Lee’s focus on vouchers and funding for charter schools instead of teacher pay only serves to exacerbate the problem:

So, charter schools — which serve only 3.5% of the state’s students — will see a 100% increase in available facility funding from the state while teachers will see only a 2% increase in pay.

If the two investments were equal and funded at the rate granted to charter schools, there would be a $342 million investment in teacher salaries. That’s roughly a 10% raise. A raise that’s desperately needed as Tennessee leads the nation in percentage of teachers with little to no classroom experience. We also have one of the largest teacher wage gaps in the Southeast.

Of course, teachers cite more than pay as a reason for wanting to leave the profession. Many cite the poor treatment by the state as an impetus for wanting to exit the field. For example, Kindergarten teachers have essentially been told their opinions about what’s best for kids count for nothing:

So, teachers and students will have to wait ONE MORE YEAR until the DOE actually provides an alternative model. That means your Kindergarten student will be losing instructional time and that teachers across the state will be forced to jump through meaningless hoops in order to meet a ridiculous mandate.

Does the TNDOE care? Nope. Not at all.

It’s as if Governor Bill Lee and Commissioner Penny Schwinn are joining together and singing to Tennessee teachers:

“I want you, I need you, but there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you…”

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Killer Recruiting

RePublic Charter School in Nashville is under fire after reports the school hired a substitute who had shot and killed the brother of two students there.

NewsChannel5’s Ben Hall has more:

But that feeling of safety was shattered Friday when the twins had a substitute teacher in their math class. It was Khadijah Griffis, the same woman who had shot and killed their older brother last month.


“They were put in the room with their brother’s killer and they were tormented by this woman,” Scott said.


Scott said other students at the school actually knew Griffis because she had been a substitute there before. She said some students even asked her how she had gotten away with shooting someone.

How did this happen?


The twins attend RePublic High School which is a Metro charter school that uses two temp agencies to fill substitute teaching positions. Scott cannot believe Griffis was hired despite numerous news articles about what happened.

RePublic says it will suspend using substitute teachers from the company that recommended Griffis until it receives further assurances.

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Sumner Teachers to See $4000 Raise

The Sumner County Commission on Monday night gave approval to a new tax rate that includes necessary funding to give every teacher a $4000 raise. It’s part of a pay scale adjustment put forward by Director of Schools Del Phillips earlier this month.

The move is the first scale adjustment in Sumner County since 2014, when teachers saw an overall 3% adjustment to pay. Phillips argued the move was necessary in order to make Sumner competitive with other counties in middle Tennessee.

Here’s more on the move:


By a vote of 17-7, the Sumner County Commission last night approved a budget and certified tax rate. The measures included a $4000 pay raise for all teachers. If the Sumner County Board of Education approves, the raise will go into effect in January.

Based on numbers from neighboring districts, Sumner will now have one of the most competitive pay and benefits packages in the region. In fact, depending on where teachers fall on the pay scale, Sumner will be just behind Davidson County in total compensation.

The average Davidson County teacher earned a total of $59,154 when pay and benefits were combined in 2018. Sumner teachers will see a $4000 bump in pay and will still enjoy the same benefits package they have been, so the average pay and benefits package there will now be around $59,000.

The move also puts Sumner in line with Williamson and Rutherford Counties in terms of best overall compensation in the area.

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