Alabama Still Beats Tennessee

Sure, the UT football team claimed a big win over Alabama in football this year. However, teachers in Alabama still earn more than teachers here in Tennessee.

And yes, that’s even AFTER Gov. Bill Lee’s proposed teacher pay raise announced in last night’s State of the State address.

Here’s more from NewsBreak:

“Tennessee teachers are the best in the Southeast, and we have the outcomes and data to back that up, but we are not paid as the best and are behind our peers in neighboring states,” said TEA President Tanya Coats. “Teachers, like other Tennesseans, have been affected by inflation and rising costs in the family budget. State revenues are strong, and we’ve seen record budget surpluses for many years. More can be done to improve the economics of being a professional teacher in our state, and TEA will continue to advocate for professional salaries for our dedicate educators.”

Coats noted that the proposed teacher pay increase will bring Tennessee’s minimum teacher salary to $42,000 a year. She then pointed out that Alabama’s minimum teacher pay is $43,358.

Yes, that’s right – even with a 4% raise this year, Tennessee teachers will still lag behind neighboring Alabama in teacher pay.

This despite the state facing a significant teacher shortage AND having a surplus in excess of $2 billion.

MORE EDUCATION NEWS:

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For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport

Clamoring for Change

Yet another group has added its voice to those calling on the Tennessee General Assembly to amend the state’s third grade retention law that goes into effect this year.

For more on that law, check this out:

Now, the Tennessee Parent Teacher Association (PTA) has issued a statement calling for change – specifically, to give local districts more control and to include multiple measures in any retention decision.

Here’s the full statement:

The Tennessee PTA works to ensure that all students can be successful.  The current third grade retention law, while working to ensure that students are capable of meeting standards, creates an environment where a singular test (i.e. TCAP or TNReady), and not a student’s tracked growth or potentially their full capabilities, determines their educational outcomes and progress in school.  We believe that the exceptions to retention set forth in the current legislation do not meet the full spectrum of needs a student might present or provide enough flexibility to prevent a student who is capable from being retained.

The Tennessee PTA Board of Directors believes that legislation regarding student retention should work to meet the needs, skills, and abilities of each student and must be based on multiple measures including student growth and achievement. The board of directors also believes that this legislation should return the ability for students, parents, teachers, and schools to make decisions for each student on an individual basis.  The board of directors deems that local education agencies are best suited to craft individual retention policies that promote the success of their students. The Tennessee PTA Board of Directors asks that the third grade retention legislation be amended to ensure that decisions are made individually and based on a student’s capabilities, and not as a collective in order to ensure the success of every student.  

Tennessee PTA and our board of directors will continue to focus on our mission: To make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.

For more on Tennessee education politics and policy, follow @TNEdReport

Challenge Denied

I wrote previously about an effort to remove the book Ways to Make Sunshine from school libraries in Sumner County.

After holding a hearing, the Board voted unanimously to deny the challenge – and to keep the book in school libraries.

Here’s more from NewsBreak:

The Sumner County School Board last week unanimously voted to keep the book “Ways to Make Sunshine” in school libraries. The book had been challenged as part of a new process that allows parents and community members to ask that books in school libraries be reviewed for possible removal.

After receiving a challenge to the book “Ways to Make Sunshine,” the board referred the book to a review committee.

That committee recommended keeping the book in the system’s school libraries.

Local education advocacy group Sumner For Good had encouraged the School Board to keep the book and celebrated the vote that will allow it to stay in libraries.

The group said of the vote:

“The Sumner County School Board voted to uphold the review committee’s choice and keep the beautiful story “Ways to Make Sunshine” by Renee Watson in our schools. This is another win for our kids, teachers, librarians, and staff.”

books
Photo by Emily on Pexels.com

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport

A “Moral Obligation” to Fund Schools

An advocacy group calls on the Tennessee General Assembly to properly fund the state’s schools.

From NewsBreak:

A group of Tennessee pastors affiliated with the Southern Christian Coalition is calling on the Tennessee General Assembly to take steps to fully fund public schools in the state.

The group notes that public education is one piece of what they call a “moral agenda” for state policy.

Rev. Jason Mikel, pastor of Jenkins Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Nolensville, issued a statement on behalf of the group. In it, he noted that public education makes Tennessee communities stronger.

“No matter where our children live, the color of their skin, their social situation, or anything else, every child deserves access to a high quality education in their local public school,” Mikel said. “Our communities are healthier and our communities are stronger when public schools are allocated the resources they need to fulfill their calling. Yet our state ranks nearly last in financial funding for students, teachers, and schools. And it is that way because of the continuing decisions of our state leaders. Governor Lee and our Supermajority Legislature fuel divisions for the purpose of removing resources from our schools. They demonize teachers and librarians. (And who goes after librarians?) Yet they vie for control of our state’s classrooms by unnecessarily burdening our educators with their political posturing. 

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For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport

What Will TN’s New 3rd Grade Law Mean for Nashville?

The Nashville Public Education Foundation (NPEF) takes a look at what the state’s new third grade retention law could mean for MNPS.

According to NPEF’s analysis, as many as 4000 MNPS third graders may be forced to repeat that grade if the law remains unchanged during this legislative session.

More on what to expect from the legislature this year here.

Here’s a look at how they break down the potential impact:

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport

Book Banning on the Agenda

Once again, a Sumner County School Board meeting will involve a review of a library book – and the possible removal of that book. The district has been down this road before:

Here’s more from NewsBreak on the current controversy:

The Sumner County School Board will meet in a study session on Tuesday, January 10th at 6PM. The meeting will include a discussion of whether or not the book “Ways to Make Sunshine” should be removed from the school system’s libraries.

The review process comes as a result of a challenge to the book subject to Tennessee’s new law allowing members of the community to suggest to the School Board that a book currently circulating in the school system’s libraries violates “community standards.”

After receiving a challenge to the book “Ways to Make Sunshine,” the board referred the book to a review committee.

That committee has recommended keeping the book in the system’s school libraries.

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport

Legal Challenges to Voucher Scheme Continue

While Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher scheme started this year in Memphis and Nashville, legal challenges to the plan continue. All of this while some lawmakers are seeking to expand the program to Chattanooga and possibly beyond.

Chalkbeat reports:

Metropolitan Nashville and Shelby County governments, which jointly challenged the 2019 law that applies only to their counties, notified the Tennessee Court of Appeals late last month that they will appeal the latest ruling. Attorneys representing parents and taxpayers in a second lawsuit submitted a separate notice of appeal.

The appeals will extend the 3-year-old legal battle over Gov. Bill Lee’s controversial Education Savings Account program for at least several more months. The program provides taxpayer money for eligible families in Memphis and Nashville to help cover private school tuition for their children. 

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport

Charters All Around

Pro-charter propaganda machine Tennessee Firefly is out with the story of a bevy of new charter school applications across the state.

The story that’s gotten the purveyors of privatization so excited is that as of now, there are 23 “letters of intent” from charter operators planning to open schools in districts across Tennessee.

As Firefly notes:

School districts across the state received 23 letters of intent this month for applications to open new public charter schools next year. That’s the first step potential charter operators must take before submitting their formal application by February 1, 2023.

The letters of intent include proposed schools in four counties that do not currently have public charter schools and they’re coming from both existing charter operators in Tennessee and those who were rejected this year.

The applications come from a range of operators, including Christian Nationalist Hillsdale College – a group out of Michigan seeking to open schools in five Tennessee counties – Madison, Rutherford, Montgomery, Maury, and Robertson.

Should these charter schools be approved, they will undoubtedly lead to local tax increases.

The move comes at the same time Gov. Bill Lee and his privatization allies are seeking to expand the state’s fledgling school voucher program.

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport

Knox County Asks for Relief from New 3rd Grade Law

The Knox County School Board has joined a number of districts across the state calling on lawmakers to make changes to the state’s new third grade retention law.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel notes that as written, the law could mean about 2700 third grade students in Knox County will be held back this year – unless they undergo summer tutoring and/or remediation during the 2023-24 school year.

A state law that goes into effect this year requires that students not testing at “met expectations” – reading at grade level – according to TNReady results, must be retained or complete a summer remediation program.

An article in the Maryville Daily Times explains what this might mean in practice.

The law applies to students who score at the “below expectations” or “approaching expectations” performance levels on the TCAP exam. Statewide, that could mean two-thirds of third graders, Winstead explained. However, Maryville’s third grade ELA performance last spring was ranked sixth in the state, with 60% meeting or exceeding expectations.

That left 40%, 174 children, potentially affected if the law had been in place. However, with exemptions for new English learners, students with disabilities that affect reading and previously retained students, the number drops to 122.

Across the state, districts are asking policymakers to tweak the law to give them flexibility.

It should be noted that the state has provided zero additional funding to districts to support the required remediation.

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport

Vouchers on Verge of Expansion in Tennessee

Just days after it was revealed that Gov. Bill Lee’s privatizer of choice, Christian Nationalist Hillsdale College, will be again attempting to open publicly funded schools in the state, a move is underway to expand the state’s voucher program.

This despite Lee’s pledge when the program was approved in 2019 that it would be at least five years before vouchers moved beyond Memphis and Nashville.

Readers might well remember all the scandal surrounding that original voucher vote:

Now, Chalkbeat reports that Hamilton County state Senator Todd Gardenhire has introduced legislation that would expand the program to schools in Chattanooga.

Sen. Todd Gardenhire, a Chattanooga Republican, wants the legislature to expand the eligibility criteria for the education savings account program to include students in districts with at least five of the state’s lowest-performing schools, as identified in the last three “priority school” cycles since 2015.

Under those criteria, Hamilton County Schools, which is based in Chattanooga, would qualify

Make no mistake – the ultimate goal is full privatization of public education in Tennessee. It has been Gov. Lee’s goal all along:

In 2018, I wrote:

In spite of years of evidence of where Bill Lee stands when it comes to supporting our public schools (he doesn’t), many school board members and county commissioners across the state supported his successful campaign. These local elected officials often touted his business acumen and support of vocational education as reasons to back him. However, it’s difficult to imagine these same officials just “didn’t know” Bill Lee backs a scheme to divert public money to private schools — a scheme that has failed miserably time and again in other states and localities.

More likely, they just didn’t care. Bill Lee was on the right team and spoke the right, religiously-tinged words and so earned the support of people who will look at you with a straight face and say they love Tennessee public schools.

Much the same can be said of 2022 – Lee spent four years assaulting public education and yet many local officials stood by him because he wears an “R” on his jersey and is affiliated with a familiar brand of Christianity.

Will these same elected officials be surprised when local taxes rise and public education is replaced by Hillsdale’s theocracy-promoting charters?

Or is this the future they’ve been waiting for?

For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport

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