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EXPOSED: Hillsdale Heist Would Drain $35 Million from Rural, Suburban School Districts

Analysis reveals Hillsdale scheme would devastate Tennessee school districts

A fiscal analysis released today from Public School Partners (a group I support and am a member of) reveals that if approved, Hillsdale College’s scheme to create charter schools in five Tennessee school districts (Madison, Maury, Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford) would cost local taxpayers some $35 million when fully implemented.

Here’s more from Public School Partners:

Five proposed charter schools affiliated with controversial Michigan-based Hillsdale College would drain more than $17 million from Tennessee suburban and rural public schools during their first year of operation and roughly $35 million per year at maximum enrollment, according to a new fiscal analysis by Public School Partners (PSP) and Charter Fiscal Impact.

As a result, the five taxpayer-funded privately run charter schools would trigger steep increases in local school districts’ budgets — with costs passed along to county commissions and, ultimately, local taxpayers. Absent significant amounts of new tax revenue, public-school students and families could be hurt as districts grapple with fixed costs stranded in existing schools — including hard-to-adjust expenses such as staffing, maintenance, transportation, and utilities.

“No matter how you run the numbers, the financial math on charter schools just doesn’t add up for Tennessee students, parents, and taxpayers,” said Dr. Donna Wright, a PSP co-founder and retired superintendent of Wilson County Schools. “Privately run charter schools that aren’t accountable to elected local school boards significantly strain local budgets, which already are being stretched thin by inflation and other cost pressures.”

A PSP analysis found that the initial cost of the charter schools in each district (Clarksville-Montgomery County School System; Jackson-Madison County School System; Maury County Public Schools; Robertson County Schools; and Rutherford County Schools) would be around $3.5 million. That’s with a projected enrollment of 340 students in each location. At full enrollment, projected at 690 students, the cost per district moves to roughly $7 million. The total cost, then, is $35 million – a cost borne by local taxpayers.

MORE from PSP on the potential impact of Hillsdale charters in the state:

Legal opinions have found the Volunteer State’s charter law violates the Tennessee Constitution because it requires local school districts to divert public funds to charters without offsetting state subsidies to account for fixed costs stranded in public schools — which amount to unfunded mandates on local governments and taxpayers.

Fixed costs account for at least 40 percent of some school districts’ budgets. Nationwide, Moody’s Investors Service found that a growing number of school districts face “financial stress” due to fixed costs. In Nashville, an independent study found that charter schools would, “with nearly 100 percent certainty, have a negative fiscal impact” on the local school district’s budget.

“Over the past decade, the explosion of charter schools in Nashville siphoned funds from neighborhood schools and ultimately helped trigger a massive county-wide property tax increase,” said Kenneth Byrd, a PSP co-founder and parent of three children in Metro Nashville Public Schools. “While it’s unfortunate for Nashville that we were at the bleeding edge of school privatization in Tennessee, hopefully our experience can serve as a cautionary tale for suburban and rural districts that now face the same threat.”

Despite Hillsdale’s attempt to expand into suburban and rural Tennessee, public support for charter schools is eroding. Last year, outrage erupted after Nashville’s WTVF-TV aired video in which Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn denigrated public-school teachers as “trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country.”

Meanwhile, Tennessee voters view traditional public schools more favorably than privately run charter schools. According to a statewide poll by the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), 68 percent of voters view public schools favorably compared with only a 41 percent favorable rating for charters. Support for charters falls to 31 percent when voters are asked for their impression of so-called “classical” charter schools, such as those affiliated with Hillsdale.

Tennessee’s track record with charter schools is abysmal. For example, Vanderbilt University researchers found the state-run Achievement School District — one of the nation’s largest and most- controversial charter-school experiments — had “not produced positive effects” despite spending nearly $1 billion in state and local taxpayer money.

Tennessee’s charter-school law adds fiscal stress to a chronically underfunded education system. In 2022, Tennessee’s per-pupil funding level ranked 45th among 50 states and the District of Columbia — earning the state an ‘F’ grade from the Education Law Center. Similarly, the EdWeek Research Center gave Tennessee an ‘F’ in spending on public education.

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

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Privatization Efforts Deferred – But Not Denied

Efforts to privatize Tennessee’s public schools were deferred today in a key House Committee.

The privatization push includes potential expansion of school vouchers into Knoxville and the other would open the doors for charter schools to operate in districts without first being subject to local review.

More from The Education Report:

This bill (HB433), as currently written, would expand the state’s school voucher program (known as Education Savings Accounts, or ESAs) to Chattanooga. Currently, the voucher scheme only applies to students in Memphis and Nashville.

It’s bad enough that some policymakers are ready to expand this privatization program to another Tennessee school district. However, what’s even more alarming is that Education Administration Committee Chair Mark White has filed an amendment to expand the program even further – this time into Knoxville.

As you might recall, I wrote about an amendment to the charter legislation that would:

  1. Create a scheme for allowing charter schools that serve homeschooled students
  2. Allow for the creation of residential/boarding schools that are charter schools

These new charters would also be able to bypass local school boards and apply directly to Bill Lee’s State Charter Commission for approval.

That would mean zero local input and zero local accountability – even though millions of local tax dollars would be spent supporting these charter schools.

It’s important to look at these pieces of legislation for what they are: A clear agenda.

Gov. Lee and his legislative allies want to privatize our public schools.

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

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Why Not Make Teacher Starting Pay $60,000?

State’s revenue surplus stuffed under mattresses, teachers, schools left behind

As I read through Tennessee’s latest revenue update, I can’t help but think that state leaders are acting like a “broke dad” when all the evidence points to the opposite.

So far this year, Tennessee has taken in $1.2 billion MORE than was estimated.

On the low end, it seems likely that the state will have a $2 billion surplus THIS YEAR when all is said and done.

THIS KEEPS HAPPENING

As I noted in The Education Report, Tennessee has a “broke dad” mentality.

Let me put it this way: You’re a parent. You have a paid for house, two paid for cars, and enough money in the bank that you can NOT work for a year and still cover basic expenses.

Is that the time when you tell your family that you will all be moving into a car and sleeping in the parking lot of a nearby park?

On a range of issues – from the DCS crisis to third grade retention to teacher compensation, Tennessee policymakers are refusing to invest the revenue provided by taxpayers.

A recent report indicated that only 25% of Tennessee teachers earn $60,000 or more a year.

Here’s an idea: Make the starting pay for Tennessee’s teachers $60,000.

Do it THIS YEAR.

The state can afford it.

In fact, given the teacher shortage, the state really can’t afford not to do it.

Unless, that is, the state is hurtling toward full privatization of public schools and figures public K-12 teacher salaries won’t be the state’s worry soon.

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

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Some States Learn from Their Mistakes

Tennessee is NOT one of them

Tennessee has a third grade retention law that goes into effect THIS YEAR.

That means kids in third grade right now will be impacted. A lot of them.

3rd Grade Again

What’s interesting is to see other states that have tried this sort of law – and then backed down.

The Education Report notes that Michigan has just repealed its third-grade retention law after seven years. Why? Because it doesn’t work!

Michigan’s legislature recently sent third grade retention repeal to the Governor.

Here’s how lawmakers explained that decision:

“Michigan isn’t the first state to try this,” Koleszar said. “We’ve seen it in other states and there’s zero data from any other states that suggests retention is the way to go. We’ve got enough data to know it’s not working.”

Here’s what else is interesting about the Michigan repeal:

“Let’s use that money for reading intervention specialists, for literacy coaches, after school programs, summer school programs, to tackle the issue that way, instead of being reactive and just holding them back in a punitive and punishing way,” said Rep. Nate Shannon, D-Sterling Heights.

The bill passed Tuesday repeals the retention aspect of the law, but retains other elements such as staffing recommendations, reading intervention services, and the use of evidence-based curricula and instructional material.

Hello? Tennessee??

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

A Decade of Education News
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Phil Knows the SCORE

Nashville investigative reporter exposes agenda of leading school privatization force

Phil Williams of Nashville’s NewsChannel5 is one reporter who is not afraid of a tough story.

This time, he’s following the path of a nonprofit group that raises millions of dollars a year and is associated with former U.S. Senator Bill Frist.

The group: Tennessee SCORE – SCORE stands for Statewide Collaborative for Reforming Education.

Williams is on the story of how SCORE is aggressively promoting the expansion of charter schools as the panacea for the state’s education woes.

Never mind that SCORE has been driving the state’s education agenda for more than a decade.

BOLD! REFORM! NOW!

Williams notes that education advocates are warning about SCORE’s plan – supported by Gov. Bill Lee – to bring at least 50 new charter schools to the state in the next 5 years.

And not just in Nashville and Memphis, where charters are already an alarming part of the landscape.

This plan would create charter schools in suburban and rural districts.

It’s similar to a scheme being advanced by Michigan-based Hillsdale College to open at least 50 Christian Nationalist charters in the state.

Guess Who’s Back?

As Williams notes in a follow-up piece, charters don’t always have the best record of academic achievement. In fact, in many cases, charter schools perform worse than the district schools where they operate.

Maybe that’s why SCORE is moving quickly to help the privately run, publicly funded schools game the state’s new funding formula – TISA.

SCORE Hires Consultant to Help Charter Schools Maximize Take of Local School Funding

And just a reminder – SCORE takes in tons of money every year and advances an agenda that seeks to undermine the state’s public schools:

Bill Frist and the BEP
Jeffrey F. Lin/Unsplash

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

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Chattanooga Activists Oppose Voucher Expansion

Even as Hamilton County’s own Sen. Todd Gardenhire champions the expansion of the state’s school voucher program into Chattanooga, a local advocacy group is opposing the measure.

More from NewsBreak:

For its part, The Unity Group says there are still too many unanswered questions about the program.

Specifically, the group called out issues around accountability for funds spent and suggested that taxpayers would end up footing the bill for sub-par private education.

The potential for increased local tax burden combined with data the group says suggests students fail to benefit from voucher programs led the group to oppose expansion of ESAs into Chattanooga.

The group passed a resolution stating reasons for opposing the program’s expansion and called on lawmakers to heed their warning.

Specific reasons for opposing voucher expansion include:

“Research shows that school vouchers have not been effective at improving student achievement or closing the achievement gap, with the most credible research finding little or no difference in voucher and public school students’ performance.

MORE>

The push to expand vouchers comes at the same time legislation that could dramatically increase the presence of charter schools is being introduced by the Speaker of the House and the Lt. Governor.

As noted in The Education Report:

Just when you thought the Tennessee General Assembly couldn’t go any more “all-in” on the privatization of our state’s public schools, House Speaker Cameron Sexton files an amendment to a caption bill that would effectively create statewide charter schools.

Here’s the amendment to HB1214/SB1194.

Here are the two things this 9-page amendment does:

  1. Creates a scheme for allowing charter schools that serve homeschooled students
  2. Allows for the creation of residential/boarding schools that are charter schools
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For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport

A Decade of Education News
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Senate Advances Voucher Expansion

Despite Gov. Bill Lee’s original promise that school vouchers would be confined to Memphis and Nashville for the first five years of the program, the Tennessee State Senate advanced a proposal that would expand the voucher program into Hamilton County and pave the way for further expansion of school vouchers.

The Chattanooga Times-Free Press reports:

The Tennessee Senate has approved legislation expanding the state’s education voucher program into Hamilton County, which would allow low-income families to use public tax dollars to send their children to private schools willing to accept the annual $8,100 vouchers.

Nineteen Republicans voted in favor of Senate Bill 12, and six Democrats voted no. Another eight Republicans either voted present or didn’t take part in Thursday’s vote. The measure now goes to the Republican-controlled House.

The move comes amid an aggressive privatization movement which is also seeing Hillsdale College push to open up to 50 charter schools in the state.

Charters All Around

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

A Decade of Education News
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A Decade of Education News

The first education news story published at Tennessee Education Report went live 10 years ago.

Since that time, there have been hundreds of stories.

Issues like TNReady’s online testing failure, teacher compensation, the aggressive advance of charter schools, the failures of the Achievement School District – and so many more have been covered here.

Since 2019, the drive to privatize Tennessee’s public schools has grown more intense.

We now have a voucher program in Memphis and Nashville and Gov. Lee and his legislative allies are seeking to expand it.

Hillsdale College has their sites set on opening as many as 50 charter schools in the state – and has five applications (Madison, Maury, Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford) active right now.

We have a new school funding formula – TISA – and this is the first year it will impact districts.

Oh, and there’s a new third grade retention law that will be impacting students and schools this year.

Tennessee Education Report has covered it all.

That’s only possible with your support.

Thanks for sharing articles, passing along tips, and donating financially to keep Tennessee Education Report going.

Your continued support – $10 for 10 years – will keep this publication going strong into a second decade.

Consider a donation today – and be sure to share this publication with anyone who may be interested in Tennessee education news.

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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:

Knox County Schools Becomes School Lunch Bully

Sumner School Board Votes to Keep Challenged Book

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

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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:

New Third Grade Law “Devastating”

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