Monthly Archives: April 2025

Posted on by

Cour Stepping Down from NPEF Leadership

The Nashville Public Education Foundation (NPEF) will soon be seeking a new President and CEO. Katie Cour, who has led the advocacy nonprofit for more than six years, is moving on to a new opportunity.

An email sent by NPEF explains:

Today we are sharing the bittersweet news that Katie Cour, our president and CEO, will be stepping away from NPEF after over six years with the organization. We are extremely grateful to Katie for the transformative work she has helped us achieve and the strong partnerships she has built. 

During her tenure, Katie has been a strategic thinker, leader, and collaborator dedicated to addressing critical challenges in public education, and she has helped spark important conversations about improving outcomes for students. As NPEF’s president and CEO, she has shaped initiatives such as Teacherpreneur, a partnership with Metro Schools and the Mayor’s Office to improve teacher pay, NPEF’s documentary “By Design: The Shaping of Nashville’s Public Schools,” and the launch of the Nashville Child and Youth Collaborative alongside other local nonprofits.

Cour’s last day is July 3, 2025. The group will conduct a national search for its next leader.

Katie Cour, center – image provided by NPEF

MORE EDUCATION NEWS

Trump Aims to Scam America with School Vouchers

Texas Goes Big on Billion Dollar Voucher Scheme

Posted on by

“For Now, Our Children are Able to Attend Public School”

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition issued a statement from Executive Director, Lisa Sherman Luna, following the defeat of legislation sponsored by William Lamberth and Bo Watson that would have excluded some children in the state from the ability to access public schools.

“This victory is a hard-fought win that has come from months of work from our team, organizers, campaign partners, faith leaders, educators, business owners and more – Tennessans who understand the importance of fighting for the safety and protection of our children and families, no matter where they live. For now, our children are able to attend public school and receive an education, but this past year taught us how quickly our rights can be stripped from us by the same lawmakers who were elected to look out for everyone in our state, not just a select few. 

The Trump administration’s immigration policies are emboldening extremism here in Tennessee, but we are determined to show both our state leaders and the administration that they cannot enact this egregious agenda without a fight.

Our battle is ongoing: The state now has its first-ever Chief Immigration Enforcement Officer – a former ICE agent – and it is now a felony for local lawmakers to vote in favor of policies protecting immigrant families. Despite the challenges that these new rules will bring, we are more prepared than ever to continue telling the stories and fighting for the rights of our communities.” 

exterior of school building in daytime
Photo by Mary Taylor on Pexels.com

MORE EDUCATION NEWS

Trump’s Voucher Scheme

What Dismantling the Department of Education Means

Posted on by

America’s Privatizer-in-Chief

Trump seeks to voucherize American education

Yes, getting rid of or partially dismantling or otherwise destroying the core functions of the U.S. Department of Education is bad.

Also bad: A national school voucher scam. But, of course, that’s just what Donald Trump wants:

Josh Cowen, in his newsletter for Public Funds for Public Schools, highlighted the voucher threat:

Finally, we’re all still waiting to see what happens with the so-called Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA)—aka the tax shelter for the wealthy that’s also a federal voucher scheme intended to ram vouchers into every state—even those that don’t want it. Those of us with our ear to the ground have heard conflicting things: maybe it will make it into the federal reconciliation process (where it would need only a simple GOP majority to pass) or maybe it’ll come up for a vote later in the year. One thing we know is that Betsy DeVos’s group is continuing to make this a top priority, so it’s something to keep monitoring closely.


MORE EDUCATION NEWS

Vouchers vs. Local Schools

Elon Musk Takes on School Lunches and Food Banks

Posted on by

North Dakota Lawmakers Kill Expensive Voucher Bill

Legislators in North Dakota soundly rejected an attempt to provide private school discount coupons – school vouchers – to families already using private schools.

The North Dakota Monitor reports:

The North Dakota House overwhelmingly rejected an Education Savings Account bill Thursday night, a day after the governor vetoed a similar bill.

House members voted 78-14 against Senate Bill 2400, which sought to provide private school vouchers plus Education Savings Accounts for public school and homeschooled students.

bitcoins and u s dollar bills
Photo by David McBee on Pexels.com

MORE EDUCATION NEWS

Vouchers Kill Local Public Schools

Ohio Data Says Vouchers are Very Bad

Posted on by

Pastors Condemn Harmful 2025 Legislative Session

A group of Tennessee pastors affiliated with the Southern Christian Coalition condemned Tennessee lawmakers for what the group said was a “harmful” legislative session.

“As a Christian pastor, I believe all children are made in the image of God and deserve the freedom to learn, be themselves, and thrive—regardless of where they’re born or their family’s income,” said Rev. Dr. C. Don Jones, Pastor of Andersonville and Heiskell United Methodist Churches in East Tennessee. “Yet this 2025 legislative session has harmed vulnerable children across our state. While we’re thankful some of the worst bills didn’t pass, significant damage was still done. The January Special Session’s voucher program diverted public education funds to private schools, hurting children in public schools. Lawmakers also continued restricting TANF funds meant to help families in poverty, and Governor Lee rejected federal money intended to feed hungry children during summer months. When will these attacks on our children stop?”

More on Lee’s rejection of federal funds to feed hungry kids

Lee rejected $75 million in federal funds that would have supported a program to add funds to EBT cards for families whose kids receive free/reduced lunch during the school year.

MORE EDUCATION NEWS

Yes! Money Matters for Schools

Trump, Christian Nationalism, and Schools

Posted on by

Lamberth-Watson’s Cruelty Defeated

The Education Wars picked up the story of a cruel bill that sought to deny education to the children of immigrants based on the legal status of their parents. The measure, led by Sen. Bo Watson and Rep. William Lamberth, did not advance despite the persistence of its two leading advocates.

Then there is Tennessee, where odious legislation that would have given public schools the right to turn away undocumented students, or charge them tuition, collapsed this week due to widespread opposition. A broad coalition of groups, sixty five strong, including the Tennessee Chapter of NAACP, Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM) — one of my favorite grassroots organizing groups—and an array of immigrant rights organizations helped bring this thing down.

Local school officials played a key role too. The Hamilton County School Board, representing the largest school system in the home district of Bo Watson, the sponsor of the Senate version of the bill, voted unanimously to condemn the legislation last week, and every one of the district’s 79 school principals came out in opposition.

exterior of school building in daytime
Photo by Mary Taylor on Pexels.com

MORE EDUCATION NEWS

How Vouchers Kill Local Public Schools

Money Matters for Schools

Posted on by

Vouchers Rejected in Utah, Missouri

As Tennessee moves forward with expensive voucher scheme, other states are rejected the bad idea

The effort to divert public funds to unaccountable private schools ran into roadblocks in Missouri and Utah last week.

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe’s plan to rapidly enlarge a scholarship program for private and religious schools with an infusion of state tax funds was cut out of the budget Wednesday as the Senate Appropriations Committee finished revising spending plans for the coming year.

The Republican Senator who stripped the voucher funding said public schools should be the state’s top funding priority.

In Utah, a judge came to the rescue of the state’s students:

Utah’s $100 million school voucher program violates the state’s constitution, a judge ruled Friday.

“[Because] the Program is a legislatively created, publicly funded education program aimed at elementary and secondary education, it must satisfy the constitutional requirements applicable to the ‘public education system’ set forth in the Utah Constitution,” Third District Judge Laura Scott wrote in her ruling. “The Program is not ‘open to all children of the state.’”

The judge said public education funds in Utah must be used to support schools that accept all students – and that private schools may restrict admission, so cannot be recipients of public education dollars.

MORE EDUCATION NEWS

Texas Advances Costly Voucher Scheme

Elon Musk Takes Millions from TN Farmers and Kids

Posted on by

Nashville Public Education Foundation Announces Hall of Fame Honorees

The Nashville Public Education Foundation (NPEF) announced the newest recipients of their Hall of Fame honor.

Janet Miller, this year’s Nelson C. Andrews Distinguished Service Award honoree. Janet has served as a real estate and development leader in Nashville for over 30 years. She is currently the CEO and Market Leader as well as the incoming Vice Chairman of Colliers Nashville. Janet proudly declares the foundation for her success is the public education she received in Nashville, which has guided and inspired her service to our community throughout her career

We are also excited to announce this year’s Distinguished Alumni honorees. These individuals have shown exemplary leadership and service in our community and are inspiring examples of the incredible talent cultivated by Metro Nashville Public Schools.

Martesha Johnson Moore, a graduate of Whites Creek High School, is the Nashville Metropolitan Chief Public Defender.

Marlene Eskind Moses, a graduate of Hillsboro High School, is an internationally recognized family law attorney at GSRM Law.

Tom Parrish, a graduate of Hillwood High School, now known as James Lawson High School, is the Chief Operating Officer at the Scarlett Family Foundation where he manages the day-to-day operations and relationships with grant seekers, recipients, and key business partners.

cityscape of nashville tennessee at dawn
Photo by Cesar G on Pexels.com

MORE EDUCATION NEWS

Voucher Scheme Rejected in Utah

Missouri Legislature Deals Blow to Vouchers

Posted on by

A Note on the “Success Sequence”

Perhaps an unintended consequence?

Chalkbeat reports:

Tennessee public schools could soon be required to teach the “success sequence” – that the keys to future success are to graduate high school; enter the workforce or pursue postsecondary education; marry, and then have children. The state joins others around the country introducing legislation around the controversial education idea.

That’s all well and good, but Peter Greene digs a little deeper to explain:

The clear, logical implication of the sequence is that teenaged girls should be on birth control until they have reached the proper moment in the sequence. Heck, the success sequence is practically a full-on endorsement of the “I’m not ready for a child yet” case for legal abortion. If you are pushing the sequence as a practical plan for success in life, then it only makes sense to allow teenagers the practical tools that will help them postpone having a child until they’re at the right point in the sequence.

Yes, many sequencers like to use the idea to sell abstinence, and that tips the hand of the real idea for many sequencers–that the success sequence is not a practical plan to achieve desired outcomes, but a moral test to see who deserves those “success” outcomes. For some it is another way to make the argument that poor folks are poor because of their own lousy choices, and if you don’t want to be poor, make better choices.

MORE EDUCATION NEWS

Vouchers are Bad: Very Bad

Christian Nationalism and American Public Schools

Posted on by

Williamson County Teachers Speak Out on Disrespect from School Board

The Williamson County School Board recently made science textbook selections. In an unprecedented move, the Board rejected the science textbooks that received the most votes from teachers. Instead, the Board chose to implement/adopt material that was the last choice.

It’s not entirely clear why this choice was made, though it is worth noting that the Board is now solidly controlled by influences from Moms for Liberty and Americans for Prosperity.

One blogger took the time to review teacher responses to this action. I’ll note some examples here:

“During my time teaching in the district, we’ve lost many excellent teachers to other districts because of pay, climate, and decisions like those made at last night’s meeting regarding textbook adoption. How can you spend the first part of the meeting discussing things like increasing teacher pay and then come back from break so blatantly disregarding us as professionals?” – WCS high school AP teacher

“In my 18 years in public education, I have never witnessed a school board go against teacher input for a textbook adoption. This raises red flags as an employee, parent, and community member.” – WCS middle school instructional coach

The general vibe: Teachers are not happy. They feel disrespected. The school board asked them to do a job and then completely ignored their recommendation.

MORE EDUCATION NEWS

Vouchers Kill Local Public Schools

Bill Lee Opposes Feeding Hungry Kids