The Wilberforce Academy of Knoxville sued the school board last year after the local district asked it to affirm it planned to open a non-religious school, per state law.
Of note:
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti declined to intervene in the lawsuit earlier this year, months after he published a legal opinion that argued there was “no compelling interest” in excluding religious charter schools from participating in a “public benefit.”
Skrmetti’s office is also currently paying Wilberforce’s main attorney $400 per hour in a separate case to help Tennessee defend its criminal abortion ban against ongoing legal challenges.
As Gov. Bill Lee’s 8 years in office come to an end, his legacy is clear: Support for public schools is near the bottom in the nation, while efforts to privatize get top billing.
While the most recent analysis of public school funding places Tennessee last in the nation, a report released this week by the Network for Public Education (NPE) gives the Volunteer State a grade of “F” for its support (lack of support?) for public schools.
In a press release, NPE says:
Only two states — Nebraska and Vermont — earned an A. Seventeen states received an F, failing to meet even 40% of the points allocated across NPE’s 39 standards. Florida ranked last, scoring 14 out of 102 possible points, with Arizona close behind. “The data confirm what we have long suspected: privatization and disinvestment go hand in hand,” said Carol Burris, Executive Director of NPE and the report’s author. “These are not states struggling with limited resources. They have made deliberate choices to abandon their public schools while directing billions in public dollars to private alternatives.”
Relative to Tennessee, the report notes:
Florida lost every possible point in our school funding category, ranking in the bottom decile for funding level, distribution, and effort, while also paying among the lowest teacher salaries in the country when adjusted for cost of living. Arizona, Idaho, North Carolina, and Tennessee each earned just two of sixteen possible funding points.
The 17 states that earned an F for their lack of support of public schools, students, and educators while embracing privatization were (lowest to highest) Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, Louisiana, Indiana, Oklahoma, Idaho, Arkansas, Alabama, Utah, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio, Nevada, South Carolina, and Missouri.
About the report:
The report draws on original research in addition to research from other organizations — including the Education Law Center, the Learning Policy Institute, and EdChoice — to deliver a comprehensive assessment of public education and privatization across 39 distinct factors. These include teacher-to-student ratios, teacher satisfaction, school funding levels, and the degree to which laws governing vouchers, charter schools, and homeschools protect both taxpayers and students.
More than 200 Burrus Elementary students, along with others at Knox Doss Middle, are being reassigned to new schools after the Sumner County school board approved rezoning this week.
Most affected families in the Hendersonville area will start the next school year at Beech Elementary and TW Hunter Middle.
From the Nashville Public Education Foundation’s (NPEF) newsletter:
Are you or do you know someone who is an eligible educator who demonstrates excellence in leadership, instruction, or student success and opportunity? If so, submit an application. Applicants will undergo a rigorous application process, including a judging panel of public education stakeholders. Only 25 educators will be selected as winners and receive a $2,000 check, trophy, reception hosted by Vanderbilt University, and a round-trip flight courtesy of Southwest Airlines.
The application is open for eligible educators through August 17, 2026.
WKRN reports on the latest dubious distinction Tennessee has earned thanks to Gov. Bill Lee’s lackluster leadership.
Tennessee classrooms are losing teachers at a higher rate than any other state in the nation, according to a new report from the National Education Association.
The report found Tennessee saw the largest percentage decline in its teacher workforce between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years, losing 10.36% of its educators during that period, or more than 7,400 teachers.
Nashville will host the Super Bowl in 2030, an event that promises to bring far smaller economic returns than the NFL or Lee suggests, based on results from cities that have actually held the Super Bowl.
Still, the state put up $500 million just to build a domed stadium for billionaires who couldn’t afford to spend their own money, while kids in DCS custody sleep on office floors because the state lacks adequate facilities to house them.
Hamilton County officials broke ground Wednesday on a major renovation project at Soddy Daisy Middle School that leaders say will expand capacity and modernize learning spaces for students.
The project is estimated at $34 million and will be funded through the Hamilton County Commission’s facilities bond.
The Nashville Bannerreports on a change in the way pre-K classrooms are structured in Nashville, using the case of Inglewood Elementary.
At a school like Inglewood, with a high enrollment of Black, white and Latino students and kids from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds, separating the pre-K students by income had the unintended result of separating them by race.
Inglewood Elementary’s PTA spent the past school year rallying to urge Metro Nashville Public Schools to change its funding policy for pre-K classrooms. With the support of Inglewood teachers and administration, parents raised concerns that separating students by income — and sometimes, as a result, race — is inequitable and violates decades of research on the educational benefits of diverse early learning environments.
After a series of letters and meetings with district representatives and school board members, the district agreed. Pre-K students of all income levels will learn side-by-side starting next school year — not just at Inglewood but at all MNPS preschools with this funding structure.
A lot of times, your school will do a summer meal program and provide meals. Sometimes it’s the YMCA. Sometimes it’s the Boys and Girls Club. Sometimes food banks will have programs in addition to just providing food. So there are spots available. It’s just not as widespread as Summer EBT.
The report notes that lawmakers did set the stage for Tennessee returning to the Summer EBT program in 2027. Of course, the state will have a new Governor then, and that could throw a wrench – but, as it stands, the funding is available for Summer 2027.
