Author Archives: Andy Spears

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A Christmas Letter for Gov. Bill Lee

What Tennessee kids want for Christmas is Summer EBT funding

Gov. Bill Lee took Tennessee out of the Sun Bucks program in 2025.

Sun Bucks is a Summer EBT program through SNAP that provides extra funds ($120) to help bridge the summer gap while kids are not getting meals at school.

Now, Lee must once again decide what to do about Sun Bucks – will he take the money in 2026 and feed as many as 700,000 kids? Or, will he return to his failed 2025 model that only helped a few thousand?

From pastors to County Mayors, people around the state are asking: Will Bill Lee do the right thing?

We respectfully write to you to implore you to take immediate action to address the nutrition needs of Tennessee’s most vulnerable children. We write not merely as constituents, but as people of faith. We recognize and appreciate your public commitment to leading our state with a heart for the “least of these,” and it is in this spirit of shared moral responsibility that we—314 faith leaders from across the state—petition you to intervene for the 700,000 children in Tennessee whose health and future depend on a decision that must be made before January 1.

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Trump and Allies Work to End Public Education

In 2019, Jack Johnson and Bill Lee Supported DEI

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Making the Grade

The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports on letter grades assigned to Knox County Schools:

Knox County Schools has made significant improvements on the individual school level, with 42 schools earning high marks in the “school letter grades” announced by the Tennessee Department of Education.

The department released the grades Dec. 19 in its 2024-2025 State Report Card. Twenty of Knox County’s schools received an “A,” and 22 schools received a “B,” which together represent more than half of the 81 schools graded in the county.

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Trouble in Indianapolis

A Plan to End Public Education

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Can You Hear Me Now?

MNPS is piloting a program to give teachers real-time feedback on their performance – something tells me this won’t be well-received.

MNPS has entered into a contract with Eduservice, Inc., doing business as CT3, to pilot a program in which teachers receive real-time instructional feedback via an earpiece while teaching. According to contract language approved in May, the program is framed as a “comprehensive professional development” initiative focused on instructional practice and classroom management.

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Wild West Voucher Scheme Wrecks Florida Schools

Where Did 30,000 Kids Go?

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Vouchers on the Menu

Lifting income caps and expanding voucher access are on the menu in 2026:

House Speaker Cameron Sexton has expressed interest in removing income caps and enrollment limits from Tennessee’s Education Savings Account program.

“Whether you’re making $30,000 or $140,000, you should have the opportunity,” Sexton said.

This comes as lawmakers also discuss expanding Education Freedom Scholarships, which launched last year with a cap of 20,000 students.

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Trump’s Terrible Voucher Scheme

TNGOP’s Diverse Viewpoints on DEI

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Data Points

TC Weber takes a look at ACT data:

Average composite scores for selected Middle Tennessee public school districts were as follows:

Cheatham County School District: 19.3 Clarksville–Montgomery County School System: 19.3 Dickson County School District: 19.0 Maury County Public Schools: 18.0 Metro Nashville Public Schools: 17.5 Robertson County Schools: 18.3 Rutherford County Schools: 19.8 Sumner County Schools: 20.8 Williamson County Schools: 25.3 Wilson County Schools: 20.4

These figures are frequently contextualized by differences in student demographics, including poverty rates, mobility, and the proportion of English Learners. Those factors are relevant and should be acknowledged.

They do not, however, alter the practical reality that students across districts compete for the same postsecondary opportunities. Colleges and employers evaluate individual applicants, not district-level explanations.

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Trump’s Plan to End Public Schools

Bill Lee Should Do the Right Thing, But He Probably Won’t

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The Trouble With Early Warning Signs

Nashville education blogger TC Weber takes a look at some well-intentioned legislation that may end up presenting more problems than it solves.

State Senator Bill Powers (R–Clarksville) has announced plans to sponsor legislation requiring school districts and public charter schools to implement a computer system for documenting what the bill describes as “early warning signs” related to student health, safety, and behavior. According to public statements, these signs would include bullying, harassment, intimidation, mental health concerns, substance abuse, and self-harm.

At first glance, the intent appears straightforward: identify concerns earlier and intervene before harm occurs. The difficulty lies in the details.

As Weber notes, information documented about students tends to remain in databases – traveling with the student, creating a profile, opening or closing options.

From a family perspective, the stakes are equally high. Students do not reset each academic year. Behavioral records can follow them for years, shaping perceptions long after the original incident has passed. Any system that formalizes behavioral data must grapple with the possibility of long-term impact based on short-term judgment.

More fundamentally, this proposal reflects a recurring pattern in education policy: diagnosing relational problems as data deficits.

Schools do not struggle because they lack information about students. They struggle because time, staffing, and structural support for meaningful relationships have been systematically reduced.

READ MORE>

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A Story About Priorities

Is The End of Public Education Near?

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Moving Toward the End of Public Education

The Trump Education Agenda is clear: End public schools.

Education Department officials are openly calling for plans to move a majority of kids to private schools (by way of vouchers, for example) within just 5 years.

One official even suggested that the ideal number of kids in traditional public schools would be “zero.”

For all the talk of the benefits of “school choice,” the reality is more stark: Choicers simply mean they want ZERO government responsibility for education, other than handing taxpayer cash to private school operators.

Tennessee’s Gov. Bill Lee is no exception, as he and his allies work to rapidly increase the state’s new, universal school voucher scheme.

Gov. Bill Lee promoting school privatization

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Will Bill Lee Feed Hungry Kids in 2026?

Jack Johnson, Bill Dunn, and DEI

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A Plea for Bill Lee

Will Gov. Bill Lee do the right thing in the last year of his term? Will he accept federal assistance for Sun Bucks – a summer EBT program that provides help for families with kids who receive free or reduced lunch?

Probably not.

But, local elected officials are asking him to.

33 County Mayors are calling on Gov. Bill Lee to participate in the federal Sun Bucks program in 2026.

The local leaders penned a letter to Lee asking him not to forego the summer program that provides additional EBT funds for families during the summer. The program is designed to provide additional assistance during a time when kids are unable to get free or reduced-cost meals at school.

Lee refused to participate in Sun Bucks last summer – and left hundreds of thousands of kids without the food assistance their families need.

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Jack Johnson and Bill Lee Used to Support DEI

Florida: The Wild West of Vouchers

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Donald’s Dangerous Vouchers

Among the ways the current President is taking down public institutions is the federal school voucher scheme embedded in the Big, Beautiful Bill.

These federal vouchers divert public funds to private education uses, with all the attendant harms, and they must be recognized as such, even if it may be possible to use the voucher money for public school students.

All vouchers harm students and undermine public education, and the federal voucher law is no different:

o Vouchers divert public funds to private schools.

o Vouchers lead to worse educational outcomes for students.

o Vouchers put students’ civil rights at risk.

o Vouchers lack quality and accountability standards and encourage fraud and abuse.

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That Time Jack Johnson Supported DEI

What Happens When You Lose Track of 30,000 Students?