Williamson County School Board member Brad Fiscus plans to challenge state representative and outgoing House Speaker Glen Casada in the 2020 elections, the Tennesseanreports:
Williamson County Board of Education member Brad Fiscus, 4th District, confirmed on Monday he plans to pull a petition to run against embattled lawmaker Rep. Glen Casada, 63rd District, in the 2020 state House election.
Fiscus, a 22-year resident of Williamson County, was elected as a school board member in 2018 and serves as a director of Next Gen Discipleship ministry as part of the Tennessee Conference of The United Methodist Church.
Fiscus was also heavily involved in Pastors for Tennessee Children, a faith-based advocacy group dedicated to supporting public schools. In his role with the organization, he was a leader in opposing the school voucher scheme that ultimately passed the House under Casada’s leadership.
Fiscus will make the challenge to Casada as Independent.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Your support makes publishing education news possible.
The Tennessee Tribune has the story of how State Representative John Ray Clemmons is positioning himself to be Nashville’s “Education Mayor.”
Last Saturday, State Representative John Ray Clemmons, candidate for mayor of Nashville, hosted an Educators VOTE Rally and March to the Polls with members of the MNEA union and fellow MNEA-endorsed candidates. Starting at 3rd and Lindsley, Amanda Kail, president of MNEA, greeted the crowd before introducing Representative Clemmons. “We endorsed John Ray because of his commitment to our schools and our children. He’s the only candidate with kids in public schools, and he’s the only candidate who’s committed to supporting us,” Kail said.
Rep. Clemmons took the stage with thunderous applause from over 200 educators in the room. Once reaching the stage, Clemmons invited all the children in the room to join him on stage. Wearing red, in solidarity with the educators in the room, Clemmons showed his support for Nashville’s educators and shared his plans for increasing the quality of public schools in the city.
Clemmons has been endorsed by MNEA — the Nashville union representing teachers and enjoys the support of more than 100 teachers and supporters of public schools who signed an OpEd written by teacher and blogger Mary Holden.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Nashville teacher Mary Holden talks about why she and many of her colleagues are backing John Ray Clemmons for Mayor of Nashville:
But one frustration in all of this is that we shouldn’t have to be doing all of this. We should have a city behind us, fully invested in the success of our public schools. Fully funding our school shouldn’t be something we have to constantly fight for. And so, we will continue fighting to change that paradigm.
We are long overdue for a leader who cares deeply about the people in this city, for someone who can balance the needs of a growing city with all the things that make Nashville great. For someone who has the impetus to make life better for all of us – teachers, police officers, fire fighters, bus drivers, city workers, and families.
That person is John Ray Clemmons.
He leads with heart and a conviction that our lives and our livelihoods matter. This conviction shows in his professional life as a lawyer and state legislator and in his personal life. He is the only mayoral candidate with children in our very own Metro Nashville Public Schools. This decision cannot be overstated; it shows a personal commitment to our public schools that many of our leaders lack.
John Ray Clemmons has a solid history of standing with teachers and community leaders for what we need in Nashville. He is genuine and humble, two qualities we have not seen for a long time. Clemmons has a true desire to be a public servant and has said that he will serve with less concern about being reelected than doing what is right.
Read more from Mary about why she (and so many teachers) believe John Ray Clemmons is the right choice to be Nashville’s next Mayor.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Your support helps make reporting education news possible.
Dueling statements were released today from Mayor David Briley and the Metro Nashville Education Association on a move to boost teacher pay in Nashville.
First, from Mayor Briley:
Mayor David Briley announced today that all MNPS teachers and employees will receive another 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) on January 1, 2020, in addition to the 3 percent COLA the Mayor made possible by allocating nearly $30 million in new funding for schools for FY2020. This allocation was six times the allocation in the last budget.
For weeks, the mayor has been working to find ways to get teachers more money this year while avoiding a tax increase. Thanks to MDHA’s help and the work done by the Council’s Tax Increment Financing Study and Formulating Committee, Mayor Briley is able to free up $7.5 million that would have been paid out of the MNPS budget to repay TIF loans. These funds are recurring, so the raise is “paid for” moving forward. This move does not require Council action since it will simply result in a reduced expenditure for MNPS.
This will bring all teachers to a 6% raise on January 1, 2020, which equates to a 4.5% increase over the course of the year. This is .5% higher than the COLA increase in the proposed substitute budgets that would have raised property taxes.
“I have been working on the MNPS budget with Dr. Battle and Dr. Gentry, trying to find the best possible way to get recurring dollars to teachers while not penalizing the 40% of MNPS teachers who are “topped out” and while avoiding a property tax increase this year – something that would have hurt in-county teachers more than the proposed raises would have helped,” Mayor Briley said. “With this increase in place, we will continue our in-depth talks about comprehensive pay plan restructuring for teachers so the more than half of all teachers who are topped out of receiving meaningful increases will get them in future years. There’s work to be done, but this is an important first step.”
This plan has the support of MNPS School Board Chair Dr. Sharon Gentry and MNPS Director Dr. Adrienne Battle.
“Mayor Briley’s investment shows a deep commitment to our teachers and staff members, and we thank him for his leadership and support for public education,” Dr. Battle said. “When Mayor Briley saw an opportunity for supplemental revenue, he ensured that it was dedicated to funding a raise for staff members, which is in addition to the raise they are receiving at the start of the year. We are only as successful as our amazing staff, and the Mayor’s actions show how he values them. Our goal is that these resources also ensure that we are able to maintain funding for other new strategic investments. MNPS is thankful to partner with the Mayor and Metro Council who are dedicated to the success of our students and staff.”
The $7.5 million will come to schools in the form of a reduction in the $11.2 million they would otherwise have paid to MDHA for TIF loan repayments this year. In short, it cuts that bill by $7.5 million, freeing up those funds for raises. MNPS will continue to pay what it is required to pay MDHA each year.
“I am grateful to Dr. Adrienne Battle, the MNPS Board, MDHA and the members of the TIF Study and Formulating Committee, whose hard work and support made this additional COLA possible,” Mayor Briley continued. “I plan to keep at it, and I know we have more great things to come for all students and teachers in our schools.”
A response from MNEA:
Today, the Metropolitan Nashville Board of Education received a sudden offer of $7.5 million in additional funding from Mayor Briley in the form of an adjustment to $11.2 million previously slated to be diverted from Metro Schools to fund tax increment finance (TIF) debt. While teachers and schools welcome additional funding for our cash-strapped public schools, the method by which this “plan” was developed smells of political intrigue, vote buying, and extortion. Briley’s letter to the board of education intentionally leaves ambiguous the question of whether the $7.5 decrease in TIF funding will extend beyond 2019-2020.
Unfortunately, the Briley plan comes with a demand that the board not fund teachers’ step raises but use his approach to adjust salaries. If Mayor Briley truly wanted to help schools, he should have supported the Vercher amendment rather than threaten a veto designed to hamstring the Metro Council. His games unnecessarily exposed certain brave, schoolsupporting council members to unnecessary risk of criticism by voters on the right and forced other council members to betray organized labor and our schools.
At the end of the 2017-2018 fiscal year, MNPS was compelled to transfer $3.5 million dollars to MDHA to meet increased TIF obligations to MDHA based on tax collections in excess of budgeted projections. In the 2018-2019 budget TIF transfers were budgeted to increase, but MNPS was not required to pay the complete amount. Today, Mayor Briley admitted TIF loan obligations have been overstated, and there is no need to extract additional tax revenue from our schools in 2019-2020. Nashville’s chronically-underfunded schools deserve deliberate, honest funding streams that do not rely on selling assets or require refinancing schemes that ultimate cost more money to our tax payers. No one should mistake Briley’s newest shell game as a magnanimous gesture to support teachers or schools. See it as vote grab!
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Your investment makes reporting education news possible.
The political action committee of the Metro Nashville Education Association released a list of endorsements for the upcoming Nashville elections. Here is the list:
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Your support makes reporting education news possible.
This week, the Metropolitan Nashville Education Association Political Action Committee for Education (MNEA-PACE) endorsed State Representative John Ray Clemmons to be Nashville’s next mayor. MNEA represents hundreds of Metro Nashville Public School teachers, amplifying their voices and advocating for their needs.
Regarding this endorsement, Rep. Clemmons released the following statement:
As a proud MNPS parent, I am honored to receive the endorsement of Nashville’s teachers. As both a parent and public servant, my strong support for our public schools has never wavered, and education will be our city’s top priority while I’m mayor. I am prepared to lead and make the tough decisions necessary to fully fund our schools, support our educators, and provide every child across Nashville with a high-quality education. I am truly thankful for the support of MNEA and look forward to working together for the benefit of all students in the years to come.
MNEA is the latest organization to endorse Rep. Clemmons for mayor of Nashville. He has also received the endorsement of the Central Labor Council of Nashville & Middle Tennessee, the Nashville Building and Construction Trades Council, Communications Workers of America Local 3808, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 429, Heat and Frost Insulators Local 86, and United Brotherhood of Carpenters Local 233.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Your support makes reporting education news possible.
Nashville Mayoral candidate and current state representative John Ray Clemmons took the time to answer some questions about how he views the Mayor’s Office as it relates to education in Nashville. Here are his responses:
What are your top priorities for MNPS?
Increase school funding to: increase pay for our teachers and para-professionals; fill vacancies with high-quality teachers; hire counselors, ELL specialists and a community partnership coordinator for every school; purchase new textbooks and classroom resources; and, fund our schools at the recommended level of $15,000 per student per year.
Build a strong partnership with MNPS leadership to provide full Metro support to achieve a shared vision and create an environment more conducive to stability and longevity in the Director of Schools’ office.
Take more responsibility for the direct impact Metro has on student performance inside the classroom by working to address significant challenges facing students outside of our schools (adverse childhood experiences, hunger, homelessness/housing instability, access to transportation, traumatic events, etc.).
Facilitate more budgetary transparency.
Increase socio-economic diversity in our schools.
Work to increase parental involvement and private partnerships.
As a public school
parent of three young boys and elected official, I have had the opportunity to
observe amazing things happening in schools across our city, and I cannot wait
to see what our educators will accomplish with our full support and adequate
resources.
What is your plan for addressing the teacher shortage in Nashville? I would like to first review all school-based budgets submitted by the schools to gain a better understanding of and evaluate the biggest areas of need. Next, I would follow up by communicating with educators and administrators to create a priority list. Then, I would work with MNPS to draft a strategic recruitment plan and create a realistic budget to execute the plan.
I fully recognize that our pay must be more competitive to attract high-quality teachers.
I also recognize that every school faces its own
unique challenges and has varying needs. Those challenges need to be reflected
in the way we budget more responsibly.
What can be done to address chronic underfunding
of Nashville schools?
First, we should start by making public
education our number one priority and using clear, reliable data to demonstrate
the real need for more funds in our school system. While there are
various factors limiting the pool of available revenues to invest in education,
we must start by protecting our property tax base and restoring Metro’s fiscal
integrity. We should also ask more of our entire community via public/private
partnerships, technology/resource exchanges, volunteerism, and other means.
Everyone is impacted by the quality of our public school system, either
directly or indirectly. I would also tap MNPS employees, including
unions, to provide much-needed perspective and help with issues concerning pay
competitiveness, training, and recruitment.
What role can the Mayor’s Office play in shaping state education policy? Nashville is the economic engine of the state and produces a larger
percentage of our workforce than any other city. The mayor has the ability to
use these facts as leverage to advocate for policy, as well as fight state
overreach and ensure that Nashville gets its fair share of state resources.
Unlike the current mayor who remained completely silent on Gov. Lee’s voucher
bill, Nashville’s mayor has a large platform that can and should be used when
appropriate to demonstrate the problems with ill-conceived state policy.
Nashville needs and deserves a mayor who will not hesitate to act in the
best interests of Nashville and fight to protect those interests.
How do you envision the relationship between the Mayor and the MNPS school
board? As mayor, I will work to build a strong partnership with MNPS leadership to
provide full Metro support to achieve a shared vision and create an environment
more conducive to stability and longevity in the Director of Schools’ office.
Rather than threaten to take over the schools or continue the finger
pointing, I would seek to serve as a partner with the school board and the
director of schools to ensure that all stakeholders are working toward the same
goal. We would maintain an open door policy with school officials and maintain
an open line of communication to stay apprised of how we can collaborate to
achieve strategic objectives and improve student performance. I would
also like to appoint someone from the public or private sector with relevant
expertise or knowledge to each school board committee to simply act as a
subject-matter resource for board members. Ultimately, we must work together to
bridge divides, build trust, and maintain mutual respect to ensure that our
educators and students succeed.
If you are elected, what message would you send to MNPS teachers and staff?
I am in awe of your commitment to our children,
and I am always available to listen and learn how I can help. No one has a more
direct impact on the future of this city than our educators and staff, and I
openly recognize that. I have your back.
What would you tell families moving to Nashville about MNPS?
I would tell them that I believe in MNPS so strongly that I proudly send my own children to an MNPS school every day with total confidence that they are receiving a quality education. I would then encourage them to get engaged and stay engaged in their child’s school. The diversity, educational opportunities, students and educators in MNPS make it truly special.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Your support makes reporting education news possible.
In what could be an absolutely epic showdown between supporters of public schools and known backers of school privatization, former Kindergarten teacher and Knox County School Board member Patti Bounds is discussing the possibility of challenging Rep. Bill Dunn for his seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives.
Bounds is, like Dunn, a Republican. Unlike Dunn, she’s an unapologetic supporter of public schools, having taught in Knox County Schools and currently serving on the School Board.
Bounds helped lead a school board that moved toward a more supportive, inclusive environment for teachers.
Sandra Clark summarizes the potential matchup this way:
Both Dunn and Bounds will say their ideas are best for kids. Dunn will be well-funded. But Patti Bounds would run with the full-out support of most teachers and many parents. If Bounds runs, she can beat Dunn. But if he wins, at least he could go back to Nashville speaking truthfully about support or non-support for public education in his district.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Your support makes reporting education news possible.
Retired educator Dr. Bill Smith offers some perspective on charters and vouchers as they relate to the Tennessee Governor’s race in a column he wrote for the Johnson City Press.
Here’s a bit of what he had to say:
When I read “Profit before Kids,” I wondered if our next governor will look closely at the Tennessee Virtual Academy in Union County, a charter that is operated by K12 Inc. If our state’s lawmakers are genuinely opposed to taxpayer dollars being funneled to for-profit educational entities, the findings reported in “Profit before Kids” should raise some concerns.
It’s no secret that non-profit charter schools often divert money intended for children’s instruction to other priorities. For example, many charters compensate their “CEOs” two to three times the salaries of principals who perform the same functions in regular public schools. Vision Academy in Nashville pays its two top executives (a married couple) a combined $562,000, while reportedly charging students for textbooks. (Imagine the outcry if a local public school engaged in such financial behavior.)
A Call to Action:
In this time of hyper-partisanship and extreme contentiousness over issues such as immigration and tax policy, the dangers of school choice are not going to attract the attention of most citizens until Democrats stand forcefully united against it. If they don’t, I’m afraid we will wake up one day and realize that what David Faris called the Republicans’ “slow-moving hostile takeover” of our educational system has been accomplished.
With one week to go before Election Day, this column is worth a read.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Educator and education blogger Mike Stein talks about why he’s supporting Karl Dean for Governor and explains why he believes Dean is the best choice to lead our state. Here’s some of what he says:
He is the best choice to continue the upward trajectory of our public education system. This is exemplified by the Tennessee Education Association Fund for Children & Public Education endorsing him. Additionally, at a recent town hall, Dean said: “When I look at this state, the number one thing that we gotta get right is education. We need to increase teacher pay. We’re losing too many teachers to the private sector. We’re paying below the national average.” On the debacle otherwise known as TNReady, he went on to say: “I don’t believe that testing should be punitive toward teachers at all. We lost teachers’ voices in this whole process. We need to get back to listening to our teachers. There’s way too much testing going on in schools today, and not enough learning.” When it comes to public education, he gets it. He’s also staunchly against school vouchers (sometimes referred to as education savings accounts) because he understands that taking money from public schools and using it to help the wealthy send their children to private schools is completely nonsensical and counterproductive. When polled, 64% of Tennesseans oppose vouchers, and Karl Dean is on the correct side of this issue.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
