Category Archives: Tennessee General Assembly

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Terrible Task Force

Legislative leaders move forward with attempt to refuse federal education funding

House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally have appointed a Joint Legislative Task Force to explore the possibility of Tennessee refusing the nearly $2 billion the state receives in federal education funding each year.

More from The Tennessee Journal:

The 10-member panel will also report on the feasibility of the state rejecting federal funds and recommend a strategy to reject certain federal funds or eliminate unwanted restrictions placed on the state due to the receipt of such federal funds if it is feasible to do so.

Sexton has previously suggested using the state’s significant revenue surplus to replace federal dollars for schools.

Cash Rains Down on Tennessee While Schools Left to Starve

It’s worth noting here that a bipartisan task force found that the state underfunds schools by around $1.7 billion a year.

This means that rather than use surplus dollars to make up the current funding shortfall, Sexton is suggesting using the surplus to maintain the inadequate status quo.

Not surprisingly, the move was met with resistance by advocates for public education:

Rev. C. Don Jones, Pastor of the Andersonville United Methodist Church, said of the proposal:

“Tennessee public schools are primarily locally funded. Extra funds from the Federal government administered by the State government help schools in our rural areas that are cash strapped. I do not understand why the Speaker, the Governor, or the present Supermajority of the General Assembly chose to harm these communities.

“As a pastor in a rural community, I see the Speaker’s proposal as irresponsible to the citizens of Tennessee.”

Senate Democratic Leader Raumesh Akbari of Memphis said the federal funding is a key tool in leveling the playing field for students in economically disadvantaged areas of the state.

“Federal education funding for states is essential to ensure educational equity and opportunity for all American students. It serves as a vital pillar of our nation’s commitment to providing a quality education regardless of a student’s geographical location or socioeconomic background.”

In a tweet, Rep. Bo Mitchell said:

This could the most idiotic discussion I’ve seen in the Tennessee General Assembly probably since not expanding Medicaid and costing our state over a billion dollars a year. If you have a child with an IEP then this will drastically harm your child!

The task force has not yet announced its first meeting.

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

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2023 Legislative Summary

Over at The Education Report, I’ve written about the recently concluded legislative session.

Here are a couple highlights:

As the General Assembly finished its business this week, legislation that would expand the state’s fledgling voucher program (now confined to Memphis and Nashville) to Chattanooga was finally passed.

To be clear, it had been passed in the Senate before.

The House, however, was eager to get vouchers into even more communities – and so added an amendment that would add Knox County to the mix.

Ultimately, Knox County was NOT added – but let’s be clear: The legislature wants full-on privatization of the state’s public schools.

What’s up with third grade?

Tennessee now has a third grade retention law – meaning that students who don’t hit a certain benchmark on the state’s 3rd grade TNReady test MUST repeat third grade OR participate in remediation, including a summer reading program. Some estimates suggest more than 60% of students would be subject to the law’s requirements and around half of those may ultimately repeat third grade.

The legislature did so SOME tinkering – but it won’t help this year’s kids.

MORE from Chalkbeat:

Unless the full legislature intervenes before adjourning in the next few weeks, this year’s decisions on who gets held back or sent to remedial programs will be based solely on TCAP reading test results. That’s the current criterion under a 2021 law that lawmakers passed in response to pandemic learning losses.

If the proposed revisions are approved as expected, the state would widen criteria beginning with the 2023-24 school year to consider results from a second state-provided benchmark test, too — but only for third graders who score as “approaching” proficiency on their TCAP.

Guns in Schools?

Gov. Bill Lee did ultimately propose the adoption of a Red Flag Law – but no GOP member of the House or Senate rose up to sponsor it in the legislature’s final days.

Now, Lee is calling a special session to focus specifically on gun violence and public safety.

It’s not yet clear whether GOP lawmakers will back this effort pushed by their party’s leader.

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

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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A Plague of Snakes?

Will a plague of snakes soon shut down Tennessee’s rural schools? Watch a clip from a recent legislative hearing to find out:

James Wainscoat/Unsplash

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

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New Third Grade Law “Devastating”

One middle Tennessee mom says she was devastated when she learned of Tennessee’s new third grade retention law that goes into effect this year. The law requires that any third-grade student who scores at “below expectations” or “approaching expectations” on the state’s TNReady test in reading be held back unless they complete summer school and possibly enroll in a tutoring program during the school year.

Nearly 70% of all Tennessee third grade students score at that level on TNReady in any given year. In other words, even if a majority of them complete the summer program and participate in tutoring, a significant portion of third grade students will be forced to repeat third grade in 2023.

3rd Grade Again

Here’s more from WKRN on this story:

One day and one test could change the life of Anna Sturm’s son.

“I was devastated when I read it,” she said. “As a mother, it was such a disheartening thing to read that this is going to be something that could impact my child and thousands and thousands of children.”

The news report also notes that the Murfreesboro City Schools have crafted a resolution asking the state to reconsider the legislation and make changes when they return to session in January.

That’s something the bill’s sponsor says he may be open to – though he was vague on what those changes may look like:

Open to Change as Long as it’s Free

It’s worth noting, too, that the policy is based on a single test taken on a single day – and it’s a test that has not exactly been reliable in recent years:

Turns Out, TNReady Still Isn’t

The legislature appropriated no additional funds to help schools support third grade students nor are there funds available for the necessary summer reading and school year tutoring programs mandated by the law.

Instead, it seems legislators just passed a law and hoped that change would magically happen.

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

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Open to Change as Long as it’s Free

A new law that goes into effect this year and impacts third grade students is taking some criticism.

3rd Grade Again

The law requires that all third-grade students who score below “met expectations” on TNReady reading be held back unless they complete a summer remediation program and possibly also enroll in a tutoring program for the academic year.

The point is to focus on improving reading scores. The reality is that nearly 70% of Tennessee third graders would fall into this category, thus requiring districts to offer extensive summer reading programs and school year tutoring. It’s likely, too, that some students will not complete the remediation and will then repeat third grade.

This means more costs for local districts – and the law, authored by Rep. Mark White, offered no new resources for districts. Additionally, since the law passed, the General Assembly has not offered districts funds to provide for summer reading or tutoring as indicated by this law.

Here’s more from Nashville’s WKRN:

When asked if he would consider adding funding to this bill to support schools with tutoring efforts and summer programs, White again expressed a willingness to talk about it.

“That is one of the big objections. We can look at this come January and modify the law if we think that’s what needs to be done,” he said.

That’s an interesting answer. White is not committing to providing funding or support to districts – only to “looking at” the law and the current objections. A more prudent approach would be to work with Gov. Lee to secure dedicated funding. Or, even, to change the law in such a way that districts get the supports/interventions/funding BEFORE any penalty hits students in terms of retention.

crop man getting dollars from wallet
Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

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

Your support – $5 or more – makes publishing education news possible.

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Of Vouchers and Indictments

Readers may remember a time when hot chicken, sex, and cocaine played a role in securing the passage of voucher legislation in the state.

Hot Chicken, Sex, and Vouchers

That was three years ago. So, what happened? Well, as it turns out, the former Speaker of the House (Glen Casada) and his former Chief of Staff (Cade Cothren) have been indicted in a bribery and kickback scandal related to the voucher vote.

NewsChannel5 reports:

According to the indictment, beginning in October 2019, Casada, Cothren, as well as another conspirator engaged in a fraudulent scheme to enrich themselves “by exploiting Casada and the other conspirator’s official positions as legislators to obtain State approval of Phoenix Solutions as a Mailer Program vendor to provide constituent mail services to members of the Tennessee General Assembly.”

This reportedly began after Cothren’s resignation and after Casada stepped down as the Tennessee Speaker of the House.

While the indictment is not specifically around the voucher vote, the conspirators were directly involved in that event as well.

More to come as this process continues.

For more on education politics and policy, follow @TNEdReport

Your support-$5 or more-makes publishing education news possible.

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Back to School During the War on Knowledge

What’s it like to be a Tennessee teacher during what can best be described as a “War on Knowledge” being waged by Gov. Bill Lee and the General Assembly?

Well, one teacher shares her story – with thanks to The Tennessee Holler for sharing it.

https://twitter.com/TheTNHoller/status/1558858550214115328?s=20&t=zl6zmL5CHpFNnoyoeOm5wQ

Policy decisions have practical consequences. Maybe Gov. Lee or House Education Committee Chair Mark White would like to go to TN classrooms and start cataloguing the books?

Or maybe they could just repeal ridiculous laws like this one?

Unfortunately, instead, they’ll just keep pushing relentlessly toward full-on privatization of our public schools.

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

MORE EDUCATION NEWS

Hillsdale vs. Your Local School Board

Back to School 2022

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Is Hillsdale Cancelled?

The fallout from Gov. Lee’s silence as an education advisor disparaged teachers continues to grow. This time, House Education Committee Chair Mark White is speaking out – saying the state must sever ties with Hillsdale.

https://twitter.com/TheTNHoller/status/1546521735482179587?s=20&t=9yG9bcxmp8KFoANwIpPyzg

That’s a nice sentiment and it is good to see White take a public stance against Lee’s agenda.

However, it is worth noting here that charter schools affiliated with Hillsdale have already applied to operate in several middle Tennessee districts. While these districts have yet to approve a Hillsdale charter, the state charter commission – with all members appointed by Lee – can override local decisions.

So, while White may want to take action in January of 2023, it may be too late by then to stop Hillsdale from advancing its agenda of evangelical exceptionalism into Tennessee public schools.

Exceptionally Bad

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

Your support – $5 or more – makes publishing education news possible.

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Cardoza-Moore in the House?

It seems that Laurie Cardoza-Moore is interested in becoming a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives.

Here’s more on Moore:

Laurie Cardoza-Millions!

Her business model?

Well, her 2017 IRS 990 form offers some insight.

That year, Moore’s group – Proclaiming Justice to the Nations (PJTN) raised just over $1 million.

What’d she do with the cash?

Well, she paid herself $130,000. Then, she paid her husband’s business $67,000. There was a business “office expense” for occupancy at just over $49,000. She runs PJTN from her home, so that means she’s paying her mortgage with the cash. That’s $200,000 in payments to Moore and her husband, and another 50,000 a year to cover their mortgage. Then, there’s another $26,000 paid to Moore as an “occupancy expense.” Oh, and there’s $41,000 on “meals and entertainment.” Finally, her two kids received a total of around $2000 from the organization for “contract labor” that year.

Peddling ignorance is quite profitable, it seems. After all, that’s just one year of her “thriving” business.

And there’s also this:

Is This Who We Want on the Textbook Commission?

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today renewed its call for Tennessee to drop consideration of anti-Muslim activist and possible 9/11 truther Laurie Cardoza-Moore to that state’s Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission. Cardoza-Moore leads the Franklin, Tenn., group Proclaiming Justice to the Nations (PJTN).

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

Your support – $5 or more – makes publishing education news possible.