Gov. Bill Lee’s joint effort with the Tennessee General Assembly to score political points around mask mandates in schools has been thwarted once again by the courts. Of course, this will likely allow Lee to rail against “activist” judges, but the point is: The ban on mask mandates Lee supported and the legislature passed remains sound and fury signifying nothing.
Tennessee’s new wide-ranging law against COVID-19 prevention mandates hit a snag Sunday when a federal judge appeared to temporarily halt its implementation of strict limits on mask mandates in schools as they apply in at least three counties.
In a state that continues to earn failing grades in school funding, community groups in Nashville, Memphis, and Chattanooga are calling on Gov. Bill Lee and legislative leaders to both increase school funding and update the BEP with a focus on equity.
To Governor Lee, members of the General Assembly, the Funding Review Central Steering Committee, and Chairs of the Education Funding Review Subcommittees:
In August, Nashville Organized for Action and Hope (NOAH) and our sister organizations, Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH) and Chattanoogans in Action for Love Equality and Benevolence (CALEB) gathered for a Day of Power and Prayer to call for increased funding of education statewide. We heard from educators, students and advocates from across the state and used the collective power of our voices to highlight the urgent needs of our students in a time where they face incredible odds, but are still asked to succeed. We recognize we cannot ask more of students unless we are willing to increase our investment in them.
We applaud Governor Lee for calling for a full review of the state’s education funding formula and to explore possibilities for a more student-centered approach. We consider education equity to be one of our highest priorities and are encouraged that there will be a statewide effort to ensure that community input will be provided in the creation of a new funding framework.
Currently, Tennessee ranks 46th nationally in education spending. Sadly, we spend more to incarcerate adults than we do to educate our children. If Tennessee is serious about improving the education of our children and the future of all Tennesseeans, then we must ensure that the education framework we create now reflects education components that are inclusive of the needs of all children across the state.
As such, NOAH, MICAH and CALEB will continue to advocate for the following items to be prioritized in the new funding formula:
● Funding for Classroom Technology
● Funding for Lower Student/Teacher Ratios
● Funding for Professional Development for Teachers
● Funding for Social Worker, School Counselor, and Nurse ratios that mirror national recommendations
● Funding that adequately address the needs of low-income students, English learners, and students with disabilities, in order to produce predictable, equitable allocations to every school district
Additionally, we ask that the committees not simply “re-slice” the funding pie. Tennessee experienced a $2 billion surplus last fiscal year. Imagine what progress we could make if we were to substantially increase the dollars available for our schools. The time is now to ensure that we increase education funding in an effective way that goes beyond simply re-allocating dollars. We must be courageous in recognizing that there are no frugal shortcuts to improving education in Tennessee. If we say we value our children, then we must do so through our actions and deeds, and that begins by investing more in our children and the future of Tennessee.
Tennessee teacher and education blogger Mike Stein offers his take on Gov. Bill Lee’s latest run at school vouchers. This time, Lee’s plan appears to be to use the state’s school funding formula (BEP) to create a voucher scheme.
Here are some highlights from Stein’s piece, written after he’d been to one of TN DOE’s BEP Town Hall events:
I had so much to say! I wanted to mention how atrocious it is that in 2021 teachers in this state are still limited on how many copies they can make for their classrooms. I wanted to go into how students’ mental health is poor. That fights during school are on the rise because they don’t know how to properly deal with their emotions and the need for school counselors, psychologists, and social workers is at a critical point. I wanted to mention my idea for attacking the substitute teacher crisis in Tennessee, which is to include substitute teacher pay as a component in the BEP. Rural systems like mine can not afford to pay them a decent wage (they can literally make more money at any fast food establishment), so if TDOE creates a baseline pay of $120 per day for non-licensed substitute teachers that is reimbursed to districts, then we will be much more likely to attract and keep quality substitute teachers. The $120 figure comes from paying them the equivalent of $15 an hour for the length of the school day. If the substitute is a certified teacher, then I believe that amount should equal $160 per day. I wanted to raise these points–and more–but the two minute time limit had me rethinking what I was going to say.
Stop and reflect on that last sentence. If their timeline is to present their plan in January then it can only mean one thing–it’s either already written or close to it. This means that TDOE’s public town halls and their funding review committees are either entirely or mostly a farce. They’re going through the motions of eliciting public feedback because to redo the BEP formula without attempting to do so would mean their suggestion in January would most assuredly be D.O.A.
The tea leaves are not difficult to read here. The new BEP formula will include some form of vouchers (they, of course, won’t be called that) and because the BEP funds public schools across the state, then it will not violate the “Home Rule” provision. State legislators will be put in a position to either vote in favor of the new BEP formula (which will undoubtedly include actual needed improvements that will be popular with their constituents) or reject it. It’s a lose-lose situation for them. Either support the new BEP formula that will actually privatize public schools or be accused of being against public education.
Stein then does a great job of breaking down the members of the Fiscal Responsibility Committee – noting that many of them are decidedly pro-voucher.
Check out his post for more on Bill Lee’s continued effort to send public money to private schools.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
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While Gov. Bill Lee’s Administration is off discussing potential changes to state’s funding formula for schools (the BEP), a joint report from the Southern Poverty Law Center and Education Law Center indicates there’s a lot of room for growth. It’s not just how the funds are allocated, it’s also about how much – turns out, Tennessee is near the bottom in the nation when it comes to things like funding level and funding effort – we’re not putting in much money and we’re not trying very hard to change that. Lee so far has not committed to any funding increase in his proposed formula change.
When it comes to funding level, Tennessee earns a ranking of 44th in the nation and is near the bottom in the South, earning a grade of “F” on the Report Card. These numbers are adjusted for regional cost differences and so acknowledge that costs are typically lower in state like Tennessee than they are in places in the Northeast or West Coast.
Next, funding distribution. Tennessee does a little better here, coming in at a D. However, the report notes:
In Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee there is no clear variation in funding relative to student poverty. These “flat” funding distributions disadvantage students in high-poverty districts by failing to deliver the additional resources they need to close persistent achievement gaps.
Finally, funding effort. Here, Tennessee is 47th in the nation. Another F. We’re simply not trying very hard to direct money to schools.
The effort index is an important indicator of how a state prioritizes education spending relative to its economic capacity.
In short, Tennessee has the capacity to direct significant funds toward schools, but policymakers are simply choosing NOT to do so.
Moms for Liberty is a (likely astroturfed) group of moms advocating for “parental rights” and “liberty”. Obviously, this is translated to ignoring a public health emergency and pretending racism is not and never was a problem in America. On a *completely* unrelated note, the noted Bircher Paul Skousen (whose father was also a key Bircher ideologue and whose cousin regularly appears on InfoWars) is the first person to appear on the “What Material do We Use” portion of their website.
What I found is something beyond a mere “parents’ interest” group. Unsurprisingly, the first thing the group is, before caring about parents’ rights, quality realistic education or childrens’ safety, is a vector for dangerous misinformation.
READ MORE to see the inner workings of Moms for Liberty
The Tennessee General Assembly recently adjourned a special session to address COVID-19. Among the bills that passed? Legislation permitting partisan school board races. I mean, if there’s one thing that will help local communities better respond to the challenges COVID has placed on schools, it is most certainly more partisanship.
Missing from the COVID special session was any move toward improving (increasing) funding for our state’s schools. This despite a huge state surplus and a $1.7 billion shortfall in funding.
Here’s video of one GOP Senator who opposed the effort to make school board races partisan:
Nate Rau in Axios highlights conversations happening at the Nashville Chamber of Commerce regarding moving Nashville from an elected to an appointed School Board.
The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce is considering a push for a major change to Nashville public schools — switching from an elected school board to one where members are appointed.
The chamber hashad high-level talks on the topic with key education stakeholders, including the school board chair.
Not surprisingly, some Board members are not at all happy with this move. To be clear, the idea of appointed school board members was also floated by pro-charter former Mayor Karl Dean.
Here’s current board member Abigail Tylor talking about this latest effort to shift power away from the people:
We have to take a minute and think about why any group – be it the state or our own chamber – would want to take away local control from the people and make the school board appointed. Would the outcome be better for students if parents weren’t allowed to vote for who they think best represents their interests? Would it be better for students if the board was no longer required to have a representative from each area of the city? Would it be better for students to only have people able to garner enough attention from the mayor to get appointed?
We actually already have a blueprint of what happens under appointed leadership. The State has the power to appoint who oversees the Achievement School District (ASD) because they claimed they knew the people who could make the best educational decisions for the worst performing schools. Within three years, the appointed superintendent who started the ASD left, admitting they cannot do any better than the locally controlled schools. He wrote, “As a charter school founder, I did my fair share of chest pounding over great results. I’ve learned that getting these same results in a zoned neighborhood school environment is much harder.” He also admitted to underestimating the needs of struggling schools and, in the end, did not provide the gains he was so sure he knew he could produce. Were those students served better under appointed leadership? The answer has been, and continues to be, no.
That’s the crux of it. Politicians who have never studied educational policy and have no experience working in schools constantly underestimate the true needs of our schools. The people who know what our schools need are the ones living it – the people who work in our schools and see the needs every day and the people whose children are in our schools and know what their children need to succeed.
Is it that the Nashville Chamber really thinks the mayor would do a better job choosing a school board than the voters, or is it that they want to consolidate power and control over schools regardless of what’s truly best for our students?
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Senator Brian Kelsey, who chairs the Senate’s Education Committee and who has long been a champion of using public money to fund private schools, is facing a federal indictment on allegations of campaign finance misconduct. This is not just a legal headache for Kelsey, though, it also may result in him losing the gatekeeping role he now plays as Committee chair.
A McNally spokesman said later that Kelsey had not requested a hearing before the Senate’s ethics committee on whether the indictment merits suspension from his leadership position. If Kelsey does not make the request within 10 days of his indictment, Senate rules say he will be suspended as chairman for as long as the indictment is being pursued.
“Lt. Gov. McNally will enforce the Senate rules as written,” said McNally spokesman Adam Kleinheider.
Kelsey’s political future is being closely watched, especially since he ascended to lead the education committee after longtime Chairwoman Dolores Gresham retired last year. The panel is the gatekeeper of hundreds of proposals annually that can affect Tennessee students, educators, and schools.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
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A bus driver shortage in Nashville has reached a crisis, and bus drivers are speaking out. NewsChannel 5 has the story of a severe shortage and potentially unsafe conditions for students.
Battle said they are 200 or more drivers short, and many are doubling and tripling routes, forcing kids to sit three to a seat.
She also cited safety concerns with buses being overcrowding.
Drivers held a rally this morning to highlight the challenges currently being faced. The bottom line: Buses are at capacity at all times and there simply aren’t enough drivers.
Pam Battle, who heads up the union representing bus drivers, says the drivers want better pay and benefits.
The current situation, Battle notes, is untenable. To put it simply, the job is not attractive from a pay standpoint and the safety issues under current conditions make it even less attractive.
“So, it is time for this district to sit down with me and let’s figure out a plan here because we’re headed in the wrong direction, and if they don’t wake up and listen to us, I promise a parent, it’s coming. So, they better get ready. They cannot say that ‘no one has told them.’ The board cannot say ‘they have no knowledge of this.’ Dr. Battle cannot say ‘she has no knowledge of this.’
