Tennessee school superintendents protest against state ed chief
Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman (www.tn.gov)
A number of school superintendents in Tennessee have signed on to a letter that asks Gov. Bill Haslam (R) to force the state’s education commission to stop implementing controversial school reform measures and take time to evaluate what has already been put in place.
The Tennessean reports that the letter written and circulated by Dan Lawson, director of Tullahoma City Schools, says in part:
We are not content with the current leadership and feel that we are not best serving our state in this manner.
Kevin Huffman, a former Teach For America official and the former husband of school reformer Michelle Rhee, has instituted a number of controversial reforms since he became education commissioner of Tennessee in April 2011. Among them is the linkage of student standardized-test scores to teacher evaluations and to teachers’ licensing.
Tennessee media have reported that nearly half of the superintendents in the state have signed the letter. Lawson is still collecting signatures.
The Tennessean reported that Lawson decided to write a letter after an August meeting of the State Board of Education. The meeting was conducted by conference call and “board members could barely be heard and were interrupted by numerous noises including a dog howling,” the Tennessean said:
During that call, board members approved Huffman’s teacher licensing plan even