TENNESSEE EDUCATION REPORT
EDUCATION POLITICS AND POLICY IN THE VOLUNTEER STATE
Voucher Vultures Getting FBI Scrutiny
23by Andy Spears / 1d
NewsChannel5’s Phil Williams reports that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is continuing to investigate the possibility of bribes involved in the 2019 vote to secure passage of Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher scheme. Here’s more: NewsChannel 5’s cameras were there last month as Casada woke up last month to an FBI raid on his Franklin condo. Now, Casada has told associates that the FBI had quest
What’s the Big Deal?
57by Andy Spears / 1d
Earlier this month, I wrote about the Germantown School District’s letter in response to Gov. Bill Lee’s education agenda as passed in the January special legislative session. Specifically, I noted that Germantown expressed concern about SB 7001 , which heavily incentivizes districts to reach 80% participation in TNReady testing – testing that must take place in-person. Why does this even matter?
Testing During a Pandemic is a Crime
by Andy Spears / 1d
Former Nashville school board member Amy Frogge posts on Facebook about the disappointing decision by the Biden Administration to insist on federally-mandated state standardized tests as our schools continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what Frogge has to say: This is a huge disappointment. Standardized testing in general is pretty useless. It does not improve outcomes for studen
“Wholesome”
29by Andy Spears / 3d
House Speaker Cameron Sexton appointed an anti-Muslim activist who promoted and participated in the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol to the State Textbook Commission. Now, Laurie Cardoza-Moore has taken to the Tennessean to defend her reputation and advocate for what she terms “wholesome” values in Tennessee schools. Here’s some of what Moore has to say: I pray for a day, when parents
The Takedown with Amy Frogge
59by Andy Spears / 4d
Former Nashville School Board member Amy Frogge offers some key facts about education funding in Tennessee in a series of tweets. Here they are: Here are some shocking facts about education funding in Tennessee: 1. TN has chronically underfunded public education. We rank 46th nationally (bottom 5 states) in education spending. We spend less than any of our neighbors, including KY, NC, GA, AL AR,
Told Ya This Would Happen
45by Andy Spears / 7d
Back in July, I wrote a post about a newly-created political action committee (PAC) that seemed to be formed by Tennesseans for Student Success. You may recall that Tennesseans for Student Success is the dark money group behind a serious of insidious attacks on any legislator who opposes school privatization. So, anyway, now they have a cheerily named PAC. Team Kid PAC, they’re calling it. Here’s
Investment
31by Andy Spears / 8d
Today, Democratic lawmakers at the General Assembly unveiled a series of bills designed to help increase investment in Tennessee’s public schools and address some long-standing deficiencies in the BEP formula. The state’s bipartisan TACIR – Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Affairs – has said the formula comes up short by $1.7 billion. Now, the state has a huge budget surplus and
Meaningless
75by Andy Spears / 8d
A new video from the Tennessee Education Association (TEA) explains why the phrase “fully funding the BEP” is meaningless. More on School Funding Over a Billion Yarbro Calls for BEP Update Do We Really Have to Do This?