Saturday, November 13, 2021

THIS WEEK'S TENNESSEE EDUCATION REPORT

 TENNESSEE EDUCATION REPORT


THIS WEEK'S TENNESSEE EDUCATION REPORT

EDUCATION POLITICS AND POLICY IN THE VOLUNTEER STATE



Community Groups Call for Increased School Funding
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. TN School Funding Report Card: 1 D, 2 Fs Here’s an open letter penned by the groups: To Governor Lee, members of the General Assembly, the Funding
The BEP Voucher Plan
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
TN School Funding Report Card: 1 D, 2 Fs
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 fu
An Inside Look at Moms for Liberty
One brave and new political blogger takes a closer look at Moms for Liberty in Williamson County. Here’s more from “Tennessee Politics Guy.” 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* un
Coming Soon: Partisan School Board Races
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 improv

TENNESSEE EDUCATION REPORT