THIS WEEK'S TENNESSEE EDUCATION REPORT
EDUCATION POLITICS AND POLICY IN THE VOLUNTEER STATE
Pinkston Talks Partisan School Board Races
by Andy Spears / 21h
Former MNPS School Board member Will Pinkston talks about what partisan school board races could mean in Davidson County in a compelling Twitter thread: As a former reporter, I’ve been patiently waiting to see if any vestiges of local media would explain to voters what partisan local school board elections could actually mean. Seeing no explanatory journalism, I’ll unpack it on this thread. 1/ cc
Know the SCORE
by Andy Spears / 2d
Today, SCORE (Statewide Collaborative on Reforming Education) – a group formed by Bill Frist to influence education policy in Tennessee – held its annual “state of education” event. At the event, SCORE highlighted priorities for 2022. Bill Frist and the BEP Here they are: The 2022 priorities for Tennessee education have been announced by @davemansouri ! #TNedu2022 pic.twitter.com/LGBOh5oQC1 — Ter
Absolutely Nothing
by Andy Spears / 7d
Tennessee schools with mask mandates may keep them in place in spite of an effort by Gov. Bill Lee to prohibit districts from issuing and enforcing such mandates. Lee continues to lose in court on this highly politicized issue. The Tennessean reports on the decision: A federal judge in Nashville on Friday temporarily blocked Tennessee from preventing schools from issuing mask mandates and from st
TC’s Got Questions
by Andy Spears / 9d
Nashville education blogger TC Weber has some questions about a multi-million dollar contract extension for The New Teacher Project (TNTP) from the Tennessee Department of Education. The key concern: Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn’s spouse is an employee of TNTP and stands to financially benefit from the contract. As Weber notes, though, another element of importance is this: The contrac
The Teacher Exodus
by Andy Spears / 9d
Nashville’s NewsChannel5 is reporting that more than 1 in 5 Tennessee teachers want to leave the profession. The teachers in a survey conducted by Professional Educators of Tennessee (PET) indicated that low morale caused by low pay and lack of support is driving the exodus from the profession. The story notes that while teachers are leaving the field, there is a serious shortage of new teachers
A Plea for Teachers
by Andy Spears / 14d
Williamson County school advocacy group Williamson Strong posted a plea for residents to take action to urge policymakers to improve teacher pay. Here’s what they posted to Facebook relative to the teacher shortage and staffing crisis: · URGENT: We’re hearing multiple reports of a massive teacher/staff exodus from WCS. YOU have the power to fix this. If you can’t be loud for this, don’t complain
NOAH to Gov. Lee: We Need a Bigger Pie
by Andy Spears / 15d
Nashville Organized for Action and Hope (NOAH) will be hosting a school funding town hall on Monday, December 6th at 5:30 PM at Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church. Here’s more from NOAH on the planned event, which will include Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn: The Tennessee Department of Education has been holding Town Hall meetings statewide about revising the 30-year-old BEP (Bas
Justice Delayed
by Andy Spears / 16d
It seems that justice (and funding) for Tennessee’s public schools may have to wait until after the 2022 legislative session. A school funding lawsuit that had a February court date is now being pushed back so Gov. Bill Lee can unveil his new formula and districts can decide if a voucher-focused scheme will yield any positive monetary results for public schools. The Tennessean reports : A lingeri