Lamenting Lizzette

Tennessee’s Education Commissioner creates controversy

Andy Spears
2 min readJun 21, 2024
Photo by 傅甬 华 on Unsplash

The face of this cat likely resembles the Tennessee taxpayer discovering that more than a quarter of a million dollars worth of state money gets paid to a top-level official who lacks the basic qualifications for the job and also repeatedly fails at key tasks.

Yes, I’m talking about Commissioner of Education Lizzette Reynolds.

Her past experience includes working as a lobbyist for an outfit focused on privatizing America’s public schools.

She’s never been a teacher nor does she hold a teaching credential. This despite state law requiring the Commissioner to be qualified to teach and lead at highest-level institution over which she has authority.

When the discrepancy between her qualifications and state law was pointed out, she lied on a state form in order to receive free tuition as she took classes to earn the credential she should have had on day one.

She earns $255,000 a year.

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Andy Spears
Andy Spears

Written by Andy Spears

Writer and policy advocate living in Nashville, TN —Public Policy Ph.D. — writes on education policy, consumer affairs, and more . . .

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