While the Sumner County Commission issued a resolution calling for two books to be removed from school libraries, the Sumner County School Board voted (7–3) on Tuesday to keep “A Place Inside of Me” in schools. More on the School Board’s vote from NewsBreak: The Sumner County School Board last…

State Board proposal would ease entry into profession for some candidates — The Tennessee State Board of Education is looking at ways to smooth the pathway into teaching, including by eliminating a key hurdle faced by some candidates — a test of teaching aptitude. NewsChannel9 in Chattanooga has more: Currently, all teachers in Tennessee must pass the education teacher performance assessment, whether…

Tennessee’s march to school privatization meets pushback — Founders Classical Academy is a charter school that has applied to operate in Williamson County. That application was rejected — not once, but twice by the Williamson County School Board. Now, Founders is appealing to the Tennessee Charter School Commission. If the Commission grants the appeal, Founders will open in…

As charters creep beyond the major cities, parents push back — A group of public education advocates in Sumner County spoke out against Founders Classical Academy’s charter application this week. Here’s more from NewsBreak: A group of public education advocates gathered today at a hearing by the Tennessee State Charter School Commission in Sumner County. The group urged the Commission to…

Analysis shows teachers in the Volunteer State continue to pay a “wage penalty,” and it’s not getting better — Despite all the rhetoric from Tennessee policymakers about funds for schools and teacher salaries, Tennessee teachers continue to experience a “wage gap.” That is, teachers in Tennessee earn nearly 24% less than similarly educated peers. The Teacher Wage Gap Persists Economic Policy Institute is out with a survey of teacher compensation relative to other, similarly educated…tnedreport.com

Hillsdale College controversy points to larger plan to use public money for private schools — In Tennessee, plans to privatize public education are currently caught up in a debate about Michigan-based Christian college Hillsdale. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced a plan to create 50–100 Hillsdale charters (publicly-funded, privately operated) back in January. All appeared to be moving apace until Hillsdale’s President, Larry Arnn, was recorded…

What does it mean for students and schools? — Tennessee is on the verge of a whole lot of kids repeating the third grade — changing the landscape of schools and classrooms and increasing demand for elementary teachers during a teacher vacancy crisis. Here’s why: A state law that goes into effect this year requires that students not testing…

A long simmering problem finally boils over — According to Jessica Wildfire, the answer to “Who Wants to Teach” is nobody. It’s difficult to look at local news from just about anywhere in the country without seeing stories about a large number of teacher vacancies and no one standing in line to fill them. I’ve written about this…

More than $1 million spent to shift outcomes of primaries — I wrote recently about Team Kid PAC, the political action arm of Tennesseans for Student Success. Team Kid's Payroll Dark money PAC spends nearly $400,000 to promote school privatization I've written before about Tennesseans for Student…tnedreport.com The dark money, pro-privatization group spent heavily to influence key races in the August primary. As Adam Friedman in the Tennessean notes, Team Kid was joined by other privatization groups in spending that ultimately…

PAC spends at least $400,000 to elect pro-privatization legislators — I’ve written before about Tennesseans for Student Success — a group with an innocuous sounding name that is actually a front for dark money issue advocacy and political shenanigans related to privatization of public schools. This is Success? What happens when legislators stand up for their local public schools and also support accountability in charter…tnedreport.com

One of these responses is not like the others — Tennessee Lookout has a story out about the first partisan school board races in the state. The piece examines the issue through the lens of races in Williamson County. The responses in the District 10 race are pretty interesting. …

Educators appalled at attack on profession from education advisor — The Tennessee Organization of Superintendents (TOSS) says Hillsdale College’s Larry Arnn deserves “collective disdain” in response to his disparaging remarks about teachers, made as Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee looked on in silence. Lee has since defended both his own inaction and Arnn’s ridiculous remarks. …

A disturbing pattern of behavior — I reported over at Tennessee Education Report about all the outrage last week related to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee sitting silently while one of his advisors on education policy publicly disparaged public school educators. This IS Who He Is Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has never been a fan of or advocate for Tennessee's public school teachers. Now, he confirms…tnedreport.com

Statement comes in wake of Uvalde shooting — Gov. Bill Lee indicated this week that he’s open to legislation that would arm Tennessee teachers in the wake of the most recent school shooting in Uvalde, TX. Lee made the remarks in an interview with Chalkbeat. Q: After the 2018 mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida…

An upcoming forum seeks to answer key questions — The Tennessee General Assembly passed Gov. Bill Lee’s school funding reform plan this past legislative session. The new scheme, TISA, will take effect in the 2023–24 school year. What does TISA mean for local school districts? How will it impact the schools in your district? A group known as “Tennessee…

Persistent problems plague TNReady — The spectacular failure that is Tennessee’s statewide testing system for students (TNReady) just continues to fail. So much so that when districts announce that TNReady scores won’t be factored into student grades yet AGAIN, it’s not even a major news story. Sure, the state pays in excess of $100 million…

A guest column by Greg O’Loughlin — We teachers are hearing and feeling this news differently than most. If you are a teacher and you are feeling like this is all hitting more acutely, please know that you’re not imagining it. The shock and trauma of it all is shared by anyone who hears of the horror…

Librarians speak out on being caught up in the culture war — In the battle to privatize Tennessee’s public schools, school librarians have become “collateral damage.” The attacks have become so great that those oft-quiet librarians are standing up and taking notice. Gross Those rabble rousers over at the Tennessee Association of School Librarians (TASL) are out with a statement condemning…tnedreport.com

Even with benefits, teachers earn significantly less than their peers — Economic Policy Institute is out with a survey of teacher compensation relative to other, similarly educated professionals. The news continues to be bad for teachers nationally. Teachers earn roughly 20% less than comparably educated professionals on average. In Tennessee, that number is 21.4%. Teacher wage gap data in percentages provided…

Group laments passage of misguided reform scheme — Gov. Bill Lee’s signature education funding reform initiative passed today even as concerns have been raised that the plan will do little to fundamentally alter the status quo for school districts in a state consistently ranked 45th in the nation in school funding. 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…tnedreport.com