Governor-Elect Marsha Blackburn takes office in January with the power to choose who runs the Tennessee Department of Education, the agency that administers students’ annual state tests and grades public schools from A to F.¶
Chalkbeat reported last week that Blackburn could move early to replace Commissioner of Education Lizzette Reynolds, who has led the department since Governor Bill Lee appointed her in 2023.¶
Lawmakers have no formal say in that choice. The commissioner serves at the governor’s pleasure, and state law leaves the General Assembly no role in confirming the pick.¶
“The General Assembly has no authority to remove the Commissioner of Education,” wrote the state attorney general’s office in a 2024 legal opinion.¶
Setting the Bar
The department administers the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) tests, including end-of-course exams in high school subjects, and recommends the cut scores that determine whether a student meets state standards. The State Board of Education then votes on the recommended cut scores.¶
That happened this summer for the state’s updated science tests. In July, 82 Tennessee educators met in Chattanooga to recommend scores; the department made a small number of adjustments, and the board approved them 8-0 on July 31.¶
The next Commissioner will also oversee a testing pilot created by a law signed in May for up to 10 high-performing districts. In the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years, K-8 students in those districts who score above the 40th percentile on fall reading and math screeners will take fewer tests. The state’s TCAP tests in English language arts (ELA) and math stay in place for them.¶
Bill sponsor Representative Greg Martin, R-Hixson, presented the bill to the House K-12 Subcommittee in March, the Tennessee Firefly reported.¶
“Students, families, and educators widely agree that the level of standardized testing occurring in Tennessee Public Schools is just too much,” said Martin.¶
Department representatives testified last year that the rigor of the state’s testing system directly led Tennessee to improve its standing on national tests. In April, a legislative advisory committee that includes the commissioner chose not to recommend any cuts to state testing. In a candidate survey Chalkbeat published in August, Blackburn wrote that she supports “high standards in testing” and that the state’s third-grade reading law works.¶
After the election, education advocacy organization Tennesseans for Student Success (TSS) credited higher standards and accountability for the state’s progress in a statement on Blackburn’s win.¶
“In the last two decades, Tennessee’s leaders have raised the bar for our kids: higher standards, real accountability, a renewed focus on early literacy, innovation in education via expansion of public charter schools and school funding built around students,” wrote Lana Skelo, TSS President and CEO. “That steady work has made Tennessee one of the fastest-improving states in the nation.”¶
The Tennessee Firefly is a project of and supported by Tennesseans for Student Success.¶
Grading Every School
The department also assigns School Letter Grades, a system a 2016 state law required and the department first released in December 2023. For elementary and middle schools, half of each grade comes from test scores and the other half from student growth.¶
Currently, Tennessee’s school letter grades differ from the federal school accountability system, which is more focused on how schools improve over time based in part on measured growth in the performance of underserved students. ¶
The differences between the state and federal accountability models have led to some confusion among families and school leaders, as schools are often inconsistently identified for intervention at each level – fewer than half of schools rated an “F” in the state letter grade system were also designated as priority schools in the federal system. ¶
Scholarships and Memphis
The department also runs the Education Freedom Scholarship program, sometimes referred to as vouchers. This school year, the program offers 35,000 scholarships worth $7,530 each toward private school tuition and fees, after lawmakers voted this spring to add 15,000 seats.¶
School choice, including the Education Freedom Scholarship program, was a major part of Blackburn’s campaign, and Chalkbeat reported that she wants the program open to every Tennessee family. Democrats in the General Assembly opposed the program when it passed in 2025.¶
Under the state intervention law passed this year, a district where 25 percent or more of schools earn a D or F meets one of six criteria for a state-appointed oversight board. Two other criteria are the Commissioner’s own findings, one on audit problems and one on districts that have had more than two interim superintendents in four years. When a district meets four, the Commissioner must notify the governor and legislative leaders.¶
That’s what happened with Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS), where Governor Lee named his five appointees to an oversight board in May after the department’s notice. District leaders argue the law takes authority away from elected officials, while state leaders have defended it as a response to concerns about district governance and student performance.¶
MSCS and Shelby County are challenging the law in federal court and in Shelby County Chancery Court, where a judge paused the board’s authority on October 19.¶
The 115th General Assembly convenes at noon on January 12, and Blackburn takes office later that month, when the commissioner begins serving at her pleasure.¶
