National education news organization the 74 found Tennessee’s largest school districts are achieving math proficiency at lower rates than expected based on poverty.

The Tennessee Department of Education announced the 377 schools across the state that have received the designation as Reward Schools for the 2023/2024 school year.

Public charter schools led the way in the state’s largest school district, accounting for nearly a third of Memphis-Shelby County Schools’ 34 Reward Schools.

The University of Tennessee system will proceed with an external search to fill anticipated vacancies in the chancellor positions at UT Chattanooga and UT Southern, according to University of Tennessee President Randy Boyd.

Metro Nashville Public Schools has attained a Level 5 growth score from the Tennessee Value Added Assessment System (TVAAS), an announcement from the district said.

The Hamilton County Schools Board of Education will vote next week to finalize an updated district facilities plan to establish a new career and technical education (CTE) center and combine some schools under one facility, among other proposals.

In the coming weeks, leaders of more than a dozen public charter schools will make the case for why their school’s charter should be renewed for another ten-year term. Charter schools are free public schools operated by an independent contract or “charter” with an authorizing agency like a school district or the state.

This year, five authorizing agencies including school board members with Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), Memphis-Shelby County Schools, Hamilton County Schools, Knox County Schools, along with members of the state-run Tennessee Public Charter School Commission will make those decisions for thirteen charter schools.

Going into Tuesday night’s general election, Tennessee Democrats had high hopes of whittling into the Republican supermajority by winning a handful of House seats that are currently held by Republicans.  On the flipside, GOP leaders targeted growing their supermajority by flipping three Middle Tennessee seats currently held by Democrats.

Neither came to fruition, but one came close.

Last year, the Tennessee General Assembly attracted headlines when members held multiple hearings on the possibility of rejecting up to a billion dollars in federal education funding. Lawmakers ultimately didn’t go forward with that idea, but that doesn’t mean it’s dead. Republican House District 27 candidate Michele Reneau said in a recent interview that she’s open to the possibility of rejecting federal education dollars.

Amy Kyriakidis, assistant director for suicide education and prevention at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Center for Wellbeing, recently received special recognition from the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network (TSPN) for her contributions to suicide prevention in Tennessee.

Hamilton County Schools will move forward with a plan to provide transportation to early voting sites for students who are eligible to vote, despite some debate about the initiative among Republican and Democrat board members at Thursday’s school board meeting.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will use a $3.5 million gift and research grant from the Journey Health Foundation to establish a Research Center for Health and Economic Analytics within the Gary W. Rollins College of Business. Learn more about how the new center will use those funds.

SouthEast Bank announced a three-year investment of $154,500 into Chattanooga public charter schools Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy and the Montessori Elementary at Highland Park to help hire new teaching assistants and fund a new scholarship.

Read more about how these Tennessee charter schools are serving students.

Several parents and community members spoke to Hamilton County Schools leaders about school safety concerns at Thursday’s school board meeting following a recent string of threats against schools throughout the district.

Read more about what they told the Tennessee school district.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has launched a search for a researcher and educator to join its quantum program as a Governor’s Chair scientist with a joint appointment at UTC and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a recent university announcement said.

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee teamed up with East Tennessee State University in 2021 to create an accelerated learning program for students to earn a bachelor’s degree in computing and job offer at BlueCross in just two years.

Hamilton County Schools recently teamed up with the healthcare provider Erlanger Health System to open a School-Based Health Center at Howard Connect Academy.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is working to support first year students settling into campus this school year to help ease the transition from high school to higher education.

The Hamilton County school board updated its policy to allow school nurses to provide emergency care to students without parental consent, in response to a new Tennessee law requiring parental permission for non-emergency treatment. The law was initially aimed at restricting gender-affirming care but has broader implications, such as needing consent for basic medical care. The board unanimously passed the update to ensure emergency situations are addressed promptly. Additionally, the board approved funding for a new staff position to manage legislative updates and advocate for school funding, despite some opposition.

The public charter school operator Prep Public Schools is looking to replicate the success of Chattanooga Preparatory School with another all-boys charter school that just opened its doors for its first school year last Thursday.

The Hamilton County Schools Board of Education voted 8-0 to approve a $663 million revised budget during Thursday’s special called meeting.