The Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Board of Education voted Tuesday to renew the ten-year charter agreements for Valor Voyager Academy, Rocketship United Academy, STEM Prep High School, Explore! Community School, STRIVE Collegiate Academy, and KIPP Kirkpatrick Elementary.

The Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA) is looking to prepare more educators to lead school districts across the state as Tennessee faces a shortage of superintendent candidates.

Firefly staff compared each MNPS charter school’s performance on the State Report Card to traditional and magnet schools serving the same age students in the same school cluster and 44 percent of those charters outperformed every comparable district run school in at least a majority of subjects.

Eric Dailey has been named the new executive director of Rocketship Public Schools in Tennessee, according to a Monday announcement from the charter operator.  

On Monday LEAD Public Schools filed a lawsuit challenging a rezoning plan for LEAD Cameron as a violation of its charter with the district.  LEAD is asking a Davidson County Chancellor to stop the rezoning from going into effect and potentially force the Tennessee school district to pay financial damages.

Vanderbilt University will use $10 million to “advance Vanderbilt Law School’s leadership in the study of how law, regulation and policy impact equality, equity and opportunity for women,” according to an announcement last week.  

Metro Nashville Public Schools reached several milestones in terms of academic growth and performance in the 2023-24 school year, according to recent data from the district.

The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission has approved changes to a charter agreement with Empower Memphis Career and College Prep Charter Schools that would allow the operator to open a new school in a different location next school year.  

Five Tennessee school districts across the state received letters of intent for 17 proposed new public charter schools by last week’s deadline. Letters of intent are the first official step in next year’s new start charter application process.

Vanderbilt University’s Dare to Grow campaign to expand student programming has surpassed its $3.2 billion fundraising goal 20 months ahead of its target date in June 2026, a recent announcement said.

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

Tanaka Vercher filed the suit in Davidson County Chancery Court on Monday claiming TSU leaders fired her the day after she refused to provide incorrect information to the federal government to speed up disbursement of financial aid to the cash strapped university.

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.

State leaders criticized Tennessee State University for financial and operational mismanagement during a Thursday State Building Commission Meeting, amid recent fears that the university is running out of money.

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.

Since opening its doors for the 2015-16 school year, LEAD Neely’s Bend Middle School has garnered support from many parents in the Madison area who say the charter school’s approach to education has been beneficial for their children’s academic growth.

The Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve a rezoning plan that effectively diverts students away from LEAD Cameron Middle School

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.

Black students in schools and universities across Tennessee and the nation have reported a slew of racist text messages evoking slavery in the days following former President Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election this week.

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.