For the second time members of the Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education are taking the unusual position of stepping into the Nashville mayoral election.Board members put out a joint statement Thursday to officially endorse Metro Councilman Freddie O’Connell in the upcoming mayoral runoff against former Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Assistant Commissioner Alice Rolli.

Nashville mayoral candidates Freddie O’Connell and Alice Rolli provided differing views for how to support school choice at the first education-focused debate.During Thursday’s forum hosted by Opportunity Nashville, Rolli said students who attend underperforming schools should have the option of switching to their desired school with district-provided transportation resources.

Nashville mayoral candidates Freddie O’Connell and Alice Rolli have taken part in numerous debates in the last few months but education hasn’t always played a large role in the discussion.In the forums leading up to their advancement to a runoff, mayoral candidates have largely only fielded one question at most on their educational positions.  That changes this Thursday.

Metro Council member Freddie O’Connell and former Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Assistant Commissioner Alice Rolli beat out a crowded field of candidates to advance to the runoff in the Nashville mayor’s race Thursday evening.

The candidates vying to become Nashville’s next mayor finally answered a question about how they plan to improve education.During Monday’s televised debate, Fox-17 anchor Scott Couch asked candidates how they’d approach struggling test scores if elected.“Metro Schools get the lion’s share of every dollar in the Metro budget, yet our students continue to score below the state average on standardized tests. What do you think the answer is to improve student performance?” asked Couch.Previous televised debates have largely ignored school issues despite independent polling that found more than 21% of likely voters consider candidate’s positions on education to be the most important quality they’re looking for.

A new poll of likely Davidson County voters found strong support for raising teacher pay, even if that meant raising taxes.More than 56 percent of those polled said they’d support an increase in property taxes to pay for teacher raises. Just under 32 percent said they wouldn’t support a tax hike.