State Representative Justin Jones, D-Nashville, represents a district that touches four school clusters with some of the highest performing public charter schools in Nashville.Those charters in east and southeast Nashville include a dozen that outscored the average grade district run public schools received in their cluster on the state’s School Letter Grades assessment. The remaining public charter schools scored equal to the cluster average and 40 percent of the Reward schools in these four clusters are charters.

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, announced Thursday that he’s moving Representative Justin Jones, D-Nashville, off a key education committee. Sexton appointed Jones to the Education Administration Committee during last summer's special session on public safety but Jones will not serve on that committee during this year’s session.

Tennessee State House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, unveiled a new policy on the first day of the new legislative session that cuts public access to the gallery above the House floor.Sexton’s new policy requires the use of a ticket to sit in the gallery. The House distributed 99 tickets, with each lawmaker getting tickets to issue. The House’s rules provide its speaker with the ability to set guidelines, including the new ticketing policy.

The special session on public safety ended much as it has proceeded over the last week, with chaos.After the session wrapped up in the House, Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, and Representative Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, collided with each other as Sexton was making his way out of the chamber and Pearson and fellow Representative Justin Jones, D-Nashville, were holding signs close to the speaker’s face.

The special session on public safety produced another chaotic meeting in the State House Monday.House members voted 70 to 20 to silence newly re-elected Representative Justin Jones, D-Nashville, under a House rule for speaking out of order twice. Members instituted the new rule specifically for the special session.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers voted down a controversial bill to increase the number of people allowed to carry a gun on school property in Tennessee.By a tied vote of 9 to 9 the members of the House Education Administration Committee failed to advance House Bill 7064 Wednesday evening.

Formerly expelled Representatives Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, will serve on multiple House committees during the special session on public safety this week.Tuesday morning House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, reappointed both to the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and Subcommittee. Jones will additionally serve on the Education Administration and Transportation Committees and Pearson will serve on the Education Instruction and Local Government Committees and the Elections and Campaign Subcommittee.Jones himself questioned whether he’d serve on any committees before the appointment and that led to a heated discussion when Sexton ruled the Nashville lawmaker out of order, without answering the question.

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 expulsions of two Democratic lawmakers last week may not last long after all.Wednesday afternoon members of the Shelby County Commission unanimously voted to reappoint Representative Justin J. Pearson.  That vote followed a Metro Council move to reappoint Representative Justin Jones to his Nashville seat.

Activism has been part of Safiyah Suara’s young life since her politician mother hauled her along to demonstrations in a baby carrier. That’s why she’ll be spending this week protesting guns and the expulsion from the Tennessee House of two Democratic lawmakers by their Republican colleagues.

Without objection, the council suspended its rules to immediately nominate and approve Jones to fill the District 52 seat as Jones sat in the gallery.