Supporters of a proposed public charter school run by Pathways in Education (PIE) provided the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission with heartfelt testimonies for why the school model needs to return to Memphis.PIE previously operated a school for at-risk students under the state-run Achievement School District (ASD) from 2014-2022. The school applied earlier this year to return to Shelby County as a new charter school in the Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) district but school board members voted it down in July.Under state law, PIE appealed to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission to overturn the district denial and commissioners will consider the comments submitted by the public both online and at a hearing held earlier this month.

Zephan Alexander describes his time as a public-school student in Memphis as a challenge. He struggled in traditional public schools and public charter schools but says things changed when he enrolled in a former public charter school operated by Pathways in Education (PIE).PIE operated that school under the state-run Achievement School District from 2014-2022. Alexander was among those speaking in support of allowing the organization to return to Shelby County.

Zephan Alexander describes his time as a public-school student in Memphis as a challenge. He struggled in traditional public schools and public charter schools but says things changed when he enrolled in a former public charter school operated by Pathways in Education (PIE).PIE operated that school under the state-run Achievement School District from 2014-2022. Alexander was among those speaking in support of allowing the organization to return to Shelby County.

Proposed public charter schools have not found an easy road to approval in Tennessee this year.Local school boards approved just two charter applications, American Classical Academy-Rutherford and the Tennessee Career Academy in Memphis. School board members in Shelby, Davidson, Madison, Montgomery, Robertson, and Maury County denied every other application to open a new public charter school in their communities this year.Six of those applicants are appealing to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission beginning this week. Commissioners have the option of overturning charter application denials and members did just that with three high-quality applications in Nashville last year.

A review committee for Memphis-Shelby County Schools recommended a denial for all five new public charter school applications the district received this year, including three schools that received high rankings from independent reviewers.

Education organization Tennesseans for Student Success (TSS) announced a new resource Thursday to provide parents and local school districts with more information about public charter schools that are applying to open in their communities.The organization’s Quality Charter Review will present an analysis of new start charter school applications in Tennessee to evaluate their academic plan design, operations plan, and financial plan. Each review will provide an overall recommendation for or against the application along with suggestions for improvements.