The 9 members of the Tennessee State Board of Education unanimously approved new rules that govern expectations for future opportunity charter schools.

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.

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.

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.

A new study from the Progressive Policy Institute indicates that low-income students in both public charter schools and traditional public schools in 10 major cities are catching up to statewide performance levels.

Leaders of LEAD Public Schools have decided to drop their appeal for the proposed LEAD Cameron Elementary, and instead focus on the appeal for proposed LEAD Southeast Elementary. Learn more about how the proposed Tennessee charter school would serve Nashville families.

Celeste Hanson says she was devastated to learn her son had fallen through the cracks in the school system and was struggling with reading. Last week she was among the supporters arguing children like hers need Encompass Community School to be approved for North Nashville.

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.

Following the Rutherford County Schools Board of Education’s recent decision to deny Novus SMART Academy’s application to become the fourth charter school in the district, supporters and educators from the charter school have taken their appeal to the state.

Elizabeth Fiveash Rush was recently appointed CEO of the Tennessee Charter School Center.

IOTA Community Schools, formerly Green Dot Public Schools, has partnered with Reading Horizons to boost literacy instruction in four Memphis middle and high schools. The partnership brings the Reading Horizons Elevate program, which focuses on foundational reading skills for older learners, to schools like Hillcrest High, Kirby Middle, Wooddale Middle, and Bluff City High. IOTA's Chief Academic Officer, Christina Austin, emphasized the program's goal of better preparing students for college and careers through enhanced reading instruction.

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.

Members of the Memphis-Shelby County Board of Education voted to approve amended charter applications for both the Memphis Grizzlies Preparatory STEAM School for Girls and Journey Northeast Academy at Tuesday’s board meeting.

State education officials say the schools overseen by the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission are faring well when compared to the school districts that rejected them.

While recent results from the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) exam indicate that students across the state achieved “record-high” proficiency rates in English Language Arts (ELA) and made some notable progress in math, analysts from the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) say more work is needed to address performance gaps affecting non-white and economically disadvantaged students.

For nearly 15 years, the Memphis Grizzlies Preparatory Charter School has leveraged community partnerships with the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team to provide boys with hands-on learning and a focus on literacy and math. Now leaders want to extend those opportunities to girls.

The Memphis-Shelby County Schools charter review team recommended school board members approve an application for the Memphis Grizzlies Preparatory STEAM School for Girls at Tuesday’s work session meeting. The proposed school would be one of three all-girls public charter schools in the state.

Tennessee ranks 14th out of 30 states included in a recent report from the Education Freedom Institute that measures the quality and accessibility of states’ public charter school systems.

A recent report by the Tennessee Charter Center found roughly 95 percent of the state's 44,000 public charter school students are students of color and supporters believe HBCUs might be be well positioned to provide a unique K-12 learning experience, especially with the important role HBCUs are already playing in educating the next generation of Black educators and professionals.