The University of Tennessee in Knoxville will soon welcome its newest class of Distinguished Tennessean Scholars this fall.

In April Tennessee Governor Bill Lee promised to bring his plan to let parents use taxpayer dollars to send their children to private school back next year, and this week he’s taking a new step to help it pass.The governor announced his endorsement of Blount County attorney Jason Emert in the House District 20 race.  Emert is facing county commissioners Tom Stinnett and Nick Bright in the August Republican primary.

Allegations State Senate Candidate Bobby Harshbarger broke campaign laws to attack his opponent, Tennessee Senator Jon Lundberg, R-Briston, is going to the State Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office for investigation.Senate Caucus Chair Ken Yager, R-Kingston, filed the complaint against the East Tennessee Conservatives PAC questioning whether the group’s connections to Harshbarger violated ethics and registry requirements. The PAC has recently sent misleading text messages attacking Lundberg to voters in East Tennessee.

The Tennessee Department of Education awarded STEM/STEAM designations to 13 new schools, while Kingsport's D-B EXCEL earned redesignation for its program's continued excellence.

The Jackson-Madison County School System Board of Education celebrated four schools that participated in the Greenpower USA Regional Talladega Competition that took place earlier this month placing in the top five, with one school winning overall.

Tennessee is not expected to have many truly competitive races in the August 1 state primary, but one that will be is already seeing misleading campaigning and a formal complaint of “skirting” campaign finance limits.That race involves Senate Education Chair Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, and his Senate District 4 Republican challenger Bobby Harshbarger, East Tennessee pharmacist and son of Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger, R-Tennessee.Harshbarger has attempted to run to the right of Lundberg and is misleadingly criticizing the Senator for the failure of legislation to ban pride flags from Tennessee classrooms.

Missy Testerman has enjoyed a teaching career that is decades longer than most, spending more than 30 years in first- and second-grade classrooms.But when she saw that her K-8 school district in rural Appalachia was quietly becoming a refuge for families from Mexico, Central America and Asia, she shifted gears and became an English as a second language teacher, pushing to smooth her students’ — and their families’ — transition to life in the U.S.

Mental health is a growing concern for children across the country and a new report shows Tennessee is no exception.Earlier this month the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), NashvilleHealth, and the Belmont Data Collaborative joined together to release a report called “Connecting the Dots: Mental Health and Student Success in Tennessee” that explores the mental health challenges facing Tennessee youth.

For the first time in 35 years, a Tennessee teacher is the National Teacher of the Year.The Council of Chief State School Officers awarded Rogersville City Schools K-8 English as a second language (ESL) teacher Missy Testerman the honor, recognizing her dedication to students and community. She’ll spend the next year serving as an ambassador and advocate for teachers and students across the nation.

Hamilton County Schools became the latest in a growing number of Tennessee school districts that are joining a national lawsuit against social media companies for allegedly targeting students.School board members unanimously voted Thursday night to join the suit against social media giants including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube.The lawsuit argues these companies are deliberately targeting students and young people for commercial gain and fostering antisocial behavior through things such as insufficient parental controls and the way platforms are designed to expose children to harmful content.

A group of Westview Elementary School students found a unique way to show off the fruits of the school’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) curriculum.Students designed personalized drink coasters for each member of the Hamilton County School Board. Students presented the coasters at Thursday night’s meeting.“At Westview Elementary, we inspire our students to be thinkers and problem solvers who are ready for college, career, and citizenship,” said Westview principal Deborah Coddle. “I am a believer that if we equip students with knowledge and resources and allow them to design and build solutions to solve problems, then they will thrive and reach their fullest potential.”

School boards in as many as six counties could vote on applications this year for new public charter schools.A diverse group of potential charter operators sent 21 charter application letters of intent to school districts across the state, the first step in this year’s new start charter application process. Those operators include an existing charter operator, prior applicants who failed to receive approval, along with a host of new organizations with no experience in Tennessee.A diverse group of potential charter operators sent 22 charter application letters of intent to school districts across the state, the first step in this year’s new start charter application process. Those operators include existing charter operators, prior applicants who failed to receive approval, along with a host of new organizations with no experience in Tennessee.

Gueller Gonzalez has always placed a priority on ensuring her kids have access to a quality education in a nurturing environment that treats them equally and with respect. The path to that education though hasn’t been the same for each of her five children.Gonzalez’s youngest children have individual education needs that are a better fit in one of Chattanooga’s traditional public schools while her three older children have all found success in public charter schools Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy (CGLA) and Chattanooga Preparatory School.

The Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) released a report this month that found two school districts may offer important lessons for how leaders can strengthen efforts to improve literacy and make assistance more accessible to students that need it the most.SCORE says both have adopted an “instructionally coherent” approach to literacy.“Rather than offering students something different in an academic support setting, it adheres to a principle that students who are academically behind should receive additional time and support with the foundational literacy skills, texts, and tasks that align to core instruction,” wrote SCORE.

Six Tennessee schools have been recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools for their academic performance or their work to close achievement gaps between student groups

Rutherford County is home to two of the top readers in the state.Smyrna’s Stewart’s Creek High School Senior Taylor Aslup and Murfreesboro’s Oakland Middle School sixth-grader Gibson Weber were among four winners of the annual Tristar Reads contest.

Cary Byrge began noticing something frustrating towards the end of her son’s second-grade year in school.Byrge’s son was supposed to receive regular speech therapy through Knox County Schools, but that assistance became less reliable.“The first two years went great. Then all of a sudden, towards the end of second grade, he began to receive speech services less and less and less and I would call, and I would email, and we would have meetings and we would put a band aid on it for the end of the year and then say they would try to do better next year. But it never got any better, it actually got a lot worse,” said Byrge.That was especially true when her son entered the sixth-grade.

A special education task force says Knox County Schools (KCS) needs curriculum modifications and other culture changes to ensure special education students are learning in the right environments.Members of that task force provided the Knox County School Board with a list of recommendations Monday night to improve special education. The task force has spent the last three months evaluating how the district serves its special education students and determined there are cultural problems originating from outside of the local school level.

Representative Tim Hicks took a different path than most to the state capitol in Nashville.The Washington County Republican lawmaker didn’t attend college and instead followed his father’s advice and built a career in home construction with his family’s business.

A retention policy tied to state reading test scores is drawing both support and skepticism.