Members of the Tennessee General Assembly adjourned the legislative session Thursday following more than three months of sometimes contentious and challenging educational debate.Headlining the list of challenges was Governor Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act that failed to reach either the House or Senate Floor.

A controversial bill that would ban pride flags in Tennessee classrooms failed to receive the necessary 17 votes needed to reach a constitutional majority for passage in the Senate Tuesday.The vote included a rare show of bipartisanship with Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, joining the five Democrats in voting against the bill. Eight other Republicans skipped the vote altogether, ensuring that it’s done for the legislative session.

The Tennessee House chamber once again turned into chaos Tuesday following debate on legislation involving guns.House members voted 68-28 vote to pass a bill allowing teachers and school staff to carry firearms on school grounds and in classrooms. Immediately after the vote, spectators above began shouting, “Blood on your hands,” prompting House Republican leaders to call on state troopers to escort demonstrators out.

Governor Bill Lee conceded that there’s no pathway for his signature education bill to pass this session and vowed to bring back the Education Freedom Scholarship plan next year.On social media Monday morning the Governor expressed his gratitude to supporters of the plan to allow parents to utilize taxpayer dollars to send their children to private school and his disappointment in pulling the plug on it.

West Nashville Representative Bo Mitchell, D-Nashville, provided Metro Nashville Public Schools with some eyebrow raising advice on the House floor Thursday.Mitchell suggested the district bulldoze buildings, like the former Hillwood High School campus, before letting public charter schools use them. The district stopped utilizing the Hillwood property as a school when the new James Lawson High School opened last August.

In an rare move of bipartisanship, the State Senate sent legislation to Governor Lee’s desk Wednesday that should ease some of the concerns parents have about their children repeating the fourth grade.The state estimates roughly 6 to 10 thousand fourth-graders are at risk for retention under a provision of the state’s Third-Grade Retention law.

House Democrats continued their push for the removal of Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds Tuesday during a discussion about a temporary teaching license bill.Representative Kirk Haston, R-Lobelville, sponsored the bill to allow Tennessee’s Education Commissioner to issue temporary teaching permits for courses that require end-of-course testing. The permits would only be applied for and granted as a last resort for filling vacancies.

Governor Lee’s signature education proposal this year appears to be on life support.Tuesday afternoon both the Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee and the House Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee passed the state’s budget without taking up legislation to create the Education Freedom Scholarship plan. It would allow parents across the state to use public tax dollars to send their children to private school.

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.

Two State Representatives who’ve played a big role in education legislation this session were among the nine Republicans who declined to vote on a bill Thursday that would ban marriage between first cousins. State Representatives Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, and John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, didn’t speak for or against the bill but joined Representatives Tandy Darby, R-Greenfield; Bud Hulsey, R-Kingsport; Chris Hurt, R-Halls; Brock Martin, R-Huntingdon; Jay Reedy, R-Erin; Tim Rudd, R-Murfreesboro; and Iris Rudder, R-Winchester in opting against voting on it.

The Tennessee State Senate passed a bill allowing teachers to be armed in the classroom following a chaotic discussion that included state troopers clearing spectators from the gallery above.Demonstrators in the crowd shouted their opposition to the legislation and one woman could be heard saying, “We’re all Covenant mothers,” referring to last year’s school shooting in Nashville that killed six people.

Members of the House Government Operations Committee unanimously advanced legislation Monday that’s designed to help the state do a better job connecting students with the jobs that are available in their communities.That so-called “data bill,” sponsored by Representative Chris Hurt, R-Halls, would require the state to create a publicly available dashboard that includes data employers and students could use to see how well various instructional programs are working in Tennessee.

A bill that would require schoolchildren to watch a fetal development animation video made by abortion opposition group Live Action is on its way to Governor Bill Lee’s desk.The State Senate voted 21 to 6 in favor of the legislation Thursday, voting down four proposed amendments by Senate Democrats hoping to provide parents and teachers with more discretion and consent for whether not to show the “Meet Baby Olivia” video.

When Lawrence Blackwell moved his family to Tennessee in 2010 to work for the University of Memphis, he chose to send his son to a unique Pre-K program operated by his new employer.The experience was so positive Blackwell kept his son on the university campus and enrolled him in its elementary school.

Members of the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee advanced a bill Tuesday that’s designed to make it easier for public charter schools to access vacant school buildings.The bill would require local school districts that have public charter schools in them to provide a list of vacant and underutilized buildings on an annual basis.

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.

A key House committee advanced legislation this week that’s designed to address workforce shortages and early childhood literacy in one swoop.Representative Mark White’s, R-Memphis, “Promising Futures” bill intends to make this happen by combining an early childhood literacy program with childcare services for children. The goal is to help parents around the state where unaffordable childcare interferes with the workforce.

By every measurement, the three public schools the University of Memphis operates on its campus are producing academic results.The university has been operating a public school for more than 100 years as a training site for teaching candidates and today that effort serves 1000 students at Campus School, University Middle School, and University High School.

Tennessee lawmakers have expressed a desire to reduce the number of fourth-graders held back this summer under new state reading requirements, but with the legislative session winding to a close, there’s still disagreement on the best way to make that happen.Two different bills are advancing through House committees that would address the issue and a recent House committee meeting illustrated the potential challenges that may lie ahead deciding on one of them.