Senate committee kills legislation to inject more partisanship into schools
Tennessee’s Senate Education Committee voted down legislation 6 to 3 Wednesday that would add more partisanship to public schools by allowing elections for school superintendents.Some counties held elected superintendents prior to 1992 when Tennessee removed that option to align with nationally recognized practices of appointing a director of schools.
Legislation to expand the Education Savings Account Program to Hamilton County advances
Tennessee lawmakers advanced a bill to expand the state’s ESA program to Hamilton County, allowing more students to use funds for private education.
Speaker Sexton’s home school charter school proposal sails through subcommittee
Legislators on the Tennessee House K-12 Subcommittee surprisingly approved a major proposal impacting both home school students and public charter schools with no discussion or questions Tuesday night.House Speaker Cameron Sexton’s legislation would create a charter system for home school students to take part in part-time and allow existing public charter schools the ability to create boarding schools to serve at risk students.
MSCS board backs land purchase for new Cordova high school under ‘three G’s’ settlement
The Memphis-Shelby County School Board agreed to buy nearly 36 acres of land north of Shelby Farms for a new high school that will accommodate 1,800 students and replace Germantown High School when it closes in 2026.It will be the first new high school operated by the district in a decade. The site, currently owned by Crews Investment Holdings LLC, is located on Herbert Road, off Raleigh Lagrange Road, in the Cordova area.
Metro Nashville Public Schools now accepting applications for Pre-K Program
Metro Nashville Public Schools opened its application portal Wednesday for parents who want to enroll their child in the district’s Pre-K program.Children who will be 4 years old on or before August 15 are eligible for the program that’s designed to give Nashville’s youngest learners the skills and building blocks necessary to have a successful grade-school education
Senate passes legislation allowing public charter schools the ability to prioritize serving at-risk students
Tennessee State Senators gave their support Monday evening to legislation designed to help provide at-risk students with more accessibility to public charter schools.House Bill 1086/Senate Bill 0980 passed the full senate on a 26 to 5 vote.
State asks teachers for their opinion on what needs to be done to improve schools
Tennessee’s teachers now have the opportunity to tell education leaders what's needed to improve their schools.The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) launched its annual Tennessee Educator Survey in partnership Monday with Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA) at Vanderbilt University.
Legislation to enable public charter schools to serve more economically disadvantaged and at-risk students faces key votes
House Bill 1086/Senate Bill 0980 faces key votes in the full Senate today and in the House Education Administration Committee on Wednesday.
Tennessee legislators look to Mississippi for guidance on changing the Third-Grade Retention Law
Wednesday members of the House Education Administration Committee received help making that decision from an unlikely neighboring state to the south. Former Mississippi Superintendent Dr. Carey Wright spoke before the committee on how her state has approached the topic of literacy and compared it to Tennessee’s intervention acts, including the Third-Grade Retention Law.
Tennessee 3rd-grade retention law will intensify Memphis students’ pandemic woes, local critics say
Many Memphis youths are already struggling to overcome emotional and psychological trauma inflicted or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.But the specter of being held back in third grade if they can’t pass the state’s reading test will pile onto that trauma, Memphis and Shelby County child and education advocates said during a town hall Wednesday.
Representative Tim Hicks says he's received commitment to expand career and technical education
Legislation to expand access to career and technical education may have accomplished its sponsor’s goals without a single vote for passage.State Representative Tim Hicks of Gray, Tennessee says he decided to take House Bill 0117 off the House Education K-12 Subcommittee calendar Tuesday evening after receiving commitments from the Tennessee Department of Education to expand the availability of career and technical education and industry credentialing programs.
What qualities should the next superintendent in Memphis have? One student and one teacher see race and gender differently
Six months after former Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) superintendent Joris Ray resigned while facing claims of abusing his power, the district is narrowing down the qualities it's seeking in his replacement.As part of an ongoing effort to amplify those community voices, the Tennessee Firefly spoke with one student and one teacher, who’s asked that his identity be kept confidential. We found both share some similarities in the type of superintendent they'd prefer to see take over but they view race and gender differently.