Knox County School Board Member Susan Horn (District 5) provided the tie breaking vote at Thursday’s special called meeting to approve the county’s second public charter school.Horn wasn’t present during the initial vote 4-4 tie vote earlier this month that not only failed to approve the application from Knoxville Preparatory School, it also failed to agree on a reason for denial.

Fairley High School students and alumni told the Memphis-Shelby County School Board they want the school to remain open as a public charter school.Fairley is among five public charter schools that have applied to transition out of the state’s Achievement School District (ASD) and into Memphis-Shelby County Schools. School Board members denied all five during Tuesday evening’s meeting.

Supporters of the proposed Knoxville Preparatory School will learn Thursday if having every school board member in attendance improves their chances of approval.Members of the Knox County School Board failed to approve the public charter school’s application during a tumultuous meeting earlier this month and failed to agree on a reason for denial. In multiple votes the board was unable to break a 4-4 tie with board member Susan Horn (District 5) absent.

Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education said no to three proposed schools Tuesday night, including one by a former student.The board voted 5 to 2 against Invictus Nashville Charter School and unanimously voted against Pathways In Education-Nashville and Nashville Collegiate Prep High School.

School board members with Memphis-Shelby County Schools denied all five applications for new public charter schools with one vote Tuesday.The board opted to follow the recommendation of the district review committee and vote down applications by Empower Memphis Career and College Prep, Grizzlies Prep STEAM School for Girls, Pathways in Education, the CHANGE Academy and the Tennessee Career Academy.

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.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members decided Monday to keep their search for a new superintendent on pause while they try to reach consensus on what they want for the district and its next leader.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members decided Monday to keep their search for a new superintendent on pause while they try to reach consensus on what they want for the district and its next leader.

The Tennessee General Assembly adjourned Friday following a tumultuous legislative session that included the expulsion and return of two members, a resignation, the most significant teacher pay raise in state history, and major changes to the Third-Grade Retention Law.

By any standard, the Knox County Board of Education’s April 6 meeting was unusual.Board member Susan Horn (District 5) was absent and board member Mike McMillan (District 8) missed parts of the meeting, leading to multiple tied votes on whether the district should approve Knoxville Preparatory School’s application to open the county’s second public charter school.Perhaps most surprising of all though, may be that one board member used her time during the discussion about Knox Prep to make insensitive and unsubstantiated comments about a student from an affiliated school.

Tennessee lawmakers approved expanding the private school voucher program to Hamilton County, but not Knox County. The final bill now awaits Gov. Bill Lee’s signature.

Brenda Jones has a personal reason behind her mission to establish a new public charter school in Nashville.In a city that’s increasingly full of transplants, Jones is a proud Nashville native. She grew up living in East Nashville’s public housing at James Cayce Homes and attended public schools nearby, but her experience going into high school was a lesson in how the education system can be improved.

Debate over one of the biggest issues for education in Tennessee is over for the year.Thursday morning House members voted 82-15 to pass legislation that’s expected to reduce the number of children held back by the state’s Third-Grade Retention Law.  That vote follows Tuesday’s passage in the Senate.

A high school athlete who violates the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s (TSSAA) amateur rules for receiving money through sponsorships, will now receive a warning instead of a year suspension for the initial violation.

House members voted 57 to 35 Wednesday to expand Tennessee’s Education Savings Account Program (ESA) following a strong pushback by Democratic members.The Tennessee General Assembly passed the Education Saving Account program in 2019 to allow lower income families in Davidson and Shelby County to use state and local dollars to help cover private school expenses. Legal challenges delayed the ESA from launching until last year.

In a surprising move, members of the Tennessee House re-included the paycheck protection provision of legislation to raise teacher salaries minutes after voting it down.That provision would prevent unions and professional organizations from deducting dues from teacher paychecks.  The section has faced opposition from the Tennessee Education Association (TEA) and a House committee added an amendment to the legislation in the committee process to remove the provision.

The search for a new superintendent to lead Memphis-Shelby County Schools took another unexpected turn Tuesday.Former Boston Public Schools superintendent Brenda Casselius withdrew her name from the search, while search firm Hazard, Young, Attea, and Associates recommended an additional candidate, MSCS deputy superintendent Angela Whitelaw.

Tennessee Senators passed legislation on a partisan 26 to 4 vote Tuesday to reduce the number of children held back by the state’s Third-Grade Retention Law.No Democratic Senator voted in favor of the legislation.

American Classical Education (ACE) faced questions of providing misleading letters of support for a proposed new school at a hearing Friday with the charter review team for Robertson County Schools.