All ten members of the Tennessee State University (TSU) Board of Trustees may not continue serving the university in that capacity much longer.House Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly led a vote Thursday to vacate the entire board, going back on a previous compromise to vacate just three members whose terms were set to expire in June.

Parents and teachers say a proposal to place new restrictions on public comment at Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Board of Education meetings will silence important voices members need to hear.Under current rules, community members who want to speak at board meetings must submit a written request six days before the meeting and speakers receive up to three minutes for their remarks.

About one-third of 12th graders across the country reported using marijuana over the past year, according to a study released March 12.During that same period, about 11% of 12-grade students reported using a lesser-known product, delta-8-THC, a psychoactive substance typically derived from hemp. It can produce a fuzzy, euphoric high similar to — but typically milder than — the THC effects delivered in cannabis.

Toni Williams spent part of her last school board meeting as the leader of Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) looking back at everything she’s accomplished since her first meeting.Board members appointed Williams as interim superintendent in 2022 following the resignation of former superintendent Joris Ray. New superintendent Dr. Marie N. Feagins will officially take over the position on April 1.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members say the contract being finalized for incoming Superintendent Marie Feagins reflects the lessons learned after former Superintendent Joris Ray departed the district in scandal.For starters, the proposed contract includes a new ethical conduct clause, board members say. The board voted unanimously to approve terms of the four-year contract on Tuesday.

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell says a walk to school event he attended last month at Paragon Mills Elementary School in honor of civil rights activist Ruby Bridges really illustrates the city’s challenges getting around.The school is situated adjacent to Harding Place, which is known for dangerous wrecks.

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) is proposing sending school districts across the state an extra $215 per student next school year.If approved by the Tennessee General Assembly, that funding would increase the base amount districts receive for each student under the new Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) funding formula from $6,860 to $7,075 a year. TISA replaced the Basic Education Program (BEP) funding formula the state had been using last year.

Some residents in Rutherford County say a proposed policy change to public comments at school board meetings could infringe on their First Amendment Rights.Current Rutherford County School Board policy allows attendees to make public comments without prior notice and without the topic being on the agenda. The board is considering changing both by requiring advance notice for public comments that must align with topics on the agenda.

This year nine potential charter operators met the February 1 deadline to file an application to open a new public charter school.School board members in Memphis, Nashville, and Rutherford County will vote on those applications later this spring, and any parents who are interested in them now have access to an independent evaluation of the proposed schools.Education advocacy organization Tennesseans for Student Success (TSS) launched this year’s edition of the Quality Charter Review on Monday with an evaluation of each application’s academic, operations, and financial plans. The review also provides an outline of each proposed school's strengths and needed improvements.

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.

Members of the Memphis-Shelby County School Board are expected to approve a plan later this month to spend more than $12 million upgrading school security.During Tuesday’s work session, the board moved approval of those funds to the consent agenda for next board meeting. 

Members of the Senate Education Committee voted to advance legislation Wednesday that would require Tennessee students to watch a fetal development video created by a group that opposes abortion rights.The bill’s sponsor, Senator Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, told committee members the video “Meet Baby Olivia” would be beneficial to younger children that have not been exposed to fetal development yet.

Each school day more than a thousand children and teenagers travel from across Shelby County to the University of Memphis for a reason you may not expect.Those school-aged students aren’t there for a tour, but are instead attending one of three public schools the university operates.

Before Thomas Guskey became a leading academic expert on grading and assessments, he was a middle school math teacher. One day he was chatting with an 8th-grade student, who he described as a “superstar,” and asked if she had studied for that day’s exam. He was shocked to hear she hadn’t.

Members of the House K-12 Subcommittee voted Tuesday to advance a bill designed to reduce the number of fourth-grade students held back under the state’s new Third-Grade Retention Law.The new law allows third-graders who fail to show reading proficiency on state tests in the spring of their third-grade year to advance to the fourth grade through summer school and/or tutoring in their fourth-grade year. Those children who receive tutoring still need to show “adequate growth” on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) in the fourth-grade to advance to the fifth-grade.

Tennessee Charter School Center (TCSC) Chief Executive Officer Dr. Maya Bugg announced she will be stepping down in early summer after leading the organization for the last nine years. The center plans to name an interim CEO and conduct a search for a long-term replacement following the 2024 legislation session.

The Star Academy program at Haywood County Middle School is showing success in helping at-risk students advance, with Tennessee awarding a $1 million grant to support its implementation.

The House Government Operations Committee advanced what supporters are calling a compromise in the proposal to vacate Tennessee State University’s (TSU) Board of Trustees.Last week the Senate Education Committee advanced its version of the bill that would vacate all ten members of the board and would allow Governor Lee to appoint eight of them.

The House Government Operations Committee advanced Governor Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act Monday with a positive recommendation following a sometimes testy debate on accountability and costs.The legislation would expand on the concept of the existing Education Savings Account (ESA) pilot program in Davidson, Shelby, and Hamilton counties to allow families across the state to send their children to private school with taxpayer dollars.

At 5 feet tall, Uyen Tieu doesn’t tower over anyone, including many students. So when a superior said she was too petite to be anything but an elementary school principal, she figured he was probably right.A decade later, Tieu has not only been an assistant principal and principal, she’s now in charge of student support services for the Houston Independent School District — the eighth-largest school system in the U.S. But as an Asian woman and a single mother, she still feels pressure to prove herself in a male-dominated field.