Budget discussions spark debate during Hamilton County School board meeting
A heated debate over Hamilton County Schools’ proposed $674 million budget led to a failed vote to reinstate it on the agenda. The school board will revisit the issue in June.
Winning: These four Jackson-Madison schools finished in the top five in STEM competition
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.
Time is running out for students to apply for the FAFSA
Tennessee students have until May 15 to complete their FAFSA applications and secure financial aid for the 2024-2025 school year, with public universities offering resources to assist.
Tennessee announces schools receiving the STEM and STEAM designation
The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) and the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network (TSIN) announced 13 new schools have received the Tennessee STEM/STEAM School Designation for 2024.
Tennessee districts are facing 1,000 teaching vacancies. A new report says strategic school staffing might help.
School districts across the state began the 2022/23 school year with one thousand teaching vacancies according to data from the Tennessee Department of Education.
Poll finds Tennessee voters are more supportive of public charter schools than the school boards opposing them
A new poll finds the unanimous rejection of new charters at the school board level this year doesn’t align with the values of Tennessee voters who elected them.
Students in Rutherford County may take home new backpacks at summer camp
Rutherford County Schools (RCS) is recommending purchasing backpacks for participants in the upcoming June summer learning camp.
A young Memphis student’s letter on gun violence is featured in new Ruby Bridges book
If it wasn’t for Ruby Bridges, Ben Williams’ circle of friends would be smaller — and whiter. That’s why, when the 11-year-old Grahamwood Elementary School student read about how Bridges endured death threats and racial slurs to attend all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960, he wrote a letter thanking her.
Senate Education Chair faces misleading attack ads in GOP primary race supporters say “skirt” campaign rules
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.
Memphis Grizzlies “raising the rim” at two Memphis schools
The Memphis Grizzlies National Basketball Association (NBA) team is providing a donation to provide students at Fox Meadows Elementary and John P. Freeman Optional School with an all-new basketball hoop system.
Knox County parents will know later this month if their children are at risk for retention under new reading requirements
Knox County parents will be notified if their children are at risk of retention under new state reading requirements, with options for retesting or summer intervention.
Student Profile: A high school internship put Choice Champions Scholarship winner on the path to advocate for others
Soulsville Charter School senior Elisha Muhammad says a high school internship set her on a new path to advocate for those trying to overcome systemic barriers.
Poll finds improving education a much bigger priority for Tennessee voters than protecting gun rights
Tennessee lawmakers and school board members have spent a lot of time over the last few months debating whether teachers should be armed, but a new poll finds the voters that elect them are much more concerned about schools than guns.
Who You Know: Social Capital is Key for First-Gen Students’ Career Success
A growing New York nonprofit is using a newly released report to cement data around the axiom that social capital — or who you know — is key for first-generation college graduates searching for their first job.The report by Basta, an organization that connects first-generation college graduates with careers, tracks the experiences of young job seekers, revealing that not all networks are the same.
Memphis-Shelby County School Board denies request from Wooddale Middle School to transition into the district
Ben Frazier says traditional public schools have failed his autistic son.Frazier told members of the Memphis Shelby County School Board last week that his family has faced a lack of communication and accommodation at district-run schools, but everything changed when he enrolled his son at Wooddale Middle School.“When I got my child to Wooddale, everything changed. Wooddale is a family-oriented school. They take care of the kids,” said Frazier. “It’s a neighborhood school, they deal with the community. The staff keeps the parents informed, everything that I was not getting when he was not at Green Dot Schools, I’m getting now. My son is excelling, he came out of his shell, you can’t even tell that my son is on the spectrum because they have worked with him so much and I appreciate Wooddale so much for everything that they have done.
School board members propose separate resolutions to oppose new law allowing teachers to carry guns
Two members of the Knox County Schools (KCS) Board of Education are proposing competing resolutions to push back on a recently passed law to allow armed teachers in classrooms.Board members Kristi Kristy, R-District 9, and and Katherine Bike, D-District 4, are each sponsoring resolutions to reject the legislation passed last week by the Tennessee General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Bill Lee. Both resolutions come to the same conclusion, but Kristy and Bike focus on different reasons.
MSCS’ $200 million funding request reflects soaring cost of new high schools
Memphis-Shelby County Schools is asking the county for more than $200 million in funding for school buildings, both to address maintenance needs at existing schools and to support construction of two new high schools.The request exceeds even the expanded school buildings budget supported by a county wheel tax increase last year, and it’s not clear how much of it the county can provide. Projected costs for the two new high schools have risen by tens of millions of dollars since county commissioners approved initial funding for them.
Memphis-Shelby County School Board rejects three proposed new public charter schools but leaves the door open for one of them
Brittany Jones told members of the Memphis-Shelby County School Board her 13-year-old son has seen real change at the Memphis Grizzlies Preparatory Charter School.She says her son is autistic and she enrolled him there two years ago hoping the all-boys public charter school would be a good fit. Jones says the change has been so positive she’s supporting the school’s plan to offer a similar school for girls.
Knox Prep welcomes new students into a family atmosphere
Tawanya Figgs says she felt her 11-year-old son Ta’vion Wilson needed a change going into his sixth-grade school year.Figgs says the traditional public schools in Knox County aren’t preparing him for high school and she’s been looking into private school options. Her search for an alternative ended after meeting staff at the new Knoxville Preparatory School.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools to make major investment in teacher salaries
The Memphis-Shelby County School Board unanimously approved an agreement Tuesday night to spend $28 million increasing teacher salaries.The historic investment will raise the average teacher with a bachelor’s degree’s salary by more than $4,800 in the 20224/2025 school year. Teachers with a master’s degree will average nearly $4,800 more, education specialists will see more than $6,300 more, and those with a doctorate will average more than a $9,900 increase.