Chalkbeat Tennessee
Marta W. Aldrich is the senior statehouse correspondent at Chalkbeat Tennessee. A newswoman for The Associated Press for most of her career, Marta has covered state government, politics, business, education and other Tennessee news. She has served as news editor of United Methodist News Service and features editor of American Profile magazine. Marta is a graduate of Memphis City Schools and the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
There are 177 articles by Marta W. Aldrich :
Groups began lining up both for and against testing after Superintendent Joris Ray, who leads the state’s largest district in Memphis, said he would petition the education commissioner to drop the annual assessment known as TNReady in 2020-21.
The State Board of Education approved an emergency rule on Monday requiring districts and charter leaders to submit plans for how their school communities will teach students in 2020-21 while navigating the pandemic.
Dozens of colleges and universities joined together last week to announce a monthlong social media campaign called #ItsGoTimeTN.
For educators, the retreat marked a disappointing end to a budget process that was so promising in February when Gov. Bill Lee asked the legislature for nearly $650 million in new dollars for K-12 education.
Tennessee Department of Education has also warned districts to plan for driver shortages. On social media, some drivers have suggested that returning to their bus jobs may not be worth the hassle.
It will be up to the state Legislature to set priorities on new education spending, such as a teacher pay hike, a scaled-down literacy initiative, and the state’s embattled education savings account program, the governor said.
The nine-member commission would report its findings to the Legislature by Jan. 1, in the face of learning setbacks for school children, disruptions to university life and the likelihood of more school closures next year.
As lawmakers begin returning to the Capitol, they’ll face cratering revenues and the need to make deep cuts to Tennessee’s spending plan.
“My sense was that the money should have been distributed in the same way we distributed Title I money. I think that’s what most of Congress was expecting,” the Tennessee Republican said, referring to the federal program that supports students from low-income families.
Decisions about payment and future tests are among scores of questions and adjustments that all states are dealing with after the pandemic shuttered schools nationwide before testing season got underway.
At a price tag of about $1 million, the program marks the first major statewide investment in addressing learning loss due to the public health emergency.
Davidson County Chancellor Anne C. Martin also scolded the state education department for its “mixed messaging” in continuing to take applications for the voucher program without alerting parents about the status of the legal case.
One lawsuit over education savings accounts, or vouchers, pits the state against Metro Nashville and Shelby County governments, as well as Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Another was filed on behalf of parents in Memphis and Nashville.
The coronavirus has ground most of the economy to a halt and created financial uncertainty for both traditional and charter schools. Last week in Memphis, charter network KIPP announced plans to close two of its schools, partly because of its struggle to secure long-term funding during the pandemic.
Students will miss at least 50 days of classroom instruction — almost a third of the school year — because of the pandemic.
Amity Schuyler will work for a school system that opposes the Education Savings Account program she hustled to launch.
The money will cover short-term needs as schools address students’ learning loss and anticipated trauma from this year’s shutdown, as well as uncertain future revenues due to a likely recession.
For some students just short of a 3.0 grade point average, two extra months of grading could mean the difference between obtaining the state’s HOPE scholarship to attend college – or not.
The rules – which also direct the state to drop overall effectiveness scores in this year’s teacher evaluations — position Tennessee to weather the rest of the school year in remote learning mode.
The money will go toward critical expenses, including technology to support remote learning, summer and after-school programs, mental health services, support for students with special needs, sanitizing buildings and planning for long-term closures.
Lawmakers directed the policy board to revise graduation rules after the coronavirus shuttered schools. The decision will affect an estimated 71,433 students in the Class of 2020 as Tennessee works to blunt the fallout of COVID-19 on school communities.
Even as the new education voucher program is mired in a court battle and public schools may lose more funding if the coronavirus pandemic causes a recession, the state education department is accepting applications through April 29 via an online site.
The proposal aims to lift the burden of testing and other state mandates from public schools disrupted by the ongoing spread of COVID-19, as well as deadly twisters that shredded parts of Middle Tennessee this month.
For now, TNReady testing is on for grades 3-11. It’s scheduled to start as soon as April 13, though school districts have some leeway to decide exactly when.
Tennessee's Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn appeared before the Senate Education Committee for a second straight week, where she was grilled about decisions last year involving the state textbook commission.