Marta W. Aldrich
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 165 articles by Marta W. Aldrich :
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October 2018
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Education The battle to replace term-limited Gov. Bill Haslam has consumed the spotlight for Tennessee’s education-minded voters, but more than a hundred legislative races will decide who the new governor will work with on school policy for the next few years.
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December 2018
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Education McQueen: More school takeovers ‘most likely’ coming to Memphis and Nashville
Education Commissioner Candice McQueen says she’ll recommend that Tennessee’s Achievement School District take over more low-performing schools in Memphis and Nashville unless the state sees “dramatic changes” this school year.
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January 2019
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Education Haslam’s last-ditch effort to kill school funding lawsuit falls short in Tennessee
A school funding lawsuit that has hung over Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration for more than three years has survived a third attempt in six months to kill it, including a “Hail Mary” legal maneuver before Tennessee’s Court of Appeals. -
Education Tennessee’s next education chief starts in February. Here’s how she’s prepping
Penny Schwinn is scheduled to take the reins Feb. 4 of Tennessee’s education department, where she’ll oversee 600 full-time employees and work on new Gov. Bill Lee’s agenda for public education.
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Education Just months before its next testing company is supposed to start, Tennessee has yet to receive its first bid
With just months to go before a company is supposed to take over Tennessee’s troubled assessment program, the state has yet to release its request for proposals.
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February 2019
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State Government After campaigning for more vocational education, Lee unveils his proposal for Tennessee
Declaring that high school needs to look different in Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee Tuesday announced his legislative initiative to expand access to vocational and technical training for students who are soon to start college or a career.
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Education Lee says ‘parent choice’ education initiative coming soon in Tennessee
Gov. Bill Lee hinted that he soon will introduce a legislative initiative to give parents more education options for their children, even as Wednesday’s deadline passed to file bills for lawmakers to consider this year.
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Education Lee announces plan to beef up STEM offerings in Tennessee schools
Gov. Bill Lee said Wednesday he wants to expand science, technology, engineering and mathematics offerings in Tennessee’s K-12 schools — and he’ll set aside $4 million in his proposed budget to pay for his so-called Future Workforce Initiative.
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Education Report: Tennessee’s teacher prep programs are doing a better job, but graduating fewer educators
Tennessee’s teacher training programs improved or maintained their scores on a report card released Friday, even as the number of would-be educators they graduated dipped for a third straight year.
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Education Is Tennessee moving its weakest teachers to early, non-tested grades? New research says yes.
A new study confirmed that low-performing teachers in grades 3 through 5 were more likely to be reassigned to non-tested early grades than their more effective colleagues.
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Education Online trial run of TNReady test dampened by flooding and illness across Tennessee
About 80,000 students were supposed to participate in a statewide online testing simulation. A disappointing turnout Feb. 21 means a second simulation has to be scheduled.
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March 2019
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Education Teacher pay, school vouchers among possibilities when Gov. Bill Lee rolls out spending plan
Lee’s spending plan will provide Tennesseans with their first detailed look at the first-year policies and priorities of the new governor. He offered few specifics on the campaign trail as he promised education improvements, better jobs, and safer neighborhoods.
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Education Tennessee charter school facility funding would double under governor’s plan
Charter schools were the only education topic addressed when the governor’s office released advance excerpts of Lee’s State of the State address.
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Education Tennessee seeks bids for testing company to oversee troubled TNReady program
The state set an April 11 deadline for vendors' bids to administer the TNReady program. The final contract is to be signed by June 13.
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Education Education voucher plan by Tennessee’s governor generates more questions than answers
Supporters and opponents of Lee's proposal for education savings accounts are mobilizing for likely the biggest battle of the legislative session.
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Education Teachers are ‘ready to fight,’ says Tennessee coalition inspired by strikes in other states
The coalition, called TN Teachers United, launched last week after meeting with two teachers who helped organize statewide walkouts last year in Arizona and West Virginia.
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Education Gov. Lee reveals details about his ‘parent choice’ proposal
The Republican governor plans to pay for the program’s first year by stockpiling $25 million annually in discretionary funds for the next three years — but he’s not specifying where the money would come after that.
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Education Governor says plans would help low-income students, but they cast a much wider net
Gov. Bill Lee's proposed voucher program could provide an average of $7,300 annually to families that make double the annual income under federal eligibility requirements for receiving free and reduced-price lunches.
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April 2019
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Education Voucher opponents shift strategy as bill barrels through Legislature
In the past, critics of vouchers have had more time to mount spirited public opposition, often in the form of rallies in Nashville and Memphis, the city that would likely be most affected.
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Education Bill to arm teachers advances over objections by law enforcement, educators
Meanwhile, both the Senate and House are expected to pass Gov. Bill Lee’s $30 million school security initiative. The governor wants to prioritize hiring more school resource officers, although the amount falls short of funding an SRO in every Tennessee school.
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Education Tennessee governor calls for one-year pause on computer-based testing
Tennessee already has walked back its transition to online testing two times since 2016 when a wholesale switch failed miserably, prompting then-Education Commissioner Candice McQueen to cancel most of that year’s tests and fire Measurement Inc.
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Education Voucher program would double in size, add homeschoolers under latest proposal
The latest amendment would cap the voucher program at 30,000 students instead of 15,000 as approved by House committees. And it would add back homeschoolers who were stripped out of the House bill last month to appease several representatives.
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Education Voucher proposal open to legal challenge for excluding undocumented students
The Tennessee Senate bill retains House language requiring applicants to provide government-issued documents like birth certificates, driver’s licenses, or passports. That provision could be in conflict with a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that requires states to offer public education to all children, regardless of their immigration status.
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Education Bill to arm teachers withdrawn – for now
Rep. Ryan Williams pulled his controversial bill from consideration by the House Education Committee on Wednesday, one week after the measure easily cleared a subcommittee over the objections of teachers and law enforcement leaders.
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Education Voucher proposal is ‘step backwards,’ says civil rights, education coalition
The statement — released as the governor’s bill is slated for key legislative committee votes this week — marks the first time that the 3-year-old coalition has taken a stand against a major proposal.
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