There are 72 article(s) tagged Education:
For her chief of staff, Schwinn has picked Rebecca Shah, who worked at the Texas Education Agency where Schwinn served as deputy commissioner of academics before Gov. Bill Lee hired her as Tennessee education chief.
Shelby County Schools board members and County Commissioners held a historic joint meeting Wednesday to discuss the district’s preliminary 2019-20 operating budget.
Tennessee’s school districts are nearly halfway through online testing, and for the first time in three years, no major issues have been reported.
'We hope the governor reconsiders,' said Joris Ray, Shelby County Schools’ interim superintendent, about the education savings account proposal. 'I think the governor’s heart is in the right place. But on this particular issue, I think he needs to listen and have an open heart.'
Worried about the “threat of litigation,” Attorney General Herbert Slatery’s office is declining to issue a legal opinion to state Rep. G.A. Hardaway about the constitutionality of Gov. Bill Lee’s education savings account bill.
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.
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.
I don’t want my kids taught your religion on my nickel anymore than you want them taught mine on yours. Neither of us has the right to send them to that private school with the other’s money.
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.
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.
Gov. Bill Lee had campaigned on giving more educational choices to low-income families in districts with failing schools. But the original income cap was criticized for being well above what’s considered low-income in Tennessee.
Seven Tennessee Board of Education members have unanimously upheld the Shelby County Schools board’s decision to close Gateway University Charter School at the end of this academic year, meaning 150 students will need to find a new high school for this fall.
E. A. Harrold Elementary in Millington wins award from initiative seeking to address childhood hunger.
Shelby County's suburban school superintendents worry about the potential effects of vouchers on public education. While Gov. Bill Lee's proposal affects Shelby County Schools locally, suburban superintendents worry it could expand to affect them as well.
Three Democratic state legislators from Memphis say on "Behind The Headlines" that the dollar figures in Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher proposal aren’t enough to protect the per pupil funding to the public schools from which those children would exit.
Motivated by the fact that the majority of Tennessee’s third-grade students can’t read or do math on grade level, a bipartisan group of legislators has committed to exploring policy improvements for students prior to third grade.
Black Memphians make up a large portion of the people who will qualify for the governor’s proposal, but they are hesitant to trust predominately white private schools.
Shelby County Commission Chairman Van Turner was a guest on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast to discuss the joint meeting with City Council and other county topics.
The biggest difference – and most costly for parents – is that traditional vouchers would have covered all tuition costs. Education savings accounts would not necessarily cover all of a student’s private-school tuition.
The Memphis City Council and Shelby County Commission met together for the first time in 2019, the first of two planned meetings to discuss issues affecting both the city and county.
Some Tennesseans say the income threshold makes vouchers appealing to families for which private school is within reach, compared to students from low-income families who may be looking to escape low-performing schools.
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.
Instead of trying a new, unproven program with dubious accountability to the taxpayers who are funding it, why don’t we double down on the initiatives that are already working across the state?
A teacher's dilemma: "I felt the tension rise in me, the tension of being told 'no,' and I felt the clear choice to either escalate the situation or to draw near to the student."
Gov. Bill Lee said his proposed education savings accounts would not siphon money from public schools: “For every dollar that goes with a child that leaves a school or a district, that district will receive a fill-in-the-gap amount of equal amount.”
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's remarks at the University of Memphis Thursday went short on budget specifics for local projects and longer on his conservative philosophy for state government, but he stopped short of saying he would sign the "fetal heartbeat" abortion bill that cleared the state House earlier in the day.
Supporters and opponents of Lee's proposal for education savings accounts are mobilizing for likely the biggest battle of the legislative session.
Gov. Bill Lee proposes putting $25 million into education savings accounts, a program that would affect low-income students in Shelby County Schools.
John S. Aitken, superintendent of Collierville Schools, has announced to school board members that he plans to retire June 30.
Tennessee spends nearly $11,000 on each student’s education annually. With ESAs, parents could direct a portion of their child’s funding to the schools and programs they choose, including homeschooling, private and online schools, as well as traditional public schools.
Rev. Althea Greene is the newest Shelby County Schools board member after the Shelby County Commission appointed her to fill the District 2 vacancy Monday night.
The Shelby County Commission is expected Monday to appoint a new member to the board of Shelby County Schools to serve until August 2020.
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.
Gov. Bill Lee is proposing a $40 million investment in school safety to protect teachers and students and avert violence, mainly through funding for school resource officers.
The Shelby County Schools board position vacancy will be filled by the County Commission at its meeting Monday.
This teacher learned a valuable lesson when his favorite student didn't stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
The potential for fraud has some Tennessee legislators, including Memphis Rep. Mark White and Memphis Sen. Raumesh Akbari, cautious about broader school choice options.
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.
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.
Lakeland commissioners Tuesday night took a cautious step toward construction of a controversial new high school by voting narrowly in favor of proceeding with due diligence on a $38 million capital outlay note.
We have an obligation to the next generation to provide them with every opportunity to be successful. That success begins with an educational system that is nimble and inclusive of a variety of options from which parents can choose.
Interim Superintendent Joris Ray said Thursday that he would introduce a new organizational chart for Shelby County Schools staff to reference: students are at the top; Ray is at the bottom.
As school board members approved a contract Wednesday for Shelby County Schools’ Interim Superintendent Joris Ray, a vocal contingent of principals, teachers, parents, and students told them that Ray should stay on long-term.
A school board committee said it would vote to reject an education philanthropy’s offer to pay for the district’s superintendent search.
Members of the Bridge Builders Change program are creating a safe space for victims of sexual assault, abuse and harassment to share their stories of strength in an open forum.
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.
The state board of education is being told it should approve a recommendation to shut down a small Memphis charter middle school after 10 years of operation.
With eight new commissioners and a new mayor, Shelby County government is changing the way it approaches education moving forward.
A Shelby County and city of Memphis joint ordinance is proposed to create the structure to allow the countywide prekindergarten program to expand by 1,000 seats next school year.
Jamie Woodson is stepping down as CEO of the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) after eight years. Woodson says there’s still much more to do for students in Tennessee.
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.
Gateway University – the Memphis charter school that district officials say broke state law – will have the chance to publicly make the case for why the school board should not vote to close the school.
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.
Martin Luther King College Prep has built its mission around several traits of the Civil Rights icon.
Lakeland leaders and residents debated the cost and merits of building Lakeland Prep High School during a Thursday evening meeting.
Gov.-elect Bill Lee has named Texas educator Penny Schwinn to head the state Department of Education.
Sign up for our morning and evening editions, plus breaking news.
