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.

Six years ago, two programs were ranked, Rudd says.

The founder of the charter school company operating Frayser's ASD School, MLK Prep, and County Commissioner Michael Whaley talked about the Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris' proposal for a new high school in Frayser on "Behind The Headlines."

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. 

The governor set aside $68 million in next year’s proposed budget to overhaul reading instruction. 

“We were told there was going to be some thorough cleaning,” said Jake Pritchard, a fourth-grade teacher at Treadwell Elementary. “That does not appear to have happened.” 

Lori Gilbert, the president of Treadwell Elementary’s parent group, said some Spanish-speaking parents did not get the district’s robocall about a quarantined employee in Spanish until after school started.

A new Frayser high school could determine the fate of two longtime neighborhood schools, while also rebuilding the neighborhood's optimism. 

Chancellor Anne C. Martin indicated that she likely will allow three pro-voucher groups representing parents from Memphis and Nashville to become part of the case. 

Chris Fay became principal in 2009, the first non-Brother to lead CBHS, and has been working at the high school since 2003.

Though Superintendent Joris Ray decided to exclude union leadership to “give other people an opportunity to lead too,” at least 10 schools voted for a union leader to represent them on the council anyway.

Billed as a “one-stop shop” for parents, Tennessee School Finder focuses on school choices for families zoned to Shelby County Schools, Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and the state-run Achievement School District. 

The state’s grading policy for high school — which now awards A’s for point percentages between 93 and 100 and B’s for 85 to 92 — would return to a 10-point scale under the bill sponsored by Rep. Jason Hodges.

Jim Herbert's beginnings can be traced back to a former dairy farm in Whitehaven. 

'It was my job to provide intervention for X-Man, 45 minutes every day. What a way to kick off my morning, huh?'

The Individualized Education Account program is under scrutiny, and voucher opponents say the problems bolster their case that Tennessee can't be trusted to launch the larger school voucher program this summer.

Kandace Thomas, who was with the Irving Harris Foundation in Chicago for the last 13 years, will start work April 1 at the Memphis organization that oversees funding for early education initiatives.

Sabbatical program in Chicago is designed to help clergy, others access how to make an impact in what McGraw calls the "final quarter." 

Steve Canavero is working with the newly created Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. He led a similar charter initiative in Nevada. Tennessee's 118 charter schools are mostly in Shelby County.

Brad Leon is the seventh SCS leader to resign since Joris Ray took the district helm last January.

If all the schools are approved, they eventually would enroll about 2,100 students, which would make a small dent in the district’s need for 44,000 more “high-quality” seats in various neighborhoods, according to the Shelby County Schools’ analysis.

The company’s goal is to have 50,000 students signed up this year and 750 to 1,000 businesses. The business side launches on Feb. 6.

The Shelby County Commission initially appointed Kevin Woods to the school board in 2011 as plans for merging city and county school systems got underway.

Gov. Bill Lee's $40.9 billion budget for fiscal 2020-21 includes $41 million for a STEM building at the University of Memphis to replace an outdated building.