Amid federal funding uncertainty, Memphis schools could lose $17M
More than 13,000 students are learning English in Memphis schools, according to state data, a number that has risen in the school district and across the state in the last decade. Translators at Memphis-Shelby County Schools help these students and their families. (The Daily Memphian file)
Memphis-Shelby County Schools may lose $17 million in federal funds it uses to pay for school-based translators and district-level staff who help educators improve their teaching strategies.
Those roles support a significant share of students learning English and a growing number of early-career educators who benefit from instructional training. Improving teacher quality — in general and specifically for educators teaching students learning English — garnered bipartisan support from state lawmakers earlier this year.
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Laura Testino
Laura Testino is an enterprise reporter on The Daily Memphian’s metro team who writes most often about how education policies shape the lives of children and families. She regularly contributes to coverage of breaking news events and actions of the Tennessee General Assembly. Testino’s journalism career in Memphis began six years ago at The Commercial Appeal, where she began chronicling learning disruptions associated with the pandemic, and continued with Chalkbeat, where she dug into education administration in Memphis. Her reporting has appeared in The New York Times, The Times-Picayune, The Tuscaloosa News and USA Today.
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