Day: August 9, 2017

Tennessee Educator Survey Reveals Teacher Frustration With Testing, Flood of New Initiatives

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  Tennessee teachers surveyed this past spring reported frustration with statewide standardized exams, while administrators surveyed showed more confidence in them. A majority of teachers disagreed with the statement, “Overall, information received from statewide standardized exams is worth the investment of time and effort.” Sixty-five percent disagreed, while only 35 percent agreed. For administrators, it was nearly the reverse. Thirty-eight percent disagreed, while 62 percent agreed with the statement. More than 38,000 educators completed the extensive annual Tennessee Educator Survey created by the Tennessee Department of Education and Vanderbilt University’s Tennessee Education Research Alliance. That number represents 56 percent of the state’s teachers and 60 percent of administrators. Other findings included teachers’ frustration with what they view as insufficient instructional and planning time. A big drain on their time, according to survey results, is a program called Response to Intervention (RTI²) designed to help struggling students. According to a summary of the findings, teachers are burdened with administering screenings, using progress monitoring tools and meeting with other teachers and administrators, as well as fitting intervention periods into their schedules. Teachers, especially those new to the classroom, also expressed concerns about the amount of time needed to address student behavior. The survey results also raised…

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Williamson County Commissioner Kaestner: Either Sell Hospital or Raise Taxes

Tennessee Star Staff

  by Chris Butler, Editor Tennessee Watchdog   Commissioners in Williamson County can either sell the hospital the county owns, or they can raise property taxes. All that growth in the county won’t pay for itself. As reported, three county commissioners want to know if it’s smart for the county to sell Williamson Medical and get extra money — about half a billion dollars’ worth — to help pay for new development. Those commissioners, Todd Kaestner, Gregg Lawrence, and Sherri Clark, said they don’t know for sure that they want to sell the hospital. They said they just want to study the idea. Most other commissioners, though, won’t budge even on that. The county has owned the hospital since the 1950s. Commissioners aren’t slashing spending either, Kaestner said. So, what must the county to do to make ends meet? If county officials won’t sell the hospital then the only alternative is to jack up property taxes year after year, Kaestner said. “Centennial Hospital (in Nashville) pays Davidson County $3 million a year in property taxes, and we get zero from Williamson Medical Center. Those are two facts,” Kaestner said. “We didn’t raise property taxes this year, but it was only…

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Retiring Congressman John J. Duncan ‘Not For Tim Burchett’

Laura Baigert

  Since John “Jimmy” Duncan, Jr., the U.S. Representative for Tennessee’s 2nd Congressional District, announced his retirement from the seat he has held since 1988, two potential replacements have announced their intention to run, and Duncan will not be supporting one of them. Duncan told the Nashville Post, “No, I’m not for Tim Burchett,” referring to the Knox County Mayor who formally announced his candidacy two days earlier at the Vol. Market #3, following months of speculation and his “teasing” about what office he would pursue after being term-limited out of his current office. Duncan went on to say, “Well, I really like Jimmy Matlock,” referring to State Representative Jimmy Matlock (R-Lenoir City), who beat Burchett to the punch by announcing his organization of a campaign to run for the 2nd District Congressional seat two days before Burchett. Matlock referred to Congressman Duncan as “my dear friend” in his official campaign statement. Duncan stopped short of an endorsement for Matlock, saying, “I’m not endorsing anybody right at the moment,” taking a “wait and see” position. While Duncan added, “Endorsements don’t mean a whole lot,” in a seat that has been held by “Jimmy” or his father, John Duncan Sr., since…

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RTA CEO: ‘Daily Recurring Congested’ Areas To Get Much Worse in Metro Nashville, One Million People And $8 Billion Later

Laura Baigert

  GALLATIN, Tennessee – During the nMotion Plan Update meeting for Sumner County held last month, Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and Regional Transit Authority (RTA) CEO Steve Bland spoke to a short slide presentation that included, among others, one titled “Projected Traffic Congestion.” The slide includes two maps, shown here, using red to highlight the “daily recurring congested” areas within middle Tennessee. The map on the left, portraying the current situation for daily recurring congested areas, is described as being “based on roadway volumes and travel speeds” and reflects what middle Tennesseans are painfully aware as locations for commuter traffic delays. Comparatively, the map on the right dated 2040 is captioned, “Based on the MPO’s (Metropolitan Planning Organization’s) traffic model which incorporates growth and development forecasts,” after an additional one million people are expected to migrate to the Nashville area over the next twenty-plus years. Shockingly, the projected congested areas in 2040 is after a whopping $8 billion is spent on transit and other improvements, according to Steve Bland. Indeed, the slide is subtitled, “These forecasts include all current and proposed projects in the 2040 Regional Plan.” Bland, who dubbed the information “the slide of doom,” did not elaborate on…

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Memorial Service To Be Held Thursday For Crossville Police Dog Killed In Line Of Duty

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  Police in Crossville in East Tennessee are planning a memorial service this week for a police dog killed in the line of duty Aug. 2. The dog, named Cain, was allegedly stabbed multiple times in the chest by a man who had fled police and was hiding in the woods. Injured, Cain returned to his handler and was rushed to a veterinary medical center but died from his wounds. “It is with saddened hearts that the City of Crossville Police Department announces the final End of Watch Call for a true hero and a three year law enforcement veteran,” said a police department press release posted on Facebook. “K9 Cain, your watch is over.” Police will host a memorial visitation Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Crossville Police Department. A memorial service will be held at the Duer Soccer Complex on Thursday morning, but only first responders and the media are invited to attend because of concerns about the weather. There will be a funeral procession before the service for which the public is invited to line the streets. The procession will start at 11 a.m. and will travel on Main Street from Central Baptist Church to…

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Illegal Border Crossings Creep Up Again in July

Tennessee Star Staff

Apprehensions of illegal immigrants near the southwest border increased for the third straight month in July, indicating that illegal immigration is firmly headed back up after a steep drop following President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The monthly Customs and Borer Protection report indicates that U.S. Border Patrol agents nabbed 18,198 illegal immigrants, up from 16,087 in June.…

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Commentary: Is Culture Still Relevant?

JC Bowman

The United States is a diverse country, racially and ethnically, as well as in how people choose to organize themselves socially and politically. It can be argued that our public schools are integrally situated to communicate society’s values, such as individual responsibility, patriotism, integrity, objectivity, justice, respect for others, being on time, doing a good job, working well with others, being a good citizen, and exercising democracy in government and other interactions. Americans have thus far kept our republic, and created it to be resilient and strong. However, the United States will remain free only with relentless vigilance and public engagement, which must be transmitted in our culture.

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GOP Senator David Perdue: ‘News Flash for Everybody,’ Trump ‘Is Being Successful’

Tennessee Star Staff

Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) offered a “news flash” to the Democrats, mainstream media and Never-Trump members of the Republican Party, saying during an interview Tuesday on “The Laura Ingraham Show” that President Donald Trump “is being successful” in the face of unprecedented obstacles. Perdue, who co-sponsored the merit-based immigration RAISE Act with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)…

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More Colleges Scrap Remedial Classes

Wendy Wilson

California State University campuses will no longer require incoming freshmen to take placement tests in English and math or enroll in noncredit remedial courses, reports the Los Angeles Times. The change, to take effect fall 2018, is part of a trend away from noncredit remedial courses, which critics say frustrate students and lead many to drop out. This is one case in which California isn’t leading the nation. Tennessee, among other states, have already taken steps to get rid of traditional remedial courses while creating other ways to support students who aren’t ready for college-level work. In 2010, as part of Tennessee’s Complete College Tennessee Act, remedial and developmental education was to be provided only by community colleges and not universities as of July 2012. Then, in 2015, community colleges eliminated traditional remediation in favor of “co-requisite remediation,” which allows students to enroll in introductory math and English classes while receiving support services, including counseling, computer lab help and special supplementary classes. By allowing students to start acquiring college credit right away, schools hope to keep them in school and boost graduation rates. Traditional remedial classes offered in the past cost the same as others but didn’t allow students to start working toward…

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Conexion Americas, Recipient of $250k From Randy Boyd, and TIRRC Are Defending Obama’s DACA Program for Illegal Aliens

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Conexion Americas and TIRRC (Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition) are taking action this Friday to defend recipients of Obama’s unilateral 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program who are euphemistically referred to as “dreamers.” After the “Dream Act” failed in 2010, the Obama administration used an administrative bypass of Congress to execute unilateral executive amnesty in the form of the DACA program. On Friday, Conexion Americas, a Nashville Latino advocacy organization and recipient of a $250,000 donation from Randy and Jenny Boyd, is offering a popsicle to anyone who stops by and sends a postcard to Tennessee’s D.C. legislators requesting support for the newest “Dream Act.” Recently introduced by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democrat Dick Durbin, the bill provides even greater protection for the DACA eligible by offering a path to citizenship. Boyd is one of five announced candidates for the Republican nomination for governor of Tennessee. Conexion is taking a subtle approach to undermine the rule of law and preserve an unconstitutional action by the Obama administration, whereas TIRRC’s approach is more direct – they are asking Tennessee teachers to take their politics into the classroom. TIRRC’s Friday “Educator Day of Action” in defense of DACA…

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Faith: Verse of the Day for Wednesday, August 9

Dana Hunsinger Gill
Tennessee Star - Verse of the Day

  VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing August 9, Wednesday John 15:5-8 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. Ephesians 6:10-17 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up…

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