Author: TC Weber

Metro Nashville Public Schools Unveils Potential Changes for One of District’s Highest Performing High Schools

TC Weber

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) is considering making changes to Martin Luther King Academic Magnet School (MLKAMS), one of Nashville’s highest-performing high schools.

At Tuesday’s school board meeting, district Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle unveiled plans to move seventh-grade and eighth-grade students to Head Middle School and rebrand that school as Head Middle School at MLK. If MNPS goes forward with its plans, MLKAMS will become a traditional high school serving ninth-grade to 12th-grade. MLKAMS currently teaches students from seventh-grade to 12th-grade.

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Experiencing Wide Spread Internet Outages

TC Weber

Metro Nashville Public School’s (MNPS) teachers and students face widespread internet outages after returning from fall break.

Sean Braisted, MNPS’s chief communications officer, told The Tennessee Star, “We’ve experienced network traffic issues over the past few days, primarily linked to changes during a recent upgrade that has led to increased network saturation.”

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Tennessee’s Public Charter School Commission Overturns Five Local Charter School Application Denials

TC Weber

At this year’s annual charter school appeals hearing, the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission (TPCSC) heard from eight proposed charter schools. State law permits charter authorizers who have been denied by the local authorizer to ask for reconsideration.

Established in 2022, as a means for those appeals to be heard, the commission has the power to overturn local decisions.

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State Lawmaker Plans to Introduce Bill to Help Math Retention Rates for Tennessee Students

TC Weber

State House Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) told The Tennessee Star that he plans to introduce a new bill that closely resembles Temnnessee’s existing third-grade retention bill for literacy.

Tennessee implemented new policies last year to address low literacy rates among third-graders. This coming year, Tennessee lawmakers intend to turn their focus to mathematics.

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Tennessee Department of Education Presents Updates on School A-F Grades to State Board of Education Ahead of November Rollout

TC Weber

The Tennessee State Department of Education(TDOE) updated the State Board of Education(SBE) last week on progress toward implementing the state’s A-F school grading system.

Lawmakers passed legislation in 2016 requiring the TDOE to release school letter grades annually. Grades were intended to be implemented during the 2017/18 school year, but state testing issues and COVID-19 prevented the release of those scores until this year. In anticipation of releasing individual school grades, the Department of Education is revising the grading formula to give parents greater clarity. 

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Metro Nashville School Board Proposes Lottery Admission at Two Top Performing Schools to Increase Diversity

TC Weber

The Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) Board this week considered changing eligibility rules for admission to its two highly successful academic magnet schools – Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet High School and Hume-Fogg Academic High School. If adopted, all prospective students would be subject to a lottery system for admission.

The proposed rule change would not go into effect until the 2024 – 2025 school year, but if adopted, would sever established pathways for entry into MLK and Home-Fogg. Currently, Meigs Middle School and John Early Middle School serve as pathway schools to Hume-Fogg, while Head Middle School and Rose Park Middle School serve as pathways to MLK.

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Republicans Praise Bold Proposal Which Could Lead to State of Tennessee Rejecting All Federal Money from U.S. Department of Education, Democrats Whine Plan is ‘Misguided’

TC Weber

The creation of a new joint working group by Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) and Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) to study the impact federal funds have on education in the Volunteer State is eliciting a mixed response.

State Senator Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol) and State Representative Debra Moody (R-Covington) will lead the new group. The state senator welcomes the opportunity to discuss using federal money in education.

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Former TN Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn Fails Upward, Lands $367k per Year Job with University of Florida

TC Weber

Tennessee’s former commissioner of education, Dr. Penny Schwinn, has landed a new position with the University of Florida. Dr. Schwinn will join the school in a newly created position as vice president for PK-12 and Pre-Bachelors Programs.

According to an email from Cynthia Roldán Hernández, University of Florida’s director of Strategic Communications, this work will earn Schwinn an annual salary of $367,500, making her the second-highest-paid University of Florida vice president.

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State Senator Critical of Tennessee Department of Education’s New Hires for Education Commissioner and Turnaround Superintendent

TC Weber

A Tennessee state senator said Dr. Bren Elliott, Tennessee’s new State Turnaround Superintendent, and new State Education Commissioner Lizette Gonzalez Reynolds, do not reflect “the educational philosophy desired by parents and Tennesseans.”

“The hiring of Bren Elliott is the continuation of the bad decision of hiring Commissioner Reynolds. They represent the destructive direction of schools becoming ‘mental and emotional institutions’ rather than traditional educational facilities,” State Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma).

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Tennessee Department of Education Releases Data from Summer Learning Camps

TC Weber

The Tennessee Department of Education released data on Wednesday for third-grade students who participated in state-sponsored summer learning camps and completed the required post-test.

Beginning this summer, third-grade students scoring “approaching” or “below” on the ELA portion of the spring TCAP assessment faced prevention unless they participated in the state-provided pathways to fourth-grade promotion. These include the TCAP retake opportunity, free summer camp, and tutoring in the upcoming school year. Third-grade students who choose to participate in summer school must show adequate growth – defined by the State Board of Education(SBE) as 4 percent – to be eligible for promotion. Participants must also meet a 90 percent attendance measure.

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Tennessee School Districts Celebrate TVAAS Results, But Supporting Data Remains Unavailable to Parents Until Mid-September

TC Weber

Tennessee school districts are touting their Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System(TVAAS) scores, even as the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) has yet to make those scores available for public inspection.

TVAAS measures student academic growth over the course of a school year. Since it focuses on growth over proficiency, TVAAS allows administrators to see what strategies truly impact student performance.

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Tennessee Department of Education Holds Town Halls on A-F School Grading

TC Weber

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) hosted the first two of ten promised town halls last week designed to gather feedback on A – F letter grades for individual schools.

The TDOE staged initial meetings at the Dixon County High School and the General Motor Inn in Greenville. Neither session drew more than a handful of people. Those in attendance expressed confusion over the purpose of the town halls.

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Tennessee Department of Education to Hold Town Halls as New School Letter Grade System Set to Launch this Fall

TC Weber

n November, the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE), in compliance with state law, will release school letter grades for individual Tennessee schools. To prepare families, teachers, community members, and decision-makers to review that data, the TDOE is holding a series of 10 Town Halls.

“Whether you are a student, parent, teacher, policymaker, or an interested community member, school letter grades will empower all Tennesseans with the information they need to support K-12 public education and our local schools,” said Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education. “I encourage all Tennesseans to join us at a town hall or submit a public comment to share what you want to know about schools in your community and how they are serving your kids.”

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Questions Continue to Surface Around Company Contracted to Manage Tennessee Education Savings Accounts

TC Weber

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) awarding Students First Technologies (SFT) a contract to manage the state’s Education Savings Account (ESA) program continues to raise concerns.

“Our government owes citizens the responsibility of providing the best service at an affordable price. Often they outsource services that could be done better or more efficiently in-house. ” JC Bowman, executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee told The Tennessee Star, “When that work is outsourced it needs to be with people who have the adequate experience and skills to deliver quality service. We need to know who does the work, and they must be held accountable.”

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Under New State School Funding Formula, Metro Nashville Taxpayers Responsible for a Larger Portion of the Bill

TC Weber

Data released on Friday by the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) released last week shows that Metro Nashville taxpayers are paying roughly $120 million a year over the state’s contribution to fund city schools.

Under Tennessee’s new public school funding formula – Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) – most local school districts, except Nashville Sevier County, can expect to pay one-third of the local education cost, with the state paying the other two-thirds for two districts.

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Tennessee Department of Education Provides Update on Implementation of New Student Funding Formula

TC Weber

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) updated the State Board of Education (SBE) last week on the state’s progress in implementing its new school funding formula – Tennessee Investment in Student Success (TISA). Tennessee is moving from a systems-based funding formula to a student-based funding formula with TISA.

The new system uses a formula that starts with a base amount for each student and then adds money for various factors. Those components include poverty, district size, English learners, and special education needs. This year, the base allocation per student is $6,860 per student.

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Amends Discipline Policy

TC Weber

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) adjusted its discipline policies for the upcoming school to all first-time violent offenders to avoid expulsion by enrolling in a five-hour anger management course.

The new program was first introduced to MNPS principals two weeks ago as the First Time Violent Offender Program. The district has since changed the name and now refers to the initiative as the First Time Behavior Support Program.

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MNPS Board Updates Policy to Align with New State Law on Students’ Participation in School Activities

TC Weber

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) School Board members on Tuesday considered several district policy revisions mandated by changes in state law. Three amended policies required parental permission for student participation in school clubs, school surveys, and certain health screenings.

State law passed this last session, includes new options for parents/guardians regarding certain extracurricular activities and district actions. Specifically, this new law: (1) requires parents/guardians to opt in before their minor child joins a school club or participates in the activities of a club; (2) requires parents/guardians to opt in, rather than opt-out before a student under 18 participates in a non-instructional survey, analysis, or evaluation; and (3) gives parents/guardians the ability to opt-out of health screenings conducted as part of the coordinated school health program.

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Tennessee Department of Education Releases Data on Third-Grade Retention Appeals

TC Weber

This week, the Tennessee Department of Education(TDOE) released final data on third-grade retention appeals.

In 2021, Tennessee lawmakers passed the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act. It set forth key academic supports for third-grade students who did not score proficient on the English language arts (ELA) portion of their TCAP assessment. It further updated requirements for students to move to the next grade via multiple pathways for fourth-grade promotion.

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Tennessee Department of Education Releases District-Level TCAP Results

TC Weber

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) released the 2022-23 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) district-level results. TCAP provides insight into how school districts are performing across the state.

TDOE reported 68 out of 141 public school districts had 38.7 percent of students’ scores “met expectations” or “exceeded expectations” across all grades and subjects tested. An additional 19 districts reported 50 percent of students scored in the “met” or “exceeded” categories. Only nine districts failed to increase overall proficiency rates compared to last school year, while 107 increased those rates compared to the 2019-20 school year.

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Changes Coming to Tennessee’s Model Teacher Prep Program

TC Weber

A program designed to remove financial barriers for potential teachers to enter the profession is undergoing modification. As a result, some prospective teachers may find themselves financially unable to participate. 

The new changes potentially put the program at odds with its original goals. Compounding the issue is a lack of transparency by both the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) and the Tennessee Grow Your Own Center. 

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New Tennessee Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds Sworn Into Office

TC Weber

Tennessee officially has a new State Commissioner of Education. Lizzette Reynolds, a Texas native, was sworn in last week as the latest head of the Tennessee Department of Education. She replaces Penny Schwinn, who resigned effective June 1.

“I am excited and humbled by having the opportunity to serve Tennessee’s families to ensure they get the best possible education for their children,” said Commissioner Reynolds. “I look forward to meeting with educators, families, elected officials, and stakeholders throughout the state and continuing the great work already happening on behalf of kids in Tennessee.”

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Tennessee Department of Education Partners with Private Firm to Manage Education Savings Account Program

TC Weber

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) started a 5-year, $3.65 million contract with a private firm to manage the state’s Education Savings Account (ESA) program. While DBA Students First Technologies (SFT) is a relatively new company, ownership said it feels confident in its ability to partner with the state in serving Tennessee families exploring alternative education opportunities.

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Tennessee Department of Education Releases Findings from Teacher Retention Listening Tour

TC Weber

Last week, the Tennessee Department of Education released a report based on its recently concluded teacher retention listening tour. The report lists the top findings as, better professional development, better pay/benefits, a desire for more collaboration, and more leadership support. 

In compiling their report, the TDOE had over a thousand Tennessee teachers express interest in providing input and feedback. The department used a random sampling method to talk with 100 of those teachers, placing them in 10 separate cohorts. The TDOE secured representation from each region, grade level, district and school type, and years of service.

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Tennessee Comptroller’s Office Releases Updated Data on K-12 Education

TC Weber

The Tennessee Comptrollers Office released last week updated interactive online maps and dashboards related to the state and K-12 education. The dashboards and maps allow citizens to access information on both private and public schools for the 2021-2022 school year.

Included are data on teacher salaries, student enrollment, educational attainment, school building quality, and state and local funding available for Tennessee’s public schools and school districts.

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MNPS Announces New Principal and Executive Assignments for Upcoming School Year

TC Weber

When the 2023/2024 school year opens for Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) there will be 23 new principals employed by the district. A slightly higher number than in previous years, due to several veteran principals choosing to either retire or accept a position with a surrounding district. In some instances, MNPS has chosen not to renew a seated principal’s contract. 

On Friday, the district revealed upcoming assignments for the new school leaders. They also named three new executive leadership placements, including one for the district’s long-term chief spokesman.

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Tennessee Department of Education Announces New State Chief Academic Officer

TC Weber

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) announced Jackson County Superintendent Kristy Brown as the state’s new chief academic officer. Brown replaces former Deputy Secretary Eve Carney. who recently tendered her resignation effective July 1.

The announcement comes just a week before Lizzette Gonzales Reynolds is slated to assume the role of Tennessee’s new Commissioner of Education at the beginning of July. Reynolds replaces Penny Schwinn, who resigned on June 1.

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Tennessee Department of Education Releases Third-Grade Retention Appeals Data

TC Weber

On Thursday, The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) released data on the results of third-grade retention appeals filed with the state. Parents of third-grade students who did not meet the criteria for promotion to 4th grade based on Spring TCAP results are provided an opportunity to appeal that decision.  The released data comes with approximately two weeks left in the appeals window.

Since the appeals window opened on May 30th, the department has received 9,205 appeals forms, representing 8,206 individual students.

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TEA Fights Payroll Deduction Law, Possibly Puts Pending Teacher Raises at Risk

TC Weber

Three of Tennessee’s teacher associations have filed a lawsuit against Tennessee over a new law prohibiting payroll deductions for labor association dues. The law, scheduled to go into effect on July 1, includes provisions for increased educator pay.

Governor Bill Lee and Interim Education Commissioner Sam Pearcey are named in the lawsuit. TEA is asking for a restraining order and temporary and permanent injunctions on the payroll dues deduction ban.

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Growing Concerns Around Tennessee’s Grow Your Own Teacher Prep Program

TC Weber

Tennessee’s teacher prep program, Grow Your Own (GYO), is in flux. Participating educator preparation providers (EPP) are awaiting Thursday, when they will be notified of how many seats they’ll be available to offer teacher candidates, along with the amount of funding available. The lack of clear answers is making some providers anxious for the fall.

“It is throwing off our staffing plans for next year as we can’t get an answer from Emma McCallie at TDOE or Erin Crisp at the GYO Center,” a source who wished to remain anonymous told The Tennessee Star.

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TCAP Retakes Reveal Most Tennessee Third Graders Are Not Proficient in Language Arts

TC Weber

The Tennessee Department of Education released district-level data on Tuesday from the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) retake opportunity, one of the pathways to promotion for third-grade students who failed to score proficient on the original administration of the assessment.

Statewide, roughly 44,000 students, which translates to 60 percent of the state’s third-graders who took the initial assessment, did not score proficient on the spring TCAP English Language Arts assessment. By law, those students are eligible for a retake exam. According to the TDOE, over 25,000 students took advantage of the opportunity.

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Tennessee Department of Education Continues to Lose Veteran Leadership

TC Weber

Two long-term Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) executives have announced they will be leaving the department in the coming months. This announcement comes on the heels of Commissioner Penny Schwinn’s June 1 resignation.

Eve Carney, TDOE deputy commissioner, and Meghan McLeroy, TDOE’s chief statewide support officer, have served the department for over a quarter of a century. Along the way, they have earned accolades and appreciation from the state’s educators.

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Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn’s Term in Office Officially Concludes

TC Weber

June 1st officially marked the end of Penny Schwinn’s tenure as the top education official in Tennessee. Schwinn submitted her resignation on May 1st but gave the state 30 days’ notice before making it official.

Long-time Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) employee Sam Pearcy will assume the reins for the next 30 days. At that time, Governor Bill Lee’s appointed successor, Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds, officially begins her term.

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Nashville Mayoral Candidates Offer Views on City Schools

TC Weber

A poll conducted in May on behalf of Tennesseans for Student Success by VictoryPhones, showed that Nashvillians prefer a mayoral candidate with a strong position on education and infrastructure. That quality slightly edged “positions on social issues” as the leading factor in who earned their vote.

In discussing education policy with Nashville mayoral candidates, The Tennessee Star found few variances between potential city leaders. All candidates supported Metro Nashville Public Schools and appreciated the past administration’s efforts to increase teacher pay. They all voice a commitment to ensuring that Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) are among the best in the country. Outwardly, none are choice advocates.

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Release of Tennessee Third-Grade Literacy Scores Produces Mixed Response

TC Weber

In the aftermath of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) test data release for third-graders by the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE), legislators are pleased and encouraged, while parents are angry and confused.

On Friday, TDOE released scores to districts across the state. Due to the late distribution time, there was a variance in when parents received their child’s score. Some districts shared results with families on Friday night, while others in the larger urban districts didn’t receive results until Monday afternoon.

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TDOE Releases 3rd Grade TCAP Scores Late Friday, Leaves Parents Scrambling

TC Weber

As promised, the Tennessee Department of Education released results from this year’s TCAP test for third-graders to districts on Friday. However, it wasn’t until after 3;30 that the data was delivered.

Districts still have to sort through the data and identify exclusions – students who are English Learners or have a disability that affects their ability to read – before they can send notify families of student status, Students failing to score “proficient” are eligible for a retake. That exam window is scheduled to be open from May 22 -June 5.

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Tennessee State Board of Education Defines Summer School Requirements for Third-Graders Facing Retention

TC Weber

As Tennessee school districts wait to receive scores from spring’s Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP), the State Board of Education (SBE) passed rules guiding the implications of those results.

The rules, crafted by the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE), and passed by the SBE on Friday, will determine how many Tennessee’s third-graders will spend their summer months.

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MNPS Commits to Converting Three High School Fields from Natural Grass to Artificial Turf

TC Weber

Last week, the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) board approved a contract to convert three district schools’ football fields from natural grass to artificial turf.

In November, Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced, “Every Metro Nashville Public High School (MNPS) athletic program will receive a new sports field, an initiative made possible through an innovative partnership with the Tennessee Titans and The Foundation for Athletics in Nashville Schools (FANS), Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to endow athletic programming at MNPS schools.”

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MNPS to Purchase 3,300 Shelter in Place Emergency Preparedness Backpacks

TC Weber

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) has committed to the purchase of 3,300 shelter-in-place backpacks at a cost not to exceed $427,905. Officially known as “Complete Shelter in Place Emergency Preparedness Backpacks”, they are designed to ensure schools are prepared should students need to shelter in place as a result of a  variety of emergency situations.

At last week’s board meeting, the MNPS school board committed to the purchase of the bags for the upcoming school year. 

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MNPS High School Student Pepper Sprays Teacher for Confiscating Phone, Both Say They Were Assaulted

TC Weber

A video depicting a female student pepper-spraying a male teacher at Antioch High School (AHS) went viral over the weekend. The minute-and-a-half video, surfacing on Friday, shows the confrontation between the two after the educator confiscated a cell phone from the student for using it during an exam in the classroom.  The student was asked repeatedly to put the phone away, The New York Post reported.     

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Tennessee Department of Education Names Steering Committee to Advise on Implementation of New School Funding Formula

TC Weber

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) released on Wednesday the names of appointees to the newly created Tennesseans Investing in Student Achievement (TISA) steering committee.

The state is transitioning to a new public school funding model. The newly created committee will advise on the implementation of the new, student-based K-12 education funding formula, which goes into effect for the 2023-24 school year.

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Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn Resigns, Governor Lee Names Lizzette Gonzales Reynolds as New Top Educator

TC Weber

Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn is leaving the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) effective June 1, online education policy magazine The74, reported Monday. The outlet reports that Schwinn has grown tired of distracting culture war battles over the way race and gender are taught in the state’s classrooms. In response, Governor Lee is returning to familiar ground for her replacement.

Lee named Lizzette Gonzales Reynolds as the news Education Commissioner, who, like Schwinn, is a former Texas Deputy Commissioner of Education.

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