Tennessee Commissioner of Education Lizzette Reynolds is facing calls to resign over her appointment allegedly failing to comply with the Tennessee law governing her office, which was originally written in 1925 which specifies commissioners must be qualified to teach in the state’s classrooms.
A collection of Tennessee Democrats and the statewide party held a press conference on Monday to call for Reynolds’ resignation, claiming she is not legally qualified for her position, citing Tennessee Code Section 4-3-802, which specifies the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) must be overseen by a commissioner who “shall be a person of literary and scientific attainments and of skill and experience in school administration” who is also “qualified to teach in the school of the highest standing over which the commissioner has authority.”
Reynolds, who reportedly boasts more than three decades of experience in education policy and legislation, does not hold a teacher’s license in Tennessee and has no classroom experience.
The push for Reynolds’ resignation drew questions about how she was vetted for her office from Professional Educators of Tennessee’s JC Bowman when reached by The Tennessee Star on Tuesday.
“To paraphrase Robert Kennedy, you may not like the law, you may not agree with the law, but as long as it is the law: you follow the law,” Bowman told The Star. He added that Tennessee should consider a” periodic update of job descriptions for cabinet positions to align with the role’s requirements. This should coincide with a focus on children, parents, and educators in Tennessee.”
Bowman stressed that the Professional Educators of Tennessee have enjoyed “much more accessibility with Commissioner Reynolds,” who he said “has made herself much more accessible than her predecessor.”
“She would benefit by being more accessible to the media and stakeholders on a regular basis,” added Bowman, before critiquing Governor Bill Lee (R) for appointing her to the position without a transparent vetting process to verify that experience comports with the state’s requirements for the position.
“The greater problem is Governor Lee continues to go out of state and pick people for positions, and nobody is certain of his vetting process,” Bowman said. “There are people who already reside in the state of Tennessee that are more than capable of managing state agencies.”
The Star sent a comment request to Lee’s office, seeking to ascertain what sort of vetting process his administration developed for candidates seeking Reynolds’ position, but did not receive a response before press time.
Reynolds started in her role as the commissioner of education last July. When local media asked State Representative John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) why Democrats did not raise Bowman’s qualifications as a concern in 2023, he reportedly replied that Tennessee Democrats “had a lot going on.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
As usual, even when Democrats have a point they want an exemption for themselves (see COVID restrictions, private jet use, criticisms of mayors traveling during snow storms, etc.)
Count the number of “educators” in the Democrat coalition who are paid through a job in which they NEVER teach a class – Teacher Union bureaucrats, Central office bureaucrats, DEI experts, etc.
Question: what would the average pupil – teacher ratio in public schools be if ninety percent of public education educators were classroom teachers?
have they called on pete buttegig to resign?
he’s not qualified at all for his position.
oh, wait. he’s a democrat.
For once i agree with the Democrats. Probably not for the same reasons. After researching her it is obvious she is a woke progressive that has no business in the education of Tennessee children.
Children can’t read and public education costs continue to skyrocket. I would be happy to have a nose pickin booger eatin moron as commissioner if it meant public education actually educated children. Define “Qualified”, it would be my contention that there are very few people qualified to administer pubic education based on qualifications to teach.