Tag: Achievement School District

JC Bowman Commentary: ASD Is Still Not the Solution

JC Bowman

The adage is that no one loves a warrior until the enemy is at the gates. We are the land of the free for one reason only: We are also the home of the brave. We need more people willing to stand up and bravely speak out on issues. However, it is not always about being right, it is about doing what is right. On that front, we need more warriors not afraid to do what is right and what is necessary.

Ronald Reagan, a man known for his wit, preferred humor to attack politics. Journalist H.W. Brands wrote: “Even those who disliked his policies had difficulty disliking him.” Brands also called Reagan the Republican Party’s “last hero, their last real vote-getter.”

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State Sues Metro Nashville Public Schools Over Student Contact Info, District to Sue State Over Funding

Wendy Wilson

The state of Tennessee is suing Metro Nashville Public Schools for declining to release student contact information to the state-run Achievement School District run mostly by charter school operators who want parents to be informed of school options. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Davidson County Chancery Court, claims that a state law that took effect earlier this year compels MNPS to turn over the information. The suit says the district is required to provide a “list of student names, ages, addresses, dates of attendance, and grade levels completed.” An MNPS spokeswoman told The Tennessee Star on Thursday that district officials are reviewing the lawsuit. School board chair Anna Shepherd wrote a letter to state education commissioner Candice McQueen in August saying the board’s attorney advised the board that it has discretion over releasing such information per the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Shepherd also said the new state law does not allow for the release of student contact information for marketing purposes. Shepherd said the Achievement School District’s “academic track record is concerning and there is waning demand for ASD schools in Nashville and Memphis, which presumably is why the ASD is seeking to market itself to…

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Memphis Charter School Knew Of Interim Principal’s Felony Conviction When Hiring Him

Wendy Wilson

  A charter school in Memphis hired an interim principal knowing he had a felony conviction, reports WMC Action News 5 in Memphis. Koai Matthews of Lester Prep was convicted and sentenced to probation for conspiracy and counterfeiting in 2006, according to court documents from Missouri obtained by WMC. The school knew of the conviction, but didn’t report it to Tennessee’s Achievement School District, which they are not obligated to do under state law, according to WMC. The ASD, which learned of the felony conviction through an anonymous tip, is now reviewing its hiring policies for charter school operators. “We’re not disagreeing with the hiring of certain individuals, we just want to be informed on who those individuals are,” said Robert “Bobby” White, chief of external affairs for the ASD. Matthews is keeping his job and told WMC that he uses his past to teach students to make better choices than he did. The ASD was created by the state legislature in 2010 to turn around struggling schools as part of former President Obama’s Race to the Top program. After news broke of the interim principal with a felony conviction, state Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, wrote to state education commissioner Candice McQueen…

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