Superintendent Should Report to Nashville’s Mayor, Carol Swain Tells WSMV, But Education Expert Says State Requires School Boards to Oversee Directors

  WSMV polled the four major Nashville mayoral candidates on whether the Metro Nashville Public Schools superintendent should report to the mayor instead of the school board, and only one said “Yes.” That candidate was Dr. Carol Swain. WSMV’s story is here. The Metro Nashville mayoral candidates who were polled were Swain, incumbent Mayor David Briley, State Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-TN-55) and at-large Metro Council member John Cooper. Swain told WSMV, “I believe the director of schools should report to the mayor because there has to be some accountability. We’ve had problems in the past. The school board has a budget of almost a billion dollars and we know that we have some of the worst performing schools in the state.” Briley, Clemmons and Cooper said “No.” One education expert told The Tennessee Star that requiring a superintendent to report to an authority other than a school board would be unprecedented. JC Bowman, executive director of the Professional Educators of Tennessee, said, “That structure does not exist in Tennessee. Mayors in urban areas around the nation have closely aligned economic development with K-12 education. However, we have elected school boards to exercise oversight in the state of Tennessee of public schools.”…

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Legislature Approves Bill to Create Charter School Authorizing Commission

The Tennessee Senate on Thursday approved legislation creating an independent state commission to approve public charter schools in Tennessee. Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-TN-31) is the sponsor of SB0796. The tracking information is here. The bill, which also passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday, is a key part of Governor Bill Lee’s education initiatives designed to improve education opportunities for Tennessee students. Lee worked with local school districts to incorporate changes to the legislation. “I am pleased that Governor Lee worked with local schools districts and charter schools to gain unanimous support for the bill,” Kelsey said. “The new commission will ensure that charter school denials will be reviewed by a commission with expertise on quality schools. This law will help ensure that our children will have quality charter schools to attend in Tennessee.” The legislation creates the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission, whose core mission will be authorizing high-quality charter schools, which is currently administered by the State Board of Education, according to a press release from the Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus. Commission members will be appointed by the governor and approved by the Legislature, WATE said. At least five members must come from school districts that have charter schools. Sen. Jeff…

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Commentary: Celebration of Easter and Passover

This weekend marks a Holy Week for many citizens across Tennessee and the world, as we celebrate Passover and Easter. In America, religious beliefs are critical to many of our founding principles. There is no denying the significant impact that faith has had on our nation, from the Puritans to our present day. America was “settled by men and women of deep religious convictions who in the seventeenth century crossed the Atlantic Ocean to practice their faith freely.” George Washington declared in his Farewell Address, that of “all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports.” So, it is no surprise that as a nation, many of our citizens still embrace faith and trust in God. We pass along our faith rituals, habits, customs and traditions to our own children in our homes and places of worship. Passover begins at sundown on Friday, April 19, and ends Saturday evening, April 27. The first Passover Seder is on the evening of April 19, and the second Passover Seder takes place on the evening of April 20. Jewish people everywhere will sit with their families and friends for the celebration of Passover—a celebration of freedom.…

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Professional Educators of Tennessee Launches ‘Make the Choice’ Initiative to Recruit Students to Public Schools

As Tennessee policymakers discuss the issue of school choice Professional Educators of Tennessee (“PET”) is launching a positive, pro-public education initiative to make sure public education is viewed as a valid choice that parents can make for their children. “We are excited to announce a new initiative by PET to help make public education THE CHOICE for those who want the best educational opportunities for their children,” PET Executive Director J.C. Bowman said. “For too long our local public schools have faced an onslaught of challenges, criticism and funding shortfalls. Worst of all, our daily success stories have been lost in the noise of too much news and too little information,” Bowman noted. “Our public schools are the best choice for the majority of the children in our state and it is time for us to take control of the narrative and tell our own story — because it is a good story to tell.” “The best and brightest students in our communities should know that our public education system will work for them. The underserved and poor in our communities should know that our public education system can work for them. EVERY parent in our communities should know that they…

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Governor Bill Lee’s Education Savings Account Plan Will Offer School Choice to Less Than One Percent of Tennessee Students in 2020

Gov. Bill Lee is moving forward on his campaign pledge of school choice in the form of Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) available in 2020, although only about one-half of one percent of the state’s students would qualify to participate in the program’s first year. The governor delivered his first State of the State address Monday, as reported by The Tennessee Star. Lee said: I know there’s concern that programs like this will take money away from public schools, but my ESA plan will invest at least $25 million new dollars in public schools in the first year to fill the gap when a student transfers to another school. The Tennessee Department of Education referred a request for more information to the governor’s office. Lee spokesperson Laine Arnold did not reply to requests for comment. The proposal would only be provided to five county school districts: Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Shelby and Madison (including the city of Jackson). Also included would be the state’s Achievement School District of failing schools, the Chattanooga Times Free Press said. Only 5,000 students in fall 2020 would be eligible, or only about one-half of one percent of the state’s 975,000 students. Qualifying students would be eligible for…

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Republican Senate Leaders Praise Gov. Lee’s ‘Conservative’ Budget in State of the State Address

Reactions poured in from Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s first State of the State and budget address, which was delivered Monday night. The responses included statements by three Republican Senate leaders. Lt. Gov. and Sen. Randy McNally (R-TN-05) said: “In his first State of the State address, Bill Lee rightly pointed out the successes of the past while charting a new course for the future. His words tonight lived up to the promise of his campaign. Governor Lee laid out a clear, coherent and conservative message which will resonate across all three grand divisions. I appreciated his emphasis on fiscal responsibility noting the importance of keeping debt low, our savings account balance high and our budget balanced. He is committed not just to growing our prosperity but sharing it with those portions of our state most in need. I am committed to working with him to expand educational opportunity, redouble our efforts on mental health and reform our approach to criminal justice. Together with Speaker Casada and the State House, we will help Tennessee lead the nation.” Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jack Johnson (R-TN-23) said: “I am glad to see Governor Lee’s budget reflects conservative budgeting and adds a record deposit to the rainy day…

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Education Commissioner McQueen Taking Job With National Teaching Institute

Tennessee Education Commissioner Dr. Candice McQueen will leave her post in January for the top position at a national nonprofit that addresses teaching, The Tennessean said. McQueen’s departure to become CEO of the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, focused on aiding in training, attracting and supporting teachers, means she will not stay on with Gov.-elect Bill Lee. McQueen became Tennessee’s education commissioner in January 2015 after leading Lipscomb University’s College of Education. She replaced Kevin Huffman, who served for four years under Gov. Bill Haslam. In a Department of Education blog post, McQueen pointed to some of hers and the department’s accomplishments: This year, our students again set record highs: new high ACT score (20.2) coupled with a new high participation rate (97%); more students took AP exams and more students earned a 3 or higher – giving them credit for college; and high school graduates maintained our record graduation rate (89.1%). For the first time in years, we saw growth in students’ literacy skills in the early grades – pointing to some initial successes with our Read to be Ready work – and again students enrolled in our Read to be Ready summer camps showed statistically significant growth.” She also…

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JC Bowman Commentary: Collaborative Conferencing Limits Educators

Tennessee Star

Professional Educators of Tennessee fervently supports the right of educators to discuss working conditions and salary with their employers. There are flaws in the current Professional Educators Collaborative Conferencing Act (Public Chapter 378). Are there other options?  We believe so and toward that end, Professional Educators of Tennessee has begun to establish Education Leaders Councils in some districts to accomplish more for teachers.  It will help us cultivate true consensus building and address more critical issues. 

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JC Bowman Commentary: Tone Deaf School Districts 

JC Bowman

“If you don’t understand — from the school district to the superintendents — that we want our teachers held harmless, then I’m sorry, you’re tone-deaf.” —-State Representative Eddie Smith (Knoxville). That message was heard and understood statewide, right?  Apparently not.  We are receiving reports from across the state that some districts are denying their teachers their justified and earned bonuses, which harms the educator.

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JC Bowman Commentary: Time to Separate PACS from Lobbying

dealmakers

Professional Educators of Tennessee will continue to lobby for public education.  However, we will never endorse political parties or candidates as an organization on behalf of our members.  We also do not have a PAC, nor do we plan to ever start one.  It would harm our effectiveness.  We must advance public education without the divisive tribalism of partisan politics, and we will only get involved in education related issues.

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Rumor Control: Setting the Record Straight on PreK/Kindergarten Portfolios

JC Bowman

Social media was hard at it this weekend over the PreK/Kindergarten Student Growth Portfolio Model.  While Professional Educators of Tennessee is not sold on the portfolio process, it is the current law (see T.C.A. §§ 49-6-103–49-6-110).  We believe the current portfolio system takes up too much time for our educators.  However, the inaccurate information about pre-K and kindergarten portfolios was spreading way faster than a speeding bullet.  So, let’s set the record straight with some accurate details. There was no computer glitch or computer error related to portfolios. We confirmed this with a simple phone call to the Tennessee Department of Education.  There statement was:  “There was no error by our vendor, and there was no computer glitch.”  The Department further explained:  Teachers receive an overall portfolio growth score based on their scores on four separate collections, which look at students’ growth over the course of the school year on specific standards. Some teachers mismatched students and/or standards when they were inputting their portfolio information. In those cases, the issue was flagged by a peer reviewer and the teacher received a score of a 1 on that specific collection, which was by design if this mismatch occurred. For example, a…

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JC Bowman: A Few Thoughts on Educational Assessment and Evaluation

JC Bowman

The risk of misidentifying and mislabeling teacher performance based on test scores is too high for it to be the major indicator of teacher performance, especially when you look at issues such as student demographic characteristics. A number of states, including Michigan, have since taken steps to lessen the impact test scores have on teacher evaluations, repeatedly mentioning factors outside an educator’s control which can influence a student’s academic performance. 

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