Tag: Metro Nashville Public Schools

Teachers at Memphis High School Told Not to Give Students Grades Below 65

Wendy Wilson

A Memphis high school is telling teachers not to give grades below a 65, leaving some teachers feeling frustrated, reports WREG News Channel 3. One teacher at Kingsbury High School shared an email with WREG that Assistant Principal Nora Jones sent to teachers Monday asking them to fill in missing grades for students. “The grade floor at Kingsbury HS is 65,” the email said. “If you issued grades below a 65, please correct this also.” The teacher said faculty members have to give a student a 65 even if the student didn’t come to class. Keith Williams of the Memphis-Shelby County Education Association teachers union told WREG that other schools in the district have also set a grade floor to boost grades. He said he has expressed concerns about the practice at past school board meetings. Williams said “you cannot give to students what they do not earn” and that principals do not have the right to put teachers in these “troublesome kinds of situations.” There should be a uniform policy across the district, he said. The district’s grading policy doesn’t refer to minimum grades, according to WREG. A Shelby County Schools spokesperson said they were looking into the matter at…

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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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Metro Nashville Public Schools Ignores the Constitution During Constitution Week

Tennessee Star Staff

Metro Nashville Public Schools has not promoted Constitution Day or Constitution Week at the district level. District spokeswoman Michelle Machaud told The Tennessee Star that “we are not as a district” promoting Constitution Week but that “it may be possible social studies teachers are observing this.” The Star contacted several Metro Nashville schools but messages were not returned. Metro Nashville Public Schools does have an interest in promoting other topics for inclusion in the curriculum used by middle and high school social studies teachers. In August, for instance, the president of the Islamic Center of Nashville spoke at an in-service for Metro Nashville middle and high school social studies teachers. He posted on Facebook about how he ended the presentation with the question, “Is Islam compatible with the West?” The district did not respond to pointed questions by The Star about the presentation. Constitution Week celebrates the 230th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution by the delegates attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. Constitution Day was Monday, September 18, and Constitution Week runs through Sunday, September 24. President Trump issued a proclamation last Friday to observe the occasion. (When Constitution Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, it is…

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Hundreds in Nashville Protest President Trump’s Constitutional Decision to End DACA

Wendy Wilson

  NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Several hundred protesters marched along West End Avenue in Nashville late Tuesday afternoon to denounce President’s Trump decision to end DACA. “Up, up with liberation. Down, down with deportation,” chanted the marchers, as similar protests took place across the country. Meanwhile, Trump supporters who want tougher immigration enforcement and adherence to the Constitution praised the president for following through on a campaign promise. The Trump administration announced early Tuesday that it would phase out DACA, which offers young people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and meet certain criteria the opportunity to obtain temporary permission to live and work in the U.S. Many recipients are now young adults. Former President Obama started the program in 2012 through an executive order, which critics called an unconstitutional exercise of power by the executive branch. Now it will be left up to Congress to decide what to do with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA recipients, known as Dreamers, will begin losing their permits in March unless Congress acts. Immigration activists are already lobbying Congress to save the program. Should Congress pass legislation to restore the DACA program before it ends six months from now,…

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Metro Nashville Schools Confirms Speaker From Mosque at Teacher In-Service, Refuses to Say If There Were Speakers From Other Religions

Chris Alto

  Several days prior to releasing the story that Metro Nashville Public Schools’ (MNPS) social studies teacher in-service featured Rashed Fakhruddin from the Islamic Center of Nashville, Olivia Brown, the Director of Communications for MNPS was offered an opportunity to explain to The Tennessee Star, whether other speakers were invited or did speak to the teachers about other religions, but the question remains unanswered even though MNPS admits to having the information. Fakhruddin’s now deleted Facebook message about his talk at the in-service was posted for at least one week before The Star asked Ms. Brown who spoke at the social studies in-service. Her response was a generalized description of speakers and no mention of religious speakers: The Star: What was the agenda for the social studies in-service, who were the speakers and was it open only to teachers?  Which grades? Brown: Social Studies professional development was provided primarily to teachers in middle and high school as the majority of elementary teachers were participating in training for literacy and math. The first day started with a keynote addressing the purpose for social studies and how to address social studies practices. This was followed by a number of breakout session that teachers were able to choose from based on…

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Nashville Public Schools’ Social Studies In-Service Event for Teachers Featured Speaker From Islamic Center

Chris Alto

  The president of the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN) spoke about his religion during a Metro Nashville Public Schools’ (MNPS) social studies in-service event held on August 2nd for middle and high school teachers preparing for the start of the 2017-2018 academic school year. According to the ICN’s website, its president, Rashed Fakhruddin, “has been coordinating and providing presentations on Islam to universities, schools, leadership groups and churches” over the past fifteen years in an effort to influence how his religion is received in the wider community. In a Facebook post dated August 2 captured in a screen shot, the owner of an account identified as Rashed Fakhruddin said, “Today, I got to present during MNPS’s social studies in service on Islam in context to the social studies curriculum, ending the presentation with the question, ‘Is Islam compatible with the West?’. There were parallel sessions going on, but there was a great turnout!”   That post apparently is no longer available on Mr. Fakhruddin’s Facebook page. The Tennessee Star asked MNPS about this in-service presentation. “On August 2 and 3, MNPS facilitated district-wide Professional Development for teachers in all tiers (elementary, middle and high school) and in all grade…

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Promotes ‘Faux Psychology’ Of Social-Emotional Learning

Wendy Wilson

Metro Nashville Public Schools recently held its annual Social Emotional Learning Conference to promote practices that well-known education scholar Chester Finn has called “faux psychology.” The seventh annual conference, co-sponsored by the behavioral health team at Alignment Nashville, was held June 29 and 30 at Cane Ridge High School. More than 800 educators, experts and community members were expected to attend. According to the Alignment Nashville website, social-emotional learning (or SEL) has “core competencies” which “include self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, responsible decision-making and relationship skills.” In a May press release, the school district said it is gaining a national reputation for its commitment to social-emotional learning. The district has a partnership with CASEL, a Chicago-based nonprofit devoted to helping schools implement social-emotional learning. Writing in Education Week on June 19, Finn equated social-emotional learning with the self-esteem fad that originated in California in the 1980s. Finn is president emeritus of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and a former assistant U.S. secretary of education. In his piece, he wrote: Today, few people talk explicitly about self-esteem or other kooky curricular enthusiasms of the past, but the worldview and faux psychology that impelled them have never gone away. Of late, they’ve reappeared—and gained remarkable traction—under the banner of…

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Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk To Launch Controversial Restorative Justice Program

Wendy Wilson

  Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk is planning to start a restorative justice pilot program using practices that are lauded by some but criticized by others who say they downplay wrongdoing. The program would start in juvenile courts but could be expanded to the adult system if it’s successful, reports WKRN News 2. In restorative justice programs, offenders meet with their victims as a way of taking accountability and to show remorse, and to help victims heal. In Davidson County, cases would be sent to a diversion program run by a nonprofit, which has yet to be found. Teens charged with vehicle thefts, home burglaries and nonviolent crime would be eligible to participate if the victim agrees. “What has to happen is the offender has to accept responsibility,” Funk told WKRN. “They have to admit to what they did, they have to meet with the victim, they find out what they need to do to make the victim whole, and then they have to take concrete steps to try to make the victim whole.” Restorative justice programs have been around for decades, but have become more popular in recent years in criminal justice systems and in public schools. Nashville Mayor Megan…

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Metro Nashville School Board Supports Metro Council’s Proposed ‘Sanctuary City’ Policy

Wendy Wilson

  The Metro Nashville school board is supporting Metro government’s proposed “sanctuary city” policy despite a growing chorus of opposition. The board sent a letter to the Metro Council this week encouraging passage of the ordinance, which was approved on a second reading Tuesday and will be up for a final vote next month. The ordinance would restrict local cooperation with federal immigration officials. “We celebrate the diversity in our schools and want them to be safe places for our students and families,” school board chair Anna Shepherd told The Tennessee Star Thursday. “Most of them are fleeing drug wars and/or civil wars and want better for their families just as our ancestors did.” Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, whose left-wing, open borders,  pro-illegal immigrant political philosophy is in line with the ordinance, has worked closely with the Metro Nashville school board since she was elected in 2015. When the search for a new director of schools stalled in 2016, Barry asserted a leadership role in the search process that ended in the appointment of  Shawn Joseph to that position in May 2016. In the letter to Metro Council sent on behalf of the board, Shepherd voiced concerns about illegal immigrant…

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Movie Critical of Charter Schools and Vouchers Shown at Nashville Film Festival

Wendy Wilson

  A documentary taking a critical look at charter schools and vouchers was shown Tuesday evening at the Nashville Film Festival. “Backpack Full of Cash” was filmed partly in Nashville and features Metro Nashville school board member Amy Frogge, who attended Tuesday’s screening at the Regal Hollywood 27 at 100 Oaks. Both charter schools and vouchers were referred to in the movie as efforts toward privatization. Charter schools are publicly funded but privately run. Vouchers, sometimes called scholarships, allow students to attend private schools with public money. The title of the documentary refers to a metaphor used by a privatization proponent in the movie to illustrate how an allotted amount of taxpayer money follows each student to the school of their choice. Nashville has a number of charter schools and a voucher bill is currently moving through the state legislature. It will be heard Wednesday morning by the House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee. The issue of privatization has ignited powerful and emotional reactions but ones that don’t fall along traditional ideological lines, proving the adage that politics makes strange bedfellows. Some conservatives are strong proponents of privatization, but so are Bill and Melinda Gates, also known for supporting progressive causes. The…

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Metro Nashville School Nurses Receive No Formal Training On Female Genital Mutilation

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

Metro Nashville school nurses have not received formal training on how to spot potential cases of female genital mutilation despite state lawmakers drawing attention to FGM with legislation in 2012. The 2012 law requires health care providers to report injuries related to FGM, a brutal practice in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia that has been brought into the West through immigration. In the U.S., Tennessee is ranked 18th in state rankings for potential risk for women and girls, according to the Population Reference Bureau. The Tennessee Star has found that state and local agencies have not established clear guidelines and procedures for building awareness and documenting FGM cases to comply with the spirit and intent of the 2012 reporting law, which was passed to support state legislation in 1996 making FGM performed on a minor a felony. School nurses in Metro Nashville Public Schools are required to take an annual training course on reporting child abuse but it makes no mention of FGM. The Metro Nashville school district has refugee and immigrant students from Somalia and other parts of the world where FGM is practiced. “The annual course does not cover FGM specifically,” said Brian Todd, a spokesman for…

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Metro Nashville School Board Member Mocks Gov. Haslam’s Letter To Students About Testing

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  Metro Nashville school board member Will Pinkston said this week that Gov. Haslam’s letter to students to motivate them for standardized testing “might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.” Pinkston took to Twitter Monday to make his comments about the April 10 letter. This might be the dumbest thing I've ever seen. Headline: @BillHaslam Pressures Kids to Do Well on Standardized Tests. #number2pencil pic.twitter.com/2TmF8FQYcj — Will Pinkston (@WillPinkston) April 18, 2017   In attempting to strike a friendly and encouraging tone, Haslam wrote “you may feel excited or maybe a little nervous” about standardized testing and somewhat oddly compared it to a yearly visit to the doctor’s office for a check-up. Far from feeling excited about standardized testing, students and teachers alike in recent years have said testing takes up too much time and that tests are poorly written and too often address topics not covered in the curriculum, causing students to despair. Schools across the state are engaged in TNReady testing this month, trying to leave behind the problems of last year when procedural glitches forced the state Department of Education to cancel its contract with the testing vendor and find a new one for this year. Haslam’s…

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Memphis Middle School Student Attacks Teacher In Latest of Series of Violent Incidents

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  A 12-year-old Memphis middle school student is accused of assaulting her teacher and school officers, WREG News Channel 3 in Memphis reported last week. The incident at Sherwood Middle School started after the student was asked to leave class because she was listening to music during a test, police said. The teacher was pushed to the ground and later taken to a hospital, but was expected to be okay. The student received a juvenile summons for simple assault. Parent Stanley Brown told WREG he wasn’t surprised by what happened. “No respect for the teacher,” he said. “Respect comes from home, then it goes to the school.” On March 28, WREG reported on a 17-year-old student attacking a teacher at Douglass High School in Memphis. Police say the incident happened after an assistant principal asked via loudspeaker for the student to come to the office. The student refused to go, telling her teacher she didn’t do anything. The teacher said when the student was told again to go the office, the student argued with her and knocked her to the ground. The teacher was taken to the hospital in noncritical condition. The student was issued a juvenile summons for assault. The violent episodes…

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Bus Driver Shortage Frustrates Wilson County Schools, Reflecting a National Problem

Wendy Wilson

Wilson County Schools has formed a task force to address a bus driver shortage, a problem that is plaguing school districts across the nation. The problem is so bad in Wilson County that routes sometimes have to be canceled because there aren’t enough drivers, according to WKRN News 2. The district has 142 bus drivers, but needs 20 more to be at full staff. The district hasn’t been fully staffed since 2012. “We’ve just had a hard time keeping drivers,” district spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson told WKRN. “It’s certainly not an ideal situation. We don’t like it. We’re frustrated by it, too. Only 8 percent of school districts that responded to a 2015  survey by School Bus Fleet magazine said they did not have a bus driver shortage, meaning 92 percent did. Pay is an issue, but there are other factors as well, according to an article in the magazine in November 2016. “The job is getting more complex all the time,” the article said. “In addition to driving safely and meeting a schedule, drivers must handle disciplinary issues, be vigilant about security along their routes, make sure seat belts are used (and used correctly), and more.” “A school bus driver has very…

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Teacher Claims Lab ‘Confirmed the Presence of Mold’ at Bellevue Middle Prep in Nashville; School Officials Deny

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  School officials say Bellevue Middle Prep does not have a mold problem, despite talk on social media and at least one teacher who claims that a sample taken from the school confirmed the presence of molds, according to the lab that tested it. In a March 21 email to staff obtained by The Tennessee Star, Principal Mark Pittman said, “You may have heard about or seen some social media reports about possible mold or poor air quality in our school.” He went on to say that the Department of Workplace Safety has inspected the school at least three times or four times this year but has not found mold, though did conclude that the school needs a thorough cleaning, which Pittman said would be done that week. Pittman also said that an independent lab test of the air quality found nothing out of the normal range. However, a teacher who spoke anonymously to The Star said there is mold in multiple areas around the building. The teacher took a sample from a vent in an HVAC system that circulates air in numerous classrooms as well as the cafeteria. Charles River, a lab used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed…

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Proposes Expanding Programs For English Learners

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

Metro Nashville Public Schools hopes to spend $4.7 million on adding numerous new positions next year to meet the needs of students who have a native language other than English. In the district’s proposed budget for the 2017-2018 school year, MNPS plans to add 31 English Learner (EL) teachers to address state-mandated student-teacher ratios, according to a factsheet on the district’s website. The district also wants to add seven teacher professional development positions and 19 interpreters and translators. In addition, the proposal calls for adding six new tutors for afterschool tutoring and expanding summer school programming. “Continued growth in the district’s EL population brings the need to further expand the scope and depth of EL services,” the factsheet reads, noting that MNPS gains more than 1,000 new EL students each year. Those students include immigrants and refugees born in other countries as well as those born in the U.S. but who are exposed primarily to another language at home before starting school. Languages spoken include Spanish, Arabic, Kurdish, Farsi, Burmese, Nepali, Somali, Swahili and Vietnamese, among others. While activists support the expansion of EL programs in public schools, critics view the related expenditures as burdening taxpayers with soaring, unchecked immigration growth. MNPS…

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Former INS Agent Michael Cutler: Illegal Immigrants Should Be Fearful; People Demanding Enforcement Are Not Haters

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

Across the state and country, activists are calling for curbs on immigration enforcement because it’s making illegal immigrants fearful. But that’s the way it should be, says Michael Cutler, a nationally-recognized expert and retired senior special agent with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). “You should be fearful if you break the law,” said Cutler in an interview Monday with The Tennessee Star. In Nashville, activists angered by President Trump’s enforcement plans have gone so far as to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) leave the city. Students at Vanderbilt have insisted that the university be a sanctuary campus and Metro Nashville Public Schools say they intend to make illegal immigrant students and their families feel safe. Cutler, who writes commentary on immigration issues, appears in TV interviews and hosts a show on Blog Talk Radio, said efforts to provide sanctuaries for illegal immigrants will make it harder for law enforcement to root out gangs, drug traffickers, terrorists and other criminals. Problems with crime and drug trafficking will worsen if immigration enforcers aren’t able to do their jobs, said Cutler, who blames loose borders for the reason “why heroin has never been cheaper and more plentiful.” Cutler said it…

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