Two weeks into her tenure as Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education, Lizzette “Lizzy” Gonzalez Reynolds is garnering positive reviews.
“I found her knowledgeable, approachable, and willing to listen,” said State Representative Kevin Raper (R-Cleveland).
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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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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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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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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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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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I have some advice for Tennessee’s new Commissioner of Education, Lizzette Gonzales-Reynolds. Please know that you will never be everyone’s cup of tea. And that statement of fact is true for all of us.
However, everyone is worthy of respect. In an Age of Irreverence, it is worth remembering that simple truth. We are all created in the image of God. It doesn’t mean you have to accept others’ beliefs, or even agree with them. However, it is a good starting point for human interaction.
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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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Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has announced the appointment of Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) Chief Academic Officer Lisa Coons as Virginia’s 27th superintendent of public instruction. The move comes as Coons was recently named a finalist for the job of Nebraska’s State Superintendent of Schools. Coons’ appointment is effective April 17, with Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera touting her as a welcome addition to the team.
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Last week, Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn was in Washington D.C. to help the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) launch the Alliance for Learning Innovation (ALI), a bipartisan initiative co-led with Lewis-Burke Associates, LLC, to increase education research and development investments across the federal government. As expressed by a press release, this new venture aims to dramatically grow federal investment in education:
“The alliance brings together a group of education nonprofits, practitioners, philanthropy, and the private sector to advocate for research-based innovations in education. As a coalition, ALI focuses on innovative solutions that build education R&D infrastructure, center students and practitioners, advance equitable outcomes for students, improve talent pathways, and expand the workforce needed in a globally competitive world. To that end, the alliance has developed a comprehensive multi-part agenda including the goal of dramatically increasing the federal investment in education R&D.”
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed education reporter for The Tennessee Star, TC Weber in studio to explain the group, Chiefs for Change and Tennessee’s third-grade retention bill.
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed education reporter for The Tennessee Star, TC Weber in studio to comment upon Bill Lee’s 2023 priorities absent of education and questions the whereabouts of Penny Schwinn.
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A national education policy advocacy group founded by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has named its newest cohort of future members. Among them are Tennesseans, Eve Carney of the Tennessee Department of Education and Hamilton County’s Deputy Superintendent, Sonia Stewart. The two are part of the Chiefs for Change seventh cohort of its Future Chiefs leadership development program.
Eve Carney, per the Tennessee Department of Education’s organizational chart, serves as the Chief of Districts and Schools, despite the Chiefs for Change press release identifying her as Deputy Commissioner. Carney, a graduate of the University of Tennessee, has served with the TDOE since 2014.
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To the outside world, our industrial model public education system has changed very little in the last fifty years. However, those who have worked within the system would challenge that view. Everyone can agree we must have an education system that serves all students, preserves democratic ideals and civic participation, and allows students to succeed in the future economy.
Educators have constantly battled against the false premises that our public schools are failing, that educators are the problem, and that outsiders (usually non-educators) should take control of running our schools. Too many policymakers, including state leaders, have simply bought into the jargon fostered by disruptive education that pushes that agenda. The 113th Tennessee General Assembly has work to do this legislative session.
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The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) released the 2021-22 State Report Card on Monday. The Report Card serves as an annual reflection of lawmakers’ desires to bring greater transparency into how Tennessee’s schools are serving students and families.
State Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn said in a statement about the report, “With the release of the State Report Card, Tennessee continues our firm commitment to providing families with clear, actionable information on how our districts and schools are serving students.”
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An optimistic Penny Schwinn, Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education, presented the department’s2023/2024 proposed budget to Governor Lee and his advisors. For his part, the Governor was cordial, congratulatory, and to the point – often raising questions during the 30-minute presentation.
With confidence in his re-election bid running high, Governor Lee scheduled state departmental budget hearings for November 9th. A day after Tuesday’s statewide election that awarded him four more years as Governor. In the wake of securing his job for another term, Governor Lee indicated that education would remain a top priority going forth.
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Live from Music Row, Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Williamson County parent, Trisha Lucente with Parents Choice of Tennessee in studio to explain the basis of its 200-page lawsuit citing continued illegal teaching of Wit and Wisdom in K-12 public schools.
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Results of the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card, show Tennessee’s scores reflected the unprecedented national declines in student achievement tied to the extended school closures demanded by teachers’ unions and their allies in government.
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Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the head of Professional Educators of Tennessee, JC Bowman in studio to comment upon the recent letter from the US Department of Education regarding the missing implementation of assessment and accountability requirements.
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed State Senator Joey Hensley (R-TN-28) to the newsmaker line to explain the Age Appropriate Materials Act and his stance on whether or not the state of Tennessee should continue to receive monies from the federal Department of Education.
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Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) Commissioner Penny Schwinn met First Lady Jill Biden and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to the University of Tennessee (UT) on Monday as the pair kicked off the Road to Success Back to School Bus Tour.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) said Friday the state has not yet approved any school Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) for families seeking to choose education options outside of public schools.
“There are about 250 families that have actually applied (but) those approvals have not been made yet,” Lee said according to an updated report Saturday from the Associated Press (AP). “The process is underway.”
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School districts in Tennessee can now apply for Innovative School Model Grants that focus on job training for students.
“Through reimagining the middle or high school experience, students will have a variety of opportunities to gain real-world experience, explore various industries and available jobs, and choose a pathway best suited to their skillset,” said Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “I thank Governor Lee and the Tennessee General Assembly who passed this historic opportunity, all districts interested in applying for this funding, and those who helped us celebrate throughout the month.”
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A far-left group is once again suing the state of Tennessee over its policy of children using bathrooms based on their assigned sex at birth.
“This lawsuit challenges a recently enacted Tennessee law, the “Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act,” Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-2-801, et seq. (the “School Facilities Law” or “Law”), which bans transgender public school students from accessing multioccupancy restrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender identity,” says a lawsuit filed by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). “By singling out transgender students for disfavored treatment and explicitly writing discrimination against transgender people into State law, the School Facilities Law violates the most basic guarantees of equal protection under the U.S. Constitution and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.”
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, guest host Gulbransen welcomed Williamson County District Six School Board candidate Debbie Pace in studio to talk about why she is running, how the Wit and Wisdom curriculum got into the schools and the voting record of her opponent.
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Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) and Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn presented details Thursday of the legislation for the new student-based funding formula, known as the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement formula (TISA).
During a livestream presentation, the governor said that, following input from people all over the state, they now have “a piece of legislation and a funding formula that Tennesseans can understand, that parents can understand, that teachers and districts can understand.”
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Mayor Andy Ogles in studio to discuss the importance of communication between school boards and the county commission.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn are scheduled to announce legislation for the new student-based funding formula, known as the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement formula (TISA) this week. According to an emailed statement, Lee and Schwinn are scheduled to present the legislation on Thursday, February 24.
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Moms for Liberty Williamson County (ML-WC) President Robin Steenman said this week that she will refile a complaint that Tennessee Department Education (TDOE) Commissioner Penny Schwinn rejected last November. Steenman complained about the Williamson County School System’s Wit & Wisdom curriculum, which she said perpetuates the tenants of Critical Race Theory (CRT).
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On Friday, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn invited Tennesseans to participate in the full review of the state’s education funding formula and explore possibilities for a more student-centered approach.
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Chiefs for Change, an educational advocacy group, has come out in support of President Joe Biden’s new executive order on vaccine mandates. Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Education, Penny Schwinn, is a part of the group.
In a statement on Thursday, the group applauded the President’s executive order, saying, “The COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective – and they are what will finally end this pandemic. We commend the Biden Administration for requiring staff at all Head Start programs, Department of Defense schools, and Bureau of Indian Education-operated schools to get vaccinated, and we echo the president’s request that states require vaccines for their K-12 employees.”
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The U.S. Department of Education (ED) awarded Tennessee $830 million in funds to reopen and secure schools. The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) earned these funds based on their American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Plan (ESSER). All states may submit an ARP ESSER plan. So far, ED reports that 40 states have submitted one.
According to the ED press release, this latest funding brings Tennessee’s total ARP funds to nearly $2.5 billion.
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Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn awarded an $8.06 million contract to a company whose CEO supports Critical Race Theory and anti-racism in classrooms. As The Tennessee Star reported previously, Schwinn’s husband works at The New Teacher Project (TNTP) as well.
TNTP CEO Dan Weisberg has posted frequently about his support for critical race theory and anti-racist teaching. Weisberg tweeted articles showing his support for the two ideologies five times in the last month, as of this publication.
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Tennessee’s Education Commissioner, Penny Schwinn, wants to award another no-bid contract – this time, $7.5 million in federal funds over 3 years for a variety of services from NCS Pearson. These services would entail a K-3 Early Grade Universal Screening and Monitoring System (EGUSMS), which would include universal screening for literacy and math, dyslexia screening, mental health screening, progress monitoring, and data organization. Pearson’s EGUSMS would also provide the online reporting tools, training resources, and technical support for educators implementing the EGUSMS tools. If all options to renew are exercised for a 5-year term, then the cost would total $12.5 million.
Schwinn justified the decision to make NCS Pearson the sole source by claiming that none of the other vendors met the state’s minimum requirements. Schwinn added that the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) hadn’t put forth a complete request for proposal (RFP) out due to the short notice and prompt need for schools to obtain these services.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles to the studio to weigh in on Nashville’s educrats that claim critical race theory is a suggestion and questioned the continued employment of Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn.
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Williamson County parents are upset about the recently adopted Wit & Wisdom curriculum being used with their children. On Tuesday, June 15, 2021, about 350 parents, grandparents, and concerned citizens settled into their seats at the Moonshine Harley-Davidson in Franklin, Tennessee to listen to Robin Steenman and her Moms For Liberty-Willamson County discuss how the concerning curriculum snuck its way into our school district. In a mostly Republican, conservative, community on the outskirts of Nashville, residents were shocked.
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Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn promised to publish educator guidance on the state’s critical race theory ban by August 1. The ban was first proposed in the Tennessee General Assembly by State Representative John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge). The law itself doesn’t mention critical race theory by name, but it does address the theory’s tenets and practices at length.
Schwinn revealed the plan to issue guidance in an exclusive interview with Chalkbeat on Wednesday. The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) guidance will also address the question of how the commissioner would uphold the ban, including a complaint evaluation process and financial penalty system. Ragan’s amendment noted that the commissioner would determine how much state funding to withhold for violations.
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Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Crom Carmichael in studio to explain why school choice is becoming more important why parents need to stand up against critical race theory despite limited resources.
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Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn’s husband works for the company that benefited from an $8.06 million reading initiative contract.
Apparently, Commissioner Schwinn keeps it all in the family. As The Tennessee Star reported last fall, sources claimed that Schwinn imported former colleagues from Texas when she assumed her role within TDOE. They also claimed that they were subjected to hiring freezes and pressure to slash budgets, though Schwinn had no problem with maintaining the six-figure salaries for her imports.
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A lawsuit alleged that Commissioner Penny Schwinn favored certain textbook vendors without merit at the expense of more qualified vendors. Textbook and educational materials publishing company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) filed the suit against the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) in November of 2019. Consequently, HMH noted that the sale of all other grade levels of reading materials offered by HMH were jeopardized, since they are designed to be implemented together from K-12 curriculum.
The Tennessee State Board of Education acted on the recommendation of an advisory panel appointed by the Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission to not adopt HMH’s third grade reading material. HMH claimed that the advisory panel’s process was disrupted after Schwinn appointed Dr. Lisa Coons as TDOE Assistant Commissioner for Standards and Materials. Thereafter, HMH claimed that the panel re-reviewed and failed HMH’s material, while TDOE adopted programs offered by competitors that also received failing grades.
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Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn warned Metro Nashville Public School officials this week that serious consequences await if they do not account for $110 million in federal aid. Schwinn warned MNPS officials in a letter dated Monday.
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Officials with the Tennessee Department of Education announced late last week that they will give $1 million of taxpayer money to Tennessee’s six PBS stations to help educate students throughout the state. As reported last year, several organizations, including the Family Research Council, have faulted PBS’ educational materials for what they call a left-leaning bias.
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Tennessee Stands, based out of Williamson County, announced new initiatives Friday, including new partnerships and a new initiative to recruit right-leaning candidates for county commission and school board seats across the state.
This, according to an emailed press release that Tennessee Stands speaker Gary Humble emailed Friday.
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Teacher raises, vacant positions and funding for school districts with decreased enrollment this school year were some of the topics discussed Tuesday as the chiefs of Tennessee’s education agencies presented their proposed budgets for the upcoming fiscal year.
Gov. Bill Lee is hearing budget presentations from each of his state agencies over the course of the week, preparing to put together a state budget proposal Lee will present to the Tennessee Legislature in his State of the State address next year.
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Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn’s announcement of COVID-19-related learning loss projections for Tennessee students took state lawmakers and school superintendents by surprise.
In a joint news conference with Gov. Bill Lee last week, Schwinn announced Tennessee students are expected to face learning loss of 50% in English and 65% in math, stressing the importance of in-person learning. Projections were based on national research and early results of beginning-of-year student checkpoint assessments in Tennessee.
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Reading proficiency among Tennessee third-graders is projected to drop by 50%, and math proficiency is projected to drop by 65% because of COVID-19-related school closures, according to preliminary projections released by the Department of Education.
Gov. Bill Lee and Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn announced the projected learning loss during a news conference at the state Capitol on Wednesday.
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State Rep. Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) on Tuesday announced he wants members of the General Assembly to issue a vote of no confidence in Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn.
Griffey announced this through an emailed press release as well as a statement he published on his Facebook page.
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Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) Commissioner Penny Schwinn’s leadership problems could trickle down to the state’s public schools, and parents are right to worry.
Additionally, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, who appointed Schwinn, should worry that she could cost him reelection in 2022.
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Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) Commissioner Penny Schwinn and her leadership skills have created a toxic work environment and driven too many talented state workers away and into the private sector, said three former TDOE employees.
These are the same three sources who criticized Schwinn in an article that The Tennessee Star published Wednesday. Those sources spoke on condition of anonymity. They said the problems within the department started when Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee appointed Schwinn. And the sources also said the difficulties began not despite Schwinn — but because of her.
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Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner (TDEC) Penny Schwinn must leave, said Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles on Wednesday.
Ogles posted on his Facebook page that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee must remove Schwinn. Ogles said he formally called on Lee to do this only hours after he read Wednesday’s Tennessee Star article that quoted three former TDEC higher-ups. Those former employees, speaking anonymously, denounced Schwinn and her alleged on-the-job behavior. They said she falsified government records, ridiculed Lee at TDEC staff meetings, and lied to avoid appearing in public alongside U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
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