Poll Finds Democratic State Senators Lead in Nashville Mayoral Race

In a new poll of the Metro Nashville mayoral election released by Tennesseans for Student Success, State Senator Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) leads the pack with 21.9 percent. State Senator Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) comes in second with 17 percent, and progressive Metro Council Member Freddie O’Connell comes in third with 15.6 percent.

The margin of error in the poll is 4.38%, with 500 participants taking part. 

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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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Republicans in State Senate Did Not Support Bill To Secure Tennessee Voting Machines With Paper Ballot Audit Trail

Yarbro

When Democrat Senator Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) sponsored a bill earlier this year that would provide greater vote security by requiring that before January 1, 2020, electronic voting machines have the capability to create a voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) for each ballot cast and that the VVPATs be preserved as paper ballots, the bill failed to advance because no Republican on the committee seconded the sponsor’s motion on the proposed legislation. Background The issue of election integrity continues to receive attention since the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2017 notified 21 states that were targeted by hackers during the 2016 election, and the 2018 mid-term elections are viewed as targets for Russian interference. In February, it was reported that Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testified before the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, “There should be no doubt that Russia perceives that its past efforts as successful and views the 2018 U.S. midterm elections as a potential target for Russian influence operations.” A “Report on Cyber Vulnerabilities in U.S. Election Equipment, Databases and Infrastructure” was an outcome of the 25th annual DEF CON hacker conference held in July 2017 in Las Vegas and, for the first time, featured a…

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Commentary: Helping Children Succeed

In America, our students are grouped by chronological age and progress together through the K-12 system. While this might make sense socially, it ignores a student’s readiness. Students who start off struggling from the very beginning often can get a better start on their formal education if retained. Being promoted with their peer group only makes sense if they can make adequate academic progress.

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