A U.S. Senate hopeful offered her support for a lawsuit by the Tennessee Education Association (TEA) seeking to reinstate Critical Race Theory in Tennessee schools.
“Nothing better than seeing good folks fight back on whitewashing our history!” State Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) said on Twitter. “Teachers teach facts, not feelings!
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A new Tennessee law that bans “implicit bias training” in school took effect ahead of the new school year, which begins in the second week of August for most students.
HB015 bans school administrators from forcing teachers, faculty, and staff to be trained on implicit biases, which typically involves teaching that one race is inherently biased against another simply by existing.
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The Tennessee Education Association (TEA), along with several teachers, filed a lawsuit against the Tennessee Commissioner of Education and members of the State Board of Education over a law that prohibits the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in K-12 classrooms, according to a Wednesday press release.
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The Tennessee House voted this week to raise the starting pay for those entering the teaching profession in the state.
HB0329 calls for an increase in salary for teachers to $42,000 for the 2023-2024 school year. That number will increase each year by $2500 until it hits $50K for the school year of 2026-2027 school year.
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A bill to both raise the minimum Tennessee teacher salary to $50,000 by 2026-27 and eliminate the option of districts collecting Tennessee Education Association dues from paychecks passed the Senate Education Committee this week.
The bill is sponsored by State Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, but was termed an administration bill supported by Gov. Bill Lee. When asked why the two topics were combined by both a Republican and Democratic member of the committee, representatives from the Tennessee Department of Education said that was the choice of Lee.
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The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) and Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA) released on Friday key findings and responses from the 2022 Tennessee Educator Survey (TES). Survey results reveal that in every category measured, teachers are more dissatisfied this year than last year.
In 2021, 91 percent of teachers reported being generally satisfied. In 2022, that number has declined to 87 percent.
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The Tennessee Star learned that the far-left Tennessee Education Association (TEA) is distributing the same mailed literature piece recently targeting Democrat voters and encouraging them to vote for Jeff Eby in the House District (HD) 69 Republican race and other August 4 Republican district primaries.
In addition to promoting Eby’s bid, the TEA mailed the same exact piece in the HD 13 and Senate District (SD) 9 Republican primaries.
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The Tennessee Education Association (TEA), a radical leftist organization, distributed a literature piece that hit mail boxes last week and appears to target Democrats, encouraging them to vote for Jeff Eby because he is against school vouchers and charter schools in the August 4 House District 69 Republican primary.
The Tennessee Star has obtained a copy of the mail piece, which says on one side, “In the fights ahead, we need Jeff Eby as our state representative.”
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A new Tennessee Star Poll reveals that Republicans who accept contributions from the Tennessee Education Association (TEA) may face a backlash in a primary contest. The survey asked whether voters would be more or less likely to vote for a candidate who accepts funding from the TEA. An overwhelming number of 75.6% indicated that they would be LESS likely to vote for a candidate receiving funds from the teachers union; a mere 8.5% would be MORE likely; and 15.9% indicated that they didn’t know. The Triton Polling survey was conducted over four days (April 13-16) and polled 1003 likely Republican Party primary voters statewide. It has a margin of error of 3.1%. The poll results almost exactly mirror responses to the same question of 1000 likely GOP primary voters that was conducted by Triton December 12-18, 2017. In that poll GOP primary voters were asked: The Tennessee Education Association and National Education Association are unions that use Tennessee teachers’ dues to oppose the Second Amendment, support Planned Parenthood, and attempt to elect political candidates like Hillary Clinton. Would you be more likely or less likely to support a Republican candidate for the state house or senate who accepts money from…
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The National Education Association added a new section to its Resolutions, titled “White Supremacy Culture,” in which it states the belief that educators must acknowledge the existence of White supremacy culture as a primary root cause of institutional racism, structural racism, and White privilege. The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest professional employee organization – union – in the country, with a reported 3 million members at every level of education including pre-school to university graduate programs. The NEA has affiliates in every state, with the Tennessee Education Association (TEA) being listed as the Tennessee state affiliate. The TEA, as reported by The Tennessee Star, was very active in 2018 state elections, spending more than $500,000 during the election cycle. The “White Supremacy Culture” resolution was included in the 2017-2018 report of the NEA Resolutions Committee, which was presented to the NEA Representative Assembly held July 2 through 5, 2018, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where a reported 6,200 delegates attended. According to NEA, the Representative Assembly is the highest decision-making body within the 3-million member body with over 8,000 delates, making it “the world’s largest democratic deliberative body.” The NEA holds a 10-day long annual meeting and representative assembly each…
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On Thursday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – guest host and Nashville Tea Party Activist Ben Cunningham spoke with The Tennessee Star’s own senior reporter Laura Baigert, co-guest host for the day, about the key 14 to 9 favorable vote in the Education Committee this week that moved the Education Savings Account legislation closer to a vote on the floor of the House. Kevin Baigert, Laura’s husband and a long-time conservative activist in the state, was also a special in-studio guest during the broadcast who provided key insights into the vote as well. Cunningham: Had a really interesting episode yesterday at the General Assembly the, one of the Governor Bill Lee’s main legislative initiatives is what’s called an ESA , educational savings account and a real important vote occurred yesterday in the education committee. Laura, you were there. Give us just the two paragraph version of what happened. I saw it was fourteen to nine vote. That’s really is more than I thought the bigger majority. Is that about what you expected in terms of the committee vote. Baigert:…
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As Governor Bill Lee’s legislation on Education Savings Accounts is set to be voted on by the full House Education Committee on Wednesday, March 27, the Tennessee Republican Party calls for support of his education plan. The Tennessee Republican Party (TRP) sent a personalized email Friday saying, “We need your help!” “Governor Lee and Tennessee’s students are counting on us!” The TRP said that Governor Lee “has put forward a bold, conservative plan to ensure that every child in Tennessee has access to a high-quality education.” To help the Governor’s agenda and show support for school choice, the email includes a link to send an automatic email to the respondent’s legislator. The link connects to page with a heading “Show your support for Education Savings Accounts,” and a quote from Governor Bill Lee, “We’re not going to get big results in our struggling schools by nibbling around the edges. That is why we need Education Savings Accounts in Tennessee, this year.” The page goes on to explain ESAs: Education savings account programs (ESAs) give parents greater opportunity to use their state education dollars to find the best learning environment for their children ESAs can be used for school tuition and…
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Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill was flabbergasted on Monday’s edition of The Gill Report – broadcast on Knoxville’s 92.3 FM WETR – regarding the repeated incompetence displayed at the Tennessee Department of Education. Gill commented, “The Tennessee Department of Education has stepped in it again.” He continued: One of the things the Department of Education has had to set up under state law, it is a requirement of state law. Is a Pre-K and Kindergarten portfolio assessment program. Now apparently the Tennessee Department of Education failed to set up the program appropriately and now they’ve had some computer glitches that have caused them to not have the assessments of teachers done in an appropriate, timely or accurate way. And they’ve apparently randomly assigned one on a scale of five, to some teachers because they couldn’t figure out what to do so they just gave them one’s. Now this is supposedly not going to effect the teachers retention of their job, their pay raises, or anything else. But a lot of teachers aren’t really believing that. Professional Educators of Tennessee has some more details about this whole controversy, you can find out more there. Meanwhile, the Tennessee Teachers Association, the…
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The Tennessee Education Association Fund for Children and Public Education (TEA-FCPE), which is the PAC and political arm for the teachers’ union in Tennessee, has endorsed House Speaker Beth Harwell for the Republican nomination for Governor. The TEA’s PAC also endorsed House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh in the Democratic Party primary. Harwell welcomed the endorsement: “I am honored to receive the endorsement of the Tennessee Education Association,” Harwell said. “Education is my top priority, and as Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, I have led some of our boldest reforms that resulted in Tennessee being one of the fastest improving states in education.” “As a former teacher, I understand and value the work our educators do day-in and day-out, and I am grateful for TEA’s support,” Harwell went on to say. “As governor, I will continue to have an open door and listening ear for teachers and parents, always keeping in mind the best interests of students who represent the future of Tennessee.” The endorsement of the liberal TEA will not play well for Harwell in a contested Republican Primary for Governor. A Tennessee Star Poll conducted a few months ago reveals that accepting TEA money and support may…
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An expected U.S. Supreme Court decision, will change the political landscape. And unions are desperately trying to hold on to their political power after Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is ruled on, the political landscape may very well change.
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The State Board of Education instituted a minimum teacher’s salary of $33,745 in 2017, which essentially established a starting salary for the approximately 10 months a year that teachers work each year. Overall, Tennessee teachers receive an average annual salary of over $50,000. How does that stack up against income earners across the country? According to the National Taxpayers Union (ntu.org) the starting salary for most teachers would place the near the top half of income earners. The AVERAGE teacher salary would place an individual teacher at about the top THIRD of income earners. There is no question that the best teachers deserve better compensation, but education bureaucrats and the teachers’ unions have long fought to preserve a system that essentially pays the best and the worst the same amount. Every day, millions of teachers’ union members have money taken from their paychecks to support their union’s liberal political agenda. The TEA/NEA use teachers’ dues money to almost exclusively support the Democratic Party nationally. The activism of the TEA/NEA nationally includes endorsements of candidates like Hillary Clinton, demonizing 2nd Amendment advocates, and supporting abortion with donations to Planned Parenthood . Are Tennessee teachers’ union dues being used to promote their own beliefs…
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A mailer sent by the Tennessee Education Association (TEA), a political and financial ally of the liberal activities of the National Education Association (NEA), announced the group has endorsed Murfreesboro businessman Shane Reeves in the 14th State Senate District special Republican primary election set for January 25. Reeves faces former State Rep. Joe Carr (R-Lascassas) in the GOP primary. The winner will be the Republican candidate in the March 13 special general election. Both the TEA and the NEA endorsed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential cycle. The NEA is also an active supporter of Planned Parenthood’s abortion operations, and has declared that anyone who believe in the 2nd Amendment and the NRA are “going to hell.” “If the pro-abortion, anti-gun, pro-Hillary Clinton TEA/NEA is for Shane Reeves, that should tell Republican voters in the 14th District everything they need to know to vote against him and his not-so-secret liberal agenda,” conservative Republican Joe Carr said in a statement reacting to the endoesement, adding: Just last week, the NRA gave Shane a high rating based on his response to their questionnaire. Maybe they should actually look at who is backing him as a better indication of where he…
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With a huge number of vacancies in State House and Senate seats in 2018, many due to retirements and others due to Members accepting political appointments or seeking other offices, there will be a historic number of contested seats in the August, 2018 Republican primary election. Republicans currently enjoy supermajorities in both the House and Senate, so the primary elections are tantamount to winning the seat in many cases. In recent years the Tennessee Education Association (TEA) has recognized the political realities in the state and started moving from previously supporting only Democrats in state legislative races to putting increasingly significant resources into both the Republican caucuses and individual campaigns. However, a new Tennessee Star poll reveals that accepting TEA money and support may come at a high cost for candidates in Republican primaries. The Tennessee Star Poll was conducted by Triton Polling December 12-18, 2017 and included 1000 likely GOP Primary voters from across the state. Respondents were asked: The Tennessee Education Association and National Education Association are unions that use Tennessee teachers’ dues to oppose the Second Amendment, support Planned Parenthood, and attempt to elect political candidates like Hillary Clinton. Would you be more likely or less likely…
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