Tag: Will Pinkston

Former School Board Member and Bredesen Advisor Climbs Back in the Ring with New Advocacy Group

TC Weber

During his tenure on the MNPS School Board, former Bredesen advisor Will Pinkston worked with a laser-like focus to prevent the growth of charter schools in Tennessee. Though he is no longer a board member, he is leading a new effort to continue that fight by drawing attention to the financial cost charter schools impose on local school districts. Pinkston, a Democrat, has joined forces with former Wilson County Schools Director Donna Wright, a Republican, to create a new nonprofit, nonpartisan group advocating for traditional public schools.

The stated focus of the new group is to shed a light on the fiscal cost of charter schools on local districts’ budgets. Visitors to the fledging group’s website will find a series of research studies including one by Derek W. Black. Black is considered one of the nation’s leading experts in public education funding and is the Ernest F. Hollings Chair in Constitutional Law and director of the Constitutional Law Center at the University of South Carolina. He argues that charter schools have a negative impact on the budgets of local school districts due to fixed costs.

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Shawn Joseph Pockets $261K Plus $10K in Legal Fees to Exit Metro Nashville Schools

Jason M. Reynolds
Shawn Joseph

Dr. Shawn Joseph is out as Metro Nashville Schools superintendent — and you can take that to the bank, or at least, Joseph can take more than $261,000 to the bank. The school board voted 5-3 Tuesday to buy Joseph’s contract out, according to NewsChannel 5. Board members Dr. Sharon Gentry, Rachel Anne Elrod, Christiane Buggs, Will Pinkston, and Gini Pupo-Walker voted for the buyout. Jill Speering, Amy Frogge, and Fran Bush voted against the deal. Dr. Joseph did not attend the school board meeting, nor did Anna Shepherd, who was out sick. … The buyout would have Joseph earn his normal salary through July 31st, 2019, in addition to being paid for any accumulated vacation time, and potentially sick time. He would then be cut a check for $261,250. The board would also pay for up to $10,000 in attorney fees for Joseph in the defense of his license by the Tennessee State Board of Education. The board has proposed a one-year suspension for failing to reporter teacher misconduct cases. (sic) Joseph last month told the board it needed to discuss terms of his departure, NewsChannel 5 said, even as the station revealed the State Board of Education wanted…

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Nashville Mayor Briley Announces Desire to Seize Control of School Board Operations Over Its Handling of Superintendent Joseph

Jason M. Reynolds

Nashville Mayor David Briley says he plans to effectively seize control of the school board and lambasted board members who are trying to remove embattled Superintendent Dr. Shawn Joseph, Fox 17 said. Briley then turned his ire to the Metro Nashville School Board, saying he “will use all my legal authority to influence the school board functions from this day forward.” … Dr. Joseph has previously stated he will not seek to extend his contract when it expires in 2020. Mayor Briley said he plans to be involved in the search for a new director as well as how the school board handles operations and finances. According to NewsChannel 5, Briley called school board members racist but tried to deny it. “Some of our school board members have not acknowledged why their actions are seen through a racial lens. They’ve failed to acknowledge the legacy of racism and the legacy of systemic racism in Nashville, the legacy of inequality that this city is still trying to overcome today,” he said. Briley went on to say that he’s not calling anyone “a racist” and added he knows most people in leadership have “good intentions” and “good hearts.” Metro Nashville Schools have…

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Metro Nashville Public School Board Member Will Pinkston Resigns as Vote on Terminating Director Shawn Joseph Appears Imminent

Laura Baigert

Sharing his letter of resignation with the public via Twitter, Metro Nashville Public School Board member Will Pinkston called out the body on which he serves “impossibly inept,” just as another school board member has announced plans to make a motion to terminate School Director Dr. Shawn Joseph. Elected to Metro Nashville Board of Public Education in 2012 representing the 7th District of South and Southeast Nashville, Pinkston graduated from Metro Nashville Public Schools and, as a senior advisor, “helped Gov. Phil Bredesen shape the education agenda that made Tennessee the fastest-improving state in the history of the Nation’s Report Card,” according to his campaign website. Pinkston’s letter addressed to Dr. Sharon Gentry, Chair of the Metropolitan Nashville Board of Public Education dated March 25, whom Pinkston praised, was not voted into the position as Chair without dissension, The Tennessee Star reported. Pinkston told Gentry in his letter that while his resignation from the Board is effective April 12, his resignation as Chair of the Budget & Finance Committee chair is effective immediately. Pinkston’s Twitter release of his letter of resignation included the comment, “Talk amongst yourselves. I decided this about a month ago, but Friday’s insane board retreat expedited…

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Metro Nashville Public School Board Member Will Pinkston Reportedly Calls People ‘Nitwits’

Chris Butler

Metro Nashville Public School board member Will Pinkston reportedly thinks that people who complain to him about the latest goings-on at the school system are “nitwits.” This, according to the Nashville-based NewsChannel 5, which publicized a series of tweets Pinkston recently released. “An email sent to Metro School Board members on Tuesday criticizing MNPS leadership set off a flurry of tweets and responses from School Board member Will Pinkston, referring to apparent critics as ‘broke nitwits,’” the station reported. “The email sent to school board members by David Jones was later posted on Twitter, which prompted the response from Pinkston.” “’I like making nitwits meltdown on Twitter,” Pinkston wrote in a tweet. “It’s kind of a thing.” Pinkston, when tweeting again, said Jones has no right to criticize as he does not live in Davidson County. “I’ve got enough to do without fielding bone-headed missives from Rutherford County,” the station reported Pinkston as tweeting. Jones wife Katie, though, said she is a tenured teacher who works for the Metro Nashville Public Schools. “Your response to the email is both shocking and unprofessional,” the station reported Katie Jones as saying when she wrote back. “As a teacher, if I responded to…

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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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House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh Announces Candidacy For Tennessee Governor

Wendy Wilson

  State House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley) has officially thrown his hat in the ring in the race for Tennessee governor. He will face former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean in the August 2018 Democratic primary. Fitzhugh, who announced his candidacy over the weekend, had been expected to join the race. A native of rural West Tennessee, where he still makes his home, Fitzhugh has represented Lauderdale, Crockett and Haywood counties in the state legislature for more than two decades. He was first elected to the District 82 seat in 1994. Fitzhugh is a graduate of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and the University of Tennessee College of Law. He served four years in the Air Force as a captain in the Judge’s Advocate General (JAG) Corps, and then returned to Ripley to practice law. He joined the Bank of Ripley in 1992 and today is its chairman and CEO. While Dean is considered the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, Fitzhugh offers a contrast with his emphasis on rural communities and his support for public schools. He has been cautious about charter schools, while Dean has been a strong supporter. “Memo to Tennessee Democrats: Craig Fitzhugh supports public schools, students and…

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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 — Pinkston for Schools (@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.…

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