Dad Gone Wild » Education

“The more one pleases generally, the less one pleases profoundly.”
― Stendhal, Love

Every discussion about public education policy centers on the belief that it is either a public good or a commodity.

Is the system designed to benefit the individual or the society?

For debate opponents, that river has never been successfully crossed.

The initial vision might have prioritized society over the individual, but the benefit to the individual has long eclipsed that original vision.

The rise in school options has grown with parents’ recognition that not all public school systems are created equally. Under the banner of public education, a wealth of inequities exists, even with schools in the same district. Districts try to keep this a secret from parents and act as if they say equity enough and tout growth scores repeatedly; parents will be placated. But parents know, and I’ve yet to meet the parents who won’t do everything possible to fully prepare their child for the future. If the district can’t provide it, they’ll find it elsewhere.

Perception also matters. We attempt to persuade parents not to leave traditional schools by describing all the faults of private and charter schools. That strategy fails to acknowledge that traditional schools are not meeting the needs of some students. We fail to recognize that, in many cases, parents are so unhappy that they are willing to ignore anti-charter and private school arguments to try something different.

Parents are not dumb. They can run risk/reward simulations on choices that meet their personal needs, and those needs aren’t all the same.

I recently became upset with a social media post by the principal of Hume-Fogg, a local high-achieving magnet school.

In theory, I have no issue with academic magnet schools. I firmly believe that high-achieving children have different needs than the average student. They deserve enhanced opportunities and the chance to be surrounded by their peers. The caveat is that admission is based on achievement.

Hume-Fogge’s admission is based on a lottery. To qualify for that lottery, a student must hold an 80 GPA. Once entered into the lottery, everyone has the same chance. Win the lottery, and you enter a world of increased opportunity. None of this is much different from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, with the hunt for the golden ticket.

Now, once there, a student has to do the work, but one shouldn’t be surprised when those students are afforded such an opportunity to do great things.

Flip through the course offerings at Hume-Fogg, and you’ll see classes unavailable at other district high schools. This summer, I am paying $600 for an advanced math course for my daughter that is offered at Hume-Fogg. A class that will allow her to take other high-level math classes in her junior and senior years. The class may serve as a prerequisite but won’t be recognized by the district because my daughter is a rising junior and, therefore, not eligible for the state’s dual enrollment grant. Since not all parents can pay for schooling outside district-offered classes, equity demands that she not receive district credit for her class. Let’s be clear: I can’t afford to pay for that class, but as a parent, I’m not going to deny her the opportunity to reach her goals. Especially when those opportunities are already provided by public schools in surrounding wealthier counties.

So forgive me when I get angry when students are celebrated for achievements my child never had a shot at despite her classroom performance. I’m not taking anything away from the Humme-Fogg students’ accomplishments, but I do lose faith in a system that recognizes one fact while ignoring the others.

Somehow, fidelity to public education demands that I recognize one while ignoring the other. It requires that parents settle for “they’ll be fine” instead of demanding an opportunity to be exceptional.

That said, not every family is in search of exceptionalism. Their priorities are different, and they deserve to have their needs met as well. But let’s not pretend that we are running a district where all students are known and all needs are met. Let’s acknowledge that a different setting would suit some students better. Let’s recognize that parents will not be willing to sacrifice their children for the proposed good of society.

Valor is a local high-achieving charter school on par with Hume-Fogg. While Valor is an outstanding school for some students, others are better served by a traditional school. What I’d like to see is an acknowledgment of that fact and an end to declaring one school better than the other based solely on its being a charter school or a traditional school.

We celebrate diversity and individualism in every aspect of today’s society—except public education. That isn’t right.

Public education should strike a better balance between the individual and society.

Another debate that goes unacknowledged in policy discussions is whether public schools are “politically neutral government service focused on impartially equipping students with knowledge and skills they need to be independent and productive adult citizens” or are they vehicles to “teach for social justice” and commit to challenging systemic inequities.

It’s a fundamental question that drives parents to consider alternative school choice options.

Education policy expert Robert Pondiscio tackles that discussion in a piece for the Thomas Fordham Institute.

Pondiscio uses a recent class offering from Philadelphia to jump into the conversation:

In a report for The Free Press, Frannie Block reveals that the city’s school district has created a controversial eleventh-grade world history course and other social studies materials with assignments and lessons that encourage students to reinterpret U.S. and world history through the lens of systemic injustice and activism. Students are asked to select a song to replace the national anthem after reflecting on racism and, when studying the Civil War, to understand that “racist attitudes played a foundational role in the formation of American identity.” Other lessons frame westward expansion and the Cold War in terms of American supremacy and racial exclusion, encourage students to view U.S. foreign policy through the lens of racism, and describe wartime propaganda as creating a manufactured sense of national unity. A unit in world history teaches that economic inequality shows “the need for systemic changes and equitable economic policies.” The unit examines “the intersections of climate justice, economic justice, anti-fascism, and human rights.

The author points out that the district does not mandate the curriculum for the course; rather, it is at the discretion of the teacher. That adds a significant wrinkle.

Pondiscio writes:

This forces us to confront a seldom-examined tension that is baked into the culture of teaching and the structure of public education. Education is widely assumed by Americans to be a politically neutral government service focused on impartially equipping students with the knowledge and skills they need to be independent and productive adult citizens.Yet many teacher preparation programs explicitly train educators to “teach for social justice” and commit to challenging systemic inequities. And those commitments are situated within a professional culture that is uniquely well-suited to advance them, if teachers are so inclined.

As I’ve noted elsewhere, no category of public employee enjoys more freedom, flexibility, or insulation from democratic oversight than teachers. A bus driver cannot choose to drive for social justice, disregarding his assigned route; a police officer cannot patrol a different beat if he perceives a more urgent need in a different neighborhood. By contrast, teachers—and those in their states and local districts who develop materials for classrooms—possess almost unlimited authority to shape what students read and hear by choosing texts, guiding classroom discussions, and selecting resources to reflect their educational priorities or philosophy. Those unfamiliar with classroom practice (and even some inside) assume that public education is a top-down enterprise: states, districts, or school boards choose a curriculum, and teachers robotically deliver officially sanctioned lessons. It’s simply not so. The vast majority of classroom teachers create, customize, or simply download teaching materials from the Internet with no meaningful oversight or controls for fairness, accuracy, or quality.

To be clear, there are good reasons for teachers’ operational flexibility. It enables educators to differentiate instruction, respond to local contexts, and craft lessons that resonate with students. Done well, it reflects professionalism and skill. But there is no limiting principle. It is only when controversies like this one in the City of Brotherly Love erupt into public view that we’re forced to reckon with the conflict between public education’s status as an ostensibly neutral government function and the field’s conception of itself as anything but neutral.

Long-time readers know that I am a strong proponent of teacher autonomy. They also know I am not a strong opponent of schools being used as tools for social change. Educate students, and then allow them to make social change designed to reflect the society they create, not the goals and aspirations of adults.

Teachers will argue that indoctrination in classrooms is ludicrous. What’s preposterous to me is the thought that when children know your political views, it doesn’t shape or alter theirs. That works for both sides of the aisle, and over the years, it’s become increasingly apparent that students are a captive audience that can be used to fight cultural battles.

Parents recognize the influence schools and teachers have on their children. They see it at home. We like to act as if parents have little interaction with their children once they enter the schooling years. That is not true. Trust me, we talk.

As a parent, I resent being shamed and dismissed if I have questions about what should be communicated in schools. Think shamed is too strong a word? Try raising questions sometimes about policies to promote equity and watch how fast you are portrayed as a racist. Question materials used in classrooms, and you’ll instantly be transformed into a MAGA supporter.

I know those last two paragraphs read as a defense of conservatives, but as Pondiscio points out:

Twenty years ago, a comprehensive American Educational Research Association (AERA) review observed that “conceptualizing teaching and teacher education in terms of social justice has been the central animating idea for education scholars and practitioners who connect their work to larger critical movements.” In that framing, the teacher is not merely a professional educator, but also an activist committed to diminishing the inequities of American society. So, too, are some number of the “education scholars” who participate in curriculum development.

It’s important to note that this situation can also operate in the opposite direction. The same permission structure that enables teachers and administrators to create lessons based on the 1619 Project or Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States also permits them to choose materials from PragerU or 1776 Unites, which they do routinely and without controversy. It’s a double-edged sword.

Pondiscio sums it up best in his closing paragraph:

Public schools are among our most important civic institutions, essential to both individual opportunity and democratic life. But they cannot be both a core government service and a platform for personal or political expression. The tension between those roles has been allowed to fester unexamined for too long. The result is a steady erosion of public trust—not because Americans don’t value education, but because they can no longer be certain whose interests it serves. If schools want to reclaim that trust, they must first be clear-eyed about the role they play. And then act like it.

But the first step in solving a problem is admitting you have a problem. We are a long way from taking that first step.

– – –

It’s taken about 6 years, but former MNPS Director of Schools Shawn Joseph has finally found a new district to lead, albeit as an interim director.

Joseph came to MNPS after serving as a deputy director at Prince George County Schools. He now returns as the interim director. With his return come the old tropes about Joseph being a victim of the racist South.

Per a report in News 4 Washington:

While Joseph could not be reached for comment, County Council Chair Ed Burroughs said he believes in Joseph and his leadership. Burroughs pointed out that Joseph was the first Black director of the Nashville school system and believes there was racism and pushback to Joseph’s equity agenda and that he was essentially run out unfairly.

It’s an argument that supporters continually try to make despite the extensive documentation of his failings and the success of his successor, a Black Female who promotes many of the same policies he introduced. Maybe it had more to do with his treating the locals as yokels and his own incompetency and less to do with race.

Ironically, Joseph replaces a very successful former Tennessee school district leader. While Joseph took slings and arrows in Nashville, Millard House received nothing but praise in Clarksville as their school superintendent. Now, the roles are reversed.

– – –

Last week, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon came to Tennessee. Officially, she was here for a conference. Unofficially, the visit provided an opportunity to drum up support for the nomination of former state superintendent Penny Schwinn as Deputy Director of the USDOE.

Tennesseans know what they got with Ms. Schwinn. They’ll publically smile and nod when her accolades are listed, but privately they call bull shit.

Still, the visit must have been somewhat successful. The vote on Schwinn’s nomination is scheduled in committee for next Thursday. The committee is scheduled to vote on a lengthy list of nominees, so it’s likely she is approved. However, there is a wrinkle to keep an eye on.

Senator Marsha Blackburn has been rumored to be a decisive no vote. Still, if scuttlebutt on the street is to be believed, Schwinn business partner Blake Harris is rumored to now be working for Blackburn, who is considering a run for Governor. Harris has strong ties to Governor Lee, a Schwinn supporter.

It’ll be interesting to see how Blackburn votes on Schwinn’s nomination.

– – –

We’d be remiss if we failed to acknowledge the loss of an exceptional human being this week.

Amina “Anna” Darbashi Pierce was a beloved biology teacher and tennis coach at Hunters Lane High School.

This week, she was shot and killed in what police are calling a murder-suicide.

A police investigation showed the couple argued about divorce and financial issues before Steven Pierce shot and killed Amina Pierce. A revolver was found under Steven Pierce, according to police.

Per school principal Dr. Sue Kessler, Anna Pierce had just completed her 7th year teaching at Hunters Lane. She enjoyed teaching biology and 9th graders because she was convinced that the relationships she built with students would help them through graduation and beyond. She was one of the tennis coaches and worked tirelessly to increase the number of tennis players at our school. Ms. Pierce loved learning about leadership, and she was working on her licensure to become a principal.

Anna Pierce was the mother of two young girls, ages 2 and 4, and the adopted mother of her husband’s 17-year-old daughter.

Words can not express the depth of this loss to her family and the Nashville community. Saying our thoughts and prayers lie with the family feels inadequate, but sometimes, that is all we can say.

– – –

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“Don’t do it, Eleanor told the little girl; insist on your cup of stars; once they have trapped you into being like everyone else you will never see your cup of stars again; don’t do it; and the little girl glanced at her, and smiled a little subtle, dimpling, wholly comprehending smile, and shook her head stubbornly at the glass. Brave girl, Eleanor thought; wise, brave girl.”
― Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House

Summertime is officially upon us. With school out, life’s pace and expenditures would be expected to slow down.

Not so much.

Now come the camps, off-season practices, summer schools, pool dates, and other activities. Parents, you know the drill: race to get kids to where they need to be while trying to squeeze out moments of productivity at work—hopefully enough to stay employed until the Fall.

Here’s my advice: don’t try to go alone. Join those carpools. Other parents are in the same boat and need you as much as you need them.

We’ve been in the same carpools, or slight variations, for several years, and I can’t imagine trying to pull all of this off without their help. It’d be impossible.

Here’s some advice about carpools: Find people who don’t count every minute. There will be times when you carry the brunt of the load, followed by times when you’ll need somebody else to carry the load. Trust me, it’ll balance out.

The last thing you need is added guilt because you feel as if you are not doing enough. In my experience, everybody is doing the best they can, and we need to cut each other some slack.

The last piece of advice on this subject is to never lose sight of how quickly this will pass. Right now, it feels like you’ll never survive and that your life today will be forever. You will, and it’s not.

I’ve got one who turns 16 next month and will begin to transport herself. Truthfully, I’m getting kind of melancholy about it. With the alleviation of driving responsibilities will come an ending to all the conversations that flowed because we were in a confined space. I think I’m going to even miss the fights, and there have been plenty of those.

I know I’ll miss the chattering away about her daily life and the sharing of her soundtrack. Now, I won’t likely miss my son’s gangster rap when he turns 16 next summer, though it wouldn’t surprise me if I found myself humming a Rod Wave song sometime in the future.

One thing I guarantee you is that the extra time at work will not be more satisfying or rewarding. So, enjoy while you can. This, too, shall pass.

– – –

The Metro Nashville Public School system continues to act as if it can keep Sally down on the farm by sheer determination.

This week, the MNPS board turned down three charter school applications in what’s become an annual tradition. The schools have the option to appeal to the State Charter School Commission. That commission has overturned at least one rejection by the board each of the last four years. This is partially why State Legislators passed a law allowing applicants to bypass the local board and apply directly to the state.

Most of MNPS’s board members remain staunch opponents of charter schools despite repeated appeals from parents. In yesterday’s case, a parent pleaded with the board to approve a 6-12 grade public charter school that would provide students in the northern part of Nashville with hands-on, real-world learning designed for those interested in careers in architecture, construction, or engineering.

“One thing my son loves to do is draw buildings. If he was in the room, he could tell you which building is the tallest in the different state. All that type of stuff,” said the parent, Troy Smith. “He’s only 9 now. Of course, this school is going towards the middle school age, but I think it’s a great opportunity for that school to be here to actually teach other kids that you know what, you can actually use your brain, and mindset, and thought, and creativity compared to always being an athlete or entertaining.”

That plea fell on deaf ears as one board member dismissed Smith’s appeal.

“There’s not a strong demonstration for need and that its offerings are not meaningfully different from our current academies models,” said District 1 Board Member Rachael Anne Elrod. “There are of course some additional operational concerns, including that there’s no comprehensive safety plan, and that there’s insufficient special education, transportation needs, and some other things.”

Elrod and other board members have hidden behind things like school safety to defend their ideology for years. I guess they forgot just this year, a local traditional high school failed to have a comprehensive safety plan in place, and as a result, two students were murdered. Nobody is perfect, nor should they be expected to be.

The bottom line is that MNPS does not serve all students—that’d be impossible—and that some would thrive in an alternative setting. In one of the strongest rebukes I’ve heard in years, District 1 Board Member Robert Taylor voiced that sentiment.

“The community, parents, our constituents are telling us that there is a gap, and I can’t sit up here and social gaslight these folks and pretend like we’re covering every need for every student in our district,” said Taylor. “We’re talking about 333 students on here. I can almost guarantee you that there are 330 students in Nashville that can benefit from a different program than what we currently offer.”

Amen, my friend. Amen.

The MNPS board, for the most part, can’t seem to grasp the changing environment. It’s not 1965, and the soundtrack is no longer The Beach Boys’ “Be True to Your School.”

Parents recognize that providing for their children’s education and preparation for the future is more than simply dropping them off at the local schoolhouse. Children have different aspirations, needs, and desires. If every child is known, we should recognize that fact, not try to stifle it.

The spread of the internet has made it possible for parents to assess the opportunities provided in other districts and schools. They are not content to settle for an adequate education for their child; they want schools that will allow them to become their best selves, whatever that looks like. What schools deliver has eclipsed what schools look like, and thus, school leaders are forced to have honest conversations with themselves, something most adults aren’t prone to do. It’s easier to cling to ideological beliefs.

A decade of writing this blog and raising scholars has led me to the conclusion that schools where students want to be tend to perform better than schools in which students are forced to attend. Finding that fit becomes important.

At a recent Principal’s retreat, a great deal of time was spent focused on the clusters. Ten years ago, that might have been a great conversation; ensuring a seamless pathway through a child’s education years was seen as desirable. People are not as invested as they once were.

You see, parents go to private or public charter schools in various stages depending on their child’s perceived needs. Parents also face the reality that in order to equip their child to be fully competitive, they are going to have to invest in opportunities outside of the school, at minimum, in coaches and tutors. This is another uncomfortable truth.

At least some board members are finally starting to wake up. Taylor and District 3 Board Member Zach Young have voiced concerns over the approval process.

One of the rejected applicants, The Rock Academy, would have served up to 333 high school students, specifically targeting those from high schools with the highest percentage and/or total count of students with chronic absenteeism.

The Rock Academy’s founder, Dr. Ahmed White, told board members on Tuesday, “”There is a critical gap for students who are often overlooked and overwhelmed. The desire for a school that sees them, hears them, and builds with them,” said White. “You have an opportunity to say yes to something bold, something necessary, and something deeply aligned to the needs of this city.”

Vice-Chair Berthena Nabaa-McKinney dismissed White’s assertion, “It is not a new idea. This is not transformational. This is already happening within our district. We’re already the work within our district,” said Nabaa-McKinney. “And we are seeing success in the model that is happening and the work being done by the people in charge of these schools to make it happen.”

That’s an interesting defense, considering that the district’s graduation rate has hovered around 80% for the last decade. It was 80.2% in 2018 and 81.2% in 2024.

The district’s chronically absent rate for last year was 24.1%, which has declined since the height of the pandemic when it was 28.9%. Still, it is higher than pre-pandemic when it was 16.8%. If this was truly about kids, it’s apparent that MNPS could use some help.

The charter school has already indicated a willingness to collaborate with the district, including 56 revisions to their amended applications.

Long-time readers know that I am a strong proponent of staying in the conversation. You can’t mitigate change if you are not in the conversation. MNPS’s actions continually push them out of the conversation. Despite their best efforts, choice opportunities are not going away. They are only going to increase.

I’d love to see MNPS create and sanction some district-run charter schools. This is not a new concept. District’s in California have been doing it for decades.

Again, be a part of the conversation.

– – –

Earlier this month, MNPS announced some support hub promotions, including Dr. David Martin as Executive Director.

The district press release described Dr. Martin as such:

Dr. David Martin is an experienced educational leader with more than 15 years in district and state-level administration, currently serving as the Louisiana Special School District superintendent. A native Tennessean, Dr. Martin also served as the superintendent of the Tennessee School for the Blind, where he supported innovative programming and contributed to expanding work-based learning opportunities for students. His career includes administrative experience with the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) as a principal, assistant Principal, and district curriculum coordinator. He began his career in education as a high school social studies teacher.

Unfortunately, there is more to his story. A story that raises legitimate points of conversation.

Before joining MNPS’s central office, David Martin was hired as Superintendent for Altamont Schools, an Illinois School district. He resigned six days after taking the position.

It seems that several decades ago, Martin was a professional wrestler who appeared on the Jerry Springer Show as a brother stealing his sister’s boyfriend. For those of us who remember the Springer show, the script was salacious and would best be described as over-the-top.

It was all scripted to generate ratings, and the wrestler was merely playing a role. Martin is openly gay, as are many of Nashville’s most respected and effective educators, which should not be a factor in his assessing his qualifications.

A small group of Altamont parents were uncomfortable with Martin’s past despite reassurances from Altamont District Unit 10 School Board President Shelly Kuhns.

“I don’t know exactly what the basis for the concern was (for Martin’s past),“ Kuhns said. “And initially, we tried to have a conversation that it was 20-plus years ago and that it was legal and not particularly sexual. It was acting and theatre that he did early in his life.“

That’s a legitimate defense. Kuhns went on to blame social media for the backlash against Martin.

“Both (Martin) and I want this to be an opportunity to open dialogue and encourage people to examine their motives,“Kuhns said. “We want people to begin to learn and vet information that comes to them through electronic sources and to seek a full story before making a judgment. I believe that is the good that can come out of this.”

As someone whose own past is checkered at best, I get it. But we also have to recognize that we live in a world permeated by social media. Unfortunately decisions we made in the past can come back to haunt us in ways we never envisioned. In many ways, transparency has become more important than ever.

If nothing else, Martin’s experience provides a real-life lesson in youthful decision-making. Hopefully, we’ll get to a place where the central issue isn’t focused on sexual orientation but rather an individuals decision making.

Whatever your sexual orientation, you have to be cognizant of your life choices and how they impact your ability to do your job and openly admit when you made questionable decisions.

I chuckle because my friend Doc was a Springer guest back in the day. As the lead singer of a local rock band he was perfect for the role of homewrecker. We got a lot of laughter out of that episode.

I have no evidence that Martin will be anything less than an exemplary Executive Director, and let me be the first to congratulate him on his promotion.

Hopefully, Nashville parents will be less discriminatory than their peers up north.

– – –

USDOE head Linda McMahon came to Nashville this week, purportedly with her proposed minion. Since Penny Schwinn has yet to be approved as a deputy head honcho, she couldn’t appear in any of the official pictures. That must have been painful for her.

While here, the Secretary of Education met with several Tennessee leaders. There is no word on what they discussed, but School Choice and the Big Beautiful Bill were prime topics.

Still waiting for word on when the vote for Ms. Schwinn’s nomination will be held.

If the goal here was to change people’s opinions on Ms. Schwinn, I doubt it was very successful. Tennesseans fully understand who the former state commissioner is, and they are not fans.

– – –

If you want me to highlight and share something, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Wisdom or criticism is always welcome.

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“The performance is over.”
The audience got up.
“It’s time to put on your fur coats and go home.”
They looked round.
But it turned out that there were no fur coats and no homes.”
― Donald Rayfield, Stalin and His Hangmen: The Tyrant and Those Who Killed for Him

Over the last several years, I’ve had the opportunity to watch Penny Schwinn testify before various government entities. The proceedings always seem to follow a familiar pattern—fast talk punctuated by batted eyelashes. Yesterday, in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, the former Tennessee State Education Commissioner stuck to the same playbook.

For the most part, the Commissioner avoided any real gotcha moments. But again, at times, she spoke so rapidly that deciphering what she was saying was akin to unhooking a freshly caught trout. When needed, Ms. Schwinn batted her eyes and handed out accolades and compliments to the Senators.

I did chuckle a bit when she avowed to be a fan of local control during her tenure in Tennessee, forgetting her scheme to get districts to tithe back some of their federal money to support Tennessee’s Accelerated Literacy and Learning Corps(All Corps). Districts that participated not only got money, $700 per student, towards paying for individual tutors but also got a handy dandy guide of friends and family who are deemed high-quality tutors by the TNDOE. The only rule for participating was sharing your federal money.

While we are on the subject of tutoring, Ms. Schwinn gets accolades for creating a statewide tutoring program to combat learning loss brought on by the pandemic. However, few have dug into the research that shows tutoring has not been an overly effective means of combating learning loss.

This would have been a good point for Senators to raise during Thursday’s hearing: “You support high-dosage tutoring. What adjustments are you proposing that would ensure that the program is reaching the kids who really need it?”

Needless to say, that question wasn’t asked.

Instead, the Senators seemed more focused on their words than on hers. The time granted each Senator to answer questions was primarily devoted to the Senator voicing their favorite talking points.

Among my favorites was Missouri Senator Josh Hawley’s impassioned plea for schools to remove cell phones. Apparently, eliminating these devices is the wolfsbane to distraction in schools.

NEWSFLASH: I was distracted in school in 1981 and all the years before, and I didn’t have a cell phone.

Here’s what drives me nuts and increasingly begs the question: Is compliance valued over learning?

Every business person I talk to these days is discussing the emergence of AI in the business world. They also continually discuss their dependence on cell phones in their daily work lives. I’d argue that a progressive technology initiative would provide students with smartphones instead of computers.

I manage a mobile bartending service. We are currently exploring the option of adopting an online scheduling platform. The platform would perform all of the administrative tasks we’ve been doing by hand. As we dig deeper into this, it becomes clear that the amount of time we’ll be saving by making the switch can’t be overstated.

The vast majority of our interaction with any platform we select is through a mobile device. Therefore, it might be beneficial to be fluent in using a cell phone instead of a laptop.

The use of mobile devices has become the norm in songwriting.

If the plumber comes to your house and makes a repair, they are presenting you a bill on a cell phone.

I could go on for days, listing the multitudes of ways that cell phones are an integral part of adult life. Yet, policymakers are continually demanding their removal because those damn kids just won’t listen.

It drives me nuts, and we are heading down the same path with AI.

But I digress.

Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire questioned the administration’s decision to end grants to train and hire K-12 school mental health professionals, part of a 2022 law that passed with bipartisan support.

“Do you think that what the department did helps or hurts the communities that were counting on the funding that they were promised?” she asked. “If confirmed, do you commit to reigning in the chaos and operational failures we see at the department?”

Schwinn said the department will open a new competition for those grants and promised to “have an efficient, effective and outcomes-oriented department.”

That’s laughable. Name one time Schwinn initiated a program that was “efficient, effective and outcomes-oriented.“

Do you one better? Cite me three times when those adjectives have been used in the same sentence as her name. I have time to wait.

Schwinn built her reputation on being a disrupter. I don’t believe she’s overseen a department that hasn’t been plagued by “chaos and operational failures.” That’s kind of her brand.

In response to questioning from GOP Senator Jim Banks of Indiana, Schwinn made a case for the USDOE’s role in ensuring states intervene in their lowest-performing schools.

Again, this is laughable, considering that Schwinn repeatedly ignored the USDOE’s effort to ensure that Tennessee was doing just that throughout her tenure.

U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) asked Schwinn about President Trump’s contemplation of dismantling the Department of Education.

“I support the president’s [executive order], which is to explore all of the opportunities and options around what is in the best interest of students, including shuttering the Department of Education,“ said Schwinn.

Imagine interviewing for a job that may not exist in the next year or two? What’s the point.

I’ll tell you what the point is – personal enrichment.

All you have to do is look at Schwinn’s disclosure form and see how she benefited from the relationships she formed at every stop on her professional journey, not just for her but for her husband, Paul. He hasn’t had a job in 2o years, which hasn’t been facilitated by her rise to power.

Let’s not forget instances in Texas and Tennessee, as summarized by Linda Jacobson in The 74.

They include a $4.4 million no-bid contract that the Texas Education Agency signed in 2017 with SPEDx, a Georgia software startup, despite what a state audit called Schwinn’s “professional relationship“ with a subcontractor for the company. At the time, she was a deputy superintendent of the state agency.

Critics also point to an $8 million deal in 2021 that the Tennessee Department of Education signed with TNTP. At the time, her husband, Paul Schwinn, was employed by this teacher training organization. The state’s procurement office approved the contract, and Schwinn agreed to distance herself from the project, but some lawmakers considered the deal a “huge conflict.“

If congressional approval is granted, the former Tennessee Commissioner will agree to divest herself from many of her holdings while serving as Deputy Secretary. But who is going to hold her that promise? Who will ensure she does what she says and doesn’t take a stray check from Blake Harris, a former advisor of Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, with whom she owns multiple commercial properties and shares other business interests?

Hell, she already indicated that she’ll continue to play fast and loose with the rules when she started a new business venture weeks after her announcement of appointment and failed to include it on her disclosure sheet. Only when called out by the education policy journal The74 was the company dissolved.

Records show that she established a Florida LLC with Donald Fennoy, the former director of the Palm Beach County School District, in February, shortly after President Donald Trump nominated her for the position. In late March, her sister took over the company before it was subsequently dissolved, leading to questions regarding the timing of these events. March before it was disbanded, raising questions about the timing.

Her recently purchased home, in an affluent Nashville neighborhood, is not listed on her disclosure form? Why

I would have loved to hear someone ask, “How do we know that your income won’t just be rerouted to your sister and deposited in the recently created family trust?“

Here’s another one I’d like to ask: “Can you promise that the USDOE won’t be used, similar to past appointments, as your personal employment agency?“

When Schwinn came to Tennessee, she brought about a half dozen Texas friends, none of whom are still employed by the TNDOE.

Former state deputy superintendent Lisa Coons has already found employment with the USDOE.

TNDOE’s former HR director, David Donaldson, runs a self-created grow-your-own-teacher program that could certainly use some USDOE time. However, I’m not sure business partner Harris would be thrilled with a Donaldson reunion.

Ex-Chief of Staff Rebecca Shah is willing to use personal relations for financial gain. Her company, ILO Group LLC, founded by herself and two other former Chiefs for Change executives, found itself under scrutiny by the Rhode Island AG within six months of forming, accused of rigging the contract process through personal relations.

Julia Rafal-Baer served as chief operating officer at Chiefs for Change before leaving to find ILO in March. Another partner, Cerena Parker, was Chiefs for Change’s director of operations. Rebecca Shah, the third partner, was a fellow at Chiefs for Change.

Shah recently left ILo and started her own consulting firm. A little work, either at or with the USDOE, couldn’t hurt, could it? That’s two names; I can think of at least a dozen more.

Does any of it matter? No.

But I’m pretty confident that Schwinn will dip back into her collection of playbooks and pull out the one in which she pisses a bunch of people off. They moan and groan but fail to hold her accountable. She leaves before the contract is complete, and the brand emerges more enriched.

All you have to do is look at Delaware, Texas, Tennessee, and the University of Florida. The writing is on the wall, but will anyone read it?

– – –

This one is bigger than it may appear. A Chattanooga school has agreed to pay $100,000 to the family of a boy who said the school wrongfully reported him to police for threatening mass violence.

In the wake of the Covenant and Antioch shootings, state legislators have raised the penalty for students who purportedly threaten violence against a school. While the intentions may be noble, the consequences are not.

The first law, enacted in 2023, mandates that public schools expel students for one year if they threaten mass violence against the school.

The second law, enacted in 2024, introduces a felony charge for making such threats.

Critics argue that these laws are vague and excessively harsh. They also point out that the rules are contradictory; one law requires expulsion only if a threat is deemed credible, while the other mandates that police charge individuals, including minors, with felonies regardless of the threat’s validity.

The result is that dozens of students have been swept up and charged despite questions of validity. The laws also ignore that we are primarily talking about 14-16-year-old boys who find everything funny. When I say everything, I mean everything. And no, your charming young man is not different.

These laws, created in an effort to protect students, actually put other students in harm’s way, playing Russian roulette with their future.

This ruling may slow that role, lest districts be forced to pay families for their mistakes.

– – –

Tennessee teachers are supposed to receive a $2k bonus this year as part of Governor Lee’s ESA legislation. The funny thing is, nobody is really talking about it.

For teachers to receive the bonus, school districts must sign off on a resolution endorsing the ESA program. One district, Grundy, has told the state to pound sand. They don’t need their blood money. A strange position to take in a district as poor as Grundy County, which won’t be directly affected by ESAs.

Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools passed a resolution on May 13th, but state documents don’t reflect the district submitting the form to the state. Per that document, Grundy and MNPS are listed as the only two districts not submitting.

In Nashville, if the district did indeed submit the paperwork, distribution details remained sketchy.

Rumor has it that the money will be distributed in July through a taxed check. The assumption is that it will be one lump sum, but it could come in installments.

A little sunshine sure would come in handy. This teacher’s family could certainly use the extra lettuce.

– – –

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“All Eli had to do was smile. All Victor had to do was lie. Both proved frighteningly effective.”
― V.E. Schwab, Vicious

We’ve got a date!

Penny Schwinn, the former chief of Tennessee’s state schools, was chosen in January for a senior position at the U.S. Department of Education. She will appear before U.S. senators next week for her confirmation hearing. Earlier this month, she pledged to resign from several business roles to eliminate potential ethics concerns.

Schwinn, who has been appointed deputy secretary under Education Secretary Linda McMahon, will appear alongside Kimberly Richey, whom President Donald Trump has selected as the assistant secretary overseeing the Education Department’s office for civil rights. They’ll appear with two U.S. Department of Labor nominees at the hearing, which is scheduled for June 5 at 10 a.m. before the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

Those outside the Beltway found the long wait for confirmation unusual and maybe a sign of hesitation about her appointment, but insiders say it’s a routine part of the process, and too much shouldn’t be read into it.

Schwinn’s supporters also downplay any potential conflicts of interest.

“This is a Cabinet that includes a record number of high-wealth individuals,” Rick Hess, senior fellow and director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning public policy think tank, said. “The questions about conflict of interest have not been a big deal. I’d be really surprised if, for the No. 2 role in the Department of Education, it suddenly was a big deal.”

Here’s the issue that Hess is missing: She has spent her entire career as a public servant. Schwinn’s wealth has come from American taxpayers. She didn’t start a professional wrestling league and amass a fortune through its growth. What she did was find a way to wrangle taxpayer money into her personal portfolio.

Remember, this was a woman who was drawing a full-time salary from her California public charter school while living on the easy coast and collecting a six-figure salary from the Delaware Department of Education. She continued to draw her California salary when she moved to Texas.

Schwinn has been involved in numerous education-related businesses since stepping down from her gig in Tennessee in 2023. She agreed she would resign from several roles—including from a consulting firm led by former chief of staff to Tennessee’s governor, Blake Harris. She also decided to resign from education companies, including Really Great Reading and Edmentum, for which she has served as a paid board member. She also pledged to divest ownership interests in Odyssey—which contracts with state private school choice programs to administer education savings accounts—and Amira Learning, which has AI-powered literacy instruction products. She vowed to no longer take clients for two LLCs she owns, for which she is the sole employee.

Furthermore, if approved, Schwinn promises to resign from an unpaid position with Nashville-based 38 Ventures LLC and become a non-managing member. However, she will receive passive investment income from the entity. Blake Harris, former chief of staff for Lee, is the registered agent for the company located at 611 Commerce St.

In addition, Schwinn said she would resign her post with BHA Strategy, a lobbying company founded by Harris, Lee’s former communication director Laine Arnold, and Brent Easley, the governor’s former legislative director. However, Schwinn wrote that she would receive a set % referral fee of 30% for a contract she brought to BHA.

I’m curious about what contract she brought to BHA, as Oyssey is a BHA client.

The passive income that Schwinn would continue to receive is on the property she co-owns, which houses BHA and for which she disclosed on her forms, could bring as much as a million dollars a year to her bank account. It’s not shabby at all.

Late this morning, word came that one of Penny’s companies might have slipped her mind when filling out her disclosure sheet for her appointment.

In February, she teamed up with former Palm Beach School District Superintendent Donald E. Fennoty and formed a Florida Limited Liability Company, The New Horizon Blueprint Group.

When you constantly create new shell companies, it’s hard to track them all. But did it really slip her mind?

After failing to disclose her business interest, she transferred her role to her sister Katherine Rose Sully on March 17, a month after creating the company.

The girl just can’t help herself.

If you are unfamiliar with Fennoty, let me refresh your memory. Of course, he was a Chiefs for Change member. He led the Palm Beach School district during the nation’s COVID crisis. He came under fire because of his strong support for masking policies and equity issues. He reportedly received heavy criticism from constituents, which caused him to lose 50 lbs and ultimately resign from his position for health reasons.

Fennoty’s last year of service was marred by a deterioration of his relationship with school board members. Controversies over mask requirements, the school district’s use of the Baker Act to send students to mental institutions, and the rollout of a controversial equity statement that vowed the schools would battle “white advantage” all fueled the breakdown in relations.

The question is, will any of it matter?

Rick Hess doesn’t think so. He tells Edweek that with Schwinn appearing among several other appointees, she likely won’t feel too much heat.

He said the fact that she’s not sitting alone indicates that members have been able to address some questions ahead of the hearing.

“Sometimes tensions flare up, and you’ve seen those raised from some of the folks who are more focused on culture, that she has not been as focused on those questions as they would like,” Hess said. “It seems that at this point, especially if they’re doing her as part of a panel, that’s likely been sorted out.”

Nobody works the system better than Penny Schwinn.

But I’m going to quote my old German teacher here. Herr Paulus once told me. “Weber, you are very good and sitting on the fence, but someday you will fall off.”

Fortunately for Ms. Schwinn, June 5 doesn’t appear likely to be that day, but we shall see.

– – –

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell has proposed a 13% increase for Metro Nashville Public Schools over last year’s budget. However, not all members of the Metro Council embrace the idea. One council member, Courtney Johnson, criticized district leaders for not presenting a line-item budget at a hearing between city and district leaders.

“This is, by percentage, the largest amount of money that we allocate every year,” Johnston said. “This is not a budget, so developing educated questions around specific things is hard.”

Johnston also blasted the district for using pandemic relief funds to create programs that now must be accounted for in the operating budget, saying it left taxpayers to “pick up the tab.” The federal government warned against this when it supplied schools with financial relief during the COVID crisis.

The council member noted that the MNPS budget has increased “exponentially” since 2019. Councilmember Burkley Allen later commented that the overall budget for Nashville has risen by 70% since 2019, while the MNPS budget has increased by around 60% in that same period.

The difference is that MNPS enrollment has declined by around 5,000 students since 2019 while the city population continues to grow rapidly.

The city has seen noticeable improvements, while the school district has just begun to return to pre-COVID levels.

This week, the Metro Nashville School Board continued its internal discussions on the 2025/2026 school year budget at its budget committee meeting. It was an interesting one, one that illustrated a harsh lesson for new school board member Zach Young.

A portion of the major’s 13% increase is dedicated to a 3% employee cost-of-living increase. While board member Young is appreciative of that increase, he’s not sure it’s enough to combat teacher attrition. He would like the board to have a conversation about going to four or five percent. He would like to look hard at where the board could be cut to make this happen.

“I think the only way we can try and continue to make progress filling positions is not falling behind on what we pay the employees,” said Young. “I think 3 percent keeps us on track but I don’t think it gets us ahead to try and help us out and so I’m really going to implore this board to really think about, are we ready to make some potentially tough decisions to get to a 4 or 5 percent.”

This is a reasonable request. That’s not a view shared by other board members.

One area suggested looking at was programs previously funded by federal pandemic dollars.

The proposed budget includes more than $64 million to continue operating programs previously funded by pandemic dollars, including those supporting students with college and career readiness and mental health support, along with other priorities like safety.

Board Chair Freda Player was the first to clap back. She’s happy to have that conversation as long as any discussion of cuts includes a frank discussion of the potential impact on teachers’ work lives. She further argued that going hire makes it more difficult to grant future COIs.

“Each year I’ve been on the board, the cost of COLAs has increased roughly a million dollars. So that’s something that will go into perpetuity and it makes it tougher to make consistent COLAs into the future because we’re also increasing it,”said Player.

District 8 board member Erin O’Hara Block demonstrated how to say you don’t want to have a conversation without saying you want to, proposing that the discussion be held after data was gathered showing the impact of a 1% increase on teacher attrition—data that would probably not be available for at least a couple of months.

I’m all for a data-fueled conversation, as long as it includes data on the impact of programs funded by MNPS Director of Schools Dr. Battle. Let’s talk about AVID for a minute.

The district annually spends millions of dollars on the program, including travel for teachers to summer out-of-town training sessions, without a measurement tool for success.

District 1 Boardman Robert Taylor argued that this was a state issue and not a local problem. I’ve grown weary of the state underfunding education argument. Mainly because after years of asking, nobody can tell me what a fully funded school district looks like. No business in existence gets to fully fund every wish and desire regardless of return, yet this is what public school districts continually argue should be afforded to them.

The whole conversation reiterated my belief that once something goes into the budget, it takes nearly an act of god to reduce or cut it. District 2 Board Member Rachael Anne Elrod District fortified that belief when she expressed reservations about whether cuts could be made without harming the programs.

“I think it’s a fine conversation to have. Admittedly, looking at it quickly, I don’t know where we would find it,” said Elrod

For me, it’s a simple litmus test. The core tenets of student success depend on the relationship between a student and a teacher. If a policy or program does not fortify that relationship, it can be cut.

It is amazing how we always find money to fund the things we think are important, while the undervalued items get shuffled to the back with a promise of consideration next year.

– – –

Speaking of funding things you want, next week, MNPS principals head off to Muscle Shoals for the annual Principal Splash.

This year’s Splash will include a poolside dinner focusing on Dynasty Building.

As part of this dinner, principals are encouraged to think about the leadership plays that are now a part of our DNA. Think about the opportunities we have to coach up our own to lead our schools. Some dynasties that inspire us are the 1993 Chicago Bulls team (the original three-peaters), Motown Records, Pixar Animation Studios, and the Lady Vols, to name a few.

During SPLASH, they will explore questions like “How will schools contribute to their cluster’s dynasty” and “How will all of our schools combined shape the dynasty of MNPS?”

Dinner on Thursday night is designed for principals to show their cluster pride in the way that feels most authentic to them.

They are asked to design their “cluster look” and wear it to dinner.

Furthermore, they are being asked to select a walkout song. Each cluster will be introduced during the dinner, and principals should be prepared to share their walkout song.

I wonder how many will choose an Animals song. Extra points if you get the snide comment.

I want to be a fly on the wall for this one.

– – –

One final MNPS note. Teachers may remember they were promised a $2000 bonus if ESA legislation passed and their district signed a resolution supporting school choice. Well, the legislation passed, and supposedly, MNPS has signed a resolution, so the only question that remains is, where is the money?

Unfortunately, there are a lot more questions that still need answering. When will teachers see the money? Rumor says July.

How will the money be distributed? You can bet that it will be taxed, but will it be one lump sum or parsed out over several months?

Who gets the money? Is support staff included?

Hopefully, some answers will be coming soon.

– –

If you want me to highlight and share something, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Wisdom or criticism is always welcome.

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Just because so many things are in conflict does not mean that ourselves should be divided.”

― Sophie Scholl

As I settle in to write, I pass by the kids’ bedrooms. It’s 8:35, and they continue to snooze.

After 9 months of rising at the ungodly hours of 5 and 6 AM, they’ve earned a brief reprise. Another summer has arrived.

I take a minute to reflect; the eldest just completed her 10th year, while the younger has nine under his belt. Graduation is beginning to appear on the horizon.

This past year was better than some, but not without its tribulations and revealing moments. The hypocrisy of the system is forever bubbling under the surface.

Metro Nashville Public Schools will gladly sell you a t-shirt stating “every child known” and then proceed to ignore those children, both gifted and struggling, whose needs fall outside of the norm.

During Teacher Appreciation Week, educators are showered with gifts and accolades while the rest of the year is spent making them feel underachieving, incompetent, and lazy. All this is done under the guise of doing what’s best for kids as if these classroom educators are unaware of the needs of the children they interact with daily.

That hypocrisy was displayed as MNPS schools cut teachers at the end of the year because of budget constraints, even as plans were being made for a weekend principal retreat to Alabama. It appeared lost on all that an entity dependent on local tax dollars was taking those tax dollars and using them to enrich a community in another state.

There are caterers, Uber drivers, restaurants, and hotels in Nashville, or even Tennessee, that would appreciate the support expressed through those tax dollars. Still, MNPS leadership decided that to get the kind of support and learning needed, principals had to go out of state with the city’s tax dollars.

I reflect back on the first days of the kids’ formal schooling and the promise and joy that came with those days. Fast-forward to today, and somehow, the joy and promise have turned into hope to just be able to grind out the last three years, like the marathon runner entering mile 22 and praying they can find the resolve to get the last two miles.

While the system is infused with failings, it is continually saved by the individual educators. Teachers and principals who constantly serve kids and not the whims of central office bureaucrats fueled by a need to justify their existence continually,

Teachers that break from scripted instruction to address specific questions and needs.

Principals that empower those teachers to dig deep into each child’s needs and, through their presence, continually make a school a welcoming and learning space.

It is too easy to get caught up in the failings and shortcomings of a public school system that strives to convert every individual to a data point while forgetting the tireless educators who preserve the human element every day.

I continue to be in awe and inspired by those individuals every day.

Summer is upon us, so get some rest and spend some time reconnecting with your loved ones. Before you know it, you’llbe called upon to work your magic once again.

– – –

At the end of January, former Tennessee Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn was announced as the nominee for Deputy Secretary of Education for the U.S. Department of Education. A collective groan from the state of Tennessee met the news. We’ve already watched this trainwreck and had no desire to watch the sequel on the federal level.

Schwinn has yet to be confirmed or even scheduled for a hearing five months later. Last week, rumors began to circulate that the nomination was being pulled. Tennessee’s Senator Marsha Blackburn is said to be a strong “no” on Ms. Schwinn.

We all have skeletons in our closets, but if the street talk was to be believed, Ms. Schwinn needed to rent a storage unit to contain hers, and it was busting at the seams. She was also discovering that it was easier to keep those secrets from the local yokels than from the Washington crew.

The Trump administration denied the nomination was in danger and insisted that hearings were just around the corner. Despite my best efforts, I can’t confirm a date for the hearing, but what do I know?

At the same time, an interesting document began to circulate: Schwinn’s ethics and financial disclosures(Schwinn Financials). This document makes for fascinating reading.

Here in Tennessee, we knew the Commissioner was an earner. I just don’t think we realized just how talented she was at bringing home the bacon and frying it in a pan.

Her disclosure sheet shows a financial relationship with at least 25 different organizations and an income totaling more than 1.5 million dollars. That doesn’t include income earned from residential real estate held in Sacramento and Orange Beach. The latter has a value attached to it of between 1 and 5 million and brings in an income of between $100K and $1M.

It’s not bad for a lifelong public servant.

Some of this income requires minimal work. For example, Schwinn received $155,667 to serve on a TVG-MGT advisory board. Don’t confuse an advisory board with a governing body. An advisory board is simply designed to advise; the managing board can heed or dismiss that advice. Typically, an advisory board meets a couple of times a year.

Now, there is an unspoken role that advisory board members are expected to fill. The expectation is that, through their contacts, they will steer business towards the companies that employ them.

It’s like being hired as an insurance agent. They expect you to sign up your friends and family, but whether you stay employed or not depends on how much you can expand your sphere of influence.

These other businesses that she lists an affiliation with could count on her being confirmed as Deputy Secretary of Education and the influence that comes with that role. So, while no income is currently listed, the future could be bright.

Schwinn currently earns just shy of $500K from three separate boards. Word from those in the know indicates that she is better at advising than influencing.

In that vein, one company she advises is BHA Strategy. In case you didn’t know, that stands for Blake Harris and Associates. That would be former Governor Lee henchman and never-Trumper Blake Harris. You would think this relationship would give cause for pause with the President, but perhaps he’s not aware of the depth of the relationship.

According to her filing, the former Commissioner was only paid $3544 for her work, which was enough to qualify her enrollment in a health plan administered by BHA. Hmmm… I’d like to know if all BHA consultants are offered that opportunity.

Let’s go a little deeper into the Harris well.

BHA’s offices are located at 1230 2nd Ave South, a building owned by 38 Ventures. On her disclosure sheet, Schwinn lists herself as a co-owner of that company. Perhaps the landlord’s status qualified her for health benefits.

This filing exposes a plethora of issues. Somewhere, though, the question arises: Is this a Schwinn issue, or perhaps she’sjust a product of the system? It always takes two to tango, and companies like the Walton Group, Chiefs for Change, and Edmentium seem to pop up in these conversations.

It begs the question, who came first, the chicken or the egg?

Is Commissioner Schwinn to be faulted for taking advantage of a system built by people trying to take advantage?

I’ve long advocated for the Tennessee General Assembly to hold hearings on non-profits’ role in setting education policy.

It would be a good place to start.

– – –

A recent federal judge’s decision has halted President Trump’s proposal to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE), bringing some relief to advocates for equal education.

Established in 1979, the USDOE has been vital in ensuring fair access to education and managing federal student aid programs. The debate over dismantling the department raised concerns that local governance could lead to disparities in educational quality, particularly in under-resourced areas.

Many advocates view the USDOE as essential for promoting educational equality, particularly for children in low-income communities and those with special needs who rely on essential programs like Title I and Pell Grants.

Some may criticize federal oversight as bureaucratic overreach. They often overlook the unique challenges faced by marginalized communities that depend on federal support. As education remains a crucial issue, this ruling reinforces that quality education is a public good as opposed to a commercial product.

I remain unconvinced that the USDOE performs an essential task. This ruling also illuminates the difficulty of reducing costs at a federal agency and reiterates that once money is designated, it’s nearly impossible to retract.

You can’t convince me for a minute that all the people let go were actually performing essential tasks, but here we are.

The Trump administration is appealing the decision through the emergency process, and we can expect another ruling soon.

– – –

Applications continue to flow in for Tennessee’s Education Freedom Scholarship program. The TDOE has released data showing that the number of scholarships applied for by families with a qualified income was equal to those for by parents with no economic restrictions.

As of the beginning of this week, the department has received a total of 38,160 applications:

18,852 applications for qualified income scholarships.
19,308 applications for universal scholarships.
Applications have been received from more than 300 zip codes across the state.
An average of 2,935 applications per grade level have been submitted for students entering Kindergarten through 12th grade.

Critics of the program continue to fire away even as applications increase. According to Sam Stockard at the Tennessee Lookout, the program is slated to cost about $400 million next year and escalate to $1.1 billion in five years. Democratic Rep. John Ray Clemmons says, calling Gov. Lee’s program “a scam that will harm students, de-fund public education, and expedite our state’s impending budget crisis.”

Clemmons isn’t the only one beating the financial burden drum.

“School vouchers are increasingly eating up state budgets in a way that I don’t think is sustainable long term,” said Whitney Tucker, director of state fiscal policy research at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. This think tank advocates for left-leaning tax policies.

A new universal voucher program in Texas is expected to cost $1 billion over its next two-year budget cycle, according to a legislative fiscal note. This figure could balloon to nearly $5 billion by 2030.

Maybe those numbers will bear out, but I’d argue that will matter only to those looking to be king of the silo and looking to say, “Told you so.” Legislators better figure it out quickly.

Remember what I wrote earlier? If you giveth, it’s nearly impossible to taketh.

Forty thousand voters are not an unsubstantial number, and I doubt concerns over financial instability will outweigh concerns about their children’s education.

Another argument frequently advanced is that a larger number of applicants are already enrolled in private schools, the thought being that only wealthy families enroll in private schools. This is not true.

Private schools are filled with families that regularly sacrifice in order to afford a private school education. One mother told me that with some financial help, maybe the family could now actually take a summer vacation. The first in five years.

Furthermore, kids only have 12 years of schooling. Why would you demand that they sacrifice one to satisfy your arbitrary demand?

If I were in charge of a school district, I would probably focus my energies on figuring out why people want out. I would listen to their reasons and figure out how to combat those concerns. What I wouldn’t do is dismiss those concerns as simply a by-product of a desire not to have my kids around those kids, insinuating that it’s purely a racial issue.

Sometimes, who your kids are around is a legitimate concern. Peer influence significantly impacts children’s social and emotional development, shaping their behaviors, values, and self-perception. While peers can be a source of positive influence, like supporting academic goals or developing social skills, they can also exert negative pressure, leading to risky behaviors or bullying.

We live in transformative times, and school districts must adjust or face mounting losses. I can promise that the days of families and students adjusting to schools and the adults who run them are fast fading into the background.

You can wring your hands or get to work, but you can’t do both.

– – –

MNPS administrators always like to push a new policy initiative during the last week of school. It’s their way of demonstrating that they are still crucial while everyone else is celebrating the end of the year.

This year, the target is substitute teachers.

About four years ago, the districts took a page from my school board platform and created “classroom associates.” These are full-time, permanent substitutes assigned to specific schools. They are full-time employees, which makes them eligible for benefits and PD. When a teacher is out, they continue learning that wasn’t always possible.

FT substitutes should augment a pool of substitutes, not eclipse them. MNPS doesn’t share that view.

Under the new structure, only two groups will be eligible to remain in a limited substitute support role:

Individuals already designated as Substitute Support.
Substitute teachers who worked at least 90 days during the 2024–25 school year. These individuals will receive renewal instructions by Friday, May 23.

Hmmm…last I checked, the substitute shortage still existed. You don’t solve scarcity problems by limiting solutions.

In a statement to FOX 17 News, MNPS explained its rationale for the shift:

“MNPS has adopted a classroom associate model that aligns with emerging national best practices for substitute teaching. Classroom associates are full-time employees with benefits, access to professional development opportunities available to other support staff, and a meaningful role in the school community. They are integrated into each school’ssafety plan, participate in safety drills, and build strong connections with students, staff, and the school culture—helping to ensure a more stable and supportive learning environment.

Over the last few years, MNPS has been transitioning to this model as a more effective approach to addressing teacher absences and vacancies. One of our top priorities is ensuring that students are well-supported during times when their regular teacher is unavailable.

In the 2023–24 budget, Mayor Cooper allocated $10.8 million to fund several hundred classroom associate positions. This investment has helped schools maintain consistency and quality in student experiences despite staffing challenges.

While MNPS will continue to utilize the traditional substitute model—where substitutes can accept daily assignments based on school needs—we will continue prioritizing the classroom associate model for the 2025–26 school year. This approach allows schools to better plan for continuity in instruction and support, ensuring that student needs are met every day.”

You know you are in trouble when they evoke the “National best practice” defense. In this case, they acknowledge that it’san emerging model, not an established one. Words matter.

In the words of the Professional Educators of Tennessee head honcho, the district should be careful not to eliminate day-to-day substitutes.

“Teachers depend on certain substitute teachers when they’re going to be absent,” Bowman said. “This is going to, in my opinion, hurt schools.”

Acknowledging that classroom associates are not the only substitutes who play a meaningful role in the school community would be helpful.

Classroom associates are an excellent plan; you just better hope you don’t have more teachers out than classroom associates.

Also, it wouldn’t hurt MNPS director Dr. Adrienne Battle and her team to remember that how you communicate is every bit as important as what you communicate.

– – –

If you want me to highlight and share something, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Wisdom or criticism is always welcome.

As you may suspect, keeping this blog going comes at a cost. In that light, I’ve set up several ways for you to show your financial support.

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“Before forty, you think that exhaustion is something like a long-lasting hangover. But at forty you learn all about it. Even your passions exhaust you.”

― Kevin Barry

We humans like to think we can control life and arrange all the pieces in a way that brings us order and peace.

Unfortunately, life doesn’t work like that. Plan as much as you like, in the end, the randomness of life inserts itself,

What’s the adage, Man plans while god laughs.

The last two weeks have served as a grim reminder of that truth.

I was walking the dog two weeks ago when I noticed a police car sitting in front of a neighbor’s house. It took a few moments to grasp what I was seeing and why the police car was present. A car, buried to the windshield, was stuck in the house on the lot where the cop sat.

A few hours before, an Uber driver was speeding through the neighborhood, swerved to avoid another car, and lost control. The result was what lay in front of me.

Luckily, no one was home at the time of the accident, and no one was hurt. The driver escaped with minor abrasions and a diminished future as an Uber driver. The people who owned the home were in Virginia visiting grandchildren.

Imagine coming home to find a car embedded in your home. The home was on a straightaway, so it’s doubtful that the owner ever envisioned their home being struck by a vehicle. Yet, that was the scenario at hand.

The car remained in the building for several days as the insurance company and engineers tried to figure out how to remove it without collapsing the house. The structural damage was severe, and repairs would likely be lengthy.

It would be a long time before life for the homeowners would return to normal.

The second instance was even more tragic.

A dear friend, David Holden, was working in Hawaii. Holden was an education consultant who successfully trained teachers. Hawaii was a client, and this was the last trip of the season.

Dave and his family have been close friends of my family for over a decade. Our kids grew up together, and our daughters remain besties. The two of them have reached the age where one of them has secured a driver’s license, and all the opportunities of the world are at their fingertips, ready to be grasped. They’ve definitely been living their best lives.

Over the years, we’ve gone on trips with the Holdens to San Diego, Dollywood, and elsewhere. Dave traveled a lot for his job, so we never saw them as much as we’d like.

The teenage years brought fuller schedules, and we all became busier. We promised to have dinner next week, but it often got pushed out to next, with promises to make time soon. We all understood that life was busy, and there was no hurry to carve out time because we never assumed there wouldn’t be more time.

We were wrong.

Last Monday, Dave passed away on a beach in Hawaii. It was the last thing any of us expected.

He was vibrant and healthy. Hell, he was a larger-than-life presence whose light seemed to only get brighter every year. There were other people we worried about, but not Dave.

Now, life will never be the same—not for his widow, not for his daughters, not for the hundreds of people who loved him and called him friend. Just like that, the world was knocked off its axis and put on a different trajectory—one that none would have predicted.

Dave Holden’s impact on his sphere of influence is beyond measure. He was an educator, a loving husband, and a father who left behind many lessons that will bear fruit in the future.

The biggest lesson for me will be, don’t take anything for granted.

Hold your loved ones tighter, and don’t assume you’ll be able to say I love you tomorrow.

Engage when you can and treat every minute as precious.

It’s a tiresome trope but a truism: life can change on a dime without your permission. Don’t ever forget that.

Dave was a good dude, and I shared some of the best times of my life Dave and his family. We will continue embracing them in our lives and never forget Dave Holden.

– – –

Yesterday, Tennessee opened the online enrollment portal for the state voucher program. The response was overwhelming, with 33K applications submitted. The program currently only has 20K vouchers available.

“This remarkable response demonstrates what we have known all along: Tennessee parents want choices when it comes to their child’s education,” Gov. Bill Lee said in a statement. “I’m grateful to the General Assembly for their partnership in delivering universal school choice to families across our state. I thank the Department of Education for its dedication to a smooth implementation.”

This outcome ends the debate on vouchers in Tennessee. It’s been my experience that when the state gives, it never takes. The program is only going to grow.

“The response to universal school choice in Tennessee has been an overwhelming success,” said Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds. “Families have embraced the educational opportunities unleashed for their students through the state’s Education Freedom Scholarship program.”

That’s not to say that there are not some doubters out there. Some are raising questions about the accuracy of the numbers. Others are asking about the percentage of families who are already private school families. Concerns remain over the capacity of the state-contracted enrollment company. While all are legitimate concerns, they will likely do little to derail the Tennessee voucher program.

Vouchers signify a shift in the definition of public education, one that likely doesn’t align with the views of the nation’s founders.

A voucher program allows individuals to find a school that best suits their desired needs. While recognizing the needs of the individual, vouchers do not consider society’s need for educated citizens. That is dangerous ground and will make future governance more difficult.

Of the 20,000 vouchers available, 10,000 were open for anyone to apply for. The other 10,000 vouchers were reserved for families with incomes below 300% of the limit required to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is approximately $170,000 for a family of four.

For the 2025-26 school year, scholarships are valued at $7,295. The family is responsible for covering the remaining tuition, but many private schools provide financial aid and additional scholarships.

– – –

I’m starting to understand what bothers me most about public education. It’s the growing tribalism that has become embedded in all policy discussions.

When I was younger, it wasn’t as pronounced as it is today. Sure, we all hated private schools because that’s where the rich kids went, and they all thought they were better than us.

It’s not that simple anymore. These days, even more choices are available—private, public, charter, magnet, and homeschool. As a result, choices have become even more of a value statement than in the past. The us vs. them mentality has grown along with the choices.

Instead of just discussing kids, we talk about public school kids, charter kids, and homeschool kids, losing sight that they are all American kids who deserve a rich education. As a result, more and more policy discussions have become rooted in adult needs rather than those of children.

This week, I got a glaring reminder of that.

My son plays baseball for Overton High School, which has a co-op agreement with Valor Charter School in football, baseball, track, and a few other sports.

In football, Valor doesn’t have many kids who play. Baseball is different.

35 to 40% of the team is drawn from Valor students. Many of these boys have been playing with the team for two to three years, and some are entering their senior year.

As ball players, they represent Overton baseball and conduct themselves with the same high standards as their Overton-enrolled teammates,

It’s a partnership that works well for all. This week, with little notice, Metro Nashville Public Schools announced they were ending the partnership effective at the end of this school year.

When questioned about the fate of those Valor students who wished to continue playing for Overton, the district shrugged and said they could transfer.

When questioned about the impact on the team and its ability to field a competitive lineup, the district shrugged and said, “They’ll be fine,” with little evidence to support that prediction.

One district official told me, “I think it’s best when Overton kids play for Overton teams.“

Better for whom and why?

I’ve also heard others dismiss concerns because they concern only a handful of kids. This is from a district that has a mission statement of every child.

Over the past decade, MNPS has become inhospitable to charter operators, despite evidence showing that some charters perform at a level equivalent to or greater than traditional schools. This latest action feels like another layer of that animosity.

I’m not going to argue that Valor doesn’t play a role in this decision, but remember it’s Valor adults that fail to meet requirements, not the Valor kids.

This charter vs traditional debate has grown increasingly wearisome. The school model is not the difference maker.

A school with a dynamic leader who employs high-quality teachers will always outperform one that lacks any of the aforementioned.

But again, I don’t think any of this is about what’s best, but rather what’s best for adults.

– – –

Yesterday, MNPS announced that Hunters Lane High School has been designated as a distribution site under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Summer Food Service Program’s rural non-congregate meals authorization.

Through this program, MNPS Nutrition Services will provide meal kits containing 10 breakfasts and 10 lunches per kit. Distribution will occur once every two weeks, for four dates over the summer.

Distribution Dates:

June 9, 2025
June 23, 2025
July 7, 2025
July 21, 2025

Time: 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM

“This is an important effort to ensure our students have access to nutritious meals even when school is out of session,“said Dr. Adrienne Battle, Superintendent of Metro Nashville Public Schools. “We are committed to supporting families and children across our rural communities.”

This open site is available to all eligible children in and around the designated rural location. To avoid duplication, parents or guardians picking up meal kits will be asked a series of verifying questions to confirm their child’s eligibility. However, students enrolled in the Promising Scholars (summer learning) program or those participating in congregate meal programs are not eligible for these kits until their program concludes.

According to the MNPS press release, meals will be provided to all children without charge and are the same for all children regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, and there will be no discrimination in the course of the meal service (not all prohibited bases apply to all programs). Meals will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

Not sure exactly why “retaliation for prior civil rights activity“ has been placed into the disclaimer, but MNPS always seems to want to stir the pot, so I’m sure it’s some kind of veiled suggestion that kids are being starved because they once attended a downtown march.

Still, kudos to the Hunter’s Lane leadership team and MNPS for initiating this program.

– – –

If you want me to highlight and share something, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Wisdom or criticism is always welcome.

As you may suspect, keeping this blog going comes at a cost. In that light, I’ve set up several ways for you to show your financial support.

You can also donate through my Venmo (Thomas-Weber-10) or Cash App ($PeterAveryWeber)

If you wish to join the ranks of donors but are not interested in Substack, you can still go to Patreon and help a brother out.

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“Once you name something, it stops you seeing the whole of it, or why it matters. You focus on the word, which is just the tiniest part, really, the tip of an iceberg.”

― Alex Michaelides, The Silent Patient

Another school year is slowly but surely grinding to an end.

Parents are tired.

Student’s thoughts have turned to summer.

Parents are exhausted. It’s the time of year when budgets and layoffs become discussion fodder.

Yesterday, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell gave the city’s annual State of the City Speech, outlining its financial future.

Under O’Connell’s budget, MNPS is getting a raise, a 13% increase from last fiscal year. The school system makes up 37% of the total Metro budget. So, are the people in the trenches slated to see more money in their pockets? That remains to be seen.

In his budget talk, the Mayor mentioned targeted investments in college and career readiness programs, mental health support, special education support, and additional security and safety measures.

The larger budget comes from a recent property reappraisal that saw some home values jump as much as 45%.

Per the Tennessean, “The Mayor’s $3.8 billion recommended budget includes a combined property tax rate of 2.814, a change from the 3.254 rate of 2021-2025. That new rate is one of the lowest among Tennessee cities, but it could still translate to property owners paying more in taxes moving forward.”

O’Connell indirectly and directly addressed the city’s loss of federal funds by drawing attention to actions in Washington, where the current administration has slashed existing funds and grants.

“We’re not standing idly by while the federal government tries to cut funding that’s legally ours,” said the Mayor, referring to an active lawsuit brought by the city against the Trump administration. “We’ve told them, ‘We’ll see you in court.'”

Interestingly enough, the Mayor’s fiscal promises come as many teachers in MNPS are being told that their positions are being eliminated due to individual schools receiving less money. (All School Allocations – Open Records Request)

Some of those positions may come back once the funding is secured. O’connell’s bill is not a done deal; it still has to go through Metro Council for approval.

All council members can submit their individual budgets for consideration before a budget is implemented.

There will be a lot of yapping over the next six weeks.

– – –

There was much anticipation leading up to the trial of former Tennessee Speaker of the House Glen Casada and his aide Cade Cothren. The two were instrumental in passing the first round of voucher legislation before they got caught up in some Wile E Coyote shit. Now, they stand accused of all kinds of crimes against humanity that some thought might be the death knell for Republicans in Tennessee.

For years, this date has been discussed in political circles as a potential cleansing of the House. Months ago, when it was revealed that 18 House members had been subpoenaed, appetites were only whetted further. Alas, so far, it’s been a bit of a letdown, and attention was beginning to wane.

The Tennessee Lookout confirmed the shift, saying Thursday’s federal courtroom crowd thinned out noticeably. But earlier in the week, when people still had feeling in their butt bones, a handful of interested lawmakers showed up, such as Republican Rep. Todd Warner and Democratic Reps. Gloria Johnson, Shaundelle Brooks, Gabby Salinas, and Justin Jones. Apparently, sitting on the hard wooden pews was hard on the rear.

This is slowly turning into an event whose ending is as much anticipated as its opening. One juror got the boot after they asked to be released because they couldn’t afford to miss four weeks of worth. If it was only four weeks,

Judge Richardson has had to keep calling the attorneys to the bench for a sidebar every 15 minutes, once because the defense objected to the prosecution asking a witness to describe House “leadership,” not whether they’re good or bad, but who they are.

Another major delay broke out in an argument over whether the prosecution could admit evidence regarding the Republican Caucus and Phoenix’s campaign work. Richardson said he hadn’t seen such a ruckus in his 27 years in federal court.

This led the Lookout’s Sam Stockard to remark, “Clearly, he’s never covered the Tennessee House chamber, where fights, riots, and name-calling are as common as sarcasm in the press box.”

While this legal thriller may not live up to expectations, fear not—there is a sequel waiting in the wings. This pending Battle will be between MNPS’s Director of School, Dr. Adrienne Battle, and a handful of long-time MNPS Executives.

Those looking for a preview should probably read last year’s summary judgment. The judgment, released in December 2023, paints an unflattering picture of Nashville’s director of schools.

The events documented in the summary judgment arose out of an altercation between Battle’s brother, then a basketball coach, and a parent. The lawsuit doesn’t refer to Battle’s brother by name, but those in the city are familiar with the cast of characters in this nighttime drama.

According to the lawsuit, the fight happened after a February 16, 2018, basketball game, when Carlton Battle was approached by a parent who was upset his child did not play and began pounding on a locker room door with demands to speak with the coach.

“The Coach went outside to speak with the parent and got into a physical fight with the parent. The coach’s best friend was also in the locker room, and he became involved in the altercation. Then, the students began taking sides and fighting each other,” the lawsuit alleges. “The Coach beat up the parent. After all this chaos, the Coach got in his car and left the premises.”

Apparently, her brother’s actions were endorsed by the Then-Community Superintendent. After repeatedly inserting herself into the investigation, fellow Community Supe Damon Cathey decided to intervene, attempting a “‘peer-to-peer’discussion with Dr. Battle to explain his perception of the gravity and seriousness of the incident with the coach.”

According to the lawsuit, Adrienne Battle replied that the coach “has the right to protect himself,” telling her colleague that “no one is going to punk” her brother. The Tennessee Star then documented a series of events that formed the basis of the former executive’s lawsuit.

After Carlton Battle was placed on administrative leave, the lawsuit alleges Adrienne Battle “became distant and cold”toward both Meriwether and Bailey, with the former receiving “threats about his job” that led him to become “afraid for his safety.”

While the lawsuit revealed that Bailey determined Carlton Battle should not be rehired, citing the former coach’s lack of certification and tenure, Adrienne Battle would ascend to the top position in MNPS less than two years later. She was appointed Interim Director of Schools in April 2019 and would be permanently appointed the following year.

According to the lawsuit, after attaining the powerful position, Adrienne Battle retaliated against those involved in the decision to dismiss Carlton Battle after more disagreements.

According to the lawsuit, Cathey received information indicating that a principal under their purview was falsifying its grades, a Class A felony in Tennessee. Despite this information being raised to Adrienne Battle, she declined to take action against the principal.

At another meeting, Adrienne Battle allegedly questioned Cathey about the loyalty of an MNPS principal who remained employed following the departure of a close relative.

Ultimately, the lawsuit reveals that Adrienne Battle terminated the plaintiffs within two months of attaining the top role in MNPS. The district rehired Meriwether and Cathey to lower-level positions, while Bailey was not rehired.

The case was initially dismissed, but a May 2023 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals reversed it, remanding it back to a lower court for a jury trial that The Tennessee Star understands is scheduled to begin in July.

As in this July.

I don’t understand why this lawsuit hasn’t been settled. One of the principal plaintiffs, James Baily, is a long-time friend of Battle, dating back several decades. He has vowed to hold nothing back if he can take the stand.

If this one gets to the courtroom, some serious palace intrigue will be revealed, and there are no indications that it won’t.

You should invest in a seat cushion because you won’t want to miss it.

– – –

Over the last year, a battle has erupted between several state lawmakers and the governing body for high school athletics, TSSAA. The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) is a nonprofit group that has overseen middle and high school sports in the state for a century. Many in the state feel that what has been should always be. Detractors say that the organization is slow to change and too vested in the success of a handful of programs.

In this case, the root of lawmakers’ dissatisfaction lies in the TSSAA transfer rule, which, before March, stipulated that high school athletes who transferred to another school would lose a year of eligibility. After considerable pressure, the rule was amended to allow one free transfer without a loss of eligibility — but only if the transfer was related to academic, social-emotional, environmental, or mental health issues.

Andrea Williams writes in The Tennessean:

The amendment is a step in the right direction for an organization that has seemed unwilling to adapt to a new era of athlete empowerment. However, the step just isn’t big enough. It also still leaves much of the power in the hands of adults instead of the kids who represent the fuel-driving interscholastic school sports.

Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, and Sen. Adam Lowe, R-Calhoun, agree.

Cepicky and Lowe introduced legislation that forced the TSSAA to reconsider its policy. Their bill passed in the Senate but was tabled in the House while lawmakers considered whether the governance of high school sports would be better suited to be overseen by the state through the Department of Education.

It is an interesting idea that has some merit.

Despite some being skeptical that the state would do things any differently than the non-prophet, the idea is intriguing. I suspect there will be some traction in the quest to disband the current governing body.

I’d ask Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education for her thoughts, but I haven’t seen her for months.

– – –

An era is coming to a close. For more than six years, Katie Cour has led the Nashville Public Education Foundation, an advocacy group involved in Metro Nashville Schools. Cour was formerly with the district’s Human Resource Department. While with MNPS, she led several ill-conceived initiatives designed to support teacher recruitment and retention. Does anybody remember the turnaround squad?

While some of Cour’s ideas may have been ill-construed, at least she had ideas and didn’t solely rely on staffing fairs to fill vacancies. She was also always willing to learn, and if presented with a better argument, she would alter her position—something that is no longer present in MNPS.

An email from the nonprofit outlined Cour’s contributions:

During her tenure, Katie has been a strategic thinker, leader, and collaborator dedicated to addressing critical challenges in public education. She has helped spark important conversations about improving student outcomes. As NPEF’s president and CEO, she has shaped initiatives such as Teacherpreneur, a partnership with Metro Schools and the Mayor’s Office to improve teacher pay, NPEF’s documentary “By Design: The Shaping of Nashville’s Public Schools,” and the launch of the Nashville Child and Youth Collaborative alongside other local nonprofits.

The NPEF board has retained The Grant Partners to lead a rigorous national search for a new president and CEO. During the search, Katie will continue to lead the organization and work with the Board to ensure a seamless transition through her last day on July 3, 2025. Katie will take on a new role as Associate Director and Partner at Delivery Associates, a global social impact consultancy firm.

I love Katie. We have had some of the best conversations over the past decade. I never doubt her intentions or commitment. Simply put, she’s a good egg.

That said, the whole bit about “National Search,” “seamless transitions,” and “global social impact consultancy firm” is some self-important bullshit. We are not looking for the next director of schools or even the next 5th-grade teacher for a local school; we are looking for the next CEO of an organization that pushes paper and fundraises. Who would even recognize a non-seamless transition?

Maybe the principals that attend the annual out-of-state principal splash partially funded by NPEF

And don’t get me started on the hyperbole involved in calling yourself a global social impact consultancy firm. Let’s hope they don’t end up with a contract with MNPS, as it seems to happen all too frequently.

Maybe that’s why I love Katie: She’s never afraid to sling a little bovine excitement to bring about improvements. I will say this: She’ll be missed.

Global social impact consultancy firm, Jesus.

– – –

Let’s close with a bit of good news.

Approximately 140 Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) seniors received full-tuition scholarships through the University MNPS program in 2025. This initiative, a collaboration between MNPS and Nashville educational institutions, awards scholarships to Academies of Nashville students. University MNPS Signing Day, where these scholarships were formally announced, was attended by nearly 100 graduating seniors, their families, MNPS staff, and partner school representatives,

This year, MNPS has added a new partner. Trevecca Nazarene University joins Belmont, Fisk, Lipscomb, Tennessee State, and Vanderbilt universities, as well as Nashville State Community College, in University MNPS, which offers exclusive scholarships and on-campus support to district graduates who meet admissions and financial aid requirements.

That’s impressive and deserves celebrating.

Hopefully, none of these students will use their education opportunities to apply to a global social impact consultancy firm.

– – –

If you want me to highlight and share something, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Wisdom or criticism is always welcome.

As you may suspect, keeping this blog going comes at a cost. In that light, I’ve set up several ways for you to show your financial support.

You can also donate through my Venmo (Thomas-Weber-10) or Cash App ($PeterAveryWeber)

If you wish to join the ranks of donors but are not interested in Substack, you can still go to Patreon and help a brother out.

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“I pity people who can’t find laughter or at least some bit of amusement in the little doings of the day. I believe I could find something ridiculous even in the saddest moment, if necessary. It has nothing to do with being superficial. It’s a matter of joy in life.”

― Sophie Scholl

Before we had kids, I had many hard and fast rules about parenting. Sixteen years into parenthood, I know less than I did then.

As the kids reached their pre-teen years, it was time for an honest evaluation of what I was doing and if I was doing the right thing by then. I was not proud of the results of that evaluation.

Despite my best intentions, my policies prioritized me over them. I was to account for the variety of needs and approaches each kid required. As a result, we continuously butted heads and engaged in conversations that were harmful to both of us.

It was time to alter strategies.

First, I would need to be more intentional about the outcomes I wanted to produce. When it was time to discipline or correct, what did I want it to look like on the other side? Would my approach lead to my child making better decisions? Would it keep them safe? Could I verbalize what I was looking for? Did punishment outweigh growth?

Or was I looking to end the argument quickly? Was I looking for obedience as opposed to development? Was I respecting their agenda and their views?

That last one was a critical element. How could I expect them to respect my rules and opinions if I didn’t show them the same? As an OG rebel without a clue, you have no idea how hard it was to try to transition from a reactive state of mind to a more inclusive, thoughtful one. But it was important. It is important.

Part of that was also realizing that we have similar desires. Sometimes, their approach is just a little different, and I have to allow for that, just as I would ask that they allow for my variances.

Sometimes, I’m actually wrong. Either I made a snap decision without all the details, or I just made a wrong assumption. It happens, but when it does, I’m not afraid to admit it and, if necessary, reverse a decision.

My overarching goal became one of remaining in the conversation. I can’t guide and influence if I’m not in the conversation. There is no lifelong pass to inclusion in their lives just because you created them. There is a test every day, and you have to earn that pass every day.

Needless to say, it’s fucking hard. Real fucking hard. But it’s made a world of difference.

My relationship with my kids today, as they enter the last couple of years of K-12 schooling, is pretty solid. It’s not perfect, and it continues to be a work in progress, but we talk, and for that, I’m grateful.

I thought about how I approach parenting as I read that, once again, Metro Nashville Public Schools denied all charter school applications submitted this year. Sure, they had a slide show and fancy rubric that showed the shortcomings of each school being considered. I really wish that each individual MNPS school would have to go through the same rubric of approval, but we both know the likelihood of that happening.

In the end, the denial of the applications was rooted in the perception that they did not make a clear enough argument about how these schools would differ from what MNPS already offers.

During the board meeting, District 3 Board Member Zach Young stated, “I think it’s no secret that I am just philosophically opposed to the idea of charter schools,”

Huh? Did somebody turn back the clock to 2015 and not tell me?

District 2 board member Rachel Elrod expressed a similar sentiment:

“I am typically not a charter school advocate in frankly any way. I believe that we don’t need those seats, which is usually a big part of why I will stand against a charter school just for fiscal responsibility,” said Elrod.

I stared at these statements and tried to make sense of them. As I previously mentioned, it is not 2015 anymore. We have over a decade of research that shows that some are pretty good and some suck. Like district schools, it usually comes down to leadership, whatever the model.

When Elrod says “fiscal responsibility,” I’m pretty sure that means protecting the district’s pot of money. She’ll claim it’sprotection taxpayer money, but if I flip through state report cards on schools, I can find many that would test the level of return on taxpayer dollars.

Investing in a school like Valor Academy would be a sound investment of taxpayer dollars. It’s not my cup of tea, but with a success rate of 55% compared to MNPS’s 33%, it might be worth looking into.

Granted, Valor is an outlier, and not all charters perform at that level. Results vary, just like with Metro Schools.

Making a blanket statement, as Young and Elrod did, is ignorant and suggests an ulterior motive.

District 1 board member Robert Taylor was more nuanced in his comments:

“I love what MNPS is doing for the overwhelming majority of our students however I do know that in my community specifically, there are students that could use additional resources and support,” said Taylor. “I do know that our educators work very hard to address those needs and those concerns, but I also know that some students fall through the cracks, and I see them at the grocery store. I see them at my church, in my neighborhood, and I want them to have an opportunity to be successful.”

MNPS’s application denials come in the wake of the Tennessee General Assembly passing a new bill that allows charter operators the opportunity to skip the local application process and apply directly to the state if they want to open a school in a district that has had three charter denials overturned in three straight years. The charter commission’s “direct authorization” would be in effect for the district for up to five years under the new law.

In other words, MNPS is on the cusp of being left out of the conversation because of its strict adherence to a long-outdated philosophy.

That situation isn’t good for anyone. MNPS needs to evaluate itself honestly and figure out how to remain true to its vision while truly serving ALL kids.

It’ll take more work, and it may require extending a little trust. It may be time to create an incubator that assists proposed schools with maximizing performance.

Whatever it takes, this continual adversarial relationship puts the needs of adults ahead of kids and ultimately hurts kids.

Yes, traditional schools are the best vehicle for most kids, but as society becomes even more fractured, we need to figure out how to bind today’s schools in the same way they were in the past. The reality is that traditional schools are no longer the answer for everybody, no matter how hard you try to jam that round peg into the square hole.

In this latest go around, District 6 Board Member Cheryl Mays, who represents sections of the Antioch and Cane Ridge Clusters, questioned the performance of Rocketship’s existing schools.

“One of the things that concerned me about this application was the previous performance and the concern that I didn’tsee anything in this application that would make me believe that it would improve,” said Mays.

The Tennessee Firefly compared state testing results for Rocketship United in the Glencliff Cluster south of downtown Nashville and Rocketship Dream Community Prep in the Cane Ridge Cluster in South Davidson County to elementary schools in the same clusters. Rocketship United outperformed half of its cluster’s schools in every subject and most schools in the Glencliff Cluster.

As I said, some are good, some are bad, and you can’t make a blanket statement.

I know I’m tired of being ginned up so district administrators and board members can protect their pot of gold.

Some may take exception to the term. “pot of gold,” but when Dr. Battle is pulling just south of $400K and her cabinet, all 12 of them, are making north of $200K, I think it is a pretty apt description.

– – –

Many of you wonder when former state education commissioner Penny Schwinn’s confirmation hearing for US Deputy Secretary of Education will be held. As of today, there is not one scheduled. The last action was to refer her nomination to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on 1/22/25.

But don’t think she’s not working.

Schwinn has been photographed with stakeholders in an official setting and possesses a USDOE email. Word is that while she still resides in Tennessee, most of her time is spent in DC—kind of like her last year at the Tennessee DOE.

They may eventually get around to confirming her.

– – –

Well, Tennessee’s State Achievement School District is finally history. This session, lawmakers finally got around to voting it out of existence but promised them something new.

The ASD removed low-performing schools from local control and placed them under a state-run district. The district’sgoal was to push Tennessee’s bottom 5% of schools to the top 25%. Most schools were turned over to charter operators to run under 10-year contracts. Locals were given little input.

The failed experiment cost the state over a billion dollars; I feel like I’ve been writing about it for a billion years. I like the AI overview of this subject:

The Tennessee Achievement School District (ASD) was a Tennessee state program in which the state took over schools identified in the bottom 5% of performance. The blog Dad Gone Wild has discussed the ASD, often criticizing it and referring to the ASD schools as “dumpster fires.” The blog has also discussed alternative models for turning around low-performing schools, such as the IZone, which was more successful than the ASD, according to the blog.

That’d be about right.

You’d think that wasting a billion dollars would be incentive enough to get out of the school turnaround business, but alas it is not.

Per ChalkbeatTN:

The new model creates a tiered system with escalating levels of intervention for schools that do not academically improve. Schools identified for intervention for the first time would start at the first tier. The Tennessee Department of Education will then review each school’s performance annually to decide whether to change the level of intervention.

Tier 1 would allow districts to direct their intervention plans or partner with a turnaround expert.

In Tier 2, districts can choose between converting to a charter school, transferring operations to a higher education institution, or replacing some or all school leadership and specific staff. They can also implement an intervention committee—made up of school board members, school employees, and parents—to develop a plan with a turnaround expert.

Tier 3 involves school closures or replacement of school leadership and instructional staff under the direction of the state department of education.

All strategies would require state approval.

The new model applies to “priority schools” across the state, defined as:

The bottom 5% of schools in performance. Federal law requires states to intervene in the bottom 5% of public schools.
All public high schools that fail to graduate one-third or more of their students.
Schools with chronically low-performing student groups that have not improved after receiving additional support.

I know. It doesn’t sound much different.

It also entails a fair amount of work from all parties. I suspect that with voucher schools and eased charter school requirements, this may be a bit of a paper tiger.

But I don’t think legislators still have an appetite for school turnaround work.

This year, Representative Mark White(R-Memphis) introduced legislation for state intervention in the Memphis school system. Apparently, he was inspired by the work being done in Houston, where the state took over the district in June 2023.

This week, the TEA accountability rating for the 2022-2023 school year was released. They were held up for two years due to a lawsuit filed by school districts that claimed the model was flawed.

The TEA was blocked from releasing its accountability ratings because of several lawsuits from school districts after the state agency changed the criteria it used to score high schools. Since the rating’s inception in 2017, receiving an A required at least 60% of seniors to enroll in college, pursue a career, or be in the military. The state raised that threshold to 88%.

The Texas Education Agency gave Houston ISD a C grade, or a 72, for the 2022-23 school year.

The TEA takeover has produced both positive and negative results. It improved accountability ratings and test scores but also led to increased teacher turnover, financial instability, and community unrest.

The mixed bag seemingly has whetted Tennessee’s lawmaker’s appetite.

This year, despite passage in the state Senate and House, they failed to get the bill over the finish line. The two bills were different, and the two chambers could not reconcile before time expired.

But it ain’t over.

“Continuing to invest in failed leadership and administrative mismanagement without addressing the district’sfundamental issues is doing a disservice to the people we were elected to represent,” White and Senate sponsor Brent Taylor of Memphis said in a joint statement.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton(R-Crossville) was even more direct in his comments immediately after the close of the session:

“I would also tell the school board in Shelby County: this isn’t a pass,” Sexton told reporters. “They’ve got eight months until we come back. I hope that they look at that and say we need to change. We need to see improvements, and we’ve got to see better results. We need to see a better return on our investments.”

Pointing out that one in seven state education dollars goes to the state’s largest school district, Sexton added:

“That’s a lot of money not to get a return on our investments,” he said. “The way we get thriving and growing and economic output that they never seen is to make sure that they get those schools to turn around.”

We shall see.

– – –

Here’s a shocker: a new study shows that Tennessee is among the worst states for teachers.

The study used five metrics to determine which states treat their educators best: starting salary, average teacher salaries, year-over-year salary growth, the student-teacher classroom ratio, and the amount of money the state spends per student.

A study recently released by The Insurance Canopy reveals that New Jersey is the best overall state for teachers. The starting salary is $51822; the average teacher makes $76,652 yearly. The student-to-teacher ratio is 11.8 to 1, and the state spends $25,249 per pupil.

By comparison, the Volunteer State ranked among the 10 worst states for educators in the US, coming in at No. 43.

Tennessee ranked in the middle of the pack for educator starting salaries, but it was faulted in the overall salary category, ranking No. 48. According to the study, the average teacher’s pay in Tennessee is $60,969.

Overall, the Volunteer State ranked No. 33 in annual salary growth, No. 32 in classroom ratios, 15:3, and No. 44 in spending per student.

It’s not a pretty picture.

Should I tell Governor Lee, or do you want to tell him?

– – –

If you want me to highlight and share something, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Wisdom or criticism is always welcome.

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“Home is where your mistakes can be seen in context.”

― Robert Crais, The Best American Mystery Stories: Volume 16

This week, college football experienced a minor earthquake that will have lasting ramifications for student-athletes.

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava was one of the first high school students to take advantage of opportunities opened up by Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies that have swept college sports over the last 4 years.

Under NIL rules, a college athlete can be paid for their play, thus transforming college sports into semi-pro status. The numbers athletes are earning are in the millions and growing.

Iamaleava signed a deal while in high school. Tennessee was paying him $2.9 million a year, which is not chump change by any measure.

This week, though, he decided it wasn’t enough and started exploring other options—either a new deal with Tennessee or maybe a transfer to a different school. The University of Tennessee was not receptive and told him to pound sand.

The University’s stance has been widely applauded.

Gentry Estes writes in The Tennessean:

History is going to be proud of the Vols.

They did the right thing, even if it might not feel that way on Saturdays this fall.

It was the right thing for the culture of a healthy football program and an even healthier athletics department. More significant, the Vols stepped up for college sports, which needed a reminder — however damaging it might be for their own 2025 aspirations — that star players don’t hold all the cards in these increasingly lopsided negotiations. Especially if a deal is already in place.

What Estes fails to acknowledge is that while he may argue that it’s becoming lopsided, it has been grossly tilted towards coaches and institutions for nearly a century.

Walk around a college campus and note the stadiums and the business being conducted on, and off, the field. Take a look at what coaches earn annually. All of that comes on the backs of athletes. Yes, the quarterback’s deal was a good one three years ago; things change.

The young man couldn’t foresee how fast the money would explode. The top NIL earners in college athletics currently are Arch Manning (Texas), Cooper Flagg (Duke), and Carson Beck (Miami). Their annual NIL valuations are estimated at $6.5 million, $4.8 million, and $4.3 million respectively. Livvy Dunne (LSU) also ranks high with a valuation of $4.1 million.

Keep in mind these are estimations. NIL contracts are not subject to open record laws.

If you look at the list of top earners, you’ll see that the Tennessee quarterback is in the upper tier but not the top of that tier. Here are the top earners.

- Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State): $4 million
- DJ Lagway (Florida): $3.8 million
- AJ Dybantsa (BYU): $3.8 million
- LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina): $3.7 million
- Garrett Nussmeier (Texas): $3.6 million
- Cade Klubnik (Florida): $3.3 million
- Drew Allar (Penn State): $3.2 million
- Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee): $3.1 million
- Sam Leavitt (Oregon): $3 million
- Bryce Underwood (Cincinnati): $2.9 million. Toppin (Texas Christian): $2.8 million

If you look at the list, it’s not hard to imagine a young man looking at it and saying, “Damn, I need more money.”

As much as Tennessee fans like to say that he hasn’t done anything, his accomplishments likely outmatch two-thirds of this list. I’m not sure that anything short of a National Championship game and a near-perfect season would earn him a pass to demand more from fans.

By most measures. Iamaleva’s statistics were reasonably impressive.

Since arriving at UT, he’s completed 241 of 379 passes for 2,930 yards, 21 touchdowns, and five interceptions. He rushed for 435 yards and six TDs, although three of those scores were in his first start as the Citrus Bowl MVP following the 2023 season. Pretty good for a freshman QB in the SEC.

Critics can argue that he’s already getting a top-tier education, and in four years, there will likely be huge payoffs when he transitions to the NFL.

Here’s the thing: People are seldom motivated to change solely based on financial motivations. Money is certainly important, but if you are in a situation where you believe in your coach, you have strong relationships with teammates, you feel you are getting an opportunity to compete against high-quality talent, and you have the resources available to reach your full potential, change is less attractive.

There is more at play here then what inially meets the eye.

People like to portray athletes as greedy individuals out to grab as much cash as possible. Still, nobody gets to the level of Iamaleava because of a desire to make millions. The road to this level of success is paved with extensive personal sacrifice and significant expense.

As the father of a high-achieving athlete, I’ve gained a greater appreciation for what these athletes go through and what they have to overcome to reach Nico’s level.

It’s a paved path with people telling you you are not good enough.

Days are comprised of school followed by long practices, individual workouts, and school work, leaving little time for amything else. Rinse, wash, repeat.

I can’t even imagine the money parents invest to give their children an opportunity to realize these lofty dreams.

Travel team costs run as high as $5K a season. Personal coaches are $50-$100 for each hour a week. Weekend camps run for $300 to $500 a pop. My son will likely do three this year—how I’ll pay for them, I have no idea.

None of this accounts for gear or equipment. let alone the grocery bills. It doesn’t stop there, either.

I won’t be shocked if Iamaleava’s family has already spent half a million dollars over his lifetime to get him to this level.

It also wouldn’t shock me if they spent another million a year on personal trainers, masseuses, nutritionists, and personal assistants to prepare him for the next level. That $2.9 M ain’t gree and clear.

We imagine Nico as just another college student grabbing books for class in the morning, heading to practice in the afternoon, and then heading to the library to study in the evening. Maybe he’s throwing back a few at night with his other college buddies before turning in for the night.

That’s a fantasy.

In reality, the young man is working his ass off twenty-four-seven to keep up his level of performance. You have to have something different inside of you to do that. A love of the game and something intrinsic driving you. You don’t get to be one of the top 99% of athletes without something special.

A decade of work does not come with a guaranteed payday. Injury and burnout are constant threats, along with physical limitations. Sometimes, no matter how hard you work, you fall short physically.

If aspiring athletes are looking for a financial payday, they are better off playing the lottery than working for an athletic career.

Many find fault with Nico Iamaleava’s business conduct. Missing practice while demanding more money is considered a cardinal sin.

As UT coach Josh Heupel, who realized that it was over with Iamaleava, said, “When he’s a no-show (at practice), you come off the practice field, and there’s no communication.”

Estes gives kudos to Heupel for taking a stand:

Kudos to Tennessee for understanding this wasn’t just about money. It was about principle and precedent. It was about drawing a line to say “enough” before the absence of guardrails becomes even less sustainable for colleges and coaches than it already has become.

Sure, college athletic programs are known for their commitment to principle and precedent.

Let’s make sure we are clear here. What’s also at play here is an attempt by those who’ve long held all the cards to continue to hold the trump cards. Sure, we’ll concede a 10 or jack, but you ain’t getting any Queens, Kings, or Aces.

A similar battle is playing out in Tennessee, where the TSSAA is fighting to protect schools and coaches from losing power to high school athletes. Officials are offering small concessions while holding tight to the true power.

Iamaleava’s action may bring widespread changes. Many predict that athletes will sign contracts with universities, which means the possibility of a union and collective bargaining being introduced.

If star athletes earn the right to renegotiate mid-term, colleges will likely react by starting to cut underperforming players, putting their educational opportunities at risk.

College athletic programs risk being exposed to becoming what they’ve been accused of being: minor league teams for the professionals.

Transition is definitely afoot, and who will come out ahead and who will fall behind is yet to be determined,

As you read the news of the current situation, remember that both entities are engaged in a PR war. One in which the NCAA and the Universities enjoy a decisive advantage,

– – –

We are terrible at accounting for unintended consequences when crafting education policy.

We get so lost in the brilliance of our ideas and how they can make everybody’s lives so much better that we rarely consider the devastation that can inadvertently be wrought on others.

Case in point, Tennessee’s law passed in the wake of the Covenant shooting to address threats against schools. Under the law, any student who makes a perceived threat against a school must be arrested and prosecuted. It doesn’t matter if the threat is credible or not; it just has to be uttered, written, or typed.

The intentions behind the law are good. Determining the real threats is nearly impossible, and all threats must be taken seriously. Lawmakers hope to discourage students from making threats by installing harsh penalties on those who do.

But good intentions may have led to unintended consequences. “In Fiscal Year 2024, 518 children were arrested under our current threats of mass violence law. The youngest was 7 years old,” said Beth Cruz during a Senate Judiciary hearing earlier this month. Cruz is an education attorney and has been tracking the new law.

The threats addressed come from teenagers, mostly male. It’s a group with little sense of mortality and an irreverence that finds everything funny. Things that are considered threatening by adult standards are oft regarded in a humorous light by teenagers,

According to a News 5 report:

Many of the 518 children have been arrested, even though they didn’t originate the threat against a school. Back in January, shortly after the Antioch High School shooting, the 12-year-old son of Kyle Caldwell was arrested. His son had only reposted a threat, hoping to alert others. “He is just a great kid, no history, no trouble,” said Caldwell, during an interview with NewsChannel 5. “Out of innocence, his idea was he was informing.”

Children arrested are often denied parental contact for up to 36 hours. Think about that: your child is accused of a serious crime where intent has yet to be defined, and you are separated from them for a day and a half while questions and deals are presented directly to them without your counsel.

From an article in The Tennessean detailing the arrest of one 12-year-old:

Things escalated quickly the day his son, a middle schooler, was arrested and charged under a strict Tennessee law that makes threats of mass violence against schools a felony. Caldwell said he felt they were “funneled” through a system that didn’t allow him to advocate for his young son and pressed the boy into accepting guilt and pretrial diversion. Experts say children in the justice system are responsible for making their own legal decisions, along with the help of their attorneys, and parents do not typically have a formal role in their children’s cases. Caldwell felt powerless.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt like my capability to parent had been taken away so drastically,” Caldwell said.

The parent was kept from meeting with his son for 36 hours. By the time they met in person, his son had already met with his attorney, who told him his legal options. One was pretrial diversion. That includes pleading guilty and being under court supervision, similar to six-month probation, with good behavior, that can be shortened to four months.

The deal was done and made without parental consent or input

This is in a state that regularly champions parent rights.

A new bill in the General Assembly was supposed to address these issues. But apparently, those changes are not coming this year, and instead, the state is doubling down.

The new bill, as amended, HB1314, introduced by Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, and Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, requires the threat to have intent and credibility — a benchmark not included in current law. However, it also increases the penalty to a higher-level felony and expands the types of places where someone can be charged beyond just a school. It would require a higher felony for people who were already convicted for making a threat or people planning to carry one out.

According to WPLN, the bill would mean that kids and others who make threats against a school could be charged with two separate felonies. Advocates at the state have told lawmakers that the new bill, if passed, could cause more confusion as police and school officials figure out how to handle these threats.

During committee hearings, Elizabeth Stroecker, director of legislation for the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, said the new bill would prevent kids who did not intend to carry out a threat from being charged “because we do have that higher threshold.” She did not address advocate concerns about the existing law.

The bill has passed out of the House and Senate Judiciary committees and will be heard in Senate Finance, Ways and Means next week.

– – –

Penny Schwinn’s tenure as Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education served as a lucrative haven for grifters. Most of the focus has fallen on Ms. Schwin, who awaits a confirmation hearing as USDOE Deputy Secretary, but man, you can’t overlook the supporting cast she imported and empowered.

Today, we’ll turn the spotlight on David Donaldson. Under Schwinn, Donaldson was the TDOE’s deputy commissioner of Human Resources.

Before arriving in Tennessee, Donaldson served as Associate Chancellor for Michigan’s Education Authority. In the wake of Race to the Top, three Achievement School Districts were created: Tennessee, Louisianna, and Michigan. Of the three, the latter was by far the worst, and the first shuttered in 2017.

Donaldson next went to work in Puerto Rico for new superintendent Julie Keleher. Keleher is the second reference behind Broad Academy and vice-president of ETS’s Student and Teacher Assessments, Lillian Lowery. In her work leading the education departments for Maryland and Delaware, Lowery was a member of the PARCC and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium while the testing programs were being developed. Hmm…

Back to Keleher, Donaldson joined the TNDOE after Keleher resigned in April 2019 after a two-year run. In July, the Feds busted Keleher on charges of steering federal money to unqualified, politically connected contractors. This shouldn’t have surprised anyone, as throughout her tenure, she courted controversy.

The U.S. Department of Education backed her attempts to expand educational options. In a 2018 speech, Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Frank Brogan said Puerto Rico would be a “beacon” of school choice and a “laboratory” for people to observe.

Not everyone agreed. “The proposal in Puerto Rico to transition to charter schools and the use of private school vouchers mirrors what happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, in March 2018 remarks, about three weeks before a bill creating charters and vouchers was signed into law by Governor Rosselló.

Three weeks ago, Keleher was indicted again, this time for her involvement in a land deal using school property. She continues to maintain her innocence and, in December, asked for a change in venue for her trial due to the polarized atmosphere. She may be innocent, but I’m unsure if I would list her as a primary reference on my resume.

Not surprisingly, Donaldson ended up in Tennessee under Schwinn. Once here, he discovered that the Clarksville School District had piloted a nifty little program that partnered with Austin Peay University to produce homegrown teachers. Donaldson pushed the Clarksville plan into a state initiative Schwinn claimed her own, Grow Your Own.

“Our teachers are heroes who have a tremendous impact on our children, and Tennessee is paving the way and has become the first state in which there is a lasting program to become a teacher for free through the Teacher Occupation Apprenticeship,” said Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “By establishing a permanent Grow Your Own model, Tennesseans are innovating to provide the opportunity to become teachers for free while earning a wage. We hope states across the country will utilize this model to combat teacher shortages, remove barriers to becoming an educator for people from all backgrounds, and continue to invest in the teaching profession.”

The state used the base established by Clarksville to secure a federal grant and recruit 62 other participants while chasing off every state employee who did the early work on the Grow Your Own Program. Donaldson left the TNDOE six months later, announcing the formation of a new non-profit, the National Center for Grow Your Own.

The state went on to create and fund the Grow Your Own Center at the University of Tennessee. That was another great initiative, the National Center for Grow Your Own.

Donaldson and his National Center are housed in New York City.

As part of the state initiative, Tennessee opened the Grow Your Own Center at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville to bolster the educator pipeline across the state. Per ChalkbeatTN,

The $20 million center will centralize and strengthen the state’s 65 existing “grow your own” programs, which seek to create new paths to the teaching profession by providing students with early teaching apprenticeship opportunities at no cost, state education officials and the UT system said during a Monday press conference at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

I raised questions at the time because UT didn’t have the infrastructure in place to support such an initiative, unlike, say, Vanderbilt University, which is a nationally recognized education research facility. Vanderbilt was the home of the Tennessee Education Research Alliance, which would seem to be a perfect fit for a center like this, provided an education commissioner could keep her personal feelings out of the equation.

Here’s where the cynic in me came out. Say one was inclined to subvert the RFP process and make it easier to get money into the hands of friends a little quicker. Using Vanderbilt as an example, having the infrastructure in place would allow them to do the majority of work in-house instead of investing money into establishing capacities, meaning very little of the work would need outsourcing.

UT’s lack of internal capacity meant that some of the work needed to be outsourced to outside entities. I was betting Schwinn would be there to help advise on potential partners.

I’m not casting aspirations at anyone; I’m just pointing out that the RFP process at UT is not nearly as scrutinized as that of the state government. There would be an opportunity if one was inclined to use the procurement process or their own means.

Again, not to cast aspirations, but if we are honest, we’ll recognize that Schwinn and friends’ record on procurement was not exactly…shall we say…untarnished. In case we need to remind you, there is the SPRDx contract in Texas, the ClassWallet contract in Tennessee that tapped funds dedicated to other priorities, and the Christmas Eve RFP that ended up going to her husband’s employer – TNTP. Not to mention the current state of affairs of Schwinn’s long-time friend and former Chief of Staff Rebecca Shah’s recently created company, ILO.

In other words, there are plenty of warning bells.

Over the last several years, individual EPPs have left the state program, with only the University of Tennessee remaining. In response, a new RFP was released with an attached $7.5 million contract. Needless to say, many of the state’s finest universities submitted responses, only to see Tennessee taxpayers’ $7.5M go to NYC and Donaldson’s National Center for Grow Your Own, which is not an EPP.

In other words, Donaldson must outsource the services required to fulfill the contract.

You can’t make this shit up.

– – –

If you want me to highlight and share something, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Wisdom or criticism is always welcome.

As you may suspect, keeping this blog going comes at a cost. In that light, I’ve set up several ways for you to show your financial support.

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“It is curious to observe how customs and ceremonies degenerate.”
― Maria Edgeworth, Complete Novels of Maria Edgeworth

We have lost the ability to listen to each other.

We claim to be fans of critical thinking, but that would require listening, reading, analysing, sorting out the salient points from the questionable points, separating opinion from facts, and forming a position based on the information received. That’s a lot of work.

That’s not how we do it anymore.

We all seem to have retreated into our individual information silos. These silos serve to establish our belief system. You got a pick a silo, else be labeled “one of them”, you know people with no principles.

Before receiving information, we immediately check to make sure the source is on our silo’s recommended reading list and instantly form an opinion. One that embraces all the talking points of our respective silo.

Headlines used to matter. Now it would be just as effective to write them as “Charter school policy from the perspective of silo A.” or “How I feel about vouchers as a member of Silo B”.

Don’t believe me? Try this one day: post an article on social media and say, “This article sheds some light on subject A.”

Then sit back and count the number of comments that attack the author/publication versus those who offer actual counterpoints to the article itself.

That’s how we play today. If you can throw in a “Trumps an asshole” or “Hilary is a crook”, I think you get extra credit.

Here’s a new flash: Not every silo approved article is filled with irefutable facts and opinions and not every non-approved article is guaranteed to be free of valid arguments. Furthermore, sometimes, an errant comment will spur a search for more relevant information and deeper knowledge.

Even as we drink from the fire hydrant of information, we must still apply critical thinking skills. Access is not the same as procurement.

I know, who has time for all of that? Our lives have become so consuming that the ability to feel well-informed through the consumption of sound bites from trusted sources is seen as a boon.

We used to mow our own lawns, clean our own houses, and take our own children to school. These days, if you can outsource it, so much the better. Go ahead and throw critical thinking on the barbecue as well. If I can get somebody else to do it, it frees up even more of my time.

I’ve said this for years, but it always bears repeating: At some point, we have to re-learn how to listen to each other and how to find kernels of truth in supposed barren fields. That is the very reason why critical thinking is so important.

But we are continually missing the point and worse off for it. Being “right” is more important than digging deeper and reaching a greater understanding.

We’ve created an expert class that is treated as if they are oracles, empowering them with selflessness and infallibility beyond reproach. This is not reflective of reality. We are all human, and as such, we are subject to individual follies and biases.

I’ve worked for years with a man that, based upon initial interactions, you might thing think he doesn’t know shit about shinnola. Spend some time with him, and really listen. You’ll discover he knows more about our business than 100 self-proclaimed experts.

That is not an infrequent experience.

Whenever I took a management job, I would immediately look for the person, be it a secretary or janitor, who had been there a while and always did the grunt work—often overlooked by everyone. I would then befriend them and listen. Invariably, they knew more about how the business actually ran, as opposed to how it ran in theory, than the CEO. They were usually all too willing to share, as long as I was willing to listen. Listen to all of it, not just what I bestowed value on.

Their information made me more knowledgeable and, ultimately, more successful.

This information could have provided the organization with more success long before I arrived.

We gotta learn to listen.

– – –

The Tennessee General Assembly has dropped the muscle car into fifth year in a mad dash to exit the building before the start of former State House Speaker Glen Casada’s upcoming April 22nd trial.

Casada, if you’ll remember, is accused, along with his former Chief of Staff, Cade Cothren, of running a kickback scheme to help the former chief of staff after he was fired in 2019 for his part in racist and sexist text messages. Casada resigned following the indictment, after a no-confidence vote by the House Republican Caucus.

According to federal documents, Cothren secretly ran the scheme so his identity wouldn’t be known, and Casada and former Rep Robin Smith (R-Hixson) directed business to him from Republican House members. Cothren was paid nearly $52,000 to do constituent mailers for House members.

The company at the center of the scheme, Phoenix Solutions, was purportedly run by the bogus “Matthew Phoenix”. The House Republican Caucus contracted the company and paid Matty roughly $140,000 to do caucus work.

That’s the short story. The only thing to add is that for Democrats, the April 22nd trial is like a long-awaited Christmas morning. One that looks to compensate for all the years your mom didn’t have money to buy you great gifts. This might be the year you get the long-desired bike.

That said, contentious bills are still circulating in the General Assembly. One such bill is HB 25.

This bill allows student-athletes to transfer once during their high school careers with no penalty. TSSAA, the long-time governing body of state high school sports, is not a fan.

They sent a letter to Tennessee high school coaches this past Sunday, “strongly” encouraging them to ask their local representatives to vote no on House Bill 25 and Senate Bill 16.

Initially, the TSSAA opposed changing its policy. However, earlier in the year, it adopted a new policy to mitigate lawmakers’ desire to grant more freedom to student-athletes. The new policy would allow athletes to make a one-time transfer as long as the school they were leaving signed off on the fact that they were leaving for academic purposes instead of athletic purposes. Previously, an athlete would have to sit out for a year.

Unfortunately for TSSAAA, lawmakers saw this policy change for what it was, a means to grant limited freedom while protecting the interests of the governing body and it’s members. Their appetite was not sated.

Many may not realize that Tennessee allows athletes to start receiving named, image, and likeness (NIL) payments in their junior year. The lack of an unencumbered transfer rules potentially limits their potential earnings.

Say you have a sophomore quarterback who has the potential to transfer and is being promised $500K in NIL money to play for another school. The current school can’t match that money but can block the transfer by claiming it as an athletic transfer. How is that fair to the athlete?

The money may seem extraordinary, and for most, it is, but it is real for others.

Per The Tennessean, HB25 and SB16 allow public schools to belong to the TSSAA as long as the association allows students one free transfer to another school due to a significant academic, social-emotional, environmental, or mental health need. That’s if the sending school’s administration attests the move is not for athletic or disciplinary reasons. The transfer must also take place before the first day of school.

The current governing body argued that their policy was less restrictive than the proposed law. Under their policy, students can transfer at any time for mental issues.

TSSAA is concerned about the finality of making high school athletic transfer rules into law. It believes state laws on the issue will open the door for litigation that one day could lead to a free-transfer policy in the state, similar to the NCAA. The TSSAA argues it is better poised to deal with unintended consequences than the legislative body.

TSSAA likes to portray itself as protecting the sanctity of high school competition and ensuring that athlete recruitment is discouraged. Not so much; competition is still uneven, with private schools and schools from richer districts often plucking the most skilled athletes from poorer districts or urban districts.

Just look at the number of coaches fired each year, and you’ll see the priority placed on winning. It’s hard for a coach to retain their job while depending on just the local athletes coming through the pipeline.

The Bill will go to the House floor next week after being passed out of the House education committee with a 10-9 vote. I’m not quite sure why all the Democrats voted “nay.”

Several cited “coach opposition” as a reason to be against the bill. Gee, I wonder why coaches are opposed.

Rep Yusef Hakeem (D-Chattanooga) asked representatives of the TSSA legal council what guardrails existed in their current policy and was told that by giving the current school administration a voice in the process, they remained true to their mission. An administration can remain silent for seven days, allowing the student transfer to proceed.

Rep Sam McKenzie (R-Knoxville), himself a high school football referee, argued that he has been around since 1925 and has evolved. This bill would hinder the ability to evolve. He further argues that in their 100 years of existence, they’ve done a great job. That is debatable.

Similar arguments are expected next week, and with that, the House Education Committee is closed for this session.

– – –

It’s school budget time in Nashville. In March, individual schools received their individual funding numbers. For the most part, schools saw an increase in funding (All School Allocations)

Overall, $595,585,858.58 is dedicated to individual school budgets, up from $557,941,920.20 in 2024. These are projected numbers, as the final MNPS budget has not been approved by the Metro Council. Those conversations will begin in earnest this month.

The budget review process revealed additional information about the district:

District (includes MNPS and Charter) enrollment for 2024‐25 grew by 0.20% or 159 students, from 80,434 to 80,593 students in grades PS -12.

Elementary school enrollment grew by 0.42% or 156 students, but Kindergarten enrollment slightly declined.

Middle school enrollment grew by 2.59% or 418 students.

High school enrollment declined by ‐.44% or (101) students, and this trend will continue for the next few years as smaller cohorts of 9th and 10th grade students roll forward.

MNPS School’s enrollment grew by 752 students, and district authorized charter school’s enrollment declined by (593) students (Rocketship NE moved to TPCSC).

During the budgeting process, district officials identified the following trends:

The number of live births for 2020 is relatively unchanged from 2019; therefore, the kindergarten projection will be similar to this year’s kindergarten enrollment.

Middle school enrollment saw a slight increase in 2023‐24 and is expected to continue to grow.

District leaders are still projecting declining high school enrollment in the coming years as the smaller middle school classes roll forward and the high enrollments in the upper

grade levels roll out.

Overall, they are projecting a slight increase in district enrollment as growth in the elementary and middle school tiers is offset by a projected decline in high school

enrollment.

Stakeholders can weigh in on the budget in the upcoming weeks.

– – –

Before slipping out the door, I need to acknowledge the passing of a Nashville icon this week. Goldrush Buster was known to a large swath of the Nashville from 1990 to the present.

A long-time bartender and cook at the Goldrush, a mainstay of what was once known as Nashville’s rock block.

Buster was a gregarious fellow with a hearty laugh and a heart too big for his body. Despite a gruff exterior, he was always quick with a joke, a sympathetic ear, or a hand. Another one of those folks that made Nashville a special place to live, separating it from all the other mid-size cities in the country.

Buster’s death is a cautionary tale for all of us raised on the gospel of work hard, play hard. He’d apparently been struggling with pneumonia for several weeks. Working when he could on the good days. On Monday, he was at when he passed out. They sent him home with instructions to go to the hospital/

Unfortunately, he made a decision that many of us would have made. He went home. Never going to the hospital.

The next day, when he failed to show for work, his employer sent someone around who discovered his body.

It’s heartbreaking. This one’s going to take a while. To ease the pain, I’d like to share one of Buster’s favorite stories with you.

One night, he was bartending at the Rush. I was at the bar having a drink, having recently been evicted from the home of a long-term girlfriend, I was between permanent residence. I don’t know what the kids call it today; we called it couch surfing.

He walked over and asked if I needed a refill.

“Nah”, I said. “I’m going to get on out of here.”

Quizzically, he looked at me.

“Where are you going to go?” he asked. “Home?”

Ouch. “Fuck you.” I replied, “Give me a shot and a beer. ” I sat back down.

I haven’t had a drink in twenty-five years, and that incident took place almost 30 years ago. But man, the number of times we cackled over it since.

He would often see me and repeat the long-ago-delivered phrase, “Where are you going to go? Home?”

And then we’d laugh as only two old drunks with a long shared history could.

Then, there was the time we all went up to Kentucky Kingdom in an RV. It was me, Cassie, Dibble, Buster, William, and…ah…that’s a story for another day. Suffice it to say, we had a lot of laughs.

I’m going to miss you, old friend. Instead of lifting a class to you, I will make a promise in remembrance.

I promise to heed your lesson and take better care of myself. Your lack of presence will not go unrecognized.

– – –

If you want me to highlight and share something, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Wisdom or criticism is always welcome.

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You can also donate through my Venmo (Thomas-Weber-10) or Cash App ($PeterAveryWeber)

A huge shout-out to all of you who’ve already lent your financial support. I am eternally grateful for your generosity. It allows me to keep doing what I do, and without you, I would have been forced to quit long ago. It is truly appreciated and keeps the bill collectors happy. Now more than ever, your continued support is vital.

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“Moments in time when the world is changing bring out the best and the worst in people.”
― Tan Twan Eng

Forgive me if I am a little groggy today. We are in the midst of our first varsity baseball season. Which means 4 games a week and long rides home in the late evening.

Some of you, who don’t know better, might question my descriptive us of “our” in describing the season. “You are not not out on the field playing, so why are you saying, our?” They might challenge, “That’s like saying we are pregnant when it’s actually your wife who is the pregnsnt one.”

Ah…but trust me when I say, “Parents are playing. Just on a different field.”

Just like the ball players, parents are expected to contribute and support. The concession stand, the gate, and the grill are all manned by parents. I don’t know how your local team does it, but for us, the sign-up genious goes out for about a week prior to the season and then it’s automatic fill in.

Expectations are that you’ll cover your shift, and you don’t really want to question what will happen if it goes uncovered. Nobody wants to be that guy, or gal, especially when this will be your peer group for 4 times a week for 2 months. It’s easier to just grab a spatula and take a shift.

Games last around two hours, but players are there an hour early and responsibilities don’t end once the final out is recorded.

After receiving the coach’s post game benediction, players begin the ritual of caring for the field. Base paths, the pitchers mound, and the batting area all need raking. A tarp is pulled over the mound and the plate area, weighted down with heavy sand bags. Everybody pitches in from seniors to freshmen.

Afterwards, it may be late, but sustinance must be found. We often find ourselves at Waffle House, rehashing the night’s contest over a stack of waffles and eggs.

He’s a freshman, grateful for opportunity to play but starving for more. He understand the pecking order but doesn’t fully accept it. Fortunately, he’s blessed with coaches, who understand both the talent and drive. Who will nurture and develop those qualities.

A drive that sends him, despite the late nights, to the batting cages at 6 AM through out the week, for some pre-school hitting practice.

Something else I’ve learned, washing a baseball uniform is it’s own ritual – one I’m not going to share in fear of missing a step or two. Suffice it to say, it takes scrubbing soaking, and supplemental cleaner. Grass, dirt, and blood, tend to cling to a uniform a bit longer then regular clothes. At least that’s how it feels.

I’ve learned that it is a cardinal sin to throw a uniform in the drier. Do so and you run the risk of Pete Rose, Billy Martin, or Micky Rivers showing up your door to escort you to purgatory. Where is my mother’s back yard laundry line when I need. Instead numerous jerseys are strewn around the house to air dry.

None of this is unique to us.

All across the country similar rountines are playing out.

Fathers and sons.

Mothers and sons.

Fathers and daughters.

Mothers and daughters.

All sharing a common bond.

In the midst of it, it all seems overwhelming and it’s easy to get lost in the here and now – forgetting how fleeting it all is. In a blink of an eye freshman are suddenly seniors and the final days re in sight.

Some of the best advice I ever got was a from a father at my bar one late night. He was a former athletes who’d raised three college atheletes,

As we are want to do, talk turned to youth sports. After about 20 minutes of rehasing our offsprings atheletic feats, he got serious.

“I’m oing to tell you something and I don’t want you to ever forget it.” He said looking me squarely in the eye, “This is the most important thing – it ends.”

“No matter how talent you are, whether it’s in middle school or after a Hall of Fame career, it all ends. All of us are given a finate number of games and when that number is exhausted – its done. And you’ll never recover those times.”

Those words echo through my head everytime I struggle through traffic to make it to a cross town game. They echo as I stand in 40 degree weather watching an early March game, freezing while we get run ruled by a local private school.

Those words run through me when the team comes from behind in the ninth to snatch a game from a cross town rival or when his fellow freshman, and nearly life long friend, smashes a hit – showing that he’s ready for the challenge of varsity ball.

None of it, not the good nor the bad, will last forever.

That’s why, come 4 o’clock most days in the coming weeks, you’ll find me at the ball park.

– – –

Winding it’s way through the Tennessee General Assembly is a bill that would peermit schools collect immigration data from students. The proposed law would allow public schools to check students’ immigration status and charge tuition to students who cannot provide proof that they are in the country legally. Needless to say, the legislation has raised pasionate responses.

Unfortunately the current conversation conflates legal immigration and unregulated immigration. They are not the same, and you can support one and not the other without being anti-immigrant. To suggest otherwise is disingenuos at best.

As the son of a first generation immigrant, I have mixed emotions over the bill. From a logistics stand point, schools just don’t have the capacity to absorb another responsibility. They are struggling with all the mandates already heaped on their plates.

We claim that schools exist to educate students, yet are quick to turn teachers into social workers, psychologists, nutrition experts, and now supposedly border agents. Then we scratch our head in wonderment when we don’t get desired results.

On the flip side, despite a lack of discourse, the reality is that the demand for required English learner services and teachers has nearly doubled in the last several years. A demand that smaller districts, let alone the larger ones, are struggling to meet.

Patrick Basnett with Professional Educators of Tennessee says schools are trying to hire more ESL teachers, but they face obstacles with communication gaps, inadequate interpreter services, and a scarcity of educational materials available in the student’s native languages.

“It was determined that there were over 120 languages being spoken in our schools,” Basnett said.

Many of these non-English speaking students come to Tennessee classrooms with little formal education. It is not uncommon to find third graders entering schools reading on a kindergarten level. Addressing these challenges requires more teachers, more materials and more cost.

The solution can’t be to just increase funding. Despite an altrusic desire, Tennessee tax payers can not be expected to foot the bill for specialized needs of the world’s children.

Financial resources are not infinite. Fund one thing, and you have to lower funding for another. Should lawmakers put undocumented students ahead of those who are citizens. Spreading the money potentially means an inadequate services for everyone. Is that what we want?

Bill sponser William Lamberth (R-Portland) doesn’t think so.

“It is not fair to the rest of the families in that community that all do pay for that entire educational structure and that system to bear the brunt of those additional expenses,” Lamberth said.

Others disagree.

“We should not put our children — the least of us, those that cannot do for themselves — in the middle of an adult battle,” Democratic Rep. Sam McKenzie of Knoxville said. “This is a bully bill.”

I would ask, who are “our” children? It’s a hard question to ask and an even harder one to answer.

Some argue that undocumented immigrants are already contributing financially through sales taxes. Undocumented immigrants in Tennessee contribute $314.2 million in federal, state, and local taxes, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

Proponents would argue these undocumented immigrants contribute to American’s quality of life by taking many of the jobs that would go unfilled without them. Perhaps true as well.

But let ask, if I broke into your house and robbed it, but mowed the lawn and washed the dishes before departing, would you still press charges?

Sadly immigration regulation is a neccesary evil. For security and health reasons alone, it’s imparative that we know who is entering the country and who is here. Not having some kind of regulation leaves open to attack from foreign enemies and outbreaks from disease.

Now, do we need immigration reform? I think we need to have a serious conversation. One that isn’t rife with hyperbole.

Some would portray illegal immigrants as sainted individuals in search of a better life for themselves and their family. Hard working, honorable, exemplary mebers of society.

Others paint a picture of lazy criminals looking to suck off the teat of America.

Both work to rob these individuals of their humanity. Illegal immigrants are not carrictures constructed to further a political agenda. Rather they are people. simpl

Some good, some bad, but most a mixture of the two. Driven by various ambitions. No different than the rest of us. They deserve to be portrayed as such.

I don’t have answers here, but I do wish that both sides would reduce the rhetoric and look for solutions. That solution likely lies in both increasing funding and limiting some access.

Still, I have little hope for the political theater to diminish.

On Wednesday, as Rep. Lamberth gave closing remarks ahead of the vote in the House Education committee, he was interrupted by opponents of the bill seated in the hearing room, who began singing, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.” Amidst the singing, a young child walked up to lawmakers and began shouting, “You’re attacking my friends!”

We often preceive choice as being between good and bad, but often choice means choosing between two bad propositions. That’s likely the case here.

– – –

Peter Greene has a new piece out this week that attempts to justify the existence of the US Department of Education. It’s an interesting piece but ultimately, in my not so humble opinion, fails to make a convincing argument.

No piece of this nature would be worth its salt, if didn’t begin by establishing the inherihent evil of President Trump. I’d argue that any defense of a department’s existence should be put forth sans an antagonist. The central question should always be, why does the department exist regardless of who sits in the Oval Office. Including Trump in the defense makes it a partisan defense, and that’s where my issue lies, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

Greene writes;

A major part of that involves some lies and misdirection. The Trumpian line that we spend more than anyone and get the worst results in the world is a lie. But it is also a misdirection, a misstatement about the department’s actual purpose.

Likewise, it’s a misstatement when the American Federation of Children characterizes the “failed public policy” of “the centralization of American education.” But the Department wasn’t meant–or built–to centralize US education.

The department’s job is not to make sure that American education is great. It is expressly forbidden to exert control over the what and how of education on the state and local level.

It’s interesting that in these types of arguments, critics are often dismissed as not understanding or misidefining the concept. I’ve talked often bout the use of specialized language as a tool to mitigate debate. It’s been successfully deployed in arguements over critical race theory and DEI. Yes often term opponents arguments evoke terms that don’t truly define their concerns.

DEI, if employed as advertised is a fantastic thing. Critical Race Theory is not being taught in schools. That’s not to say that there are elements of both that are causing issues, and deserve to be addressed.

Parents and others are not well versed in the specialized language, and so they look for the closest terms that seem to define their concerns. Often time that usage is fuel by disingenuous actors who wish to employ those concerned as political tools. In the end, no one benefits.

In theory, the USDOE is a wonderful beautiful idea, Unfortunately things have played out a little different.

Something that Greene acknowledges in his next paragraph.

The Trump administration is certainly not the first to ignore any of that. One of the legacies of No Child Left Behind is the idea that feds can grab the levers of power to attempt control of education in the states. Common Core was the ultimate pretzel– “Don’t call it a curriculum because we know that would be illegal, but we are going to do our damnedest to standardize the curriculum across every school in every state.” For twenty-some years, various reformsters have tried to use the levers of power in DC to reconfigure US education as a centrally planned and coordinated operation (despite the fact that there is nowhere on the globe to point to that model as a successful one). And even supporters of the department are speaking as if the department is an essential hub for the mighty wheel of US education.

Trump is just working with the tools left lying around by the bipartisan supporters of modern education reform.

This would have been a prime opportunity to mention President Obama’s Race to the Top legislation.

In my eyes, RTTT opened the Pandora’s box to the majority of issues we face today – excessive testing, centralized standards, national teacher prep programs, and the rise in the influnce of outside private interests in eduacation policy.

To say that there are not entities committed to creating a national education system, and willing to use the USDOE as a tool in that goal, is just not true.

If you don’t think that Race to the Top has contributed to nationalizaion of k-12 education, you are either ignorant or disingenuous, and Peter Greene is neither.

He does evoke an intersting view, when the portrays the role of the Department of Education as being rooted in the Civil Rights movement.

I’d argue that the roots of the department are not the Carter administration, but the civil rights movement of the sixties and the recognition that some states and communities, left to their own devices, would try to cheat some children out of the promise of public education. Derek Black’s new book Dangerous Learning traces generations of attempts to keep Black children away from education. It was (roughly) the 1960s when the country started to grapple more effectively with the need for federal power to oppose those who would stand between children and their rights.

The programs that now rest with the department came before the department itself, programs meant to level the playing field so that the poor (Title I) and the students with special needs (IDEA) would get full access. The creation of the department stepped up that effort and, importantly, added an education-specific Civil Rights office to the effort.

That’s a legitimate point. But remember those challenges and threats came with both parties in power. This is an argument that can stand sans the Trumpian demogougry, focusing on Trump only serves to weaken the argument and open a door for a counteer argument from Trump supporters,

It becomes the unspoken argument that without the Department of Education, when Democrats are not in power, Republicans will throw their children to the wolves. Again that is just not true. Both parties regularly promote policies that better serve adults instead of kids.

Greene closes with the following paragraph:

That’s what the loss of the department means– a loss of a department that, however imperfectly, is supposed to protect the rights of students to an education, regardless of race, creed, zip code, special needs, or the disinterest and prejudice of a state or community. Has the department itself lost sight of that mission from time to time? Sure has. Have they always done a great job of pursuing that mission? Not at all. But if nobody at all is supposed to be pursuing that goal, what will that get us?

His closing argument seems to boil down to. “Yea they kinda sucked, and were often manipulated by politicians, but without them, whos’s going to protect students?”

That’s not a strong argument. The statement, “protect the rights of students to an education, regardless of race, creed, zip code, special needs, or the disinterest and prejudice of a state or community” sounds great on a t-shirt, but what does it really mean?

Some would argue that means lowering the bar, so that all can reach it. But does that serve all students including those more gifted and perhaps having more resources? In the coming weeks I’ll be talking high school calculous and the inherant inequity baked into the pathways. All students are not adequately served.

As a parent there are few things more disheartening then the realization that despite their inate abilities there are resources that your child will never have access to, It’s a reality for most parents and unfortunately one that is acerbated by the good intentions of government officials.

Life is filled with inequities, and no goverment entity is capable of erasing those. It constantly amazes me that the equity fight goes on with a large swath of the population opting of battle. Parents with means send their kids to private school or magnate school, while those left behind argue over equitable resources while in an unequitable situation. Even if public school were capable of becoming equitable, there is still a growing population that has access to far greater resources, thus upon graduation have a pronounced advantage.

The question should be how do we decrease that advantage.

My argument against the USDOE remains that the USDOE is charged with a mission that they have limited tools to serve. As such it remains a mission that comes with more loses then wins.

Furthermore, despite its title, it remains a Department populated by people who are not educators. Not a lot of former teachers employed by the department. I doubt that your principal left their position to assume a role of leadership at the USDOE.

That’s an issue for me.

That said, I encourage you to read Peter Greene. Agree or disagree, you’ll always be better for it.

I know I am

– – –

If you want me to highlight and share something, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Wisdom or criticism is always welcome.

As you may suspect, keeping this blog going comes at a cost. In that light, I’ve set up several ways for you to show your financial support.

You can also donate through my Venmo (Thomas-Weber-10) or cashAp ($PeterAveryWeber)

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“Lift up the hem of verbiage, peek below its frillies – what’s exposed? the hairy truth?”

― Joshua Cohen, Book of Numbers

According to WordPress, I’ve produced a thousand pieces since starting this blog nearly a decade ago.

I’m not saying I’ve created a thousand good pieces; some were better than others. That said, I do think I’ve produced a body of work that I am proud of claiming.Hopefully, we’ve gotten better as time has gone on. Here’s to the next 1000.

There is a saying I prescribe to – the way you do anything is the way you do everything. Basically how you treat the small things, translates to how you’ll approach the larger. It’s a bit of a twist on the old, how you practice is how you play, trope.

A number of years ago a friend was considering leaving a school district and exploring other options. At the time she didn’t have anything else lined up, but felt that she had to go, despite her deep commitment to the children and the mission. Leadership was poor and she worried about their ineffectiveness affecting her peformance.

My advice was, you gotta go. It was a response that shocked her.

I explained workplace culture influences us. It erodes or cements habits based on the example set by management.

At the time district leaders were never on time for meetings, and rarely showed up prepared. Presentations were frequently canceled, or reduced to quick bulletin points. It was only a matter of time before those traits spread to the lower ranks.

My friend was a hard worker, who always showed up early and was well prepared, but if she remained in her position those traits would erode due to a lack of leadership support. Slowly but surely, she would end up showing up later and become a little less prepared. It would be a quiet and unnoticed devolution, but when she moved to her next job, she would be shocked at the number of bad habits traveled that with her.

My friend left her position and joined an organization whose values are more closely aligned with hers. Today she’s quite successful and continues to show up to meetings early and prepared.

This is something I’ve seen in youth sports over the years. Coaches often preach a certain work ethic, but fail to communicate that through their decisions. Kids who don’t practice still start. Players who treat practice lightly, for whatever reason, are not benched and instead, their habits are picked up by teammates.

The unintended communications matter.

Language and dress code rules are not enforced, and coaches are shocked at the sloppy play displayed by their players.

Again, how you do anything is how you do everything.

Evidence of this idiom was on full display at this week’s Metro Nashville Public School’s Board meeting.

It’s been beaten into my head over the years that a budget is a moral document – you fund what you think is important.

By applying that standard, a meeting agenda is also a moral document – you talk about things in their order of importance.

After the board dispatched with the honors and recognitions it was time for the board to get down to business.

So what would the next order of business be? Would board members take up school safety, or would it talk about fresh student performance data? Data that the district had just received the evening before?

If you’ve been paying attention over the last decade, you already know the answer to this one.

Around midnight, on the night before the board meeting, MNPS received a report produced by groups at Harvard and Stanford called Education Recovery Scorecard. The scorecard was designed to grade districts across the country on their recovery from learning loss caused by the pandemic. How you lose something you never had was not included in the report, but that is a different topic for a different day.

Former district data guru Paul Changas was brought back to brief the board on the earth-shattering news that MNPS was leading the nation in recovering from the pandemic. Changes told the board that since the report came out at midnight that morning, he was just going to provide an overview.

Help me here, data from another bullshit academic report warrants studying after a midnight release to take it up at a board meeting where school safety in the wake of two students losing their lives in a school shooting.

Why the urgency is beyond me. Nothing in this report is guiding instruction, nor will it influence instruction this year.

Let’s weigh the potential outcomes of the two subjects being considered for discussion. Is instruction going to collapse because the board didn’t award themselves a pat on the back based on some test scores?

Does another student potentially lose their life because the board didn’t fully vet and pursue all safety measures?

Which outcome is more likely to come to pass?

So, here we were talking about data and the wonderful job Superintendent Dr Adrienne Battle is doing.Did I mention, we are lucky to have her?

According to the report card, MNPS ranks 9th out of 100 of the largest urban districts for post-pandemic recovery in reading. MNPS recovered a quarter of a grade level between 2022-24. I guess that’s earth-shattering and worth burning the midnight oil for presentation to the board.

The way you do anything is the way you do everything.

After an adequate time devoted to fawning, the board shifted to the school safety conversation and more specifically the deployment of a new security sytem for hish schools.

Battle kicked off the discussion by listing the many things that the district is already doing, assuring board members that this isn’t a new subject, district leaders had been hard at work on it for a while.”

MNPS is considering expanding an existing contract to install a weapons detection system similar to the ones used in entertainment and sporting events across the country. Subjects go through the detectors, and if an alarm is set off, they are pulled aside for further evaluations.

People walking through the detection system are not required to empty their pockets, like with a traditional metal detector. Still, pace is set aside so students can leave items that have been known to set off the system – umbrellas, eyeglasses, binders, computers – to speed the process.

If you listen to the whole discussion, you’ll discover that speeding up the process is a pretty important concern concern, maybe even higher than getting it right,

Typically, I haven’t been a big fan of student membership on the board, but in this case, they proved the two student board members were rockstars. Contributing much more to the discussion then their adult counterparts.

Student board member Christine Tran, from Lawson High School, opened the conversation by asking what should probably be the most critical question, “Do we know what the accuracy rate is for the AI technology we’ll be using?”

Dr. Battle replied with a stammer and a “let me introduce you to some people” response. Suddenly, the people who loved data couldn’t supply any.

The representatives of the software providers couldn’t give a clear answer either. They could tell you the percentage of students who were stopped and searched additionally—less than 10%—but could not provide a precise accuracy number.

I don’t know what you do with that less than 10% number. Does that mean it’s deterring weapons or just processing people at a rapid rate? It’s like the question of whether fewer arrests equal fewer crimes. Maybe…maybe not.

The company representative made it clear what was important when she commented on the pilot program at Antioch HS, “90% of students are going through the system without interruption and getting their butts in seats for instruction.” She added, “Like Dr. Battle always says, we are trying to balance the nurturing and supporting environment with the need for student safety.”

Tran’s fellow student board member, Hannah Nguyen, John Overton High School, quickly followed with a request to learn more about the two-week-old pilot program at Antioch HS. Both student inquiries were greeted with body language and curtness familiar to any teen who has ever talked out of turn to an adult. One who wished that they would stop talking and go back to silent mode.

I applaud both of these young ladies for their courage and skill in directing a conversation that seemed centered on adult needs to where it needed to be directed—to students.

I have no desire to dissect the rest of the board’s discussion; you can watch it for yourself and form your own opinions. For my part, I remain continually struck by the district leadership’s lack of familiarity with schools and their day-to-day operations. It’s just appalling, and even more than that, it is depressing.

To add insult to injury, in response to the Antioch HS tragedy, Dr. Battle has announced that recently retired Chief Academic Officer Mason Bellamy would be returning to the district as a Chief of Special Projects. In this role, he would support—not lead—efforts to restore the Antioch community and develop district response plans based on the lessons learned.

MNPS Chiefs are paid an annual salary of over $200K. It’s apparently Dr. Battles opinion that the best candidate available for this work is one who has spent most of his career in Clarksville, Tennessee, where he still lives. Better yet, Bellamy’s entire teaching career was spent at the elementary school level.

Let’s not forget Chris Henson currently holds the title of Chief of Special Projects. He will hold that position until the end of the fiscal year. Still, MNPS has added yet another Chief. Soon the will need to hire a Chief of Chiefs, to oversee the growing number of Chiefs.

The second biggest sin of this whole tragedy – the first being the loss of student life – is that Dr. Battle and her leadership team continue to treat the shooting as an incident that could only happen at Antioch HS. To continue to opperate from that perspective is an insult the dedicated students, teachers, and families of the Antioch community.

I don’t mean to burst anybody’s bubble, but there is no shortage of MNPS schools where this incident could have happened. Treating it as an isolated instance is reactionary and fails to fully protect district students.

Remember, the way you do anything is the way you do everything.

– – –

Good news for some MNPS teachers: The pay bonus promised to those who teach in priority schools has finally arrived in their bank accounts.

The money supplied by the federal government was supposed to be delivered by the second week of December, approximately two months ago.

The delay was never fully explained, and teachers were instructed to be patient.

Of course, the money arrived today without explanation or appreciation for that patience. There was no communication—just the money.

Bonuses are designed as encouragement and reward for doing prescribed work. They are only valuable to employers if they are delivered with a message depicting why they are being offered.

How do you do anything is how you do everything.

– – –

Governor Lee is pushing new legislation to revise current charter school law and allow some potential operators to bypass their local elected school boards and apply directly to a state commission for authorization.

Per ChalkbeatTN:

The legislature’s Republican majority leaders have filed a bill on behalf of Lee’s administration to create three new pathways for charter school operators to seek approval from the state:

Beginning July 1, any school board whose decision to deny a charter application is overturned by the state three times within three years, the local board could be bypassed, allowing a charter operator to apply directly to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission for authorization during the next five years.
Public colleges and universities could apply to the state commission to open a charter school for K-12 students.
An operator with at least one charter school that is authorized by a local school board or the state commission and that has been operational for at least one year could apply either to the local district or state commission to replicate its model to create one or more charter schools.

This proposed legislation shouldn’t be a shock to anyone. Over the last several years, MNPS has routinely denied Charter school applicants. The Charter School Commission has overturned seven of nine rejections. Indeed, they didn’t think everybody would keep doing the same dance steps forever.

My favorite quote in the Chalkbeat article is, “Asked about the proposed changes to the state’s charter school law, a spokesman for Nashville’s school system said district officials do not typically comment publicly on pending legislation.”

– – –

Our old flame, Penny Schwinn, continues to rack up negative news. Some of you might remember that early this summer, she took a gig at the University of Florida as part of school president Ben Sasse’s cabinet. The position allowed her to work remotely and collect a little less than $400K a year.

Unfortunately for her, three months after her hire, Sasse departed, and she was encouraged to leave as well. Equally unfortunate for her, university officials aren’t done talking about Sassee’s spending habits.

Per The Tennessean

A report from Florida’s auditor general found Sasse inappropriately spent exorbitant university funds during his brief tenure, including more than $300,000 in university funds on private charter jet flights with no clear business purposes, and $169,755 on a holiday party.

Auditors also determined that Sasse hired and awarded allies with salaries that far exceeded the university’s market-rate averages.

Yes, they are talking about our girl. But it gets. Better.

One position scrutinized in the audit was held by Schwinn – who last month President Donald Trump nominated as deputy education secretary in his administration. The Senate has not yet confirmed Schwinn’s nomination.

According to the audit, Schwinn was not hired through the university’s required competitive process, nor could the university provide a job description for her. Schwinn’s salary was far above the market rate, the audit found.

Imagine that.

BHA Strategy currently employs Schwinn as a COO. The BH stands for Blake Harris, a former advisor to Governor Bill Lee. Two other former Bill Lee cabinet members—Brent Easley and Laine Arnold—serve as principal officers.

Schwinn’s bio on the BHA website lists her as an operating partner at TheVistriaGroup, a private equity group, though I can’t find any mention of her on the website.

Again, how you do anything is how you do everything.

– – –

If you have something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Wisdom or criticism is always welcome.

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“The horse is brown or chestnut or one of those other technical terms horsepeople use to make it clear that they know stuff other people don’t; the freemasonry of the hoof.”
― Nick Harkaway, The Gone-Away World

Last night, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee delivered his 7th annual State of The State speech. Which is one more closer to nymber 8 – the one I’m waiting for, but I digress.

Over the last 7 years, the good Governor has gotten real good at talking alot without really saying anything.

This year’s speech hit all the high points, pay raises for teacher, expanding daycare, expanding civics instruction, along with a push to connect today’s students with tomorrow’s jobs. He treated them all like mini-Beetlejuice. Just say the name and they’ll magicly appear.

As long as you didn’t look to close, it all sounded fantastic.

Case in point, teacher salaries.

Lee announced that the minimum annual teacher salary would increase to $47,000 for the 2025-26 school year, up from $44,500 currently. Remember, the Gov pledged in 2023 to gradually get teachers’ base pay to $50,000 by the fall of 2027, his last full year in office. This is just the latest step.

However, if you take a look behind the numbers, you’lll find that Tennessee teachers are earning less than they were a decade ago, adjusted for inflation, and the state continues to trail most of the nation in student funding, according to the latest data from the National Education Association.

You can go through just about every item on Governor’s Lee list and conduct the same compare and contrast and and arrive at the same evaluation. It’s what Lee. does. He’s like that friend who always promioses to eat at your favorite restaurant, but somehow you always eat at their favorite place.

As part of his speech, Lee took a victory lap on his newly passed voucher legislatio, as well he should, he’s earned it.

As part of his recently passed legislation, vouchers are budgeted at $148 million and are expected to increase to $167 million in the second year as more sign up for the $7,300 vouchers to enroll in private schools. Critics claim that two-thirds of the 20,000 students slated to accept vouchers in the first year are enrolled in private schools already.

I’ve yet to figure out how this number is arrived at, other then through a comparison with other states. I’m equally baffled as to why critics feel this a stong argument, other then the belief that if you’ve found a way to somehow pay tuition, then you can just go right on paying. As if there are no working class families sending their kids to private schools?

Maybe, this will prove to be true.

I can almost guarentee you one unintended consequence, you will see is an increase in private school tuition for those schools that accept vouchers. Before you start screaming. let me walk you through the math.

Say as a parent you’ve been paying 12K annually. Remember, these are hypothetical numbers.

Tuition is practically breaking you, but you are pulling it off.

You get a voucher for 7k, now you are only paying 5k a year. You are likely pretty stoked about it.

The private school probably needs a little more cash, so they raise tuition to 15K. That means you are now paying 8k a year, which probably doesn’t thrill you, but it is still better than 12K a year.

Who’s going to hold the private school accountable?

Now there are probably some constraints written in the bill about how much of a tuition increase schools can make, but remember tuition isn’t the only place to siphon off some voucher cash. Books and activity fees, also provide effective vehicles for increasing costs.

It had been my hope that passage of the voucher bill would quell the public conversation over vouchers. Alas, I think we are destined to carry on for another decade.

Getting back to last night, the only thing less impressive then the Governor’s speech, was the walkout staged by 12 Democrat legislators. The Democrats later told The Tennessean that it was in protest of Lee’s special session legislation that included a private school voucher program and an immigration enforcement plan that Democrats have criticized as anti-democratic.

Rep. Vincent Dixie, D-Nashville, criticized Republicans for starting every House session off with a prayer before doing “some of the most unChristian-like things in that chamber.”

“Jesus would do none of the things that they’re doing. We’re here to protect the least among us, the unhouses, the people who are the most vulnerable,” Dixie said.

I get it, but how is this effective?

Did anybody in chamber even noticed they walked out?

How about the people that are expected to show up at the polls in two years? Did any of them say, “Hey I didn’t know that legislation was bad, until the democrats walked out. ‘m voting for them next time”? Yea…not likely.

The politics of outrage are so ineffective. If you are truly outraged, work to get different people elected.

I understand that doing so is hard, but it’s a damn sight more effective then a dozen folks standing around yelling, “dammit, ref I’m mad”, into a microphone in fromt of the cameras.

Especially in a state where recent election results show that most people don’t share your views.

With the Governor’s speech in the rearview mirror we can now move into the people’s business, and damn it’s going to be an interesting one.

– – –

Two bills up early in the game are ones that I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out.

State Senator Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) has an “Anti-Road Rage Act” HB1191. it would make shooting inside of a car a Class E felony, which carries a one to six-year sentence. Brandishing a gun would be made a Class A misdemeanor, carrying a sentence of up to a year. I’m all for this one, though I’d argue that just brandishing a gun in a car should be considered a felony.

I was brought up that just showing a gun or knife, is the same as using it. Off the top of my head I can’t think of a single instance during my 60 years on this earth that I needed to wave a gun while in a car. Furthermore the bridge from waving to firing, is a bit short for my liking.

It’s a law that is needed in Tennessee. WSMV reports that In 2023, Tennessee averaged over three people shot per one million people in road rage shootings. We ranked third in the country for such an incident.

The other bill is one filed by Jody Barrett (R-Dickson) Barrett’s bill would seek to fundamentally secure the right to homeschool in Tennessee per the state constitution and would restrict the government from abrogating that right in any way. It would restrict the government from employing any and all regulatory schemes over a homeschool even in the case that state funding is eventually extended to homeschools (with the current ESA program, for example).

To quote Tennessee Stand, “It’s very simple. HJR 92 is a proposed constitutional amendment that would secure a parent’s inherent right to homeschool their child, free from any government restrictions. Period. In fact, if successfully amended to the constitution, it would require all current statutory regulations to be repealed.

So, this amendment clarifies that even in the instance that a homeschool family might accept any government funds in any form in the future, the state still has no authority to regulate that homeschool, regardless of any state funding mechanism in place. In other words, the parent’s fundamental right to homeschool can not be infringed upon by the state in any circumstance.”

At it’s core, what this bill does is remove homeschoolers from any kind of government oversight. Are their really people out there in 2025 that think the government is just going to let you educate your kids willy0nilly, how you see fit with no oversight or guidance? And, that in some cases taxpayers will pay for it?

I can’t tell if Barrett is serious or if this is just him fucking with his fellow Republicans.

Either way, it has little chance of passing since the Democrats don’t really like him, and he’s pissed off all the Republicans with his vocal anti-voucher position.

– – –

Tonight, the Metro Nashville Public School’s Board is slated to consider installing a concealed weapons detection system into all district high schools. The action comes just weeks after two students lost their lives in a school shooting incident.

In the wake of the shooting, Antioch High reopened with a new concealed weapons detection system in place known as Evolv. The system includes scanners at the entrance of the school similar to what a stadium or arena might use for entry into an event. System Integrations, which owns Evovl, loaned a system to Antioch High for a monthlong pilot as students returned\

According to a MNPS press release, “that system has proven effective in screening for potential weapons while quickly moving students into school to begin their day. Each day this has been implemented, students were able to enter the building in time to grab breakfast and get to their classrooms before the first morning bell.”

I’m hoping at least one board member asks for data that supports this district statement. What are the data points utilized to realize this conclusion, or is this just some prounncement made to quell critics?

I would also hope that at least one board member asks for a copy of the contract in question and a time line going forward that includes implementation in middle and elementary schools.

Another point of contention for me, would be the contract itself.

MNPS is attempting to expand off of a contract already in existence with Systems Integration, inc. That contract was entered into this past summer. It was a four year contract for $3,000,000 this year and not to exceed $15,000,000 for the duration of the contract.

The purpose of that contract was to purchase, install, maintain, and repair of video surveillance and threat detection systems. If I’m not mistaken, these are the camera’s that failed to detect a gun at Antioch HS. At least I think it is. MNPS has no contract with Evovl or Omnilert.

In digging through the current contract, it appears that MNPS’s contract is with Systems Integration, inc who uses Omnilert products, including those under Evolv, in the instalation of security systems. While there is nothing nefarious at play here, for the sake of transparency, all of this should probably be clarified, along with an explanation of what went wrong with the current configuration that cost MNPS $3m and two students there lives.

MNPS Director Adrienne Battle has said, expanding Evolv is “an important step forward” and would take time to implement effectively to make sure the transition is smooth.

I would love to hear a little bit more about why she thinks that and how we are going ensure that a failure doesn’t repeat itself.

It would probably be a good idea for a board member to publicly ask, where the funds for the contract are being drawn from.

The boar agenda says, Various Operating Budgets, Grant Funds, and Potential Capital Funds. In other words we are going to search through the sofa cushions?

For any of that discussion to happen, the contract will have to be pulled from the consent agenda, where it currently lives with maintence contracts, teacher tenure, and FY 2025-2026 financial goals.

We shall see.

– – –

If you’ve got something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Either wisdom or criticism is always welcome.

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“Not for the first time Marianne thinks cruelty does not only hurt the victim, but the perpetrator also, and maybe more deeply and more permanently. You learn nothing very profound about yourself simply by being bullied; but by bullying someone else you learn something you can never forget.”
― Sally Rooney, Normal People

Old Donald Trump has hit the ground running. The newly sworn-in President is throwing out executive orders at an exhausting pace. While the list of orders has been lengthy, there is more to come.

One that is in the drafting phase would start the process of eliminating the Federal Department of Education,

The first question that comes to mind is, can he actually do it?

That question would be quickly followed by, should he?.

Hypothetically, he can weaken the department considerably. Dissolution would take an act of Congress.

This is not the first time that Trump has had the DOE in his sights. During his first term, his administration proposed merging the Education and Labor Departmentsinto one federal agency. That didn’t get any traction, even though Republicans controlled both the Senate and the House.

People tend to forget that the Department of Education is a relatively new government agency. It was created in 1979. Many of the federal government programs it administers predate the creation of the DOE, they were just housed in different agencies. This includes federal funding programs for K-12 schools that help support the education of students from low-income families and children with disabilities,

Many of those programs would likely continue even if the DOE doesn’t. The programs and resources would be transferred to other agencies which would distribute the funding. Hypothetically it could mean more money and fewer strings would pass to the states. Everybody likes that.

When discussing the potential dissolving of the DOE, it is important to note the role the funding plays in school budgets. Federal funding makes up a small portion of public school budgets — roughly 14% — but it adds targeted support for low-income schools and special education, among other grant programs.

Last year, Tennessee lawmakers took a deep dive into federal education funding under the idea that they could reject federal funding. While people on the blue side of the aisle were highly critical, I think in the end it opened some eyes. Lawmakers got a better picture of how federal funding works, and for many it served as an eye-opening look in the mirror. There was a realization that not all the issues were on the federal government side, but lay with the state.

Ultimately the question of is it a good thing or bad thing comes down to who you trust more – the state or the federal government.

I’m not going to get into that argument, because it would take more than a minute or two, but I would think that if you were serious about dissolving an agency, you would want people in charge who actually understood how the agency worked.

Penny Schwinn ain’t the one.

I continue to find it amusing that President Trump is proposing a candidate to run a federal agency whose rules they couldn’t follow when they were on the other side of the table.

During her tenure as the head of the Tennessee Department of Education, Schwinn put millions of federal funds at risk through her failure to follow the law. A letter was sent to Scwinn outlining their concerns:

“The assessment and accountability compliance issues are significant because they not only impact the state’s ability to provide clear and transparent information to the public about school performance, but also result in the state using information that is not comparable across schools in TDOE’s statewide accountability system,” the letter states.

State leaders have 30 days to submit evidence that the state has taken steps to correct these issues, or risk losing Title I, part A funding, which helps fund low-income schools. Federal documents say the state received more than $328 million in Title I, Part A funds in 2021.

I am placing a condition on TDOE’s Title I, Part A grant award until such time as these issues are fully resolved,” the letter stated.

The letter was the result of a USDOE performance review of Tennessee’s K- 12 grant programs and education laws. A review found ways Tennessee schools either used federal funds inappropriately or didn’t provide documentation proving otherwise. It identified 18 ways the state needs to take corrective action.

Some of those Schwinn and company corrected, but not until she played at least a year of chicken with the Feds by ignoring their correspondence. Ironic that the shoe will soon be on the other foot.

Despite Schwinn’s multiple failures, establishment Republicans continue to leap to the defense of their heroine. Arguing that competence over cultural warfare should serve as a hallmark for conservatives while heaping praise on Schwinn.

The latest is education activist Robert Pondiscio urges conservatives. In my opinion, if we are talking about Schwinn, competence is the last thing you want people to focus on, but he goes forth with the argument.

“If conservatives demand competence from fire departments and other government services, why not demand it from schools? Schwinn’s leadership in Tennessee was marked by a laudable focus on literacy and teacher training—exactly the priorities conservatives should want in an education leader. Her tenure in the Volunteer State was defined by a clear focus on student achievement: She championed high-quality instructional materials, launched a statewide tutoring program, and revamped reading instruction based on the science of reading.”

Hmmm…I didn’t realize that conservative priorities included power grabs and contracts for friends.

The pursuit of high-quality instructional materials involved Schwinn overstepping the Commissioner’s role in the textbook adoption process and steering contracts toward friends. To the extent that legislators were forced to craft new state laws putting restrictions on the TDOE’s role in the state textbook adoption process.

As part of that literacy initiative, the company Schwinn’s ex-husband worked for, TNTP, received a substantial contract from the state of Tennessee. Of course, Schwinn never included his employment on her state disclosure of interest until after the contract was awarded.

Pondiscio goes on to quote his colleague Rick Hess who wrote in his defense of Schwinn: “Restoring common sense to classroom culture isn’t a distraction. It’s a necessary first step if we want educators focused on the work of educating. But then what? That’s when we need education leaders who unapologetically embrace the stuff of learning: academics, rigor, good teaching, and student outcomes.”

Sure, that looks great on a t-shirt, but it’s nothing subscribed to by the erstwhile former Tennessee Education Commissioner. Pondiscio makes an even bigger stretch in his conclusion:

“Public trust in schools is eroding not just because of ideological concerns, but because of decades of academic failure. Conservatives cannot demand competence from police and fire departments while dismissing it in education. Penny Schwinn’s nomination is an opportunity to refocus on what matters: ensuring that America’s schools fulfill their twin missions of cultural transmission and competence.”

How do you tell me you are not from Tennessee without telling me you are not from Tennessee?

The ultimate irony is that even as conservatives applaud the efforts of Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative, the Trump administration is empowering a woman with a lengthy history of being loose with the purse strings. There is no evidence to support the idea that any money saved by the DOGE initiative won’t just be redistributed to favored private interests by Penny Schwinn.

Brilliant.

I guess for those concerned about the dismantling of the Department of Education, the appointment of Penny Schwinn could be seen as a sign of encouragement.

Trump has reportedly told Secretary of Education nominee Linda McMahon, that he wants her to put herself out of a job.”

McMahon might be willing to do that, Schwinn ain’t never worked herself out of a paycheck.

I suspect that over the next four years, we’ll see a great deal of deck chair shuffling, but in the end, we will still be on the same ship.

– – –

This week marked the first meeting of the House Education Committee. Once again Rep Mark White(R-Memphis)will be leading the committee.

Tuesday’s meeting was mainly a get-to-know-each-other session, but White did give an inkling of what to expect this year. Front and center will be the limiting of cell phones in the classroom.

During Tuesday’s brief committee meeting, White cited cell phones and social media as a contributing cause to a decade-long decline in student learning as measured by standardized tests and an increase in discipline issues. He might as well have thrown in a “you kids get off my lawn” for good measure.

You kids and your social media, has replaced you kids and your rock and roll music as a descriptor for the fall of civilization.

Rep Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) has gone on record saying:

“Cell phone usage in the classroom presents an unnecessary distraction for students and is unfair to the hard-working teachers who are passionate about educating the next generation,” he said in an emailed statement. “This legislation will limit interruptions and empower Tennessee’s children to concentrate on learning, which can improve social skills, mental health, and academic performance.”

Sure they are a distraction, but distractions aren’t new. Education policy continues to be seen through a lens of what can be done to kids as opposed to, what can we do with them.

As a father of two teenagers, let me testify, that adult agendas don’t always run congruent with those of the children we are trying to help. I’d go even further and suggest that the internet and phones have played a role in the leveling of relationships between teens and their parents. Something that makes many parents more uncomfortable is cell phone usage.

“Because I said so, and I’m your father” works about as well as the belt these days. These are two parenting strategies that have long outlived their usefulness.

I suspect what’s really at play here is a slippage of power, so local leaders turn to the General Assembly to apply the heavy hand, supplying plausible deniability.

This is evidenced by quotes from state Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, “We want to make sure that they have the right interest in mind,” Gardenhire said. “We got our input straight from superintendents and from teachers. This is not something we thought up. This came right from the superintendents that we talked to and the teachers that we talked to.”

Hmmm…wonder how many students were consulted.

Like it or not, social media and phones are a central part of life in the 21st century. How about in an effort to prepare kids for life we approach the issue through the lens of guidance as opposed to control?

Later in the session, Representative White will be passing legislation requiring all genies to return back to the bottle and remain there for the foreseeable future.

– – –

Speaking of adults holding on to power and saying stupid things in that service, this week, as expected TSSAAA released a statement on its transfer policy for high school athletes. Unfortunately, it was not the announcement many expected.

Currently, a student-athlete can not transfer to another school, without a legitimate in a change in residency, and without sitting out for one year. That’s a major deterrent for student-athletes.

Too often athletes are trapped in situations, through no fault of their own, that limit their potential. Meanwhile those with money, on both sides of the equation, somehow manage to subvert the rules.

College athletics recognize the challenges and have created a transfer portal that allows athletes a specific time frame where they can transfer without penalty.

Recent court rulings have created a system where amateur athletes can receive payments for their name, image, and likeness. Upon entering 11th grade HS athletes are eligible to collect NIL payments. Currently, the numbers aren’t substantial for most high school students, but expectations are that they will grow. TSSAA’s transfer policy could adversely affect a student’s ability to earn NIL money.

In response to the changing environment, TSSAA was considering amending their transfer rule and allowing a student to transfer one time without penalty during their high school career. Instead, they rejected amending that policy and all penalties remain in place.

Along with the refusal to amend the policy, TSSAA Executive Director Mark Reeves offered the following explanation:

Those who do not work regularly in education-based athletics sometimes fail to distinguish the dramatic differences between intercollegiate athletics, where athletes are recruited to engage in elite competition, and interscholastic athletics whose primary purpose is to supplement the academic programs of a school. Because many do not appreciate those differences, outsiders are sometimes too quick to assume that what works at the intercollegiate level is appropriate for the interscholastic level. Outsiders also may not fully appreciate how important the transfer rule is in the prevention of athletic recruiting because the prospect of a year of ineligibility discourages student-athletes from becoming victims of athletic recruiting. More than likely, they do not fully appreciate how important the prohibition on recruiting (and consequently the transfer rule) is on the preservation of interscholastic athletics as we know it, the maintenance of fair competition, and the prevention of victimization of student-athletes through athletic exploitation. At the legislative level, our legislators also may not appreciate that the creation of eligibility rules through state law, as opposed to allowing the member schools engaged in these activities to create the eligibility standards of the organization, would result in creating a system that cannot be easily modified if an eligibility standard becomes unworkable as the landscape of education evolves.

That statement is complete and utter bullshit. Maybe in 1955, athletics’ primary purpose was to supplement the academic programs of a school, but that ship has long sailed.

Recruiting takes place at all levels, and today kids are well-versed in what it takes to earn the ability to play at the next level. For many of the kids, athletics are not a supplement but rather a core element of who they are, no different than musicians, painters, or writers. Talk with these kids and they’ll be able to break down recruits in the same manner professional athletes were once analyzed.

MNPS has a high school that regularly excels in sports, yet has no natural feeder system. It’s an all-choice school. In other words, a sports magnet school. Think there is no recruiting going on there?

Why do the same teams routinely end up in the Tennessee State finals? Do kids just magically matriculate to these long-time powerhouses? Maybe he wants us to believe that it’s the magic of coaches and not the regular restocking of premium athletes through recruitment that fuels their success.

For Reeves to say with a straight face, “More than likely, they do not fully appreciate how important the prohibition on recruiting (and consequently the transfer rule) is on the preservation of interscholastic athletics as we know it, the maintenance of fair competition, and the prevention of victimization of student-athletes through athletic exploitation” is insulting.

The only thing being preserved is the success of legacy teams and the adults that run them. Is it any surprise that informal polling shows overwhelming support from parents and disapproval by coaches and athletic directors?

Unfortunately for Reeves, his words on the subject won’t be the last. The General Assembly is expected the take up the subject this session. They were hoping to avoid crafting a law, but since TSSAA is intent on protecting adults and institutions as opposed to student-athletes, they’ll need to explore taking action.

– – –

It’s been only two weeks since the shooting at Antioch HS, but things seemed to be fading into the rearview mirror. Dr. Battle and her cadre of advisors seem intent on using the tragic event as a means for self-congratulations while failing to admit any culpability.

Unfortunately for them, some teachers at Antioch High School aren’t content to just let things snap back to normal with no accountability. This week, three veteran AHS teachers, with a combined 3 decades of experience between them, have spoken out. They are speaking out in hopes that their words will lead to other students being kept safe.

According to News5, on the day of the shooting, all three teachers were in different parts of the building when the 17-year-old shooter pulled a gun out of his backpack. He shot and killed Dayana Escalante, 16, in the cafeteria before shooting and killing himself. None of these teachers were in the cafeteria at the time but they saw the fear and fleeing first-hand.

“They’re running and just screaming, and I’m waiting by my door. ‘Are you sure?’ and the kids are like, ‘Yes’. ‘Well they’ve not made any announcements,’” said one teacher. “We waited and waited. I don’t know how long, but it was a good long time.”

Police reports say the shooter opened fire in the cafeteria at 11:09.

“I called my principal at 11:14. I said, ‘Students are running outside. Are we on a lockdown? Something’s not ok,’” said one teacher. “She said, ‘No we’re not on a lockdown. I’m in the auditorium, and you can wait to see if they make an announcement, but we’re not on a lockdown.’”

It wasn’t until 11:20 that the lockdown was ordered. The time may seem minuscule, but when kids’ lives are at risk, it is almost an eternity.

What is described is a scene where teachers and students remained barricaded behind doors, with no updates, while SWAT members cleared the building, sporadically shooting lock-off doors to gain entry.

“Kids were showing (us) videos of what was taking place in the cafeteria way before we even got the (lockdown) announcement,” said another teacher.

One student texted their father and said, “It’s real. I love you. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’ll let you know.”

Good thing those phones weren’t locked up in pouches, or the trauma might have been even more severe.

The teachers tell News5 that the first communication they got from the school during the lockdown was a single, three-sentence email an hour after the shooting that said:

“Antioch family, I hope this email finds you well. Please ensure you have a roster and the number of scholars who are in your class. I appreciate all of you.”

They are equally critical of how things were handled in the aftermath of the tragedy. Criticism stands in stark contrast to the picture painted by MNPS officials.

According to the directions in the gym kept changing, causing more anxiety and confusion.

“The way we were evacuated the state of things in the gym was complete and utter chaos,” said one teacher.

“Our student population is very diverse. We have many different languages at our school, and this was all in English. Finally, they put a police officer who spoke Spanish on the microphone to also say it. They didn’t have Arabic, Swahili.”

On Friday, Director Battle and MNPS distributed a press release outlining plans to ask the school board for an additional $5 million over 4 years to put a new system that detects weapons, like the one added last week to Antioch HS, in all schools.

The plan comes with few details, and reeks of being reactionary and rooted in optics. One red flag is, that the ask is included on the consent agenda – a portion of the budget designated for approving contracts not expected to require discussion.

There is no timeline included, no explanation of how the order of schools will be chosen, the revenue source for the funding, or when middle schools can expect the same protection.

The money line in the press release for me is the following:

If approved by the Board, concealed weapons detection systems will be deployed gradually over the coming weeks and months, allowing time for:

School-specific entry flow designs to ensure efficient student movement
Training for staff to effectively manage the systems
Student education on how to move through the detection systems with minimal disruption

The release goes on to say, “The annual cost for the concealed weapons detection systems across all district high schools is estimated to be $1.25 million per year and based on a preliminary review of school designs and needs. Actual costs and configurations will be determined following a more intensive design process in coordination with schools. If approved, the district will work with stakeholders to determine and secure the appropriate source of funding for the systems.

Battle herself offers caveats. “There is no single solution to ending gun violence, a national epidemic that affects all parts of society, with access to weapons often going unchecked. However, we remain committed to doing what we can to protect our students and staff in our schools,” said Dr. Adrienne Battle, Superintendent of Metro Schools. “Expanding concealed weapons detection systems to all high schools is an important step forward. This will take time to implement thoughtfully, and we will work closely with staff, students, and families to ensure a smooth transition.”

Mind you it is the second week in February, and TCAP testing starts in 6 weeks. After that, 6 weeks remain in the school year. Add in Dr. Battle’s vehement opposition to metal detectors, and you get some pause for cause. I hope I am wrong, but my slow walk spidey sense is tingling away.

Despite my fears and suspicions, I do take heart from the fact that the conversation is still taking place and people are not letting it fade away in the rearview mirror.

– – –

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“I have known heaven, and now I am in hell, and there are mimes.”
― Nick Harkaway, The Gone-Away World

I opened up one eye and squinted as I looked toward the window. Looks like the son was going to come up today after all.

The birds were definetly still singing.

Kind of surprising, considering that for about two years now I’ve been told that if voucher legislation came to pass, the world would come to a halt,

Yesterday in a marathon special session, the Tennesseee General Assembly did what they weren’t able to do last year – voucher availability has been expanded i to even more Tennessee Students.

I’d like to feign shock and surprise, but I can’t. While voucher proponents were busy last Spring celebrating their victory over voucher proponents, I was warning that the legislation would be back with a vengence this year.

I told anyone who would listen, that it would be coming sans any of the prolonged conversation from the previous session. Committees would be stacked and it would be done by the end of the first month. Perhaps a little more thought should have gone into the previous bills offered.

Yesterday. the Republican supermajority did exactlu as I predicted. They picked up the ball and did their own version of vaunted Philadelphia Eagle’s tush push.

Like the NFL version, everybody knew it was coming, yet they remained powerless to stop it.

In case you are unfamailiar with the Tush Push, it is a play where the team whose offense has possession of the ball crowds behind the quarterback to literally push him, with the ball, through the opposing team’s defense. This pushing of the backside is typically done to the quarterback after he takes the ball from the center at the start of the play. It’s used to make a short gain when needed.

Works on the football field and it sometimes works in politics.

Once again Democrats showed they were great orators, but terrible politicians. One by one, they got up and rendered their garments as they brought forth futile amendments that were quickly dismissed. Powerless to defeat the bill.

The trick to stoping the tush push, is to not let your oppoment get too close to the goal line. Unfortunately, due to the last round of elections, the Republicans were sitting right at the two yard line.

In the wake of passage, opponents complained about strategy anf fairness, both of which are moot points at this juncture.

“It’s the best scam that money can buy,” said House Minority Leader John Ray Clemmons, a Nashville Democrat, after the historic votes.

The trick to not being subject to power politics, is to not empower your opposition. If Tennessee’s Democrats truly believe they have the better politics, then they need to get better politicians and a better narrative, because the majority of Tennessee voters, currently, ain’t buying it.

Despite all their inspirational speeches from the floor of the state house, voters keep electing Republicans and they keep passing legislation.

You can talk gerrymandering, and money, and other reason you like, in the end it doesn’t matter.

Maybe it’s just me, but I prefer my dragon slayers to be capable of slaying dragons, as opposed to just clling them names after the fact.

The situation is reminiscent of my son and his high school football team.

Last year they played a schudel rife with Williamson County powerhouses, predictably they lost every game by 40 plus points. In defense, fans and players raised raised the issue of the perceived advantage afforded to their opponents. My answer was always the same, if you want to be what you aspire to, you gotta find a way to be competitive, no matter what the advantafe afforded your opponent. If you can’t compete, you ain’t going to get on the field.

Complaing that the opposition is bigger, faster, meaner, doesn’t change the scoreboard.

Football and politics are remarkably similar.

My feeling on vouchers have softened over the years, despite being far from a fan. The romantic idea of all students attending a school that meets their needs becomes less and less realistic every day. Should familes pledge fidelity to a system that may or not serve them? I don’t know.

Still, I am a product of public schools married to a public school teacher with two students who attend a public school. I got a little bit of vested interest.

At this juncture I see vouchers as neither a threat to public education nor a boon for the majority of students. Neither a magical elixer nor a poison dart. It’s just another element in ever growing cacophony that is public education policy.

The new taxpayer-funded Education Freedom Scholarship program will offer 20,000 scholarships of about $7,300 to Tennessee students, including both those enrolled in public school and those already attending a private institution anywhere in the state. Initially, half the slots will include income requirements. After the initial year, those restrictions will be lifted.

The legislation also guarantees school districts will not see a decline in state TISA funding allocations, offers one-time bonuses of $2,000 for each public school teacher in the state, and sets aside funds for school construction and maintenance. All in all. it’s whole lot less then what was on the table last year. In other words, schools are getting all of the bang with less of the buck.

All but a few of the carrots brought forth last year were quickly tabled or rejected in this go around. Lawmakers who tried amend the current version of the bill saw their efforts quickly tabled.

One that did receive significant discussion was introduced by Rep Chris Hurt’ (R-Halls). Huff attempted to add a floor amendment that stated “a private school shall not discriminate against a student participating in the program based on the student’s disability.”

Speaker Lambreth (R-Portland) was ready with a defense..

“My worry is with this language, and I get it, it’s a short sentence, but lawyers and courts fight for years over short sentences just like this,” said Representative William Lamberth. “I am concerned that a school would not even be able to ask what disabilities they have, and then they have no idea whether they can actually provide for them.”

At it’s face, it seems like a reasonable request. However, things shouldn’t always be taken at face value. Most Republican lawmakers saw it for what it was, the attempted insertion of a poson pill into a bill they supported.

Public schools are capable of providing services to students with disabilities due to federal and state funding. Private schools do not have access to those resources. Despite the slogan, student education funding does not actually follow the student.

Therefore if such language was inserted into the bill, the unintended consequence coukld be the bankrupting of private schools. Unfortunately, there is a limit on what private schools can do for students with disabilities. Adding Hurt’s ammendment would have put both the schools and the students in untenable positions.

Now, if someone wanted to explore making it financially feasible for private schools to provide services to students with disabilities through federal and state funding, that would be a conversation worth having. Republican leadership made it clear that he welcome to try and craft such a bill for consideration during the regular session which starts back up Monday.

Bothg sides arguments were riddled with misinformation.

At one point in the days proceedings, House Majority leader William Lambreth refered to Tennessee’s statdardized test (TCAP) as being a “nationally normed” test. That’s a curious notion because Tennessee paid it’s testing vendor a butt load of money to create an assessment tailored to reflect Tennessee standards. Pray tell, what other state in the nation is administrating a test that reflects Tennessee’s state standards?

In the end, the inevitable transpired. Vouchers passed in the House by a vote of 54 too 44.

21 Republicans joining every Democrat opposing the plan including Representatives Rebecca Alexander, R-Jonesborough; Fred Atchley, R-Sevierville; Jeff Burkhart, R-Clarksville; Jody Barrett, R-Dickson; Rush Bricken, R-Tullahoma; Tandy Darby, R-Greenfield; Monty Fritts, R-Kingston; David Hawk, R- Greeneville; Gary Hicks, R-Rogersville; Dan Howell, R-Cleveland; Chris Hurt, R-Halls; Renea Jones, R-Unicoi; Kelly Keisling, R-Byrdstown; Kevin Raper, R-Cleveland; Michele Reneau, R-Signal Mountain; Lowell Russell, R-Vonore; Rick Scarbrough, R-Oak Ridge; Paul Sherrell, R-Sparta; Tom Stinnett, R-Friendsville; Ron Travis. R-Dayton; and Todd Warner, R-Chapel Hill.

Senators voted 20 to 13 for the plan. Every Democrat in the chamber voted against it along with 7 Republicans including Senators Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma; Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville; Bobby Harshbarger, R-Hawkins and Sullivan Counties; Tom Hatcher, R-Blount, Monroe, Polk, and Bradley Counties; Jessie Seal, R-Tazewell; Steve Southerland, R-Morristown; and Page Walley, R-Savannah.

Next week we resume our regularly scheduled programming. Cell phones, increased recess, revising teacher evaluations, and a closer look at TCAP are expected to be at the fore of the agenda – all of which serve to benefit the state’s public schools.

Meanwhile, the buses are still running, teachers are still teaching, and the majority of Tennessee’s students are still attending public schools.

The only thing that has changed is that we no longer have to focus on vouchers and we can focus on students.

– – –

The Penny Schwinn train just keeps on a rolling. This week several conservative voice from Tennessee gathered together and raised objections to her nomination as US Deputy Secretary of Education.

A letter was submitted to representatives of the Trump administration alerting them to past objectionable actions commited by the nominee. The response was a predictable shrug and a further commitment to proceeding. It appears that the appointment of Schwinn is all but a done deal.

Adding her voice to the discussion, Laurie Cardoza Moore, member of the Tennessee Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission and founder of Proclaiming Justice To the Nations, offered her opinion of the Schwinn nomination. Telling Fox News:

“I decided to call on President Trump to rescind his nomination of Penny Schwinn for the deputy secretary of Education appointment because of the policies that she implemented here in the state of Tennessee. You know, I fought for a couple of years for Gov. Lee to call for her resignation because of her, her policies, her values,” Moore said.

“But under her leadership, and this is what’s important for the audience to understand, the children in Tennessee — and this is not just Tennessee because she’s been to Texas and Florida — but our kids were subjected to pornographic and antisemitic content in library books, for example, ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ was one of them. She exposed Tennessee children to dark content like the Wit and Wisdom curriculum, all of which violate child indecency laws and obscenity laws here in the state of Tennessee, which is really troubling to me. She developed a plan to conduct child welfare checks on Tennessee children from birth to 18 to make sure they had their vaccinations.”

She wasn’t the only one.

“President Trump needs the full story on Penny Schwinn’s education history in TN,” Robby Starbuck posted on X. “I really hope he reconsiders her nomination.”

“Penny says her core value is ‘Equity for all… no matter what.’ On her watch TN’s Department of Education even embraced DEI for hiring teachers. She may be a very nice person but naming her Under Secretary of Education at this critical juncture isn’t a good idea when she’s been a believer in this toxic DEI ideology.”

Neither gained much traction.

The EdReform leaning online mag, The 74, posted an interesting breakdown that listed a few of ther negatives. Pointing out that she left the TDOE because the politics became too much.

At the time of her departure, in an exclusive interview she told The 74, she weathered distracting culture war battles over the way race and gender is taught in the state’s classrooms.

“I see it as extraneous politics and my job is to educate kids,” she said. “I knew that my charge, first and foremost, was to move our state forward.”

Now she’s stepping in to lead a department of education charged with getting identity politics out ot education policy. It it’ll be interesting to see how she threads that needle. Or if she even has the capacity, based on her outside interesrts.

The 74 reveals that Schwinn holds high-level positions with an investment firm and a political consulting agency, and had a brief stint at the University of Florida. In May, she told The 74 in an email that she was working to launch a nonprofit focused on “urgency around student outcomes.” She’s also listed as a speaker for the conservative Heritage Foundation’s program to train future school board members.

But remember, this is a woman who drew a 6-figure salary from a charter school she founded, and purported to lead, while serving as a Deputy Commissioner in Delaware. if anyone can pull it off she can.

Ironically, word on the street is that Schwinn’s name was put forth for Trump’s nomination by former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

When DeVos came to Tennessee to visit Governor Lee, Schwinn as reported by The Tennessee Star did everything possible to avoid a personal meeting:

Schwinn, according to a source, said Lee had requested Schwinn to appear in public alongside DeVos — but Schwinn would have none of it.

Schwinn told the source that she considered asking her mother to fake an illness. Schwinn even considered asking her mother to visit the emergency room to make the lie seem authentic. Schwinn, according to the plan, would go to the emergency room with her. Schwinn also considered lying to Lee and telling him that one of her children was sick, according to the first source’s account of the conversation.

Ultimately, the source went on to say, Schwinn said she had to go to Minneapolis to meet with a testing vendor — although the source said Schwinn never actually left Nashville.

“For her to call her mother and ask her to fake a health incident? Something has to be wrong in her brain to think that was appropriate to share with me. She had only been there a month and a half,” the first source said.

“I wasn’t her friend or her confidante. I was her employee. That’s inappropriate. And the plan was elaborate.”

Ah…but that’s our girl, always resourceful and up to any challenge.

It is safe to say, that anyone expecting President to close down the US Department of Education is probably in for some dissappointment.

Schwinn has never been a limited government gal.

Either way this looks like a good place toemploy the Tush Push

.- – –

The fallout from last week’s horrific shooting at Antioch HS continues to be messy, In response to my post from two days ago, suppoprters of MNPS Director of Schools Dr. Adrienne Battle tell me that she was indeed at AHS on Monday, and has in fact been there everyday since the shooting.

I always like to know if I misreport something, so I checked back with sources to try and confirm .

If she’s been there, it’s been with limited visibility. People report to me that the only time they’ve seen her is at the district sponsored rally that took place on Tuesday.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to push back against one of the statements made by board chair Freda Player. In praising Dr. Battle’s leadership during the current crisis, she mentioned that Battle’s efforts were consuming large swaths of time as traversed the district in service. According to battle’s service often came at the expense of her own families time.

Hello. Kinda ought to know your audience.

MNPS schools are filled with people who often sacrifice family time to meet the needs oftheir students. The only difference is goes mostly unacknowledged.

Tone deaf.

Meanwhile Antioch teacher’s continue to come under increased scrutiny by Dr. Adrienne Battle’s leadership team.

On Monday it was reportedly communicated to teachers that they would focus on SEL for the week in an effort to ease students back into the building. The SEL department distribute worksheets and guidance, but told teacher that they knew their kid’s best and would defer to them when it came to implementation. On Thursday that changed,

District officials voiced concerns that SEL work was looking different then envisioned, and they were afraid that students would not be ready to return to their regular instruction come Monday.

I’m confused where the hard and fast time periods came into play. Apparent this week was prescribed Shiva, and next week things would return to normal. Good luck with that. It’ll be a long time before things return to normal.

Fears and anxiety from having a gun pointed at you, or watching one of your students be gunned down by another student does not evaporate in a prescribed time. To assume such a thing is asinine and unfeeling.

The challenge of returning to school was best voiced by Amaya Smith, a junior at Antioch HS, who told The Tennessean:

“Everybody’s getting the hang of metal detectors and being back in the building,” she said. “You could see that some people were struggling, more than others, and they had counselors and other people to talk to if you were struggling. It was just about working together as a team and as a community and a school to make sure that everybody felt safe and felt like they were heard.”

It’s a case of doing things with people as opposed to doing things for people.

Along the same lines, District 2 School Board member Rachel Anne Elrod, who’s district does not include Antioch, posted on Facebook:

This week, we’re providing a special breakfast for the students and staff at Antioch High School. Yesterday was Chick-fil-A biscuits and today were donuts. (Thank you to the Support Hub staff that drove all around town last night to get enough donuts for today.) This extra touch has been greatly appreciated by students and is an expense that the board and MNPS are more than willing to incur. However, I know that community members are trying to find a way to help. If you can provide breakfast for the 2,200 students and staff at Antioch High School this week.

While I appreciate her desire to help, a meal train is not what’s called for in this circumstancemstances. Beginning with the unintended message that eating is a solution to trauma.

Kids are already fed at school. That’s federally funded. One of the stipulations is that schools don’t provide students with meals that fail to meet federal nutrional guidelines. I know that Chix-Fil-A donated the food – god bless them – but that doesn’t negate the fact that the school is providing food that fails to meet nutritional standards. A board member should know better.

More and more information has emerged that raises the question, why was shooter Solomon Henderson even in school. He had a long history of violence towards both teachers and students, yet little action was taken.

In the past MNPS has counseled principals to refrain from suspending students unless under extreme conditions. Last year, May’s district supplied report hows a 13.5% suspension rate for Black students, and a 8.8% and 6,4% rate for white and Hispanic students. This year, at the midpoint all groups are at less then 5%. A dramatic drop.

An argument has been made that the 2024 report is drawn from end of year numbers, and a lot of suspensions occur in the Spring. I’ll leave it you to decide the validity of that argument.

Meanwhile, state legislator are looking for there own answers. They have expressed in discussing disipline and safety issue with Dr. Battle. If you’ll remember, the Superintendent was slated last session to present to the Education Committee when she canceled at the last minute. Trust me, lawmakers haven’t forgotten.

I’m going to continue to return back to my initial advice, you can’t side eye, mean mug, or bully your way through this crisis. Two kids lost their lives and we can’t speed through that recovery process, nor should we.

The Tushpush might have worked for lawmakers, it ain’t going to work for district leadership.

– – –

I recently told you about Nicholas Keel, the middle school teacher who was recently found not guilty of sexual assault. While the verdict is welcome news, an ordeal like this does not come without intense hardship. Friends of Mr. Keels have responded by created a go fund me account. If you’d like to help Mr. Keel get back on his feet, please use this link: https://account.venmo.com/u/Nicholas_Keel

– – –

If you’ve got something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Either wisdom or criticism is always welcome.

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I invite you to become a subscriber over at Substack. The rates, should you choose to become a paid subscriber are reasonable, and there remains a free option. The inly real difference between the two is that one allows me to eat a little better, but I appreciate you signing up for either.

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BTW…don’t think we are done talking about Penny Schwinn. We’ll pick that thread up on Friday.

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“Virtue was vanity dressed up and waiting for applause.”
― Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North

I try to produce a new Dad Gone Wild piece every Friday. It’s important to have a schedule, but sometimes, events conspire to make that schedule moot.

Sometimes there is such much action, you gotta do a little more. This has been one of those weeks, hence an extra edition of Dad Gone Wild.

Nashville is still reeling from last weeks school shooting at Antioch High School. To make matters worse, Dr. Battle and her leadership team continue to try manage circumstance with a high degree of tone deafness.

It’s a tone deafness that appears to put both the district and Dr. Battle above the needs of those they purportedly serving.

Last night’s board meeting started with a resolution read by Board Chair Frida Player that attempted to put Wednesday’s student deaths in the same basket as recent crisis including natural disasters and COVID. With minimal acknowledgment of the loss of student life, they instead chose to praise Dr. Battle.

Going as far as to cite her sacrificing family time in order to deal with this crisis. Does somebody need to remind them that there are two sets of parents that have sacrificed all of there family time with two of their students?

The praise for Battle was effusive and distateful, considering that we are still in the midst of an ongoing crisis.

In Players words, “She has been tested time and time again, and she has truly inspired us, and led the way when the road felt so hard.” Player goes on to praise Battles team and their hard work admidst a crisis that is far from over, despite their desire. In short, Player and the board go out of their way to, as the kids say, glaze the districts superintendent.

Somebody needs to ask the family and teachers of Antioch how supported they feel.

Did board memeber really feel that heaping praise on district leadership was needed, even as parents, teachers, and students are grappling with the fallout from last week’s events. There are many who still have fears about entering an MNPS school. Last week tragedy made a hypothetical fears, real fears.

Antioch HS ain;t that different from any other Metro school. There is a lot of good things going on, and the majority of students are fantastic. Still, there are challenges and students that need more attention.

The shooting at Antioch made everyone think about what it’d be like to leave for school, and have that be the last moment you ever see your loved one alive. That’s a feeling that doesn’t subside because the director and everybody on the board are wearing the same colored t-shirt with a positive slogan. It’ll linger for at least the near future.

As I mentioned last week, the school was closed for the remainder of the school week. Teachers reported back on Monday and students on Tuesday. The rest of the district returned to school immediately, even as students and teachers grappled with Wednesday’s student murder/suicide. Not surprising, teacher and student absences were abnormally high on Thursday and Friday.

My own daughter, took a mental health day on Thursday.

That morning, she was showing signs of depression and anxiety – some of it connected to the shooting. Unfortunately. I wasn’t as unsderstanding as I should have been and it led to a fight between us.

“I know this is all overwhelming.” I said, “But some times you just have to push through and persevere.”

“I’m trying Dada!” She emotionally replied, “I try to push through and persevere. I just can’t always presevere like you do.”

That stopped me in my traps. That’s not just a lesson for parents, but one for everyone. Including our district leaders. She took her day, as did many students across the district.

Had MNPS Superintendent Dr. Battle heeded my daughter’s words, all students would have been given that benefit.

Parents and students would have been afforded an opportunity to process and deal with circumstances that are becoming all to familiar. Battle talks a great game about relationships, but few of her policies do anything to foster those relationships. The gap between the classroom and the board room continues widen.

Some have tried to lay blame at the feet of the state and its Rhino governor, Bill Lee. Social media feeds have been awash with accusations that Lee demanded that Antioch use snow days to allow the school to close. While it is fun to blame Governor Lee for nefarious intents, that’s not quite how it works.

Governor Lee is not involved in the process. That’s the TDOE.

Every district in the state is provided with 5 days where they can close school for various reasons. Mostly those days are used for inclement weather, so they earn the moniker of snow days.

If a district uses more then five days, they can apply for a waiver. The catch is, you can only apply for a waiver after you’ve used all five days.

MNPS has used one day, depending on how Monday is counted – teachers reported, students did not – the district has now used three or four days. If they use one more, they would then have to begin thinking about waivers.

Antioch’s closure counts for the whole district, not just the individual school. Another reason why MNPS Schools should have been closed all week.

Speaking of teachers returning on Monday, Antioch’s teachers returned to the building for the first time sans an important guest – Dr. Adrienne Battle. For whatever reason, the Supperintendent did not feel it neccesary for her to appear and offer reassurances to teachers. Perhaps, she felt that her appearance at a lunceon she had hosted at the Martin Center last week was sufficient and Antioch teachers just needed to get back to work without further words from her.

Remember everyone preservers different.

Students returning to school on Tuesday were greeted with metal detectors, sort of.

MNPS has chosen Antioch HS to pilot an AI technology to replace a failed AI technology, in an effort to ensure student safety. Can you say, checking a box with me?

The company supplying the technology is Evolv Technologies, who’s system functions like a traditional metal detection system, but is less intrusive. Currently both Nissan Stadium and the Clarksville-Montgomery County School Systems utilize their tehnology.

According to a WSMV report, in 2023, after Evolv was installed at Nissan Stadium, Mike Ellenbogen, Co-Founder and Chief Innovative Officer at Massachusetts-based Evolv-Technologies, Inc., told WSMV4 that while the scanners aren’t perfect, system upgrades continue.

The Federal Trade Commission and Evolv Technologies recently settled a complaint filed by the FTC in 2024. It accused Evolv Technologies of using deceptive marketing practices.

The FTC complaint said the weapons detection system failed to detect a seven-inch knife that was used to stab a student inside a school. Evolv first came under fire after two school stabbings, one in Ohio and one in New York, where Evolv scanners were in place but failed to detect the knives used in the attacks.

Antioch is the only MNPS school that will be getting the Evolv system until the district has sufficient time to gather data and analize it. Cost will obviously be a factor. No time line has been provided for when other schools can expect to receive their own upgrades. Something that is not sitting well with parents.

In regards to the current AI system utilized by MNPS, Chad Marlow, a senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union who specializes in privacy, surveillance and technology issues, told The Tennessean a growing number of tech companies are targeting school districts with new safety technology with little evidence it works to prevent shootings.

He pointed out that these system struggle to identify conceled weapons. Therefore if a kid brought a gun to school in a back pack, it would likely go undetected. Some didtricts have gone to clear bag policies, as an additional means to keep students safe.

Marlow said the detection systems can be riddled with false positives — like a broomstick mistaken for a gun — and that it can take longer for the system to verify if the object is in fact a gun, costing precious minutes.

“I would say, if in fact the school was using the technology, this is a worst case scenario of how a school discovers that they’ve been bamboozled by one of these gun detection school surveillance companies,” he said.

Marlow said it’s all part of a billion-dollar education technology industry that markets everything from weapons detection systems and email scanning to facial recognition software for schools desperate to keep kids safe.

Dr. Battle continues to cling to her belief that metal detectors have a negative impact on schools. She says metal detectors are often an unreliable measure when it comes to preventing weapons from finding their way onto campus and can have “unintended consequences.” The superintendent doesn’t spell out those “negative consequences”, but it’s hard to eimage any that are worse then two dead kids.

Many of the Antioch students who returned on Tuesday, walked out in the morning to hold a protest and a rally outside the school.

District official responded by refusing re-entry to those students who had left the building. While this is consistant with MNPS polocy, the plans for the walkout were well known and based on last weeks evnts, there should have been a contingency plan in place. Locking out students who are not sure they even want to be in because of administrative failures, is never a good look.

MNPS’s contingency plan seems to be a hastly thrown together district sponsored rally in the afternoon, while standing on protocol:

We are providing time and space in our building to give voice to their concerns and advocate for themselves and their peers. We have worked with student leaders to create a walk-in rally this afternoon where they can exercise their first amendment rights within the safety of our facilities. While we appreciate legitimate feelings of grief and anger, and we are working to help them process those, students who leave campus without parent permission may be subject to discipline in accordance with our student-parent handbook.

Did I mention the words tone deaf?

The district also announced that Antioch HS will receive an additional student resource officer. That means that the school of 1700 kids will now have three designated SROs. I’ll leave the math to you.

As media outlets begin to look into events prior to the shooting, questions are emerging about MNPS discipline policies and how they contribute to student safety.

WSMV4 is reporting that in October, shooter 17-year-old Solomon Henderson was suspended from school months before the shooting that claimed the life of a 16-year-old girl and himself.

Disciplinary records show that on Oct. 24, 2024, the teen was disciplined for bringing a box cutter to school and threatening to harm another student with it. No student was harmed, and Henderson received a 2-day suspension.

Reporter Jeremy Finley also uncovered that guns were previously removed from Henderson’s home in 2023. An MNPD spokesman confirms that the two guns belonged to adults and have remained in the department’s property room since then.

MNPS likes to say every student known, but in this case, Henderson clearly wasn’t.

Principals are quick to be blamed for lack of discipline in school, but often have their hands tied by those above them. MNPS policy requires principals to seek approval from their executive director before expelling students, even for violent infractions.

MNPS does not consider it a zero tolerance assault of staff unless a staff member has a serious bodily injury. Why is it okay to slap or punch a teacher once and not be expelled?

Principals are often discouraged from suspending or expelling students because of how it looks for “disproportionality”. Once again, appearence over service.

In order to be expelled for fighting, a student must have three fights in a nine week period. That’s alot of leeway.

In a semi-perfect world, the board and DR. Battle would be holding public conversations that took a hard look at policy and the failures of existing policy. You can heap all the praise you want.

Say all the positive things you want.

Talk about the great work your team is doing all you want.

The fact that there are now two empty seats at the dinner table this week, means a failure for those entrusted with keeping those children safe.

Unfortunately, MNPS’s school board has become little more then a PR firm for the current of director of schools. A firm that puts adult needs above student needs on a regular basis. In their eyes it is better to have a face of unity and compliance then it is to do what’s right for those they are supposed to serve.

God there are days that I really miss, Jill Speering, Amy Frogge, Fran Bush, and even Anna Shepherd.

While not always perfect, they never put appearences above serving students, teachers, and families.

At some point MNPS officials and board members are going to have to publicly admit that despite their back slapping and pretty words, they failed two kids.

The question remains, will they be allowed to do it again?

– – –

NAEP results are out today. Results nationally are for the most part flat. Tennessee though bucks the national average and shows positive results.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)—commonly called the Nation’s Report Card—provides estimates of student achievement across subjects, using a sampling of students within a subset of schools, and reflects national achievement trajectories.

This year’s NAEP administration, the second since 2019, shows that the percent of 4th and 8th grade Tennessee students meeting grade level expectations has increased and is performing above the national average in both reading and math.

The growth is consistant on both the fourth grade and eigth grade level. This could mean that Tennessee’s focus on elementary school literacy is sticking with students as they advance. That’s a good thing.

Tennessee’s latest post-pandemic results stand n contrast to declines seen nationwide and in many other states. Tennessee students scored three to four points higher than the national average in math and one to two points higher in reading.

When looking at these scores it is important to recognize that NAEP is regarded as a much more difficult assessment then the state’s TCAP test.

Like all assessments, these results shouldn’t be seen as the be all and all, but they are cause for pride.

Well done Tennessee students and teachers.

– – –

Remember, back in the summer, I told you that this years voucher push wouldn’t be a long drawn out conversation like last year. It was going to be a wham bang thank you mamn affair.

Nobody should be surprised that this special session consisted of hand chosen committees and quick calls to the vote. This is what happens when you have a supermajority that decides it wants something passed.

Don’t tell me your party wouldn’t do the same thing, it absolutely would.

Now things head to the floor for a vote that should take place around midnight. Rememeber how your mom used to tell you, nothing good happens after midnight? Sage advice.

Some pro=choce advocates are counting their chickens before they are hatched – making the assumption that this is a done deal. It’s not.

Vote is going to be close.

While Governor Lee and his posse are out threatening lawmakers, its worth noting, that in many communities, the same thing is taking place.

We shall see who has the biggest stick and the tastiest carrots.

– – –

If you’ve got something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Either wisdom or criticism is always welcome.

As you may suspect, keeping this blog going with a cost. In that light, I’ve set up a number of ways you can show your financial support. if so inclined.

You can also send a donation through my Venmo (Thomas-Weber-10) or cashAp ($PeterAveryWeber)

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BTW…don’t think we are done talking about Penny Schwinn. We’ll pick that thread up on Friday.

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“Death cannot be experienced either by the dead or the living.”
― William T. Vollmann, Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means

Wednesday morning I was working at home, at my desk. It’d been a shit morning.

I have a washer that is leaking water and a car leaking oil. If you have teenagers, you know that there are two things a household can’t do without—washing machines and cars.

How was I going to pay for these needed repairs? Damn, I thought, how come nothing is easy. I’d worked myself into a pretty foul mood.

Then a text came from my daughter, a sophomore at a local high school.

there was a shooting at Antioch.

HS?

Yea.

Shocked, I stared at the screen. trying to process. Thoughts of my own issues quickly put in perspective.

Neither of my kids attends Antioch, but it’s less than 10 miles from the house.

Kids from their middle school go there though. My son works out every Sunday with the football team’s offensive coordinator, his sons, and several football players there. I know teachers who have taught there for decades. Hell, it is the alma mater of Jelly Roll.

The thoughts moved through my brain like molasses over a pancake, slowly engulfing everything. Quickly texts were sent, checking on the safety of friends.

Word quickly spread that 2 were dead, including the shooter. News of the safety of those we knew came in slower. Sadness and rage ran neck and neck fear and anxiety.

Initially, it was my supposition that this was a fight between students that erupted in gunfire. By evening, it was made clear that this was in fact yet another school shooting perpetrated by a student that wished harm to their peers and to end their life.

The gunman in question broadcast his intentions both the day before and that morning from the school bathroom. He went as far as live-streaming from the bathroom, showing the weapon he intended to use. Unlike the Covenant shooter, the Antioch gunmen’s manifest is readily available, both chilling and heartbreaking.

The funny thing about social media is it’s got a million users but if you ain’t got the right algorithm or are a direct follower, few would have seen the messages in real time.

In the wake of the shooting, speculation immediately started.

How did this happen?

Why was nobody able to catch this before it happened?

Surely it was preventable.

I don’t have any answers and I’m trying to refrain from speculation until more information arrives.

That said, I will say, It is my opinion, that Metro Nashville Public Schools and district superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle need to pick up their game. Their response has not been great, or even very good. Per usual, their response has been one that puts the brand above the students, families, and teachers.

Multiple reports cite a scene where little information was given to parents and little empathy was given for their concerns. Students were transported to various locations, including home, with parents not being made aware of where they were they were being transported.

MNPS put out a statement that students would be transported to a reunification site off campus where parents could meet up with them. That plan was deviated, and some students were bused home while parents were waiting at the reunification site, unaware that their child was on the way home. Little empathy was given to parents who were faced with confronting their worst nightmare.

Late in the day, Dr, Battle released her statement. It included the following opening paragraphs:

“This is a heartbreaking day for the entire Antioch High School community and all of us in Nashville Public Schools. My heart goes out to the families of our students as they face unimaginable loss. I want to thank the school staff who quickly and heroically followed emergency protocols, potentially preventing further harm, as well as the Metro Nashville Police Department and Nashville Fire Department for their swift and urgent response.

“While we have been focused on addressing the immediate situation, we are committed to understanding how and why this happened and what more we can do to prevent such tragedies in the future. It’s important to remember that our schools have historically been safe places for learning, friendship, and growth. We cannot allow this tragedy to overshadow the positive experiences of our 80,000 students.

A little less thanking people and a little more embracing people would have gone a long way.

I would argue that schools of late have not been safe places. Violence happens all too frequently. An instance of this magnitude demands a rigorously honest evaluation of what went wrong. Because no matter how much you think you did right, there are two children with a different opinion.

Delivering accolades and talking about positive experiences while my child was headed to the morgue would have earned you a giant, “fuck you and the horse you rode in on.”

We are not talking about a “negative experience” in this instance, we are talking about two dead students, and their experience trumps that of the positive experiences of less than 80K kids… every time.

Not a single Antioch teacher took to social media and posted about the great job that day and how proud they were of their team’s actions. They were too busy expressing, shock, fear, and confusion. Maybe district leadership should try and emulate those people they purport to support.

A 16-year-old girl left for school Wednesday morning, not realizing that she wouldn’t be coming home. Meanwhile, a young man left for school having already made the decision that he wouldn’t be coming home.

Let that sink in while you consider all the positive experiences of students in the district.

We all failed those kids, and I don’t know the solution, but it begins with acknowledging that we failed those kids.

Both of them.

That failure makes a mockery of MNPS’s favorite tagline – Every Student Known. Clearly, we don’t.

Antioch HS has been closed for the week. The rest of the district has remained open, though they should have been closed as well.

Social media has exploded with talks of threats to other district schools. Most have been discounted as hoaxes, but as my kids say, “How do you know that?” Monday morning, we might have thought Wednesday’s threats were a hoax.

Still, the district acts as if this is just a crisis to be managed, one that doesn’t involve dead children.

One principal, who I have the utmost respect for, wrote in an email to parents, “Your child is safe at…”

How can you say that? Did Antioch HS administrators not believe that to be true before Wednesday? There is no way that you can make that promise.

Further down they wrote, “Our exterior doors are locked, our SRO is at his post, and our drills/procedures are up to date. Each of our team members is committed to caring for your child as if they were their own.”

None of that would have made a bit of difference Wednesday morning at Antioch HS, so why would it convince me that it’ll have any bearing now.

I want to give this principal the benefit of the doubt and chalk this letter up to a district template, but you can’t send shit like this out. You can’t assume that parents are too stupid to see through it. Again, this comes from a principal I admire, imagine the other letters out there.

Many kids have stayed home on Thursday and Friday. Those who have attended are consumed with questions about Wednesday’s incident. Trying desperately to understand the incomprehensible. A school shooting occurs and the next day we are out chasing the data like nothing else matters.

A proper district response would have been to close all district schools to examine and heal, reconvening on Monday with concrete plans to make sure a repeat doesn’t happen. Give families a chance to have those hard conversations sans the pressure to return to a school they no longer have complete faith in.

On Sunday night you communicate changes specific to Wednesday’s shooting that will address gaps in the district’s security plans before students arrive Monday morning.

Dr.Battle has to realize that this crisis can not be navigated by casting side eyes, mean mugging, or locking down information. She won’t be able to bully people into submission.

It’ll require a willingness to be vulnerable, to be empathetic, to put students, teachers, and families above the MNPS brand. She’ll need to accept accountability and recognize where the district has fallen short.

You can list all the wonderful things you’ve done, but none of that erases the fact that two kids are dead and a whole school is traumatized.

One of Dr. Battle’s biggest weaknesses is her need to always be the smartest person in the room. In this case, she may need to move the conversation to a different room.

She’s long opposed metal detectors in schools, and security officers as well. Antioch HS had two…for 2k kids.

Per The Tennessean, Battle said metal detectors are often an unreliable measure when it comes to preventing weapons from finding their way onto campus and can have “unintended consequences.”

Those unintended consequences are part of an intellectual conversation. Unfortunately, we no longer have the luxury of holding intellectual conservation and instead must focus on today’s reality – two students are dead due to our failure to protect them.

Battle goes on to say that metal detectors have been part of a decades-long conversation around enhancing safety and security in school buildings. But Battle said the district is focused first on relationships and has sought a balanced approach in offering safe and secure learning environments for students.

If this wasn’t so tragic, that statement would be comical.

How do scripted lesson plans build relationships?

How does an overemphasis on data focus on building relationships?

How does moving principals mid-year build relationships?

How does chronic understaffing build relationships?

MNPS continually tries to manage schools by deemphasizing relationships. Despite Battle and company repeatedly laying claim to fostering relationships.

“These are heartbreaking days for all of us as educators, for everyone at Antioch High School,” Battle said. “Quite frankly, this is a nightmare for us. We already know that this reinforces how important it is for us to know our students, build relationships and foster trust. Our students need us.”

While I don’t know the answers, nor the solutions, I do know that it has come from a strengthening of relationships. That’s the secret sauce.

In closing I return back to that principal’s email, where he writes, “I urge you to ignore the noise. Send your child to school. Keep them there. If there is something you need to know, I will tell you.”

A strong relationship is not centered around one party telling the other they will decide what you need to know. Nor should this statement even need to be written. If we have a strong relationship, I know we have a shared definition of what I need to know and I am confident that you will share that information, without telling me.

That’s what we need, a little less telling me what you are going to do and a little more just doing it.

– – –

Somehow Tennessee’s former commissioner of education, Penny Schwinn, or Peggy, as Trump likes to call her, has gotten herself appointed US Deputy Secretary of Education by President Donald Trump. If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.

The only thing more ridiculous is The Tennessean’s David Plaza writing that she deserves the opportunity.

I’m assuming, there is a tinge of sarcasm in his piece, but if that’s the case, it’ll certainly fly over most of his reader’s heads.

I can’t put it any blunter, the woman makes a train wreck look attractive, a dumpster fire appealing.

Insider contracts, wasteful spending of public dollars on private travel, ineffective initiatives, inappropriate relations with subordinates, it is all there on her resume.

She pretends to be a conservative, but she got her start working for California Senator Finestine. Her campaign for the Sacramento school board was driven by Mayor Kevin Johnson, a died-in-the-wool Democrat with his own laundry list of HR violations.

Recently she has tied her brand to never-Trumper Blake Harris. She is currently the COO of Blake Harris Strategy. Harris has made no secret of his disdain for Trump.

The day before the election between Trump and Clinton, Harris tweeted his assessment of the two candidates: “Well, two years and a billion dollars and we get these two losers. Shame on all of us. Let’s do better next time.” Beautiful.

Harris counts noted anti-Trump Republicans like Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse and Alabama Congresswoman Martha Roby among his clients, Sasse name sound familiar?

He was the Dean at the University of Florida who gave Schwinn the $367K gig after she departed the TDOE. One she did for three months without leaving her $1.85 million home in Nashville. I thought President Trump hated remote workers. Hmmm…client and job offer…where have I heard that before when it comes to the Schwinster?

Where it starts to get even more comical is when national education reformers start to chime in about Schwinn’s qualifications. My favorite is Christopher Rufo.

In case you didn’t know, Rufo is the DEI and Critical Race Theory dragon slayer. Apparently, he gazed into the eyes of Ms. Schwinn and saw that those who criticized her were liars and charlatans. At best they were uniformed.

Keep in mind, these critics he’s dismissing, aren’t John Ray Clemmons, Justin Jones, or Gloria Johnson. Rather they are John Rich, Robby Starbuck, and Carol Swain. You don’t get more red meat than that.

Swain is quoted by the Tennessee Star.

“It scares me that Ms. Schwinn has some powerful conservatives pushing her. I have been contacted about meeting with her. My position on Ms. Schwinn is simple. We should look at her track record and not at her promises to convert to conservative views on education. Ms. Schwinn inspires zero confidence among the conservatives in Tennessee who have had to deal with her.”

I would love to hear Rufo ask Schwinn her views on Kamala Harris. During her time as Commissioner, Schwinn prominently displayed the children’s book written book written by Ms Harris and would frequently express her admiration for the former Vice-President.

The exciting news that comes with Ms. Schwinn’s appointment is that perhaps my next visit from a government entity will be the FBI instead of the State Department of Homeland Security.

– – –

Seems to be some issues in MNPS’s Department of Innovative School Models (ISM). Last Friday, a coordinator announced her pending departure from MNPS.

This departure comes as several stories have emerged regarding ISM grants. As I’ve mentioned before, the ISM designation is a federal one that comes with financial support. Teachers who teach in an ISM school are eligible for an annual bonus, one they have yet to receive.

They were told that those bonuses would be available in early December, yet, as of the last pay period, they haven’t received those bonuses.

Now I’m not saying the two events are linked in any way, but I am saying, there is a growing amount of smoke around the ISM programs, and that usually doesn’t bode well.

– – –

If you’ve got something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Either wisdom or criticism is always welcome.

As you may suspect, keeping this blog going with a cost. In that light, I’ve set up a number of ways you can show your financial support. if so inclined.

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“One of the grimmer realizations of Sarkis’s youth had been the discovery that knowing you were being an ass did not actually stop you from continuing to be an ass.”
― T. Kingfisher, Swordheart

In September of 2021, middle school social studies teacher Nicholas Keel was placed on administrative leave by Metro Nashville Public Schools. He was accused of sexual battery of a minor and was recommended for termination. In Febuary of 2022, he was charged by Metro Nashville Police. Thus began a three year nightmare.

Full disclosure, both of my kids were students of Keels and found him to be a highly effective teacher. He was one of those younger teachers who still loved teaching. Often going the extra mile in an effort to actually embody MNPS’s stated mantra of “every child known”. Apparently that mantra doesn’t extend to teachers.

For three years, while MNPS failed to offer any support or even do the bare minimum in helping his defense, Keel maintained his innocence.

His accuser was well known to school officials, with a long history of troubled behvior and a difficult family life. It didn’t take long for doubt in the accusations to take root. Still few stepped up to defend a professional educator who’d dedicated his life to serving kids. The school and the district jettisoned Keel like he was sitting in one of those James Bond cars you see in the movies. Thrown into the nether world with nary a secondary thought.

You can not imagine the trauma inflicted by these horrific accusations. Suddenly your means of support is ripped from you, and it becomes nearly impossible to meet your financial needs, Friend turn from you. Professional collegues don’t return your phone calls, an most people wish you’d just disappear.

,Luckily for Keel he had a handful of supporters that never left his side. His friends did what they could, but these situations are hard to mitigate.

I can’t talk about the life of the child because quite frankly, I don’t know their whole situation. My kids continued to attend school with him, and there continued to be various confrontations between this student and other students. Both at Oliver and the high school he chose to attend. Eventually the child left the country and went to South America.

Despite the lack of evidence and the growing acceptance that Keel had committed no crime, the case lingered. It was an election year and no district attorney or politician wanted to appear week onsuch an emotionally charged crime. So the case stalled, but Keel’s life didn’t. It still went on, growing increasingly difficult.

MNPS was no help either. Again, I can’t comment too much, but reportedly they worked harder on dragging their heels and distancing themselves from the situation than they did in helping a man who had dedicated his life to the district, and prior to this instance was recognized as an exemplary educator.

Yesterday, in a Nashville court room, a chapter in this tragic affair came to an end when a verdict of NOT GUILTY was delivered. Let me say it again in case those in the back missed it – NOT GUILTY.

That is a tremendous victory for this dedicated public servant, but don’t think for a moment this book is finished. Keel still has to rebuild his life. He has to do so with a pernament cloud hanging over his head. He’ll have to learn to trust people in the wake of having all trust destroyed.

All of that holds true for the young man as well. His accusations had devestating consequences, but we have to remember, hurt people hurt. damaged people damage.

Three years taken. Three years that Keel will never get back.

When we are young, we think three years is a short time. Age teaches us that every year matters, and once they are gone, you can’t get them back.

Some will put forth that three years is a small price to pay to protect children. I’m not one of those.

To me pro-life means respecting the sanctity of life regardless of who it belongs to. Young, old, infirm, healthy, all should be given equal protection. Keel wasn’t in this instance.

We are always so quick to accuse and assume the worst of our teachers. Seldom do we extend the benefit of the doubt to them. Yet we wonder why fewer people want this gig anymore.

Hopefully, through all of this mess Nicholas Keel manages to find some peace, and a way to enjoy his life. I hope the same for the man who voiced the accusations.

Keel’s arrest was front page news on every media outlet.

Do you think his aquital will be provided with equal ink?

I think I need to say it one more time…NOT GUILTY.

– – –

The next shoe in the upcoming state voucher battle fell yesterday – committee assignments were released for the upcoming General Assembly.

If you are going to get failed legislation through this year, got to change committees up, right? That’s exactly what leadership did.

In the Senate, Republican Sen. Dawn White of Murfreesboro was named to the Education Committee chair post. She replaces Jon Lundberg, who lost a heated election to State Sen. Bobby Harshbarger, son of U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger of Northeast Tennessee. This was not unexpected and while White doesn’t have the depth of knowledge of Lundberg, she no novice either. Word on the street is that White is favorable towards private school vouchers.

Leadership wise, not much has changed over at the House. Representative Mark White (R-Memhis) retains his chairmenshipo of the Education Committee, with Rep Kevin Raper (R-Cleveland). Representatives Cepicky (R-Culleoka), Haston (R-Lobelville), William Slater (R-Gallatin) and Baum (R-Murfreesboro) will leading the subcommittees.

Instead, leadership stacked the decks in committee.

A trio of the Democrats most effective legislators – Harold Love and Vincent Dixie of Nashville along with Antonio Parkinson of Memphis – are off the education committees for this session. As is their young maverick Represntative Justin Jones (D-Nashville). Jones is now a proud member of the Agriculture Committee and “Naming and Designating “ committee.

The failure to include Love and Parkinson on the House higher education committee could be considered a sign that nobody wants to hear about the billions of dollars owed to Tennessee State University by the state of Tennessee during this years general session. Both are huge supporters of the University.

Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) remains an education committee member, which could be seen as an indication of how effective Republicans view her.

They got rid of the ones they feared, and kept the ones they felt they could marginalize.

On the Republican side, Representative’s Moody of Covington and Cochran of Eaglewood are no longer education committee.

Cochran is the son of a public school teacher. he is whip smart and never been anyone’s cuckold. It’s probably just coicidence that he’s lost his seat in committee in the year of the voucher.

Moody is a former committee chair that has always been a voice of reason. Nobody has any time for that this year. You are eitrher with us or against us.

Also getting the boot from the education committee is self-proclaimed voucher slayer Representative Todd Warner. That shouldn’t have surprised anyone. Don’t start a fight with the neighborhood bully if you are not prepared to take a few punches. Warner has been swinging free for about a year and now Speaker Sexrton (R-Nashville) gets to counter punch. .

Earlier in the week, Warner penned an Op-ed piece for The Tennessean that praises Trump’s school choice proposal at the expense of Governor Lee:

“But here’s Lee, who just got called out by Trump himself for being weak on conservative values, suddenly trying to steal Trump’s thunder on school choice like it was his idea all along.

The timing’s no coincidence. Trump announces his groundbreaking federal Education Choice Credit Accounts program that would actually help rural communities, and suddenly Lee is rushing around pushing a half-baked state plan drafted by lobbyists that’ll drain money from our local schools.

I know you don’t start pouring concrete before the blueprints are finished. So why are Governor Lee and legislative leadership in such a hurry to push through a state voucher program when Trump’s federal plan will do the job much better?”

The lawmaker has a point, but its one not likely to sit well with the notoriously thin-skinned Governor Lee.

Interestingly enough, growing conservative opposition to Lee’s voucher plan has been fueled the state’s home schoolers. I know that’s only a handfull of people, but they are irate and vocal. To them, Lee’s vision does nothing but bring them under increased regulation from the state. They are all about some unregulated education systems.

Yeah…let me know how that works out.

While these homeschoolers may not be very effective, they do create more chaos, and chaos creates less opportunity for the bill to advance. If Lee’s victory is tro be delivered, somebody better get them back on the reservation quickly.

All of this will get increased scrutiny come January 27 when Lee’s called Special Session will open up.

After a quick trip to Margo Largo, Tennessee’s rhino governor has charged legislators with taking up three imprtant issues – school choice, dissaster relief, and immigration.

Talk about chaos. Think about what’ll it will look like in down town Nashville when stakeholders on those three issues converge on the Capitol.

Somebody probably needs to put a call into Zac Efron and Hugh Jackson to see if they are available to keep this circus in order.

I haven’t printed programs up, but Nashville’s Public Education Foundation has printed up a handy dandy info sheet to help you navigate these turbulent waters.

If you haven’t invested in a new popcorn maker, it’s probably time to do so.

– – –

Metro Nashville’s Public School’s board met this week and to say it was interesting, is a bit of an understatement.

If you were concerned about the board giving themselves enough praise, fear not. They easily eclipsed that quota.

The main brunt of the meeting was spent renewing the charters of some of the city’s oldest charter schools. It’s a process that is scheduled every 10 years. This year was Valor Voyager Academy, Rocketship United Academy, STEM Prep High School, Explore! Community School, STRIVE Collegiate Academy, and KIPP Kirkpatrick Elementary’s turn.

Board members approved four of the charter agreements (Valor Voyager, Rocketship, STEM Prep, and Explore!) unanimously. The other two had one or two disenting board members. Member Elrod was absent from the proceedings.

It was a benign affair for the most part, with board members mostly following the recomendations of the district’s charter review office.

During the preoceedings, District 9 Board Member Abigail Tylor voiced concerns over approving the renewal for KIPP Killpatrick ES , arguing that state law mandates public charter schools close achievement gaps, among other things. She also said she was worried about its chronic attendence numbers.

District 3 Board Member Zach Young voiced concerns over Strive Collegiate Academy’s finances, teacher retention and facilities.

Ultimately both were approved.

But, am I the only one catching the irony here?

These are issues that plague the district as a whole, yet we never here a public conversation about those in relationship to the district’s traditional schools. .

Other board members shared how extra support and monitoring would be in place for charter schools from the charter school office, and that there would be options for the board to intervene or even revoke the charter agreement if issues persist.

Let me ask a question here. Why doesn’t the district do the same thing with it’s schools that are in the “priority zone”?

We are always talking about equal accountability for charter schools and the undeserved advatage they have ove traditional schools. Here they are presenting their case every 10-years, and yet we never see one of these types of reviews for the district’s lowest performing schools. How is that equitable?

Board member Tylor talked about achievement gaps. she was talking about the gap between general ed students and exceptional education students, but where re thes discussions aboyr MNPS schools.

Furthermore, I have never seen a single board member question why so many of MNPS’s schools are so segregated. Nashville has schools that are made up primarily Latino, Black, or White students, yet nobody ever raises that issue. Is that equity?

Board member’s are questioning high absentee rates for charter schools, while MNPS rates for chronic absenteeism still hover around 25%. That means 1 in 4 students are missing 10% or more instructional days a school year. For impoverished kids, it is closer to 4 out of 10.

Chronic absenteeism is defined by a student missing 10% of school days, not 10 days. In other words 18 out of 180 required days a year. Almost a month of school.

That rate has dropped since the pandemic, but in 2020, the district’s rate was 15.6%.

To be fair KIPP Kilpatrick Elementary does have a 2024 chronic absetee rate of 45.7%, down from 48.9% the previous year, which was cited by Tylor. Pre-pandemic the school were at 18.5%.

The chronic absenteeism was mentioned in KIPP’s evaluation report, but no other information was provided. During board discussion, no defense was offered.

I suspect that since a large percentage of students are drawn from outside their zoned area, transportation, as I can attest, is a challenge. It’s possible that this is a root cause for the abnormally high rate. In any case, I’d argue more information is required.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that last year the board celebrated a school for it’s football proweress that had a chronic absentee rare over 60%. Perhaps it would behoove KIPP to start winning some titles.

It is not my argument that these questions are with out substance, rather, that equity means asking everybody the qiuestions, noit just the people you don’t like.

Before closing the discussion on KIPP, board memeber Taylor interject. “Competion always means winners and losers. In education there should be no losers.”

That’s a great tshirt slogan, but ending school choice would not put an end to students losing. The district is incapable of fully meeting the needs of every student. Sometimes it’s okay to ask for help.

I’ve included footage from this week’s board meeting so you meet my new hero. Go to about the 49 minute mark to hear MNPS teacher Michael Vine lay it on the line for board members during open comments. He’s got two things to talk about reading and leading.

Readingwise, he takes exception to the scripted lesson plans the district has implemented through Wit and Wisdom.

On leadership he says, “Just as up is defined by down, right is defined by left, leader is defined by follower, Willing followers, otherwise you have a dictatorship.” Vine goes on to say, “As spoken by Chief Thunder Rolling in the Mountains, there is a whole of talking by people talking who have no business talking. You hired me and I’m fairly educated, please let me do my job.”

He concludes by saying, “and yes there will be a test.”

As he exits the podium, the camera pans back to the the board chair, catching Dr. Battle in the frame. The look on her face is priceless. I do not believe that was a approved message.

But he ain’t wrong.

– –

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“Belief has nothing to do with truth.”
― Percival Everett, James

If you are just about anywhere in the country, outside Califonia, I hope today finds you warm and cozy curled up in your home, devoid of purpose besides enjoying a snow day. They are rare, and often feel like stolen days.

California folks, that’s a whole another story and I just don’t have words. Praying that you are safe, sound, and among loved ones. Such an awful trgedy.

For me, this morning I am writing with a sense of dissappointment, It’s nothing serious. In fact some of y’all might find it frivolous, what with all the true tragedy existing in the world today.

Still it stings, and on one level I’m grateful for the sting. What’s the old saying, pain reminds you that you are alive?

Of course I am talking about the aftermath of the Penn State/Notre Dame game that was played last night. A game won by the Catholics.

Most of you know, I blled blue and while. A life long fan of Penn State football. As was my father before me, and my son will be in the future., It’s a connecting tread that runs through us.

It may seem kind of frivolous to invest this deeply in the play of a bunch of college kids on an atheletic field, but as I grow old I am ever reminded of the need to embrace the frivolous. Secondly, I’m sure more thab a few of you are clad in orange, red, or blue as you read this. You get it.

Aging has a tendency to make you a little more apathetic. The old seen that, been there, bought the t-shirt mentality. Last night reminded me of that diminishing passion, and the need to cling to some of it. .

Watching the two teams compete last night with my 14-year old son was akin to sharing a cage with a wolverine. Sudden shouts of joy, moans of agony, pounding of the coach, sudden leaps around the room frequently escaped while the game progressed. In between clutching my heart, I was reminded of a time that a game of this nature evoked simikar emotions from myself. It made me smile.

In the end, Penn state fell to the forces from the Indiana Catholic school, and a sense of dissappointment permeated the air of our house.

The boy, was devastated but we talked. Losing should never be comfortable, but it can be meaningful, Sometimes you put your best effort out and it just isn’t enough. You have to pick yourself up and figure the next approach.

Since birth I’ve drilled into them, its not the mistake, its not the loss, it’s what you do next that matters.

As I left his room, i couldn’t help but note my own sense of dissapointment. A game shouldn’t matter at this stage in my lfe, but it does.

Despite seeing championships, and devestating loses, throughout my life, this one still mattered. Mattered a lot and for that I’m grateful.

I’m also grateful that I’ll be here at the staart of next season when once again hope will spring eternal.

Earlier this week I celebrated 25 years of sobriety. That’s 25 years based on the traditional definition of sober, no intoxicants. No California sober. No just wine sober. Flatout, old fashioned sober.

When I first started on the path, a sponsor told me, “Don’t get to high. Don’t get to low.” Good advice for the most part.

Still watching the next generation heavily invest in moments of frivolity, feeling my own investment stir, still brings a sense of excitement and satisfaction.

Thank you you James Franklin and the 2024 Nittany Lions for providing yet another season to believe. See you in September.

– – –

The One Hundred Fourteenth General Assembly will convene at noon (CST) on Tuesday, January 14, 2025. A few days later they’ll likely go into recess and then convene around the 27th of January for a Special Session taking up dissaster relief for East Tennessee residents and Governor Lee’s latest Education Savings Account bill. The former is fact, while the later remains speculative, as stakeholders on bothh sides of the issue scramble to get an advantage.

Lee has been out punding the payment trying to drum up support for his initiative, and has now been joined by Knoxville Mayor and former wrestler, Kane, or as he currently identifies, Glen Jacobs. Joining jacobs and Lee, is current U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn.

The special session is contingent on the three of them being able to wrestle enough legislative votes to pass Lee’s measure. Expect to hear a flood of radio and television ads featuring the trio, and sponsored by private lobbyist, in the coming weeks. All in an effort to secure the needed legislative votes.

Depending on who you talk to, they are either a handful of votes short or several votes over the threshold. Remember the math is dependent on who takes a crucuial bathroom break as much as anything else.

Convincing a legislqtor to take a walk out of the room prior to a vote is a way to convince them to support your bill without voting for it. These are hard votes for citizens to count, because while legislators may inform leadership of their intent to take a convenient bathroom break, they ain’t announcing it to the press or public. Could be that when the vote comes to a roll call, the Capitol’s urinals will be flooded.

Critics of the voucher plan continue to point to recent TCAP results as evidence that the states traditional schools continue to outperform existing ESA schools, thus negating the need for further school choice. Reporters have pushed on Lee with data that seem to support critic’s assertions. A line of questions flatly refuted by the Governor.

“I think the statistics that you report are a true mischaracterization of the facts,” Lee said in a recent press conference. He argues, that the students using Tennessee’s vouchers to attend private schools really “exceed” their peers. It is the Governor’s opinion that it is unfair to compare urban areas, were existing ESA programs exist, with suburban areas across the state. In this case he seems to be admitteding that economic status matters, but don’t tell him that. He goes on to reveal that according to survey’s 99% of participants are happy with the program.

The latter defense is a little suspect for me. In this day, it’s hard to find any group of people who are 80% satisfied about anything, let alone 99% staified with a goverment program, Remember there are white lies, damn lies, and statistics.

For the record, per The Tennessee Lookout, here’s the data we are talking about:

Shelby County ESA students: 25.1% proficient in English language arts, Shelby public schools: 23.7% proficient. Both groups scored 18.7% proficient in math.

Davidson County ESA students 28.8% proficient in English language arts, Davidson County public schools 30.5% proficient. Davidson ESA students 15.7% proficient in math, Davidson public school students 26.4% proficient in math.

Hamilton County ESA students 32.2% proficient in English language arts, Hamilton County public schools students 39% proficient. Hamilton ESA students 18.1% proficient in math, Hamilton public schools students 36.6% proficient in math.

I’d argue that neither argument is supported by the data, but at face value the Governor’s argument is questionable.

I think the larger question remains around why less then four out of 10 students can score proficient on a state administered test. After all this isn’t supposed to be baseball, where hitting .350 qualifies you for the Hall of Fame.

I do agree with The Lookout’s Sam Stockard when he writes, “The bigger problem, though, is that we sold our souls for standardized test scores, and as long as those are the most important thing in K-12 education, everyone is going to be miserable.”

Once the legislative session convenes, keep an eye on committee appointments. If committee membership remain essentially the same, getting the Governor’s vouch plan through the House Finance committee will be challenging, Same holds true for Education committees. If those committees get shaken up, it’s safe to surmise that the Governor is going to plan B.

Voucher opponents continually raise the claim that the push to provide universal vouchers is driven by out of state interests. Unfortunately that argument is being undercut by recent polls from Vanderbilt showing forty-seven percent of those polled support vouchers, 44 percent oppose, and seven percent are neutral.  A poll coducted by right leaning think tank the Beacon Center shows that Tennesseean’s support the Governor’s plan by a margin of 67% to 13%. Thats up from the 58% approval in October.

Keep in mind, that a poll is only as good as the wording of its questions. Critics contend that the Beacon poll questions are a bit misleading, and that Tennesseans support expanded “school choice” but do not support the Governor’s plan.

I think a growing issue is the sense of fatigue that is setting in with citizens. Many have expressed to me that they care less about whether the program gets implemented or not, and more about settling it one way or the other.

I feel their pain.

– – –

State ACT score were released last week and they show marginal improvement from last year.

Per The Tennessean:

“The graduating class of 2024 averaged a composite ACT score of 19.3, up from 19 the year before, according to a news release from the Tennessee Department of Education. Statewide ACT scores have fluctuated slightly in recent years. In 2018, the state average was 20.2 before slowly dropping to a low of 19 in 2023. More information can be found on the state report card at ReportCard.TNedu.gov.”

The ACT, American College Testing, is a standardized test administered to high school upperclassmen widely recognized in the college admissions process and seen as a key measure in understanding college and career readiness for students. Tennessee offers public high school students the opportunity to take the ACT twice, free of charge. This has helped the achieve a 99% participation rate.

A couple of key figures shared by the TDOE:

78 districts had a 99% or higher participation rate in 2024, up from 75 in 2023
Black, Hispanic and Native American students averaged a 16.8 composite score, up from 16.6 in 2023
Students who are economically disadvantaged averaged a 16.6 composite score, up from 16.3 in 2023
Students with disabilities averaged a 14.9 composite score, up from 14.7 in 2023

The desired score on the ACT is a 21, which is the natural average and puts students in line for admission to a wide range of universities and colleges. The TDOE shared informatioin on that threshhold as well.

Of the 2024 graduating class, 37.7% scored a 21 or above
19.5% of Black, Hispanic and Native American students scored at 21 or higher, up from 17.3% in 2023
17.7% of students who are economically disadvantaged scored at 21 or higher, up from 15.8% in 2023
8.6% of students with disabilities scored at 21 or higher, up from 6.7% in 2023

Metro Nashville Metro Schools reported slight growth as well with the average EL score in 2024 being 16.5% up from 16.3%. Math didn’t score as well. In 2024 the average score was 17.1% down from 17.9%. The district average still remains well behind the desired 21%, though the percentage of those student scoring at that level has increased.

In 2024 27.7% of students scored a 21. In 2023, that number was 25.1.

So maybe that growth will give MNPS leadership an opportunity to stage a parade, because lord knows, they love a parade.

As a closing note, it’s worth reporting that of the 83 students from the Tennessee Charter School Commission District who took the test, only 2 scored higher the a 21, while 75 scored below a 19.

That shouldn’t be acceptable for anyone.

– – –

Weird happenings over at MNPS.

A decade ago, turnover at the mid-year break was minimal, reserved solely for medical issues, or pregnancy. That has all changed, and the new game among teachers has become one of guess who is coming back. This year it seems that trend has seeped into the leadership ranks.

As reported earlier, Dr. Battle has a new Chief of Staff. Dr. Robert Wallace has been named Chief of Staff. Wallace brings a wealth of experience and visionary leadership to his new role. In the past, Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle has leaned heavily on her Chief of Staff. Dr. Wallace has previously served as Chief Operating Officer of PENCIL.

He’ll be replacing former Chief of Staff Hank Clay, who’s been with Battle since she was first appointed interim-superintendent. Clay has transitioned to a new role with the Ingram Group, where he will advise organizations locally, statewide, and nationally. While stepping into this new opportunity, Clay will remain a special advisor to MNPS, focusing on strategic initiatives, external partnerships, and securing resources that sustain key district investments. Dr. Battle is epecting his ongoing contributions will provide critical continuity and support during this time of growth.

I’m not sure what growth she is referencing, as the number of schools and students has been on the decline for the last several years. But who am I to quibble?

Now for the really interesting part:

• Antioch Middle School: Dr. Tonja Williams brings nearly two decades of MNPS experience, including serving as principal of Head Magnet Middle School. In addition to her time with MNPS, she also served as Head of School for New Hope Academy.

• Chadwell Elementary School: Mr. Michael Beno, with over 10 years of service in MNPS, brings expertise as an assistant principal and EL district coach.

• Goodlettsville Middle School: Mr. Alexander Woodhull is a seasoned leader with experience at Martin Luther King, Jr. Academic Magnet and Overton High

Apparently three schools are getting new leaders, so what happened to the old ones?

Details are scarce, but reportedly one has retired. The word is that they’ve been discussing retirement frequently, and despite only 20 years of service they felt now was as a good a time ever. No word on why the other two were removed, or removed themselves.

Equally unclear is how those principals will be serving the district for the remainder of the year. This is important because state law requires the district to pay principals their full salary for a full school year, no matter how they are utilized. In other words, you can make a principal a gym teacher, but for the remainder of the year, they’ll be paid like a principal.

Not quite sure how any of this is giood for fkids. Yes, every school deserves a quality leader, but minimizing disruptions is equally important. These school leaders might have not met the needs of district leaders, but no evidence has been presented that they were failing kids.

Will tghis be a harbinger for schools at the end of the year? Will the district become more aggressive in replacing principals at the end of the year?

We shall see.

– – –

Continue to hear rumbling about issues with MNPS’s offoce of Federal Programs. It’s long been a rumble, but of late seems to be getting louder.

Many people probably suffer under the illusion that “priority schools” are state designated. It’s a federal designation, one that comes with significant additional resources and funding. That funding is intended for individual schools.

Last budget season, priority schools, or schools of innovation, were asked to tithe back a bit of their funding as a means to fund district support positions. How willingly they complied, depends on who you talk.

Now questions are popping up around whether their remains anough budgeted to cover essential costs. That’s a question still waiting an answer.

It may be time for a school board member to ask for an audit of the department. Couldn’t hurt, right?

– – –

If you’ve got something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Either wisdom or criticism is always welcome.

As you may suspect, keeping this blog going with a cost. In that light I’ve set up a number of ways you can show your financial support. if so inclined.

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“This is how you hustle the arcane. Skirt the rules but don’t break them.”
― Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

Twenty four is now a wrap and it is off to twenty five. Reading through my social media threads, its apparent that for many of you, 2024 was a challenging affair. If you fall into that demographic, I feel for you and hope that 2025 will provide more fertile soil for wealth, health, and fortune.

Unfortunately, in reading the tea leaves, when it comes to the education world, it appears to me, 2025 will provide much the same as 2024.

We’ll fight over vouchers, bemoan charter schools, while pretending that teacher shortages don’t exist.

We’ll pretend that public schools adequetly serve all students while continueing to use test scores as the primary mechanism to measure student achievement. Extensive ink will be spilled in the battle over vouchers, but questions around what we are measuring, and if those are the right things, will remain a slight murmur.

My son regularly asks, why the empasis on math and literacy when programs like Photomath and ChatGPT are readily available? Even to my ears, the offered defense sounds like something my grandfather would say in defence a world that is rapidly receding. Don’t forget though, we are meeting kids where they are.

We’ll talk accountability while failing to recognie that none exists in the public sector, save for teachers and students.

I’m betting that conversation over funding for desperately needed updates to existing facilities will be shuffled to the back burner once again, and kids will continue to attend schools with pest problems, heating and cooling issues, and inadequate space for enrolled students.

We’ll fight over books, Trans issues, and equity. The banner of every student known will be raised while large swaths remain unseen.

Waiting for Superman was released almost two decades ago and while since debunked, the ethos still exists. The hunt is still on for superheroes, We just don’t want them thinking this will be anything more then a temporary condition, something they do on the way to their real job.

Despite all the public posturing, quietly in schools, away from the spotlight, it will continue to be business as usual. Lives will get changed, students will do extroardinary work, and administrators will facilitate circumstances were miracles can transpire – but, those won’t be the things we talk about. No, we’ll focus 95% of our conversation on subjects that impact 5% of students.

At some point, there needs to be a modern day Martin Luther who shows up and nails 95 Theses to the school house door. Hell, I’d satisfied with 59.

The public education system has served us admirably for almost 100 years, but it’s time to catch up and embrace the future.

Society has rapidly become less homagenous, yet the belief that there is only one way to educate a child is clung to like a sheep dog guarding its flock. Charter schols are depicted as frauds and alternative schools are dismissed as con jobs. Neither view is 100% accurate. The revoltution may not be televised, but it is still coming. Public schools just need to decide if they want to lead or be swept up.

I had a parent this week tell me that their child is thriving in a charter school, and the school has done an exemplary job of creating a welcoming enviorment for not only the student, but the family as well. Still, she remains skeptical and racked guilt for seeking out a school that her child loves. It shouldn’t be like that in 2025.

Perhaps I’m misreading the leaves and there are some surprises waiting in the wings. Either way, I’ll be here to ducument whatever transpires.

Hope you’ll be here as well.

– – –

Over the holiday break there was much discussion over recently released data showing that after 2 years, voucher school students continued to lag behind Tennessee public schools in achievement.

Per The Tennessean:

Overall, students using the vouchers trailed their peers statewide on English language arts and math scores on the state’s standardized Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program tests this spring. However, the students also made gains in both categories. Notably, students using vouchers in Shelby County matched their peers in math scores and surpassed them in English language arts scores this year.

Voucher opponents have lept on this data as further evidence that vouchers are a bad thing. I’d argue we need to look a little deeper at the data. It’s not quite the slam dunk some would envision.

First off, in comparing results you have to recognize that voucher schools are drawing from schools that have traditionally under performed. Where as the Tennessee public schools data is drawn from a composite of schools, including some of Tennessee’s highest performing schools. I’d be interested in a comparison between voucher schools and Tennessee public schools with a poverty level above 40%. That would be some meningful data.

Furthermore, once again we are switching elements based on which serves us better. Most times the push is to have growth be the perfered measurement over achievement. In this case, that is flip flopped, Achievement leads with growth barely mentioned.

Tennessee ESA students achieved a gain of more than six percentage points in math scores and more than four percentage points in English language arts scores. Outpacing growth for public school students. This would seem to indicate that over time, the performance gap will continue toi decrease between the two student bodies.

Locally, the gap between the two groups of students is a bit closer:

Countywide math: 26.4%
ESA students math: 15.7%
Countywide English language arts: 30.5%
ESA English language arts: 28.8%

The gap shrunk in math, but public school students id show greater growth in ELA.

In Shelby County the story was a bit different:

Countywide math: 18.7%
ESA students math: 18.7%
Countywide English language arts: 23.7%
ESA English language arts: 25.1%

That data does not present a strong argument against vouchers and if we are having student-centric discussions, we might need to reevaluate.

Participation in the limited voucher program grew considerably in 2023-24, with 2,088 students enrolled. That’s a 362% increase from the 452 students enrolled the previous year.

I’m going to offer one final observation that bears consideration, and you may not like it, but I’ll stand by it.

Over the years, I’ve observed that the schools with the highest achievement are those that are made up of students that are vested in the school and its options. In other words, if most of students and families want to be there, odds are, they’ll perform at a higher level.

Charter schools, private schools, and now voucher schools recognize that and bank on it. Many traditional schools are slow to grasp the concept.

There is a common preception that all families value and desire the same thing. Its not true. Name me a choice school that has a 30% chronic absentee rate. I’ll wait.

Absenteeism is not just a result of poverty, as some would argue. Its also a byproduct of perceived value.

Until you get more student buy-in, and percieved value, schools are going to continue to struggle.

Achieving that buy-in should be a primary objectibe for every school, second only to teacher retention.

I will continue to shout it from the top of my lungs, the only element of schooling that guarentees student success is the relationship between a student and teacher. It’s hard to have a string relationship if one side of the equation does perceive value in schooling.

That is infinetly more important than what physical shape the school takes.

– – –

Tennessee has what they call “Opportunity public charter schools”. These are public charter schools that a student population in grades 6-12 composed of at least seventy-five percent (75%) “at-risk” students, as defined by the state. Opportunity public charter schools are intended to boost academic proficiency and provide pathways to post-high school success for students despite prior educational and personal challenges. Opportunity public charter schools may open beginning in the 2026-27 school year.

Now since these school are arguably facing a greater challenge then public schools, the Tennessee Deparrtment of education is charged with creating a seperate accountabiloity framework. For now we’ll pretend that these schools are somehow different then the hundreds of public school currently serving similar demographics.

In order to devlop that framework they met with a wide variety of stakeholders including the State Board of Education, Hamilton County Schools, Tennessee Public Charter School Commission, several charter schools and charter management organizations.

Also included were the following private entities who share a similar political bent:

State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE)
TennesseeCan
Tennessee Charter School Center
Tennesseans for Student Success

Amazingly they all arrived at a similar conclusion, growth should count as more then achievement. A argument that, in relation to traditional public schools, was dismissed by Tennesse’s Commissioner of Education Lizzette Reynolds. The Commissioner repeatedly insisted last year that achievement was the only true measurement. Once saying that under the newly adopted state accountability model schools would no longer be able to hide beside growth numbers.

Going forward, traditional school grades will be calculated with achievement accounting for 50% of the formula. Opportunity School grades will be calculated with achievement counting as 45% and the remaining 5% added to growth. Hypothetically you could have two “A” schools performing at completely different levels, arguably giving Opportunity Schools a higher then deserved preception of value.

Back home this is an old trick performed by butchers called putting your thumb on the scale.

If this is going to apply to Opportunity schools, it needs to apply to all schools that meet the criteria.

Also continuous enrollment will bear increased weight.

Certain performance metrics are adjusted to account for students enrolled for multiple years. The achievement, college and career readiness indicator, and the opportunity public charter school alternative growth indicator will be weighted based on continuous enrollment of students attaining proficiency on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP). Specifically, students continuously enrolled for two years who meet or exceed expectations on the TCAP will be counted twice. Students continuously enrolled for three years who meet or exceed expectations on the TCAP will be counted three times. This allows schools to emphasize long-term stability and reward progress over time for schools serving populations of students for whom stable educational placements may have been difficult.

Let me see if I’m reading this right. The state recognizes that Opportunity Schools will face competition from a state created voucher program. In order to protect those schools they’ve created a reward for those schools that successfully beat back the voucher vultures, while granting no such protection to equally vulnerable publiuc schools.

Sounds about right.

Also sounds like a very nice Christmas present to Opportunity Schools.

– – –

I meant to get to this much earlier. Back before Christmas, The Tennessean published an article on which Metro Nashville Employees earned the most in 2024.

It’s an interesting list. One that for some reason excludes MNPS employees.

$317,824 – Water Services Director Scott Potter
$295,825 – Chief Medical Director Gill Wright III
$287,260 – Police Chief John Drake
$272,909 – Transportation Director Diana Alarcon
$269,750 – Chief Development Officer Robert Mendes
$265,561 – Fire Chief William Swann
$265,494 – Director of Development/Special Projects Mark Sturtevant
$265,336 – Finance Director Kevin Crumbo
$264,020 – Metro Action Commission Executive Director Cynthia Croom
$260,228 – Planning Executive Director Lucy Kempf

Nashville mayor Freddie O’Connell lands at 63 on the list, earning a salary of $209,898. Worth noting, MNPS Chiefs, of which there are 11, earn roughly $200K a year.

Per The Tennessean:

MNPS employees aren’t included on this list, but they are listed in another data set available on the open data portal. That’s the list of Metro government employee earnings — including not just base salaries but also bonuses, payouts and other forms of compensation — by fiscal year. Interestingly no link to that list is supplied.

Equally interesting is that the paper lists MNPS Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle’s salary at $326,538. Appaerntly they, like the rest of us weren’t paying attention when last month the school board bumped her salary up, with a contract extention, to $385,000. That should have been included because the contract extention was back dated to this past July – the start of MNPS’s fiscal year.

One caveat of the raise and extension, is that Battle is no longer able to cash in her vacation pay. A practice she’s been engaged in since becoming superintendent. Last year, that came to over $35k. Not a bad chunk of change.

The new contract incorporates that 35K and adds another 10 to 15K. While not as huge a raise as it appears initially, its still ends up being nearly double the Mayor’s salary.

It certainly pays to serve in Nashville.

– – –

I am beyond honored to have one of my pieces highlighted by Education writer Peter Greene in his list of recommended readings for 2024. . Especially in light of the fact that Greene is not your typical education policy pundit. He’s walked the talk as weel as written, serving for decades in the classroom.

There is a lot of great writing on this list and I urge you to peruse it.

– – –

Another sign that it’s going to be an interesting General Assembly session this year is the revelation of a new bill that would strengthen Tennessee law to describe activities like hanging banners from overpasses, passing out flyers, or riding in the cargo of box cars as a hate crime. That would also include hanging flyers in a public places.

The bill is being sponsoered by two Republicans, Majority Leader Rep. William Lamberth and Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, two individuals that usually no better. The bill would be known as th PEACE act. The quote from Lambreth is priceless:

“I mean, they’re supposed Nazis or some group of that nature, but whether it’s Nazis or Antifa or any type of hate group that’s out there, we’re not going to put up with that here,” Lamberth said. “We simply don’t want those groups here. We don’t want them spreading their hate and crimes all over our city. And so I started having conversations with the (Metro) Nashville Police Department and with local leaders here in Nashville on how to make sure that we can put some laws in place to keep those kind of groups out of Tennessee.”

Lambreth goes on to say:

“At the state level, we’re able to pass criminal laws where someone would actually go to jail if they were violating this bill, and they should,” Lamberth said. “Because, again, hatred has no place in the state of Tennessee. We’re a very loving state. We’re a very Christian. Most folks are people of faith — regardless of whether it’s Christian, Muslim, Jewish or various other faiths. We’re a very loving state, I believe. And so some of these groups that come in here from other states or even other countries trying to spread hate, they’re just simply not welcome.”

Look it’s not that anyone endorses or defends or endorses these words and actions, but if you believe in the First Amendment, you believe in the First Amendment. The tenets can’t only apply to speech and such you agree with, it has to apply universally.

Creating a law that makes it illegal to ride in the cargo area of a box truck doesn’t stop people from attending hate rallies. Maybe it makes things more difficult for an hour, but eventually the law will be circumvented and the issue still lives,

In reality, the only thing that tempers hate is education. The more you know about people the harder it is to hate. It’s difficult, and it takes time, but it is the only proven solution.

I like the line from Lambreth – you know after he talks faith – where he says people looking to spread hate are just not welcome here. Funny, not in a haha sense, but in an ironic sense. That’s not a very WWJD moment.

I’m not as versed in the Bible as well as I should be, but I’m pretty sure Jesus was a embrace the sinner kina guy. He argued those were the folks you needed to reach, in order to show them a better way. Telling them they are not welcome makes educating them a bit more difficult.

Trying to legislate hate, or perceived hate, creates a very slippery slope. It’s one thing when a metropolitan area tries to do it, it becomes a whole different animal when the state seeks the undertake it. There are no shortage of examples for the unintended consequences of poorly thought out legislation.

Architects of Tennessee’s Raise to the Top legislation like to defend it by saying it was great, until the other party got a hold of it. Same will hold true here, only on a larger scale.

We got to stop trying to ban things – books, speech, ideas, or thoughts.

It an outdated method of dealing with todays issues.

I’m well aware that my criticism of the PEACE bill comes on the heels of the atrocities in Louisiana. That was a horrific plan carried out by an individual with heartful of hate, but we can’t give in to that hate and change who we are because of the actions of another.

If we are indeed a loving state, its love that will save us, not ever increased legislation.

– – –

If you’ve got something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Any wisdom or criticism you’d like to share is always welcome.

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“People don’t want children to know what they need to know. They want their kids to know what they ought to need to know. If you’re a teacher you’re in a constant battle with mildly deluded adults who think the world will get better if you imagine it is better. You want to teach about sex? Fine, but only when they’re old enough to do it. You want to talk politics? Sure, but nothing modern. Religion? So long as you don’t actually think about it. Otherwise some furious mob will come to your house and burn you for a witch.”
― Nick Harkaway, The Gone-Away World

As we get older we tend to forget, Christmas is a time for the whimsical and not the practical. The whole holiday is rooted in the magical despite our best efforts to douse it in the practical. It’s a time for science to take a back seat.

The years pass, and we try to bend the holidats to our will, instead of embracing them.

We set strict budgets, and shop early in order to adhere to those budgets. Gift cards are distributed because who has the capacity to actually think about another person and risk giving the wrong gift. The antithesis of the pirit of gift giving.

Holiday decorating becomes another chore to be outsourced, while we fret over how we are going to survive the onslaught of relatives who possibly hold different views then our own. We scour online articles that purport to give insight into navigating this difficult time, instead of just realizg that the time is short and may be fun.

Yes for some it is a very difficult time, and that should be acknowledged, but even for them, magic still exists, even if it’s marginalized by life’s challenges.

In the spirit of “let the first without sin cast the firsat stone”, I’ll acknowledge that I often fall into the aforementioned traps, and was well on my way this year.

“Have you seen the price of these tickets?”

It was a Monday morning text from my high school freshman son referencing the price of tickets for the upcoming college playoff game in State College. I know, it was a school day and he shouldn’t have been texting, but I’m grateful he was.

“Think we could go?” read the follow up text.

Mind you, we live in Nashville, nearly 700 miles from State College, PA. I was also facing a layoff period that lasted annually from mid-December to early January. Finances needed to be tightly managed.

I flashed back to when my father was still alive. My life choices were always a mystery to him, and there wasn’t a lot we could talk about after leaving home. I was forever the rebel with out a clue and he the eternal stick in the mud.

The Venn Diagram was two seperate circles with only a slight overlap, Penn State Football. The one subject we could always talk freely about.

During the season, I would call after every game and we would rehash plays and lament missed opportunities freely. It was the bridge that held together our tenuous relationship. I miss those conversations.

My son, over the last few years has embraced the legacy of Penn State Football. It’s one of those mysteries of life. I’ve not pushed it but he’s grown to be as big a fan as I, and it brings me joy.

“Sure”, I responded to his text without fully thinkning it through. That not thinking it through thing would prove to be a theme for the entire excursion.

I immediately went over to StubHub, and bought two tickets in the upper deck for $94 a piece. I thought it was a good deal, even with the additional $75 in fees tacked on. In hind sight, I should have talked to my sister first.

An hour later I called her. The aim was to let her know we were coming and asking if we could stay with her and my mother that weekend.

“Should have told me before you bought tickets”. She said, “I’ve got a friend selling tickets down in the bowl.”

“How much”, I asked.

“$200 per.”

“Too rich for my blood.”

“How about we do this.” She proposed, “I’ll buy Peter’s, get one for myself, and you owe me for the third. Eight dollars more for much better seats.”

I told her to go ahead and do it, figuring I could easily resell my recently purchased tickets. After all, this was the first ever playoff game in State College.

That was the first of many miscalculations. Ticket prices plunged over the next week, and I was only able to recoup half of what I spent.

Travel was the next obsticle that had to be over come. Initially we were going to drive, but that became less of option once I realized that Peter had finals all the way up until the day before the game. Also there was a basketball game the night before the playoff game.

That might seem like a frivolous concern, except if you are a freshman athelete scraping to make your name and secure playing time. Luckily, that turned out to be a varsity only game.

The idea of driving 12 hours before attending the game did not feel like an attractive option, but alas seemed to be our only choice. Till the phone rang.

It was an old friend of mine who I seldom see anymore. His kids were grown, mine were still young. This is how it works when you have adult friendships.

“I saw where you are tryting to get up to the Penn State game.” He said.

“Yea, looking like we are going to drive it.” I replied.

“That’s a long ride at your age.”

“Easy pal.”

He chuckled before saying, “I don’t know if you remember, but about 20 something years ago you were working downtown. I was fighting with my then wife, and I was down there drunk and broke. had no idea where I was going to stay the night. You pulled out fifty dollars and told me to see if I could find a hotel room up the street.”

“I have no recollection of that”, I said. “Obviously those were cheaper times.”

He laughed, and then continued, “Well I remember. I don’t have money to pay for your tickets, but I do have airline points. I’d like to get your tickets to Philadelphia.”

“I’m not too proud to say no, but i have to ask, you are not going to use them?”

“Well, I was going to use them to fly to Scotland in the spring to play golf, but the wife told me if I did, she’d divorce me.”

“So you are not flying to Scotland?”

“I’m not flying to Scotland.

Just like that, another piece of the puzzle fell into place.

We’d fly to Philly on Friday, rent a car and drive to my Mom’s two hours away. We’d stay there over night before leaving to the game Saturday morning – about 2 hours away – returning after the game. On Sunday night we’d fly out of Philadelphis for home.

It was the perfect plan.

I have to interject here. My mother and I are often at odds with each other. My failure to graduate from college broke her heart and I will forever pay a price for that. Still, when this trip was conceived, seeing her was a prime consideration. There was no way I was going to show up two hours away and not make plans to see her. Just not cut from that cloth.

Suddenly everything was in place. An idea that seemed impossible a week ago, was suddenly coming to fruition.

Admittedly I fretted about money, and if we’d have enough. On the way to the game, the universe and generous souls once again intervened. Several hundred dollars showed up in my Venmo unexpectedly and unanticipated. More it looked like a preordained outcome was transpiring.

The game was everything that was anticipated. My son was impressed by the size of the stadium, the traditions of the university, and the victory of the team.

It was cold and our feet were freezing throughout the game, but it didn’t matter. We did see a man wearing overalls with no shirt. After the game, he confirmed that he was freezing, something we suspected based on his purplish hue.

The last hicup arrived when we went to return the rental car.

I had mistaenly rented from a location off site from the airport with a Monday return time. This location was closed on Sunday and had no after hours drop box. Compounding the issue, we had an Altima with an intelligent key that prevented the locking of the keys in the car. apparently the key was more intelligent then me.

With a flight time fast approaching, and having already sent one Uber away, we ended up parking in the lot under a light and a camera and tossing the keys in the car with an unlocked driver side door. The fear of auto theft in the forefront of my mind.

My nervousness must have been apparent, as we tried to navigate the airport to our soon departing flight, my son commented, “Man your a wreck.”

“Yea”, I responded. “I really don’t feel like buying an Altima when the rental car gets stolen.”

It’ll be fine, he reassured me, while navigating our route, causing me to reflect on just how much he had matured and how close the time was that he’d no longer need me to help navigate life. I was filled with pride and sadness simultaneously.

We arrived back safely in time for Christmas Eve and enjoyed a fantastic holiday. One made more memorable by, to quote an old AA trope, letting go and letting god.

Please don’t get caught up in the religous reference. Trust me, I’m more of a heathen then most of you. Still, there is a lot to be said for giving up control and trusting that if you take the right steps, things will turnout the way they are supposed to turn out.

Whether this trip constitutes a Christmas miracle or not is dependent on the eye of the beholder.

In my eyes, it was an unqualified miracle. That’s one of the changes in my outlook that came about after my stint in rehab several decades ago.

While there, I realized just how many people claimed to have never experienced a miracle. It’s my opinion is that scarcity lies in the definition of a miricle and not in their existence.

Thank you God, Allah, Vishnu, or the universe for once again encouraging me to embrace the magic of the season.

A lesson that shouldn’t be relegated to just the holiday season.

– – –

It was never my intention to go on so long about my holiday adventure, but let’s squeeze a little news in.

Under the guise of propitious intentions the Tennessee Department of Education last week released school letter grades for Tennessee school districts. Per usual it’s a load of bullshit.

“The 2023-24 State Report Card provides valuable insights into the performance of public schools and districts across Tennessee, giving families and communities the tools they need to advocate for their students,” said Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education. “We are especially proud of the schools that performed highly on the School Letter Grades and are moving the needle for kids, and we encourage all Tennesseans to actively engage and contribute to the ongoing success of all our schools.”

Right, nothing says we care about students and families like the release of this data just prior to the Christmas holiday.

Local news outlets immediately began to dig into what the data means.

They are missing the point. The better question is, what are parents and teachers supposed to do with this data released at the end of the first semester of school?

Seeing that grades are based almost completely on a test that was given nine months ago, what’s the relevance?

Students have 12 years guarenteed formal education, if this data is truly in their interest why isn’t provided prior to a student burning another school year?

Lastly, who is paying attention this close to Christmas? Peoiple are caught up in holiday festivities, they are not sacrificing precious time to analize the opinions of a department who’s head spends minimal time in Tennessee, let alone in Tennessee public schools.

Now, seeing as the State General Assembly convenes in less then a month, its hard not to cynically assume that the pupose of the timing of release isn’t to provide state leaders with an argument to grow the state’s voucher program next year.

A suspicion only amplified by the timing of a second TNDOE press release touting gains in the state’s existing ESA program.

“The ESA program provides eligible Tennessee families with added opportunity in finding the best educational environment for their students,” said Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education. “This report shows families are satisfied with the educational opportunities afforded by the program, and we are encouraged by the academic performance of the students participating.”

Among the Departments talking points:

Participation in Tennessee’s ESA program grew by 362% in its second year, with 2,088 students enrolled in non-public schools using ESA funds.
An overwhelming 99% of participating families reported satisfaction with the program, reinforcing the value of providing parents with educational options.
ESA students achieved a 4-point increase in English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency and a 6-point increase in Math proficiency on the TCAP between 2022-23 and 2023-24.
ESA students in Memphis-Shelby County outperformed public school students in ELA and matched their proficiency in Math, while economically disadvantaged students in the ESA program outperformed their public school peers in ELA and Math.
Nearly half (49%) of ESA participants identify as Black or African American, and 43% as White, showcasing the program’s broad reach.

Yep…tis the season. The season to engage in the endless debate over state sponsored school vouchers.

Just one last thing to bring to your attention. The last few weeks have shown Governor Bill Lee out pounding the drum for increased school choice options. For the most part, despite his relentless harping, he’s been a one man band.

Oh sure, Speaker Sexton chimes in with a chorus periodically and State Senator Jack Johnson of Franklin has supplied a little harmony on occasion, but for the most part, it’s been the Lee solo record.

Maybe that’ll change once things officially convene, but I’m growing increasingly skeptical.

This feels a whole lot like dead bill walking.

– – –

Been hearing rumbles for months now about questionable bonuses awarded to Metro Nashville Public School principals by the head of the department of School of Innovation. While I’ve confirmed the bonuses, the criteria for the awaerd has remained elusive.

Not every principal received a bonuses, but for those who did, it was pften in double digits. For example, one High School principal received $9750 at the end of each semester. Thart’s almost $20K for the school year. It was listed as a retention bonus.

That’s a nice bonus, especially considering that the proncipal was alreay making $145k a year. This “retention” bonus apparently wasn’t effective because the recipient is now an execitive director making $159 annually. Ironically, that promotion is essentially a 5k pay cut.

That’s just one example. Makes it easy to see why there are questions. Questions that continue to go unanswered. Including why were teachers not eligible for similar bonuses. or were they?

This week those questions got ratched up. In a letter to the MNPS school boards, *Tonisha Cook, M.Ed.,*** Office of Innovation Grant Coordinator shared a letter she had written to Human Resources. in that letter, she addresses questions around the bonuses.

“I apologize for sending this email so late. I am not able to sleep due to my anxiety level being so high. Two situations have been brought to my attention and I need it documented that I brought them to your attention. The first situation was a meeting that Chief Perry had with the principals last week.

The EDs and Dr. Battle were also present at the meeting. Chief Perry spoke about the email I sent to principals in response to their inquiries regarding the criteria for the principal bonuses. Chief Perry instructed them to not contact me anymore and to only speak to her. Documents provided as part of my grievances proved that Chief Perry misappropriated TAG 3 grant funds by giving bonuses to non CSI principals last school year. Chief Perry withheld that information from me. I found out because she contacted ED Wright to move the expenses from the TAG grant to ESSER. He forwarded me the list of names with the amounts to verify that it was correct. There were also two principals that received multiple bonuses. One of the principalswho received multiple bonuses told another principal who did not receive a bonus which caused the principals to question why they did not receive one. My understanding is that they were told by Chief Perry that they did not meet the criteria.”

The veracity of these charges is yet to be determined, but it should be noted that Perry is reportedly no longer responsible for grants. That duty has been moved to Chief Chin.

We’ll continue watching this unfold, though I doubt it will be on the agenda for any upcoming board meeting.

One thing I would like to offer, is to caution Ms. Cook to protect herself professionally and mentally. There is precedent of multiple instences where Dr. Battle and her team to have shown a willingness to protect themselves at all costs.

Buckle up, between this and a lawsuit filed against MNPS by LEAD Academy – which we’ll discuss more in the future – 2025 is shaping up to be the year of the attorney. Let’s not forget there is still another lawsuitr pending as well. That one, barring any compromise, goes to trial this summer.

Wonder if all this is going to translate to a budgert line in this year’s district budget.

– – –

If you’ve got something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Any wisdom or criticism you’d like to share is always welcome.

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“Your friend professes belief yet I’m not convinced. What about you? Are the gods real?”
“They are real,” says I, “And you’re a prick.”
― Ferdia Lennon, Glorious Exploits

I watch a lot of football.

I’ve done so for years.

Of late, I’ve notice the over reliance on data creep into the game. Especially when it comes to evaluating Quarterbacks.

Playing QB is not an easy task. Few young atheletes make a smooth transistion from the college game to the pro game, but that doesn’t mean expectations are tempered. just the opposite.

Self-appointed experts point to newly created data points in order to facilitate development, or at least thats what they claim. To me it just feels like an effort for those who never played the game to insert themself in the conversation. But maybe, that’s just the cynic in me.

Release time, tightness of ball spin, number of rotations, even average time of ball in air before caught is measured in an effort to quantify something that requires a little magic to succeed.

The accumulation, and presentation, of these stats beg the question of correlation or causation. Is a QB successful because he does all of these things, or do successful QBs just have a lot of these traits?

Pretty sure that when Terry Bradshaw was winning Super Bowls, we never knew his average spin or how fast the ball was leaving his hand. We just knew that he was winning Super Bowls, so he must be pretty good.

Along with the over reliance on data has come an increased belief in the value of the coach. Supplied with their notebook of data and their brilliant plays, they can turn anybody to be a successful QB, if they’ll just listen. But are they really that brilliant, and is it really that easy?

Strangely enough, despite all of this data, the NFL has become worse at developing QB’s then ever. Something like 9 first round draft choices over the last three years are either riding the bench for their respective teams, or considered a placeholder while their team looks for the next field general. Only a handfull of teams possess a franchise quarterback. You know, the ever elusive rockstar quarterback.

I used to believe that my years of watching football qualified me as an expert on the sport. Well, that and a little high school ball. At least until my son started playing.

He’s a high school varsity QB, early in his career. One of my favorite things is discussing plays during the car ride home after a game. What I have quickly learned is that don’t know squat about football.

I’ll bring up a throw that looked like it was thrown to no one, “What about that throw in the second quarter over the middle, who the hell were you throwing that one to?”

Non-plussed, he replied, “What do you mean?”

“That ball you threw, it looked like it was going to no one.”

Still non-plussed, he says, “That’s the receiver. It was a timing pattern. He cut the route short. I threw the ball to where he was supposed to be. He wasn’t there, that’s on him.”

“Oh”, I say, “What about that throw down the sideline. Looked like that receiver was wide open and you missed him.”

“Yea, tha pressure was coming faster then I anticipated and I didn’t have time to get my feet set, so I tried to muscle it. Should have released it a little earlier. I’ll get it next time.”

“Fair enough. But that touchdown pass was something else. You threw it through three defenders. That was risky.”

Puzzled, he slowly resonds, “I just hit my window.”

Huh…everything I thought was horrific wasn’t nearly as bad, and everything I thought fantastic was merely mundane.

My mind wandered back to conversations from the past with his mother, a teacher.

i was just getting into this advocacy game. I’d read something and think it was the greatest idea in the world, and then she’d explain to me why it wasn’t.

Then I’d hear about something that I though god awful, and she’d explain to me why it wasn’t.

Through these conversations, I learned to wait to form opinions until after I talked to the people who actually did the job, not people who spent their time engaged in pontification.

Like football, teaching has become a profession overrun by data geeks. Instead of recognizing the preparation and personal traits that go into being successful, non-practioners draw up curriculum and practices that fail to seize upon the strengths of the individual. Just do it their way, and everything will be great.

But are they really that good, and is it really that easy?

Winning the game, or educationg the student is no longer sufficient. You gotta earn the style points as well. You gotta follw the method or you are out. The pressure to succeed based on arbitrary terms becomes overwhelming.

What happens with both quarterbacks and teachers, is that they succumb to that pressure. Doubt sets in, and ineffectiveness follows. How many quality practioners are chased out of the professions because they don’t adhere to prescribed arguably best practices?

Right now, the Minnesota Vikings are being led on a championship run by a quarterback that three teams have written off in the last 6 years. Maaybe he’s not as bad as evryone thought.

By the way, that QB is currently rated 12th, based on the new analytics, two spots ahead of three time Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes. Are there really 13 QBs a team would rather have then Mahomes, even though all he does is win?

Interceptions are the bane of a quartback existence. Pundits bemoan them for destroying a teams odds of winning. But they happen.

Amazingly, Mahomes is among the leaders this years with 9. Yet his team is 9-0 and favored to win another Championship.

Maybe. But doubtful.

That said, lets not underplay the importance of leadership.

I don’t think Mahomes would be nearly as successful if he had a coach other then Andy Reid. See Reid understands that data is a tool and that not everything can be measured. He recognizes that success requires a bit of magic and individualism, and sometimes that means accepting the misteps that comes with it.

Data should be a tool foir people. People should not become tools for data.

Unfortunately, in both football and education, we default to the latter.

– – –

Last week, Donald Trump was elected as the 47th President of the United States. Immediately after his victory was declared, the heated conversations began.

In the education policy sphere, the leading topic is the fate of the Department of Education. Many of you are quite upset about the possibility of the DOE being shuttered.

Me? I’m abliviant.

Hear me out.

The DOE didn’t start functioning as an independent department until 1980, when then President Jimmy Carter carved it out of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. That said, it has existed for awhile, with an evolving mission. It also has been underfire since inception.

Per Wikipedia:

The Department of Education is administered by the United States secretary of education. It has 4,400 employees – the smallest staff of the Cabinet agencies[5] – and a 2024 budget of $238 billion.[6] The 2023 Budget was $274 billion, which included funding for children with disabilities (IDEA), pandemic recovery, early childhood education, Pell Grants, Title I, work assistance, among other programs. This budget was down from $637.7 billion in 2022.[7]

Primary duties of the DOE are deciding who gets federeal funding based on federal priorities, collecting data for research, setting the focus on what they deem key education issues, preventing discrimination and insuring equitable access to education.

That’s a long way from the original intent as conceived by former President Andrew Johnson, who saw the need to collect information and statistics on local schools, and provide advice on what seems to be working. Even then, way back in 1867, there was concern about the influence potentially weilded by a National department. Over the years the department wandered around under different federal agencies. An unsuccessful attempt at creating a Department of Education, headed by a Secretary of Education, came with the Smith–Towner Bill in 1920.

They would further argue, that state constitutions do include education. Therefore the Founders intended it to be a state responsibility. Maybe true, but short sighted of the Founders. We’ll get to that in a minute.

When Carter finally brought the department to fruition, and gave it cabinet level status, Rebulicans were not happy. In their eyes, the department was unconstitutional, arguing that the Constitution does not mention education, and deemed it an unnecessary and illegal federal bureaucratic intrusion into local affairs. However, others saw the department as constitutional under the Commerce Clause, and that the funding role of the department is constitutional under the Taxing and Spending Clause.

The intial department budget was $14 million a year with 17,000 employees. Carter’s successor, Ronald Reagan, during his campaign promised to abolish the new department. Once elected, he reduced the budget, but in 1989 had a change of heart, and requested an increase from $18.4 billion to $20.3 billion.

In 1994, the Rebulicans took control of both the House and Senate, and spending on education drastically increased, despite the fact that the Republican Party made abolition of the department a cornerstone of it’s 1996 platform and campaign promises, calling it an inappropriate federal intrusion into local, state, and family affairs.

To quote, “The Federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula or to control jobs in the market place. This is why we will abolish the Department of Education, end federal meddling in our schools, and promote family choice at all levels of learning.”

In 2000, the Republican Liberty Caucus passed a resolution to abolish the Department of Education. George W. Bush, didn’t honor this resolution and instead increased the Federal footprint through the No Child Left Behind Act. The department’s budget increased by $14 billion between 2002 and 2004, from $46 billion to $60 billion.

What’s the first lesson I’m always trying to preach? Ain’t nothing new in these debates.

While this all may seem like some crazy scheme dreamed up by Trump acolytes down at Margo Largo, it’s really business per usual. What I often refer to as, the same old same old.

What we do best in education policy discussions.

On the flip side of all of this is, I’m not sure how much value the federal DOE actually provides. Supporters tout them as being a bulwark that ensures special education students are given the ducational services they deserve. But are they?

Have you ever tried to get a Individual Education Plan for your child? If you have, then you are aware of the level of difficulty this entails. Even the most well meaning of school administrators will fight you on an IEP. It adds work for the over taxed, and cost to the underfunded. That’s just reality.

Once written, there is no guarentee that the IEP will be followed. The dirty little secret is that public schools may welcome all students, but they don’t always offer them all the services they require. Not casting stones here, just stating that which often goes unsaid.

The counter argument is that they do the best they can with what they’ve been given. Maybe, but that ain’t always good enough.

What happens if a school or district is found to be out of compliance?

Best I can tell, the DOE sends a nasty gram and threatens to withhold funding, a threat that always rings hollow.

Under former Commissioner Penny Schwinn, Tennessee was out of compliance for a number of years. The DOE sent their letters to Commissioner Schwinn and she largely ignored them. Eventually, I think, Tennessee came into compliance, but there was never any lost funding.

Let’s face it, as a department charged with holding states accountable, the only tool the DOE has is to withhold funding. If they are never weilding that tool, how effective are they?

Another part of this is that despite all his bluster, President Trump is still only the President-elect. There is a long way to go in this debate.

As State Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) told Dan Mandis this morning on WTN, “We are not going to get a memo on Monday saying its closed. It will be step-down process because of all the grants and contracts involved.”

For his part Cepicky is, depending on the details, supportive of the idea. He says, “Once that wind-down starts, states will grab hold of this, and start to create these 50 individual ideas of how to do education, and you’ll start to bring competition to the education field, which is something that is sorely needed.”

Maybe. But if you think that the Federal government is going to completely get out of the business of influencing education policy in this country….yea…I don’t think so. The heavy hand will just pop up somewhere else.

Cepicky’s argument, also ignores one of the primary purposes of public education. Perhaps its most important. That is to create citizens.

The myth created around the history of American public schooling as a national treasure that nurtures our democracy is only half true. The reality is that 19th-century politicians and citizens were fearful of and overwhelmed by rapid societal change, as thousands of immigrants streamed into American cities in the mid-1800s.

As Kerry McDonald writes in a piece for Foundations of Economic Education:

Between 1830 and 1840 U.S. immigration quadrupled, and between 1840 and 1850, it tripled again. Particularly troubling to lawmakers at the time was the fact that many of these new immigrants were Irish Catholics who threatened the dominant Anglo-Saxon Protestant cultural and religious customs. “Those now pouring in upon us, in masses of thousands upon thousands, are wholly of another kind in morals and intellect,” mourned the Massachusetts state legislature regarding the new Boston immigrants.

Universal, taxpayer-funded “common schools” became the mechanism to rein in these masses and “Americanize” them to societal norms. Interestingly, many of the Irish Catholic immigrant families didn’t want to send their children to these so-called “secular” schools that continued to reflect prevailing Protestant ideals and texts. So the solution for lawmakers was simply to make them attend.

1852 marks the onset of what public schooling advocates herald as universal, taxpayer-supported public schooling for all children regardless of background. What is often missing is the acknowledgment that the 1852 compulsory schooling law, passed in Massachusetts and subsequently replicated in all states, was the first to mandate school attendance under a legal threat of force.

Many families rebelled. Catholics, for example, created their own private, parochial schools. Outraged by this action, lawmakers throughout the country began in the 1880s to pass laws known as Blaine Amendments that prohibited any public funding for private schools. These laws remain today in many states, and are at the heart of the debate around school choice, particularly, vouchers that would enable parents to receive public money to use at private schools.”

Once again, remember my first lesson? Yea, it applies here as well.

McDonal includes in her piece a quote that feels particularly relevant here.

In her October Atlantic, “The War on Public Schools,” Erika Christakis takes aim at current efforts to place education decision-making back in the hands of parents and away from the state. She says these school choice efforts, like charter schools and vouchers, threaten American public schooling. Christakis writes:

So what happens when we neglect the public purpose of our publicly funded schools? The discussion of vouchers and charter schools, in its focus on individual rights, has failed to take into account American society at large. The costs of abandoning an institution designed to bind, not divide, our citizenry are high.”

Good question and I look forward to the discussion.

– – –

I’d be remiss if I didn’t report on Metro Nashville Public Schools latest historical accomplishment.

Per their press release:

Metro Nashville Public Schools is proud to announce a historic achievement: For the third consecutive year, the district has attained a Level 5 growth score from the Tennessee Value Added Assessment System (TVAAS). This “threepeat” accomplishment marks the first time in TVAAS history that our district has reached this level of consistent growth, underscoring MNPS’s dedication to academic excellence and growth.

“This achievement speaks volumes about our district’s commitment to rigorous, high-quality education,” said Dr. Adrienne Battle, Superintendent of Nashville Public Schools. “Reaching a Level 5 growth score three years in a row is a testament to the hard work and talent of our students, the dedication of our educators, and the strong support from our community and partners. Our goal is to ensure every student receives the resources, support, and high-quality instruction they need to succeed – and this recognition confirms we are moving in the right direction.”

Congratulations to Dr. Battle and her cohorts. Upon reflection maybe her newest contract extension wasn’t enough. Should have been $400K a year and allowed her to continue to cash in vacation days.

Shows you what I know.

Just don’t look to closely at the numbers, or consider achiement gaps.

You can come celebrate with Dr. Battle this Saturday at Nissan Stadium from 1-5pm. The district is hosting a parade. Students and families will have the chance to meet educators representing their schools and learn about the unique programs offered to students. There will be food, giveaways and activities.

– – –

If you’ve got something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Any wisdom or criticism you’d like to share is always welcome.

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“He had become lonely in his mind, he knew: he no longer encountered other people even in his thoughts.”
― Tom Crewe

Still trying to process just what just happened this week.

The general consensus was that the Presidential race was going to be tight. In my eyes, maybe because of the people I hang with, Harris was always going to take it.

Maybe Trump would manage to squeeze out the electoral college win, but no way was he going to win the popular vote.

That’s not what happened; he not only took every swing state on his road to the electoral college, but as of now, he’s 4 million up in the popular vote. To add insult to injury, , Republicans took back the Senate and are poised to hold the House. Ouch.

Americans who typically prefer a split government, just gave full control to one party. That’s an eye-opener. Or it should be.

In Tennessee, 6 months ago I felt confident predicting that the Democrats could flip 6 seats. I still feel confident that they could have, but they didn’t. They didn’t flip a single one. Not a one.

At a time when Tennessee’s Super Majority party is regularly introducing legislation that gets schlacked in court, the opposition couldn’t flip one seat. It does no good to be the smartest kid in the room if you can’t get in the room. Maybe a little less time hanging with Joan Baez and a little more time at the local turkey shoot would have been time better spent.

But hey, Rachel Maddox loves the Tennessee Three. Me? I’d prefer to have the love of Tennesseans.

Looking through the local races, and in 90% of the races the margins of victory weren’t even close. Its about as clear an indictment as possible that recent strategies arent working.

The challenge now becomes, are we going to cling to the excuses of racism and gerrymandering, or are we going to figure out how to craft a message that reaches Tennessee voters?

I look at this past election, both on the state and federal level, as confirmation of some things I have been saying for a while. Shaming people into compliance doesn’t work, and the overreliance on identity politics needs to cease.

Forty years ago, when individual lives were much more homogenized, maybe you could expect demographic groups to vote in mass. Not today. Those groups, like America itself, have fragmentized. In some cases, to the point that the color of skin or sexual preference is the only commonality. That’s only going to grow.

Former President Obama telling Black men that if they didn’t vote for Harris, it was because they were misogynistic certainly didn’t help, did it?

Those attempts at shaming were rampant through out the campaign.

Blogger Peter Greene writes in a recent Curmudgucation post:

Yes, Democrats made all sorts of mistakes; Bernie Sanders pointing out the failure to reach working class people may be on the mark. But to think Trump is the working man’s friend requires a head stuffed firmly in an alternate reality. Treasonous Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election, and to believe otherwise is to accept a big lie. To think he’s some kind of genius requires a stretch of miles and miles and miles. Trump stole classified documents and tried to weasel out of giving them back. He’s a felon, a man found guilty of sexual assault, a serial grifter, a misogynist, a racist, a man whose character so lacking in character and honor that the notion of him as a Christian champion makes no more sense than the idea of a great dane teaching advanced calculus.

If we are talking evidence-based reality, over 74 million Americans either don’t believe that Trump attempted treason or they reject the morality of it. You’ll have a hard time convincing me of the latter over the former.

For the record, Trump was found guilty of sexually abusing and defaming a woman in civil court. While that in itself is despicable, he’s never been found guilty of sexual assault in a criminal court. That may feel like a small distinction, but it is reality. The burden of proof in a civil case is much lower than it is for a criminal case.

To quote UC Davis School of Law professor Katherine Florey:

“This is a much lower standard than in criminal trials, in which the prosecution’s contentions must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt,” Florey said. “The preponderance standard could be satisfied if the jury is only 51 percent confident that the plaintiff’s version of events is true, whereas in a criminal trial, the jury must have near certainty that the prosecution is correct.

Equally real is the belief that the felony charges stem from a politically motivated case.

Joe Biden arguably stole classified documents as well. A special counsel report reads, “Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.” However, there wasn’t enough evidence to bring charges.

In Trump’s case, they brought charges, but he’s yet to be convicted, and it’s doubtful he ever will be. So Green may believe that he stole classified documents, but there is no legal evidence to support that belief. Indictment is not conviction, and if you are going to argue for the truth, then you have to do so universally. Otherwise, you are engaging in the same spread of misinformation in which you are accusing others.

While you may believe that Trump is fascist and comparable to Hitler, I would argue that it’s a hard sell to everyone else. Either you are smarter than everyone, or maybe, you are overselling your argument. either way, the argument is questioned.

If you put one aspect of your message into question, you open your whole message for questioning. That’s what happened, and in this case, Americans rejected the whole thing.

Look I don’t want to spend a whole lot of time defending a man that I didn’t vote for and whom I personally find distasteful.

We can spend a lot of time either in mourning or making excuses. Or, we could do something else that I’ve long prescribed, talking to our neighbors. All our neighbors, not just the ones that agree with us.

You know the old saying, be the change you envision.

I can’t help but reference a common sports trope here – when confronted with adversity, you can either get better or get bitter. Kinda fits, no?

As for the next four years, remember lots of presidents make promises on the campaign trail that they can’t live up to once elected. I’m pretty confident that I’ll still be paying taxes on tips next year.

The American system and the American people have proven to be better than expected. e are not perfect people, but we are all right,

And, it’ll be all right.

– – –

It wasn’t talked about too much during campaign season, but now education talk is rising to the front of the conversation. Speculation is running rampant about who Trump will name as secretary of Education, and whether he’ll follow through with plans to abolish the Department of Education.

In the case of the latter, i remain skeptical. It’s easy to criticize from the outside looking in. Closer inspection often exposes inconvenient truths. Like Tennessee legislators, Trump is likely to find on closer inspection that the DOE is involved in much more than he thought. The question then becomes how do you do away with the bad while retaining the good.

It’s also important to remember that the financial incentives offered by the federal government come from state taxes. If you are going to do away with the federal DOE, are you going to send that money back to individual states?

My experience has been that no level of government likes to return money, so I’d have to see it to believe it.

If they don’t return the money, the states are forced to make up that money on top of current obligations. I think that’ll be equally distasteful.

If I had to give an opinion, I would argue that a restriction of power and a downsized footprint are more likely to transpire.

Back to who is going to be in charge, that’s an interesting one. While I have yet to hear former TN Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn’s name mentioned, there are some equally disturbing names being tossed about.

Of course, Batsy DeVos is quickly mentioned, along with Mitch Daniels: The Reaganesque former Indiana governor and Purdue University president has a stellar record and reputation.

In another recent piece Greene shares the musing of DeVos, and it sounds like she’s bucking for the gig. But if not her, she She thinks an ideal candidate would be a governor “who’s led their state in reform issues. Greene says he’s trying to think of a privatizing governor who would like to take his career on a side trip through Trump’s education department. Unfortunately I know one, but he’s a RHINO.

Jeanne Allen is another possibility. She’s been a fighter for education reform for decades and founded the Center for Education Reform to restore excellence to education, and built it into the nation’s leading advocate for innovation and opportunity in education. Per bio, “CER pioneered dozens of laws providing parents with choice and launched a nationwide movement that energized millions to engage in the fight.”

Glen Younkin, the Governor of Virginia has been put forth. His term ends in late 2025. That would put former TNDOE official Lisa Coons entirely to close to the palace for my liking.

In the recent past, Trump himself has floated a couple potential names who he said could oversee the dismantlement of the education department: Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur who ran for the GOP nomination before dropping out and endorsing Trump, and former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York, who left Congress last year after an unsuccessful bid for governor.

Then there is Tiffany Justice, co-founder of the parents’ rights group Moms For Liberty. Cade Brumley, Louisiana’s state superintendent of education, and Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s state superintendent of public instruction, a couple cultural warriors, may also be considered.

Me, I’m pushing JC Bowman’s name. Bowman is currently head of Professional Educators of Tennessee but previously worked in former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s cabinet. He’s knowledgeable, passionate, and experienced. Come to think of it, he’s probably overqualified.

– – –

Tennessee legislators didn’t waste a minute releasing their upcoming legislation promoting school choice.

On Wednesday, fresh off of election success, they released the latest version of the Governor’s plan to bring vouchers to Tennessee. This bill is challenged and in need of some love. In other words, it is filled with holes.

We’ll have lots of time to discuss this bill in the upcoming months. Especially sense by releasing the bill now, the odds of a special session are greatly reduced. What that means is that this bill is going to have to wind its way through committee, with everyone getting a shot at it.

That said, at this juncture, I also think it is safe to say that this won’t be the final bill. Amendments are coming, some may be good, some may worse then what’s already in here.

The most egregious elements included here are the attempted payoffs.

Lee prposes that each teacher, which I’m a little hazy on how they are defining “teachers”, will receive $2 grand. Now that’s before taxes. By the time they get it, it’ll be closer to $1400. Once again, another indicator of how Governor Lee thinks about teachers.

His wife is a teacher, couldn’t he have at least walked into the otjer room and asked. “Hey if I gave you two grand would it appease you enough to support something you were philosophically opposed to?”

That’s the problem with constantly being for sale, you think everyone else is also for sale.

The other thing that should piss some folks off is the $80 million included to rebuild school affected by natural disasters. So not only is the Gov unwilling to dip into his charter school fund to help Tennesserans in drastic need, but he wants to use their need to garner support for his pet project.

My response would be, give me the damn money. If you want to get into an argument about, let’s get it on…in public.

Those two items should be enough to put the bill on the ropes even without diving deeper.

Just another bad bill.

Can it be fixed? Maybe, but it’ll take a deft hand.

– – –

If you’ve got something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Any wisdom or criticism you’d like to share is always welcome.

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“A man could say every day that he wanted to change his life, was going to change it, and every day the lament became merely a part of the life he was already living, so that the desire for change was in fact a kind of stasis that allowed the unchanged life to continue, because at least the man knew to disapprove of it, which reassured him not all was lost.”
― Rachel Kushner,

Take a deep breath.

Inhale through the nose.

Smell that smell?

Catch that scent?

Feel familiar?

It should.

That’s the fragrant aroma of a Tennessee Special Session permeating the air. Now, legislators will try to downplay it, saying you don’t smell anything—it’s just your imagination. Don’t fall for it; it’s real and likely to grow once we are past election day next Tuesday.

Now that we’ve identified the odor in the air, the question would be, what will lawmakers be devoting their undivided attention to this time around?

You might be one of those people who welcome the smell, thinking, it’s about time we have a deeper conversation about the devastation in East Tennessee from Hurricane Helena. The storm has made it impossible for tens of thousands of students to continue their education and we probably ought to do more about that.

The Tennessee Department of Education, along with legislators, has been doing as much as it can to address the needs of displaced students. In some cases, arranging buses to take students to schools as far as 60 minutes away. But it’s not nearly enough.

Online classes offered a solution during the pandemic. That’s not an option here as Helene destroyed homes, churches, and other buildings. Cell phone service has remained spotty even as weeks have passed since the hurricane hit. It’s clear that traditional solutions aren’t going to be enough.

A timeline for students to return to normal learning still remains unavailable. It could be months, or even longer.

According to News 6 out of Knoxville:

“The Buncombe County School system, which serves over 22,000 students, told families Tuesday on the district’s Facebook page no decision has been made “with regards to start date or length of day” because of a need to repair buildings, restore phone and security systems and redraw bus routes.”

A return to regular schooling will only begin to address the issue brought by the tragedy. Research shows that children who experience natural disasters are more susceptible to acute illness and symptoms of depression and anxiety. The physical and mental health impacts put them at greater risk of learning loss: Absences can undermine achievement, as can the effects of trauma on brain function. There is going to be a lot to resolve.

Governor Lee has offered some assistance – sorta. He’s tapped into a special savings pot within Tennessee’s Medical program. You know, the program that helps economically disadvantaged Tennesseans with their medical expenses.

According to the Tennessee Lookout:

The Helene Emergency Assistance Loans (HEAL) program will direct $100 million in no-interest loans from TennCare to 13 disaster-struck Tennessee counties, tapping so-called “shared savings” funds that are unique to the state’s Medicaid program.

Brilliant. Now, districts that were already facing potential property tax raises due to Lee’s reformation of school funding will have no choice but to raise property taxes to pay back a loan provided by the generous Governor. If anybody asks, the tax increases are the fault of Mother Nature and no one else. Sounds like a win for everyone.

Well, unless you are part of a TennCare special program. Lee has acknowledged that certain planned programs for TennCare patients may need to be temporarily scrapped until counties can repay the $100 million in no-interest loans. He didn’t say which ones, but still.

I probably don’t need to remind anybody that there is $144 million sitting in a pot designated for a non-existent state voucher program. But Lee ain’t touching that. “We can do both,” he says.

I gotta say, this is a situation that meets the very definition of a Special Session. Republican Sen. Rusty Crowe, who represents Carter, Johnson and Washington counties — which all suffered Helene damage – has already stated that he planned to seek an emergency special session of the legislature in early January to call for the appropriation of additional dollars for flood-stricken counties.

Alas, I don’t think this is the Special Session attached to the odor currently wafting through the air.

In this case, I think we are again talking about what we are always talking about – education freedom funds.

How you are going to talk about school choice when students in 13 of Tennessee’s states have no choice escapes me, but I’m sure we’ll find a way.

My stance on vouchers has considerably softened over the years, The arguments against them seem more geared towards protecting the interests of adults than ensuring opportunities for kids.

That wealthy Tennesssee district whose superintendent is regularly railing against vouchers, is protecting their own exclusivity as much as anything. Disagree? Ask them to take a couple hundred students from a nearby less financially secure district and enroll them in their schools. Let those students see the opportunities available that aren’t available in their district.

Any takers? I didn’t think so.

As a public school parent without the means to enroll in a private option, the message sent regularly to me is that you owe it to those less fortunate to limit options for your kids. Trust me, it comes through loud and clear. To even suggest that the options in a private school are greater than those in a public school is either met with a rebuke or a silent nod. You can dismiss it all you want, but the trapped feeling exists regardless.

in defending the system, supporters often point to the transparency and accountability built into the public system. That’s pure gaslighting.

When was the last time a public school district lost funding due to a failure to adequately serve students? When was the last time a school was closed? So what does that accountability look like?

Metro Nashville Public Schools recently awarded a new contract with a substantial raise to their superintendent two years before the expiration of the current contract. Was there any public engagement before they did it?

How about after it was done, any of the local media coverage? As far as I can tell, WKRN was the only station to run a story. That one was bare bones at best.

So, a year before local citizens face a potential property tax increase, the MNPS school board raises the salary of its contracted director to a level nearly double the Mayor’s and higher than the larger Memphis school district’s director, and nobody feels it worthy of any discussion?

Where is the transparency and accountability? Yea, this all bears a deeper conversation.

That said, there is a time and a place for everything. Until every student in Tennessee has ready access to a school, something that doesn’t hold true in East Tennessee, it’s neither the time nor the place to discuss choices.

I get it, Lee is about to be put out to pasture and he knows it is now or never to leave his mark. Unfortunately, Mother Nature has supplied that answer for him – it is never.

The Tennessee General Assembly should hold a Special Session, but its purpose should be dedicated to the students and families of East Tennessee, not the whims of Governor Lee.

I want to leave you with a Governor Lee anecdote. While unconfirmed, it is funny enough to share.

Remember back in the Summer when President Trump call Lee a RHINO?

Apparently, that got under the skin of the Guvener, and he’s been dialing folks up and asking them if they think he’s a RHINO. No response on what responses he’s receiving, but if he calls you, please tell him no, because to qualify for that title, he’d have to at least pretend to be a Republican.

– – –

MNPS is once again in celebration mode. No Dr. Battle didn’t get another bonus. This time they are crowing about graduation rates.

Late this week the TDOE released grad rates for the 2023-24 cohort and Nashville’s are up by 4.5%, bringing the total to…wait for it…85.7%. According to an MNPS press release, this is the highest graduation rate for MNPS since data tracking began in 2002, reflecting the district’s commitment to ensuring every student has the resources and support needed to complete their education.

I’m not sure I would share the record-breaking part. In my household, an 85, ain’t an “A” and that’s our expectation.

The district is bragging that if you take any 10 kids, 8.5 of them are going to graduate. But I guess as Board Member Erin Block expressed at a recent board meeting where data was reviewed, that’s as good as it gets.

“Our record-breaking graduation rate is the result of dedication from every level of our community – from our board members to our families, and especially our students,” said Board Chair Freda Player. “MNPS is paving new pathways for post-secondary success through innovative programs that meet students where they are and prepare them for the future. This celebration belongs to every student who committed to achieving their best, and to the educators who have guided them every step of the way.”

Two MNPS Academies of Nashville high schools, Maplewood and Glencliff, saw outstanding growth in their year-over-year graduation rates, with gains of more than 10 percentage points, while five other schools – Hunters Lane, Antioch, Overton, Pearl-Cohn, and McGavock – each saw improvements exceeding five percentage points. Three MNPS optional schools achieved a 100% graduation rate: Early College High School, Nashville Big Picture High School, and the MNPS Virtual School.

Despite that growth, Glencliff still sits at 70% and Maplewood at 72%. That’s a little alarming.

I’m not arguing that the gains aren’t worthy of celebration, but let’s temper the crowing because there is plenty of room for growth.

One school I do want to point out is Nashville’s East High School. Basically, it is a sports magnet school that often gets derided for its academics, but its students graduate at a rate of 95.3%. That is worth celebrating.

Statewide, the 2023-24 statewide graduation rate is 92.1 percent, breaking the previous record achieved in the 2022-23 school year at 90.6 percent.

Some key points were provided by the TDOE:

Clay County Schools, McKenzie Special School District, South Carroll Special School District, and West Carroll Special District each had over a 99% graduation rate.
73 districts graduated 95 percent or more of their students on time.
1,756 more students graduated in the 2024 cohort compared to last year, for a total of 67,232 students graduating across the state.
78 districts improved their graduation rates from 2023 to 2024, with seven districts improving by five percentage points or more.
The English learners student group demonstrated a 12-percentage point increase in their graduation rate from 67% in 2022-23 to 79% in 2023-24.
23 districts finished the year with over a 99% graduation rate for at least one of the following student groups: English Learners, Black, Hispanic, Native American, Economically Disadvantaged, and Students with Disabilities.

Positive news, but still more to do.

– – –

This week brought light to a disturbing lawsuit filed against MNPS by a Granberry Elementary School parent.

According to court documents, on 10/16/23, their child came home from school with several bruises on their face and head. When questioned by the parent, the child revealed that they’d been repeatedly kicked in the head by another student.

When the parent followed up with the school principal, she was told that she hadn’t been notified of the incident because it was never reported to the teacher by the paraprofessional who saw the incident. The child’s injuries were initially chalked up to a head-banging activity. The child has an IEP that requires parental notification in the event of any altercation or injury.

The child has suffered subsequent injuries since then. The family is seeking $300K for medical expenses. There is always more to the story, but read the lawsuit and then tell me that what they are asking is not justified.

Every child known, right?

– – –

If you’ve got something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Any wisdom or criticism you’d like to share is always welcome.

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“Her handbag, he said, was found on the scene. I made a mental note to carry out a thorough spring clean of contents of my own bag before throwing myself in front of any trains.”
― Graeme Macrae Burnet, Case Study

True confessions time here, I stopped watching Metro Nashville Public School Board meetings about 2 years ago.

Watching them was akin to watching buggy makers embrace the creation of the gas-powered motor vehicle. Coupled with the growing disconnect between the classroom and the boardroom, I had to save my sanity.

To think that I once ran for a seat on that board. As Garth Brooks noted, be thankful for unanswered prayers.

For the most part, I haven’t missed anything. Just a bunch of discussions about charter schools and funding, with plenty of self-congratulatory backslaps thrown in. That is until this week.

At Tuesday’s board meeting, held immediately following a director’s evaluation committee meeting, the board voted, with little discussion and no input from the public, to offer District Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle a new contract with a significant raise.

Her existing contract, signed two years ago, won’t expire until June 2026.

It has a compensation rate of $285K. District-supplied documentation shows Dr. Battle currently earning an annual salary of $320,586. The new contract comes with a salary of $365K. That’s an annual increase of $80K in 2 years. Good work if you can get it.

The new contract does remove the provision for Dr. Battle to cash in vacation days. I know, some of you teachers and principals didn’t even know this was an option. It’s not really unless you are a high-ranking district official. Sorry.

Removing the vacation day cash-in option is good because last year, in both August and June the director cashed in $17,784 worth of days for a combined extra $35.5K. In case you are doing the math at home, that is 120 hours worth of vacay time.

To sweeten the pot for Dr. Battle, the board post-dated the contract to July 1, 2024. So she’ll still kinda get the cash-in benefits this year, but retain her vacation days.

Still why now? That issue was addressed in the Director’s evaluation committee meeting, where the board delivered Dr. Battle’s evaluation.

The argument was made that a compensation conversation is a natural transition out of the evaluation. Maybe that’s how it works in the government employee world, but that’s never held true for me, nor for other contracted employees of MNPS.

The intent is to make this transition part of district culture. It was left unclear whether each evaluation would be followed by a new contract or only the ones that fell mid-contract.

The argument was put forth that this is the last year before the expiration of Battle’s current contract, and the board wanted to express their pleasure with her performance.

Yea…maybe. She would still be expected to finish 2 more school years before her contract expired. No reason this couldn’t have been done after next year’s evaluation. Thus permitting significantly more input from both teachers and the public.

Dr. Battle attended this meeting remotely. She was away at a conference celebrating the success of Nashville’s Academy model. A model created by former Deputy Superintendent Jay Steele.

Somebody needs to write Steele a thank you note because his is the gift that keeps on giving to MNPS administrators.

This might be splitting hairs, but I’ve never received an evaluation where it was delivered remotely. Especially if it was expected that we’d be talking compensation.

Throughout my employment history, if unavailable on the date of the scheduled evaluation, it was rescheduled. Evaluations are kinda important, especially since this is the only summative evaluation Dr. Batlle will receive throughout the year. The board does give 4 formative evaluations during the school year, but this is the big enchilada.

Seems it could have been better scheduled, but maybe they do things differently in the public sphere.

Dr. Battle’s evaluation is based on four areas: ELA, Numeracy, SEL, and Transitions. Based on available data, the board felt that the Director met expectations in all four categories.

The current evaluation is hampered by much of the most recent data remaining embargoed by the state. Instead of providing the most recent data, including TVASS scores and graduation rates, the public is supplied with a handful of “trust me, it’s going to be really good data” promises.

Now, that the contract is approved, there is no recourse if the data is less than superlative. What are you going to do?

The existing data cited in Battle’s evaluation was the same data that’s been polished up and spun previously. It does show growth in all subjects, but it’s growth that has tailed off as the distruict becomes more removed from the pandemic. It also shows growth of the achievement gap.

That said, board member Dr. Erin Block did pronounce at the evaluation meeting that results were, “as good as it gets.”

Back in July, when this data was first released, I noted this small growth, as well as that there remained much to be concerned about with the achievement gaps.

Achievement rates for students in ELA remain below one-third. More disturbing, is the fact that the achievement rates for Black, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged students, is half of those for White and Asian students.

Furthermore, looking at growth rates, white students are growing at double and triple the rate of their counterparts. Thus ensuring an achievement gap that is only going to grow wider.

The same holds true for Math.

Here’s a little math for you, if current growth rates remain consistent, it’ll only be three years before more than 30% of Hispanic students score proficient in Math and four years for Black students. By that time, over 60% of White and Asian students will have achieved proficiency.

In other words, a district that has taken the time to create an “Equity Road Map” is in actuality rewarding a leader for growing the achievement gap. But since the esteemed Dr. Block declared that it is as good as it gets, what do I know?

During discussion of Dr. Battle’s evaluation, I was heartened to hear Board member Abigail Tylor attempt to introduce teacher autonomy to the evaluation conversation. It didn’t go anywhere, but for the record that autonomy is rapidly receding in favor of scripted lesson plans and pacing guides.

Under the current leadership team, principals and teachers have become increasingly micromanaged.

With the implementation of the ELA curriculum Wit and Wisdom, has come increased reliance on pacing guides. What that means, is every teacher in every grade needs to be on the same page for instruction with their peers.

I remember when Wit and Wisdom, the ELA curriculum, was first adopted, and proponents admitted that it was scripted, but only until teachers became familiar with the materials. After 2 – 3 years they would be free to add their own elements. Well, it’s been five years, and adherence to scripted lessons is tighter than ever. As is student boredom with the lessons.

Parents, in prepping your kids for school, it would probably behoove you to tell your kids to keep any questions that pop up during class at home. Nobody has time to stop and explore. Everybody’s got to be on the same page.

It was a little disturbing that throughout the director’s evaluation, there was little data presented that related to teachers, or any other support employees.

Kinda sends a message doesn’t it?

I take further umbrage that no negative factors were brought up in discussing contract renewal.

The district is currently facing several multi-million dollar lawsuits that are the direct result of actions by Dr. Battle. The district has been slow to settle these despite losing several summary judgments. Maybe now, that her contract is secured until 2028, it’ll be a different settlement conversation.

I’m not arguing that Dr. Battle does or does not warrant a new contract. As always, my focus lies in the process. The process should include ample opportunity for input from all stakeholders. This process did not meet that criteria.

In fact, board members were told during committee that they could not discuss the contract because ample notice hadn’t been given. Apparently, those instructions did not carry forth to the main board meeting.

The board repeatedly cites that they have only one employee, but they are not independent operators. Rather they are representatives of the public. How do you represent the public if you don’t solicit their opinions? Surely you owe as much to the electorate as you do your one employee.

Equally disturbing is the lack of coverage provided by the local media. You’d think that the director of a school district serving 80K students getting a new contract with a significant raise would be a headline.

Apparently not in Nashville.

– – –

The groundwork is being laid for the next round of Tennessee’s voucher battle.

According to ChalkbeatTN, Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson said this week that he’ll file his chamber’s legislation on the morning of Nov. 6, the day after Election Day. He expects House Majority Leader William Lamberth will do the same.

Johnson says the Senate’s 2025 bill will again include some type of testing requirement for voucher recipients — either state assessments or state-approved national tests — to gauge whether the program is improving academic outcomes.

It’s an interesting caveat, as what you measure is what gets taught. Use the same measurements and you are likely to get the same results. This argument has been a sticking point for several legislators, and will likely remain so.

Johnson has also promised that Governor Lee plans to significantly increase education funding during the next General assembly, What that looks like has yet to be revealed.

Interestingly enough, the Williamson County Schools Board of Education, Lee’s home county, voted Monday to rescind a resolution from March that voiced the board’s opposition to Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act.

Per The Tennessee Firefly:

This reversal, which was passed through a 10-2 vote, follows the first partisan school board race in Williamson County in August that saw six new members elected to the board. Five of those departing board members made up the majority in the 7-5 vote to support the resolution last March. Only two board members, Melissa Wyatt and Eric Welch, voted “no” to rescinding the resolution and Drason Beasley, who previously supported it, voted in favor of rescinding the resolution.

Yep…looks like another Spring spent arguing about vouchers. Can barely contain my excitement.

– – –

If you’ve got something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Any wisdom or criticism you’d like to share is always welcome.

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“I think that success in life is largely a matter of luck. It has little correlation with merit, and in all fields of life there have been many people of great merit who did not succeed – Popper”
― David Edmonds, Wittgenstein’s Poker: The Story of a Ten Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers

Things have been relatively quiet of late when it comes to Tennessee Education news.

Kinda of what happens when a lot of the big personalities leave the building and transition is in the air. In two more years, Tennessee will have a brand new Governor.

A certain stillness also happens when the State Department of Education is led by a woman who arguably spends as much time in Texas as she does in Tennessee.

A quick side note, as a kid, I hated doing dishes. So, whenever my parents called on me to do the job, I’d do it as badlyas possible – making a big mess and forcing them to do extra work to fix my mess. As a result, I was called upon less frequently to do the dishes.

Feels like that’s where we are with the current State Commissioner of Education, Lizzette Reynolds.

Last year was such a train wreck between travel expenses, reimbursements, and General Assembly appearances, that expectations right now are pretty low. Most people would be happy if she just stayed out of the headlines and managed to keep the gig until the end of Governor Lee’s term. Like I said, a low bar.

That said, some things are starting to trickle out, let’s take a closer look at those.

– – –

Like most states, Tennessee reviews its instructional materials for all subjects on a regular cycle. Traditionally it’s been every six years. Recently, State legislators pushed that out to eight years, which pushed back the review of Literacy materials to 2027. The argument was that this would provide stability and save districts millions of dollars. hasn’t quite worked out that way but, ok.

I can understand the lack of appetite to conduct another review of Literacy material in the wake of the cluster fuck from the last time this was undertaken in 2019. Nobody wants to go there again.

As of last week, districts would hold on to their curriculum, and students would use materials that at the end of the cycle would be eight years old. Not optimal, but certainly not worth fighting over, righgt?

Let me throw this wrinkle in. Contract law supersedes state law.

Prior to legislators extending cycle length, district leaders signed 6-year contracts with publishers. Those contracts are extendable but not automatically. Some districts are seeing an increased cost and will have to find funds to cover a contract extension and still have money for the next adoption cycle which will require an 8-year contract.

Another thing to keep in mind is that most of the contracts signed during the last adoption cycle. went to publishers favored by the Tennessee Department of Education. That makes these same vendors the beneficiaries of a bonus that normally wouldn’t be available. Nice work if you can get it.

This week things got even more interesting. The Instruction Materials Quality Commission released a schedule that potentially pushes ELA adoption back another year.(Textbook Adoption Cycle Schedule NEW 10162024 (002))

The new schedule reveals a significant break from the past. In 2019, the adoption process was tightly scheduled with materials submitted in April for state scoring, and new materials implemented by August 2020. The new timeline is much more fluid.

There is no set deadline in 2027 for material submission. In fact, the recently released schedule gives the state until the end of 2028 to complete its part of the adoption. Under the new schedule, materials reviewed and approved in 2027 wouldn’t be implemented until the 2029-2030 school year – 32 months after the state adoption process began. That’s a lengthy process.

It has been raised by some observers that the text book commission’s new responsibilities are playing a role in the revised schedule.

Remember that a new law sponsored by Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) dumped the task of creating a process for banned library books on the Commission, and they’ve had to hire an executive staff. A circus on top of a circus never works out for anybody, but there is no way of knowing if this is the case for sure.

However, the potential irony isn’t lost on me. A body that regularly laments that one in three kids can’t read is delaying getting current materials in the hands of students out of fear of what they might read should they develop the ability to read.

It’d be funny if it wasn’t so tragic.

– – –

Earlier, I mentioned that all the big personalities have exited the building. Unfortunately, just because they left doesn’t mean they aren’t sneaking back in through an open window.

Pursuing the recent news from Chalkbeat, I discovered that Jared Myracle is the new Executive Director of Literacy for Shelby County. He was appointed back in June by the Memphis Superintendent who is fast becoming the Will Levis of Superintendents.

Governor Lee likes to tell folks that Common Core is dead in Tennessee, yet the man who authored the book Common Core for Dummies continually resurfaces throughout the state despite a history of ineffectiveness. Kinda the perfect metaphor for Common Core if you think about it.

Between stints with various non-profits, Myracle has served with McNairy County Schools, Jackson-Madison County Schools, and the Tennessee Department of Education. Up until assuming his role with Memphis-Shelby County Schools, he was the Senior Director of Programs for Impact Florida. Why is there always a Florida connection?

I’ll let you read the Chalkbeat piece, but I’m pretty sure I know where this one ends.

– – –

According to the Tennessee Firefly, Nashville students are going to have some new Charter School opportunities in the coming years.

Thursday afternoon the governor-appointed state charter school board approved appeals from both Nurses Middle College and LEAD Southeast Elementary School. On Friday morning, the Commissioners approved Encompass Community School.

In a related decision, commission members denied an appeal from Novus SMART Academy in Rutherford County. The commission will decide appeals from two other proposed public charter schools in Nashville later today.

Per the Firefly, the approval of LEAD Southeast Elementary School will enable the charter operator to create a K-12 pipeline with existing LEAD middle and high schools in Southeast Nashville and Antioch. The K-8 Encompass Community School will employ a mastery-based approach to learning to ensure students receive the instruction they need, when they need it, and for as long as they need it, instead of a traditional approach that uses a predetermined schedule.

I wish I had some additional commentary, but this was all pretty predictable, and the MNPS school board seems content to continually engage in a reactive process. A process that takes more students out of the district and puts them under the purview of the state.

Over a decade of this dance and our charter school conversations haven’t improved marginally.

– – –

This week MNPS and the Nashville Public Education Foundation are celebrating the latest list of District Blue Ribbon Teachers. To be considered for the award, educators must be eligible based on evaluation scores and then apply. It is not an easy designation to achieve, and those named should be applauded.

This year, there are 50 winners.

Tip of the hat to all of you.

– – –

One Nashville private school finds itself in a increasinly sticky wicket.

In May allegations of sexual harassment arose over a University School of Nashville teacher. The teacher was suspended immediately after a female student came forward and accused him of grooming and sexually harassing her. In July, the teacher was fired. As part of that dismissal, he was awarded a severance settlement just shy of $30K.

The female student has since graduated.

School leaders who negotiated that settlement say the payment was included in the separation agreement to avoid future litigation from the teacher. Actions that could include lawsuits that involve the former student. The separation agreement also required him to cooperate with ongoing and future investigations into his behavior.

The teacher has since declined to cooperate, citing potential criminal charges that may be pending. MNPD has not indicated that charges will or will not be brought. They say the investigation is still proceeding.

None of this is satisfactory to the victims, USN students, or their families. On Wednesday morning, roughly 150 students walked out of class at the University School of Nashville to call for the resignation of two school leaders over their handling.

At that rally, the former student told those gathered, “Paying off a predator is not the answer.” She’s not wrong.

The school claims that it hired investigators from a business law firm to look into the events and the school’s response to the allegations. They have gone further and created a committee focused on school safety.

The former student said she’s tired of board members telling her she’s brave and strong for speaking out, and instead wants them to be those things on her behalf by firing the administrator who over saw the schools response. She worries that the school’s response risks making others not feel safe enough to come forward if they face similar issues.

It’s an uglier situation that is getting uglier at a school that has long been at the center of Nashville education opportunities.

– – –

A long-time fixture of Nashville’s political and social media scene passed away this week. A death that leaves me with mixed emotions.

Jason Steen was the founder of Scoop Nashville. The news magazine regularly published mug shots of the recently arrested, along with other sensational stories. His social media feed became a destination for police chases, street racing videos, and, of course, the aforementioned mugshots.

he was a master at obtaining information through public records requests. He published all of it, regardless of individual impact.

Though Steen was openly gay, he often had a contentious relationship with members of the LGBTQ community, never afraid to call them out for perceived hypocritical behavior. He was known to post on social media about Nashvillians, sometimes closeted, who he found on sites like Grindr.

Steen was a hard man to like and some are celebrating his death. Myself, I liked him.

He was unabashedly himself, whether you liked him or not. Possessing a sharp mind, he rarely backed down from an internet fight. In an age where the world is overpopulated by chronic virtue signalers, Steen fearlessly flew his freak flag, for better or worse.

Behind the scenes, he was always kind to me, Encouraging my writing both monetarily and verbally.

He was never boring,

RIP Jason Steen, I’m not sure heaven nor hell will be able to handle you.

– – –

If you’ve got something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Any wisdom or criticism you’d like to share is always welcome.

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“Daylight tricks you into thinking what you see is truth, lets you go through life thinking you know everything. But the truth is we are sleepwalkers. We walk through the night that is chaos and dark and forever keeps its truth to itself.”
― Paul Lynch, Grace

Over the last decade, I’ve picked up on a trend plaguing education policy debates. While not exclusive to school politics, it certainly frames policy development.

To put it in Alcoholics Anonymous terms, we tend to focus on personalities over policies.

Diane Ravitch, Citizen Stewart, Randi Weingarten, Michelle Rhee, and Lucy Caulkins are just a few of the names dominating national discussions. Depending on where you fall along political lines, they are either eternally right or dead wrong on everything. There is no in-between. That’s to our detriment.

Diane Ravitch is viewed by those on the defending public education team as a sage passing tablets of wisdom down from the mountain. If Ravitch says it’s true, it goes virtually unchallenged.

Don’t get me wrong, Ravitch is a valuable voice, and I would recommend that anyone new to the education policy conversation dig deep into her catalog of writings, but sometimes she is wrong. Write as much as he does, and there are bound to be a few holes in the arguments.

Lucy Caulkins, a long-time defender of balanced literacy as an instructional model for teaching reading, has lately been painted as a villain guilty of hampering kids from learning to read despite reams of evidence to the contrary. Her name is frequently thrown around as an impetus for schools to switch to a more phonics-based curriculum commonly referred to as Science of Reading. SOR proponents weren’t the first to realize that the use of a straw man makes the sale of a product even easier. SOR has experienced widespread adoption as a result.

Is Caulkins wrong on everything, No.

Where there elements in her approach that needed revisions. Of course.

That’s how science works. You constantly revise as evidence presents itself, arguments are never completely settled because variables are always changing. Our brains are continually evolving as technology grows. The transition from a verbal culture to one that relies primarily on verbal communication to one dependent on the written word didn’t just change how information is decimated, it changed how information is processed as well.

A similar transition into the digital world is currently in process. Kids today do not receive, process, or retain information in the same manner as our elders did. Nor should they be expected to. Their world, will reflect those changes. In some ways to the good, but as always there will be costs and some things will be lost.

Most of the generals in today’s education world are adults who spend very little time with kids. They pour over the data and make pronouncements based on those tests. That should not be confused with knowing kids.

I’m getting a little sidetracked here, but my point is that instead of blindly accepting pronouncements by so-called experts with limited scope, we need to actually examine the tenets of proposed policy. We accept as fact everything that comes from one source while rejecting everything delivered from another. The reality is that there are elements of truth and falsehood in both, and without the deployment of critical thinking – remember that long-lost term – those kernels remain elusive.

This leads me to Cory DeAngelis, an education researcher known for rigorously advocating for school choice. Until recently DeAngelis was employed by the American Federation for Children (AFC). He was fired after evidence surfaced that during his early twenties, he appeared in gay porn movies.

School choice opponents lept on this development like ants at a summer picnic, citing it as evidence of the weakness in the school choice argument. In their eyes, these revelations have shown the purported anti-gay activist is a hypocrite, thus the whole school choice argument is hypocritical as well.

The logic behind this assertion escapes me. The argument over school choice and DeAngelis’s past artistic endeavors are completely separate entities.

I’m further baffled by statements like this one from Sarah Kate Ellis, president of GLAAD, who told The Advocate: “Corey DeAngelis is yet another public figure whose anti-LGBTQ extremism already makes him deeply unqualified to be an expert in improving safety and education at school. The latest news on DeAngelis further reveals his baseless, hypocritical attempt to profiteer and score political points. DeAngelis is a sideshow charlatan.”

Is she saying that only people who align with a certain set of beliefs have the right to weigh in on a subject?

Perhaps, she’s putting forward the idea that DeAngelis was having a large time doing gay porn in the early 2000’s and now he’s seeking to deny that pleasure to future generations. That’s a bit presumptuous, and none of us, save his immediate family, know the level of trauma or joy that experience might have inflicted on him – serving to shape his current views.

Was he a willing participant?

To what extent was he abused, if he was abused?

These are questions that should be part of the equation when evaluating the advocate’s level of supposed hypocrisy. Instead, opponents lept to claim that a flawed man’s prior actions instantly translate to a flawed policy. If that was a truism, we’d all be living in a very different county.

Most of you probably don’t know that I have the distinction of being the very first employee of the Nashville Deja Vu, a strip club that opened in town in the early Nineties. I was a DJ.

At 26, the idea that I could make a considerable amount of money by playing my favorite records while hanging around with naked women was like discovering Led Zepplin doing a private show for friends in my backyard. I thought I’d joined Motley Crue and Poison without the travel. The idea of living outside of society’s accepted norms especially appealed to this rebel without a clue.

The pink cloud lasted for about 2 weeks, and then reality set in. Substance abuse, physical and mental abuse, exploitation, and manipulation, all led to the souring of the picture. It didn’t take long to realize that strip clubs were more about power than they were about sex. It lasted about six months before the ugliness overwhelmed me.

To this day, I have very little patience for the sex industry. It’s been thirty years since I walked into a strip joint, and I have no intention of ever doing so again.

That said, there are lessons learned that shape how I evaluate and look at the world. In some ways, it’s a bias that needs to be overcome. In other ways, it’s a bias that allows me to see what others might not because they don’t have those experiences.

The same holds true with alcohol. In January, I will mark 25 years sober, yet I still work as a bartender. Some have labeled that hypocritical. Maybe, but I would argue it gives a different set of eyes that allow me to see what others might not see.

Is DeAngelis a bit of a pompous pain in the ass? Do I endorse his style of discourse? That would be a “no” on both counts, but that’s why I try to focus on the policies he’s advocating for and not the messenger. He’s got some kernels of truth littered through his arguments. Kernels that don’t disappear just because he once worked in a gay film. Nor does getting rid of the messenger translate to the loss of those kernels. They are still true whether it’s DeAngelis or someone else presenting them.

Those kernels don’t disappear because just because the messenger is an unpalatable ass. There is also no guarantee that the next delivery person won’t be even worse.

We can’t raise the bar if we are all chasing the lowest rung.

Let him be an ass.

Be better.

Practice focusing on policy over personality.

– – –

A little bit of an update. Last week, I discussed a proposed state policy directed at students who allegedly threaten schools or fellow students. Turns out those provisions are already in state law.

Authorities can hold a student accused of making threats for up to 72 hours and can charge them with a felony.

While my failure to recognize that these provisions already exist is an error, I still stand by my criticisms.

Additionally, I’d like to note that much has been made about the access to mental included in the law, but in Tennessee and much of the United States, it is easier to write laws than it is to access treatment for mental health.

This law forces us to place lesser value on one kid’s life, over possibly saving other kids’ lives.

It’s a value judgment I’m not comfortable with.

– – –

The Tennessee State Board of Education regularly puts out a newsletter giving updates about board actions. If you are so inclined, I would sign up to have it delivered electronically. Often, it provides useful information. The board next meets on November 22, 2024.

– – –

Rumors continue to swirl around the makeup of the State Senate and House Education Committees’ next General Assembly. There appears to be some question as to the role of certain standing committee members.

A couple weeks ago State Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) appeared on SuperTalk 99.7 where the host tried to pin him down as to whether he would return to the House Education Committee and in what role. For his part, Cepicky played coy, and would only say that he serves at the discretion of the Speaker.

There has been some speculation that House leadership was looking at employing a quieter version of leadership with education policy. If true, that bodes well for Representative Mark White (R-Memphis) to retain his chairman role should he survive the upcoming Election Day.

That presents a conundrum because the Governor still wants to pursue his voucher strategy, and I’m not sure White is the guy to get that over the finish line.

We’ll see what happens. The first of the year, when appointments are announced, is right around the corner.

– – –

If you’re interested in the salary of your local Tennessee school leader, the Tennessean has compiled that data for you. According to the paper’s report based on the 2022-2023 school year:

Williamson County Schools ranked highest for average principal pay at $129,121. Due to incomplete data, it wasn’t clear which county ranked lowest on that list.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools, the largest district in the state with nearly 105,000 students, topped the list of superintendent salaries at just over $380,000. Lebanon Special School District, located in Wilson County with around 4,000 students, ranked last with a superintendent salary of roughly $57,000.

Not sure that there are any surprises on the list, but it is good information to have.

In contrast, the paper also compiled a list of the average teacher pay for Tennessee districts.

As a state, Tennessee ranks 44th in the nation for average teacher pay in the 2022-23 school year. That’s 6th from the bottom of you are seeking clarification.

Lawmakers enacted a law in 2023 to raise the minimum salary for all teachers to $50,000 by 2026. The previous minimum was set at $35,000. We’ll see how this plays out.

As of the 2022-23 school year, the average teacher salary in Tennessee was set just below $58,000, according to data from the Tennessee Department of Education. Teachers at Oak Ridge Schools in Anderson County topped the list with an average $71,510 salary that year. Grundy County Schools ranked last with an average of $48,077.

I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions.

But I’ll add this context.

A recent study ranked Tennessee as the fifth worst state for teachers in the country. It scored No. 43 in the opportunity and competition category and No. 33 in the academic and work environment category.

The study, produced by Wallethub, a personal finance advisor, analyzed all 50 states and Washington D.C. to determine the best and worst states for teachers. Scores were determined based on two primary categories: Ranking on opportunity and competition and academic and work environment.

Sub-categories for opportunity and competition included items like the average starting salary for teachers, average teacher pension, public school enrollment growth, average salary for teachers, income growth potential for teachers other items.

The academic and work environment sub-categories included the existence of digital learning plans, quality of school systems, pupil-to-teacher ratios, public school spending per student, average commute time, the share of teachers who feel supported by their administrator, and other variables.

Overall scores were based on a scale of 0 to 100 with 100 being the best.

The top states were:

New York: 60.73
Washington: 59.96
Virginia: 59.33
Utah: 58.36
Maryland: 56.84
Illinois: 56.10
Georgia: 56.05
Florida: 54.42
California: 54.31
Indiana: 53.96

The bottom:

Maine: 34.39
Hawaii: 37.15
New Hampshire: 37.29
Nevada: 38.30
Tennessee: 38.67
District of Columbia: 39.52
South Dakota: 39.96
Alaska: 40.16
Oklahoma: 40.23
Louisiana: 40.37

Again, I’ll leave you to your own conclusions.

– – –

If you’ve got something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Any wisdom or criticism you’d like to share is always welcome.

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“Don’t blame the boss. He has enough problems.”
― Donald Rumsfeld

Everybody talks about how tired parents are during the infant years of child-rearing. I’m here to tell you they are nothing compared to the teen years.

The amount of time I spend in the car carting kids from activity to activity, not to mention the hours spent picking up things, and dropping off things while retrieving other things, is far beyond what I ever expected. It never stops.

Don’t look at this as an opening to throw in your favorite kids are over-scheduled argument. I got a thousand counters, and sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. For better or worse, childhood has changed, and parenting has had to change in response. Still, it is exhausting.

Sometimes I see an open 45-minute window 24 hours ahead, but just like weather predicted in advance by meteorologists, by the time it gets here, circumstances have changed, and the window shuts.

I’m not really complaining. Time in the car with a teen is time well spent. Something about being locked up in a confined space for an extended period leads them to open up. It’s like Detective Benson hopped in the back seat, and suddenly, they are telling you all kinds of pertinent information. Even the most reticent teen becomes willing to open up in the car,

My buddy calls that truck time, and it is some of the best times,

When talking fatigue, it is more of a physical tiredness with toddlers, whereas, with teens, there is a large mental component. The power of speech leads to the voicing of opinions. Opinions that often vary from your own. Everybody is a fan of critical thinking until it becomes a daily thing, and the conclusions regularly differ from your own.

Then, it becomes exhausting, and you wish for peace.

All of this is a long way of saying that the aging of children has led to difficulty in hitting deadlines. Sometimes you fall behind and, despite your best efforts, you can’t get up.

Last week, I had a lot to say, but just time to think and format. This week, wasn’t any slower, but hopefully, these words have found their way to your eyes.

It’s getting crazier out here in education policy land, with no signs of abatement. Oftentimes, it is hard to know where to begin with any of it, while other days feel like a continuous trip around the mulberry bush.

In my humble opinion, being involved is more important than ever.

Don’t fall into the trap of looking at the education world through partisan glasses, there is enough bad policy floating around to indict everyone. It was barely over a decade ago when Democrats were supporting charter schools and other elements of education reform. They’ve since ripped up that plank of their platform, but I remain unconvinced that’s a permanent condition.

I’m going to shut up now, so we can get on with the meat of the day, but just remember seldom does the truth appear at first blush, and it’s only through extended conversations that it is exposed.

So, let’s get to doing some exposing.

– – –

School safety is all the rage in Tennessee, with legislators tripping over themselves to introduce new legislation designed to keep kids safe. I’m not saying everybody is not well-meaning, but once again, we are forgetting that the kids in question are sentient beings.

At the top of the list is the growing threat of violence directed toward schools. As disturbing as such threats are, they are not unique. Forty-five years ago I attended a high school with 33 bomb threats in one month. The difference between then and now is discerning the real from the hoax. I’m pretty sure no bombs went off. in schools, unfortunately we can’t say the same thing about school shootings. That tends to heighten the severity.

Tennessee lawmakers have been working overtime to ensure that students who make threats against schools are dealt with severely. However, perhaps we’ve gone a little overboard.

Make a gun with your fingers and point it at a classmate, and a fifth grader could find themselves in handcuffs. Make a joke about bringing guns to school, and even if you are an “A” student and have never been in trouble, you could end up facing felony charges.

If you’ve ever spent even a minute with middle school kids, you’ll know they find everything funny. You also need to remember that their brains are not fully formed, so they often fail to understand why something is funny, yet offensive to adults. How many times have I heard, “It’s a joke. Why do y’all take everything so seriously?”

Let me throw out one more thing here. The 30 days I spent in rehab were the funniest days of my life but also the scariest. To cope with that fear, we made jokes – some of which were brutal. It was our coping mechanism. Laughing at our fears kept them at bay. I’d argue the same holds true for kids.

What we have done is create an environment where kids suffer from heightened anxiety and fear, and now we are going to rob them of a primary coping mechanism. Nice.

When questioned, lawmakers, and other adults, say things like, “It’s never a joking matter” or “Maybe this will teach them how serious we are.” Call me naive, but I’m not a big fan of using felony charges as a teachable moment for individuals who haven’t reached full cognitive development yet.

I’m even less a fan when the “credible threat” is used as a qualitative term and we define it like we define pornography – I’ll know it when I see it.

As a young man, I was given the sound advice to stay out of the system because once you are in the system, they can do with you as they please and will take your time and money at their will. Yet here we are throwing middle school teens and younger in the soup in a misguided effort to keep kids safe.

It’s a policy that doesn’t keep all children safe and sacrifices those who aren’t quick enough to grasp the perceptions of adults.

To make it even worse, there is more waiting around the corner.

Tennessee Professional Educators CEO JC Bowman told The Tennessee Star on Thursday that he is crafting legislation to present to lawmakers that would give police the authority to immediately detain minors accused of threatening schools, giving officials a 72-hour window to determine whether their threats were credible while sending the bill to the parents of the accused.

Raise your hand if you think that’s a good idea.

One plus about this proposed legislation is that it would define credible threats…kinda.

Bowman suggested the legislation could specify, “A credible threat is a threat that is intended to be carried out and has the ability to be carried out. It can be expressed in many ways, including orally, visually, in writing, or electronically. A credible threat would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety or the safety of others.”

Huh, that definition includes five more terms that need defining and are subject to interpretation.

Putting kids in juvenile detention will require putting them in handcuffs. i don’t know how many of you have ever experienced being in cuffs, I have.

It’s an experience that never leaves you. Whether you were guilty or not has no bearing, you were a person who authorities deemed in need of restraint. I haven’t broken the law in 25 years, I can’t walk into a police station without increased anxiety. Maybe they were something I’d forgotten. Maybe they’ll see the real me.

Handcuffing someone is not something to be treated lightly. It doesn’t end there though.

I’m going to give you a little scenario that, unfortunately, happens way too often.

Oliver is 12. He lives in a household where his parents often engage in violent fights with each other. Money is always short and their tempers are even shorter. It may be 2024, but they still adhere to the old adage: spare the rod, spoil the child. Oliver is often on the other end of the rod.

At school, because he spends a lot of time at home and he’s often tired – kept up by the fighting at night – Oliver is a little socially awkward. Some kids might think he’s odd, so he’s regularly picked on. He just wants some peace at home and at schoo, something that remains elusive.

One day is particularly bad, the teasing particularly harsh, and without thinking, he tells some of his tormentors, leave me alone, or I’m going to go home and get a gun.

There is no thought of how it might be interpreted by adults. He’s driven solely by a desire to carve out some peace, and threatening his tormentors with hypothetical guns is the only path he sees to earn a little peace.

A teacher hears the threat and reports him. That reporting sets off a chain of events that will end up involving the police, His parents will be called out of work to address his actions, likely earning Oliver yet another beating over lost wages.

Was the threat real?

Were Oliver’s classmates in true danger?

Current Tennessee law would require the teacher, principal, and police to assume that he presented a credible threat. Whether it was or not, one young man has had his life irrevocably negatively altered. He now faces long-term consequences that aren’t going away.

Next year it could be even worse. He could find himself spending three days in a juvenile detention center while officials sort things out. That’s always good for the old mental health. With Tennessee’s history with juvenile detention, do we really think it is a great idea to put the state in charge of more kids?

Then there is the cost. The new proposed law would shift the financial burden to the parents. When asked about the cost of detaining a minor during a 72-hour investigative process, Bowman suggested it would cost about $1,000 per incident. Not only will Oliver’s parents lose pay, but now they’ll get a bill for a grand. A bill they likely can’t pay. Pretty sure Oliver will get a few more beatings over this one. For what?

Here’s my favorite part, most of the threats called to schools in Tennessee are foreign in origin. Supposedly, this legislation would provide a process to help educators and SROs determine whether threats from overseas should be considered credible.

Help me here. While Oliver sits in detention, Edna, the Librarian, and John the soccer coach, along with help from Steve the SRO are going to determine just who in some foreign county is making these threats and how to proceed? What?!?

That’s pretty much the job of the FBI, and do we need to detain a student while they do it?

I consider Bowman a dear friend, and nobody works harder for kids and teachers, but this is a god awful proposal.

We have to make sure that we are doing the right thing to keep kids safe, not just doing something.

He does include a provision that would allow the law to be changed annually, and that is worth noting.

So what would I do?

My solution is the same as it has always been. Relationships between a teacher and a student should be at the core of every policy. If we are engaged in practices that serve as impediments to that relationship, we are hindering the education process. Period.

With all the other initiatives that have been created over the last decade, we have left little room for the development of those relationships.

The people who interact daily with children, if allowed to do their job, should serve to determine what is a credible threat and what is not. But first, you have to let them do their job. Lt them focus on what they know best – students – while leaving the investigation of foreign operatives to those who know that best.

The rise in school shootings is horrific. They are senseless tragedies that we all should work to prevent, but not at the sacrifice of other kid’s lives.

If we are truly concerned about all kids, we need to recognize that kids don’t just wake up and decide to issue a threat with no impetus.

Lost in the rush to protect is any conversation about what made a child decide that life was so bad and their situation so untenable that they believed their sole option was to strike out at their school and classmates.

It is easy to label school shooters as monsters, and their actions certainly warrant that but what created them?

Stopping school threats doesn’t translate to stopping school violence. Until we get serious about the why, all we are doing is treating symptoms.

That may make us sleep better at night, but how does it serve ALL KIDS?

I may not know al the answers, but I certainly know the conversations we should be having.

– – –

Tennessee’s Grow Your Own Center has long overpromised and under-delivered.

Last year, most of the state’s schools that train teachers pulled out due to GYO’s policies that made participation unfeasible. The short argument is that the state was expecting the providers to assume more of the cost while they assumed more of the credit.

Earlier in the month, Tennessee Grow Your Own announced an “upcoming launch of BuildWithin, a centralized, cloud-based platform designed to enhance and track-on-the-job learning and streamline workforce development for apprenticeships.”

“BuildWithin represents a significant step forward in continuing to address K-12 educator workforce challenges in Tennessee,” said Erin Crisp, executive director of the Tennessee Grow Your Own Center. “This platform will enable us to partner with education preparation providers (EPPs) and local education agencies (LEAs) to improve the quality of our teacher apprenticeship programs and effectively monitor data that will allow us to continuously enhance the apprenticeship experience.”

Keep in mind that Crisp always had a flair for self-promotion that rivaled former state Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn. Both are pretty adept at growing the brand despite its flaws.

What wasn’t declared in the press release were details about BuildWithin. Remember former State Commissioner Kevin Huffman? Remember his ex-wife Michelle Rhee? What does that have to do with BuildWithin?

According to Anxios: The startup is co-founded by Michelle Rhee, one of the most polarizing figures in American education. It’s her first for-profit company and says she hopes to apply some of her K-12 learnings to workforce training — at a time when there are still millions of unfilled tech jobs.

In case you are unaware, Rhee’s current husband is Kevin Johnson (former NBA player and mayor of Sacramento). Johnson has been accused of assaulting a child from the school he ran before becoming mayor. The former mayor’s school used to employ Penny Schwinn, and he was a leading funder of her successful campaign for the Sacramento school board. Some might argue, that he served as a mentor for the former commissioner.

Sounds like a perfect partnership for Tennessee. That’s sarcasm, in case you missed it.

The good news is that the rumor mill is rife with words that Crisp’s reign may be coming to an end and she will soon be choosing to pursue new options.

One can only hope.

One could also hope that lawmakers take a good hard look at what’s going on with The Grow Your Own Center.

– – –

A new memo from The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) touts the benefits of Tennessee’s reformed school funding formula.

According to the memo, the historic passage of the TISA legislation in 2022 led to a recurring $1 billion additional investment in Tennessee’s K-12 public education system and a new student-based funding model to replace the state’s old K-12 funding formula known as the Basic Education Program (BEP), which had been in place for 30 years. The report added that the TISA formula is more transparent and aligned to student need, and increases overall funding for schools. The current funding formula is also less complex than the BEP funding formula, the memo said.

All of that is highly debatable, but one line from their memo got me thinking.

“The memo noted that under the current formula, schools can receive “outcome bonuses” that incentivize district performance, among other improvements. It said districts that achieve specific success targets can receive a 10 percent weighted bonus, as well as larger bonuses for districts that improve performance among English learners, economically disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities.”

So, have these bonuses been awarded? If so, why have they not been touted by the TNDOE?

Ah…always more to look at.

– – –

If you’ve got something you’d like me to highlight and share, send it to Norinrad10@yahoo.com. Any wisdom or criticism you’d like to share is always welcome.

A huge shout out to all of you who’ve lent your financial support. I am eternally grateful for your generosity. It allows me to keep doing what I do and without you, I would have been forced to quit long ago. It is truly appreciated and keeps the bill collectors happy. Now more than ever your continued support is vital.

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“That’s how it is for us servants. No one pays you much heed; mostly you’re invisible as furniture. Yet you overhear a conversation here, and add a little gossip there. A writing desk lies open and you cannot help but read a paper. Then you find something, something you should not have found…”
― Martine Bailey, An Appetite for Violets

Back in the halcyon days of COVID, when we were all flush with government money, state leaders pushed tutoring to combat the dreaded “learning loss” students suffered due to schools being closed during the pandemic.

If we didn’t treat this existential threat with the seriousness required, we were dooming an entire generation to wander in the wilderness unable to tie their shoes or manage their checkbook.

In response two of the oldest strategies known to man were proposed – tutoring and summer school. I can hear Fred telling Wilma now, “If we don’t get Pebbles into summer school, she’ll never do better than Bam Bam. She’ll be stuck in a secondhand cave for her whole life.”

Tennessee’s commissioner of education Penny Schwinn was at the forefront of the tutoring movement. She even came up with a great marketing term to help sell it – High Dosage/Low Ratio tutoring. Sound very effective, doesn’t it?

The commissioner went a step further by creating TN AllCorp. This was one of the best grifts ever. Any district in Tennessee could be a member, and be supplied with state-sponsored tutors, they just had to fork over a chunk of their ESSER money and they were in.

Schwinn hyped tutoring as the fastest way for students to recover what they had lost, telling everyone who would listen, “consistently proven to accelerate achievement as quickly as possible”.

State legislators bought into the snake oil being peddled, and tied tutoring to third-grade promotion for students who failed to score proficient on the third grade TCAP. Best part was that if tutoring didn’t stick and you failed to make adequate growth in fourth grade, you got retained again and prescribed more of the same medicine that hadn’t helped the previous year.

At the time, I raised a few concerns. Ok, i may have said the idea was fucking stupid. But it all kinda was.

Where were tutors going to come from?

How was the state going to ensure that the kids who most needed tutoring, got it?

Since much of the proposed tutoring was being offered online, how was that effective, when online teaching had proven to be ineffective?

I never did get any real answers, but maybe now I’m starting to, and they are fairly predictable.

This week, Jill Barshay took a look at the impact of tutoring on Nashville students, and it wasn’t an uplifting story.

She shares a study by researcher, Matthew Kraft. A study that shows tutoring might not be as effective as previously thought, especially when it is scaled up.

Kraft, an associate professor of education and economics at Brown University, was an early proponent of giving tutors — ordinarily a luxury for the rich — to the masses after the pandemic. At the time, he cited research evidence to support his views. The researcher, along with some fellow advocates fiercely lobbied the Biden administration to urge local districts to invest in tutoring programs.

Kraft recently posted results from his follow up study that attempted to measure the effectiveness of the tutoring strategy.

The study, which was posted online in late August 2024, tracked almost 7,000 students who were tutored in Nashville, Tennessee, and calculated how much of their academic progress could be attributed to the sessions of tutoring they received at school between 2021 and 2023. Kraft and his research team found that tutoring produced only a small boost to reading test scores, on average, and no improvement in math. Tutoring failed to lift course grades in either subject.

Here’s the money quote for me, and I could have helped him with his awareness.

“I was and continue to be incredibly impressed with the rigorous and wide body of evidence that exists for tutoring and the large average effects that those studies produced,” said Kraft. “I don’t think I paid as much attention to whether those tutoring programs were as applicable to post-Covid era tutoring at scale.”

The issues related by Kraft read like a collection of Dad Gone Wild excerpts from 2022:

As with the launching of any big new program, Nashville hit a series of snags. Early administrators were overwhelmed with “14 bazillion emails,” as educators described them to researchers in the study, before they hired enough staff to coordinate the tutoring program. They first tried online tutoring. But too much time and effort was wasted setting kids up on computers, coping with software problems, and searching for missing headphones. Some children had to sit in the hallway with their tablets and headphones; it was hard to concentrate.

Meanwhile, remote tutors were frustrated by not being able to talk with teachers regularly. Often there was redundancy with tutors being told to teach topics identical to what the students were learning in class.

The content of the tutoring lessons was in turmoil, too. The city scrapped its math curriculum midway. Different grades required different reading curricula. For each of them, Nashville educators needed to create tutor guides and student workbooks from scratch.

Eventually the city switched course and replaced its remote tutors, who were college student volunteers, with teachers at the school who could tutor in-person. That eliminated the headaches of troublesome technology. Also, teachers could adjust the tutoring lessons to avoid repeating exactly what they had taught in class.

But school teachers were fewer in number and couldn’t serve as many students as an army of remote volunteers. Instead of one tutor for each student, teachers worked with three or four students at a time. Even after tripling and quadrupling up, there weren’t enough teachers to tutor everyone during school hours. Half the students had their tutoring sessions scheduled immediately before or right after school.

In interviews, teachers said they enjoyed the stronger relationships they were building with their students. But there were tradeoffs. The extra tutoring work raised concerns about teacher burnout.

Despite the flux, some things improved as the tutoring program evolved. The average number of tutoring sessions that students attended increased from 16 sessions in the earlier semesters to 24 sessions per semester by spring of 2023.

Why the academic gains for students weren’t stronger is unclear. One of Kraft’s theories is that Nashville asked tutors to teach grade-level skills and topics, similar to what the children were also learning in their classrooms and what the state tests would assess. But many students were months, even years behind grade level, and may have needed to learn rudimentary skills before being able to grasp more advanced topics. (This problem surprised me because I thought the whole purpose of tutoring was to fill in missing skills and knowledge!) In the data, average students in the middle of the achievement distribution showed the greatest gains from Nashville’s tutoring program. Students at the bottom and top didn’t progress much, or at all.

Call me Karnac the Magnificent.

Let me call attention to the last line of the previous quote, where Kraft talks about average students in the middle showing the greatest gains. That’s what we used to call the “bubble kids”, and in the past, they were the primary targets of tutoring because move them an inch and you’d improve the public perception of your school by a mile.

we forget that standardized tests all come with a margin of error. Sometimes you can show growth just by offering a retake on a different day. A preferred day would be one with a minimum of outside negative variables – no fighting parents, no hunger, and plenty of sleep. It’s amazing what the omission of any of those factors will do for a test score.

All of this would be slightly amusing, and a cause for a banal “gotcha” moment, save for the money. Millions of dollars were thrown away in pursuit of a foregone conclusion. Money that could have been better invested with professional educators instead of private entities,

Could have invested in teacher aides, allowing for kids to get more individualized instruction.

Could have used the money to hire more teachers to decrease classroom size.

Could have used the money to hire more support staff, so teachers didn’t have to perform duties that detract from focus on teaching.

Hell, teacher salaries could have been increased.

I would have even sought financial assistance for prospective teacher candidates looking to become certified.

If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a thousand times, the number one in-school determinant of student success is the relationship between a teacher and a student, and the quality of that teacher.

The rest is noise.

I get that ESSER came with restrictions on how the money could be used, but many of those restrictions should have been lifted.

The drive for tutoring smacks of a desire to downplay the need for a high-quality teacher. The thinking continually seems to be that teaching is a job anyone can do with a prescribed script.

Kraft’s study shows us differently.

On a side note, Commissioner Schwinn has only been gone a year, yet with each passing month, her signature initiatives take on the odor of rotting corpses. TN AllCorp, Grow Your Own, and High-Quality curriculum, are all being exposed for what they are, profit vehicles for private entities with little benefit for students.

If you think it’s stinky now, just wait till the next two years when local officials get a whiff of the tax implications associated with Schwinn’s funding formula revision. Most municipalities will be looking to raise taxes to cover rapidly growing costs.

Just remember, I warned you first. Well maybe second, JC Bowman, of Professional Educators of Tennessee, has been sounding this alarm for more than a minute.

As Pepe Le Pew used to say, “”When you are a skunk, you learn how to hold your breath for a long time.”

Schwinn likes to bill herself as a “change agent”. Based on her recent history, I would argue that “rainmaker” is a more fitting descriptor.

Whoever becomes the next Governor, better be prepared to undo a plethora of past mistakes.

– – –

Is it just me, or has Chalkbeat slowed its output since it earned a shout-out on Abbot Elementary? Asking for a friend.

On a side note, The Tennessean’s Vivian Jones remains the best education writer in Tennessee. See her name on a byline and odds are, you are about to learn something.

– – –

Speaking of The Tennessean, they’ve reprised their Student of the Week award for this school year. The first winner is Westmoreland High School student Logan Moore.

Moore is described by Westmorland officials as an outstanding leader in his high school instrumental music program. He is in the top 5% of his class and volunteers time at his local church.

Kudos to the young for earning the award.

Moore was one of eight students nominated for the award by their respective schools. Next week will bring a brand new batch of students.

– – –

In the wake of finding no ethical issues with TN Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds taking money for trips from her former employee – since she repaid the money -the state ethics commission recommends that Governor Lee’s cabinet undergo similar ethics training to that of state legislators. Governor Lee embraces the idea.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Lee said. “I think the more people understand exactly what the rules are and how to follow them, the more transparency there is to that, the better it is.”

You have to be kidding. This is an SNL skit waiting to be written.

Does Reynolds really need a class to understand that taking money for a trip from a former employer who lobbies the General Assembly regularly, is not a good look? Ask me, it’s pretty self-explanatory. But seeing as she didn’t seem to recognize that saying you’ve lived somewhere for over a year when it’s pretty clear you haven’t isn’t acceptable, maybe.

I can see the possibilities for the class now.

“Yes Mrs Reynolds”, the teacher says.

‘I’m just trying to get clarity”, Reynolds asks. “If a stranger meets me in a dark alley with an envelope of cash and a request for a favor, it is bad. But if it is a friend and it’s done at dinner at a nice hotel they paid for at a conference they flew me in for, it’s ok?”

“That is incorrect Mrs. Reynolds.”

“Really? My friends can’t show me their appreciation?”, Reynolds responds. “Even if I’ve known them for years and they are always giving me nice things?”

“No Mrs Reynolds. That is not ethical.”

“Well, that sucks. I thought there were perks to this job”, Reynolds sighs. “What if my husband is looking for a job, and one of the companies bidding on a contract has an opening, can I give them the contract if they give him the job? Or should I just do a no-bid contract?”

The instructor slowly lowers his head into his hands,

The previous conversation is purely imaginative, but there are plenty of kernels of truth that make it a possibility.

in looking at Reynolds’s travel records for 2024, it appears that she did not file a 1st quarter report, but included those in the second quarter, along with a few from 2023. Maybe a class would help with the timely filing of paperwork. Just saying.

The Commissioner easily travels more than anyone else in the Tennessee government. Her filed report shows her making 7 trips. Through in frequent trips home to Texas, you got some frequent flier miles accumulating.

Some of those trips cost the state of Tennessee very little money.

$319 to go to Indianapolis for a Launch Summit.
$304.20 to go to Palm Springs for BARR 2024 National Conference
$48 to attend SREB ‘s Artificial Intelligence in Education Commission in Columbia South Carolina.
$47.86 to go to a workshop at the George W Bush Institute in Dallas
$339.35 for another SREB shindig in Dallas
$19.50 to go to Baily Colorado for Pahara Institute -Fellows Convening

It’s a safe bet those trips cost a bit more than listed, who paid the difference?

I think in light of recent revelations, that’s a fair question.

Good luck getting it answered.

One last thing to look at, The ethics complaint listed a trip to Atlanta for Excelin Ed National Summit on Education on 11/15 -11/17/2023 with a cost of $42.00. This is one of the ExcelinEd trips paid for by the non-profit that Reynolds reimbursed out of her pocket.

On the 2024 second-quarter report that same trip is listed but with a cost to the state of $1366.48. Hmmm…so what exactly happened here?

Was Reynolds reimbursed for her out-of-pocket expense or did she and the state just split the bill?

On second thought, maybe that class would make sense.

– – –

Now it’s time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

If you could help a brother out…and you think this blog has value …your support would be greatly appreciated. As the kids get older, money gets tighter, while the blogging workload increases exponentially. It’s an age-old refrain.

To those who’ve thrown some coins in the basket, I am eternally grateful for your generosity. It allows me to keep doing what I do and without you, I would have been forced to quit long ago. It is truly appreciated and keeps the bill collectors semi-happy. Now more than ever your continued support is vital.

If you are interested, I’m sharing posts via email through Substack. This has proven to be an effective way to increase coverage. Readers have the option of either free or paid subscriptions. Paid subscriptions will potentially receive additional materials as they become available. Your support would be greatly appreciated.

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“I have had countless men repeat my ideas back to me as if they were theirs – as if I would not remember having come up with those thoughts in the first place.”
― Hernan Diaz, Trust

In Tennessee. it’s been a minute or two since we’ve had a competent Commissioner of Education.

Forget competent, I’d settle for one that wasn’t a dumpster fire magnet.

Back when I first started this blog, the Department was run by Kevin Huffman. The former Teach for America corp member was appointed by Governor Bill Haslam.

He was pro-TFA, pro-Charter school, and helped usher in one of the all-time worst educational programs ever – The Tennessee Achievement School District (ASD).

The idea of the ASD was that the state would take over schools in the bottom 5% and by 2018 move them to the top 25%. By 2018.

Here we are in 2025, and that has not happened.

In fact, as pointed out by Educator Gary Rubenstein, “Of the 30 schools they nearly all stayed in the bottom 5% except a few that catapulted into the bottom 10%.” That growth came with a $100 million price tag.

Under Huffman, Tennessee charter schools grew from 29, when he assumed the mantle of leadership, to 71 schools in the 2013-2014 school year.

Tennessee also adopted Common Core Standards, which we’ve been trying to undo for the last decade. Newsflash: They are still in place. In fact, Praxis which all Tennessee teachers must pass to be licensed, is a Common Core Standards-based assessment, not a Tennessee state standards-based assessment.

In his defense, the Commissioner did deliver some temporary academic results. He narrowed the achievement gap for minority students in math and reading.

In 2013, Tennessee was recognized as the “fastest-growing state in the nation based on NAEP scores. It is a feat that the state has not matched since, but continues to tout regularly.

A year later the Commissioner resigned under intense pressure. Sixty of the state’s school superintendents signed a letter calling for his resignation. Another 15 Republican lawmakers wrote a similar letter. Time for a change.

Next up was homegirl Candice McQueen. McQueen, a former dean and senior vice president at Lipscomb University was tapped by Haslam to put it all back together after Huffman had broken everything. She only broke it more.

Initially, education advocates saw her as a breath of fresh air, but it became apparent that she was just a kindler gentler version of her predecessor.

In 2018, after years of TNReady testing issues, McQueen was forced to defend herself against calls for her resignation. Ultimately in 2018, she resigned.

The next year, brought a new governor, but more of the same old, same old at the Tennessee Department of Education.

Novice politician, and nationally recognized RINO Bill Lee, tapped California-bred Penny Schwinn to lead the state’s Department of Education. If we had a couple days, we could scratch the surface of Schwinn’s shenanigans, but we are under time and space constraints. Safe to say she only added to the dumpster fire.

Schwinn wasted no time handing out contracts to friends and pushing unpopular ideas on the state’s educators. While Schwinn shared the trait of incompetence with her predecessors, her dedication to her personal brand soared far above theirs.

Ironically it’s a brand that has been severely tarnished in recent months. Last month her contract with the University of Florida, with an annual salary of $367K, was terminated after only 3 months of being in place. Seems somebody took exception to the idea of the former commissioner working in Florida while living in Tennessee. Fortunately, the University provided a $95K parachute, so mortgage payments on her $1.8 Nashville home are safe for a while.

These days, despite most legislators and policymakers turning a blind eye during her tenure, Schwinn bashing is an accepted practice. Unfortunately, that criticism comes much too late and better serves as cocktail party fodder than it does improving education policy.

Currently, the TNDOE is led by a Texas resident, Lizzette Gonzales. Like her predecessors, Gonzales has a history of drawing a paycheck from former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Unlike her predecessors, lawmakers are not giving her a lengthy honeymoon.

State Representative Caleb Hammer (D-Nashville) has filed an ethics complaint against Reynolds for allegedly accepting travel reimbursements paid for by the Bush-led advocacy group ExcelIinED.

Remember, the banning of cell phones in schools and vouchers are two initiatives first pushed by ExcelinEd lobbyists. Expect both on this year’s Tennessee General Assembly’s priority list.

One of Reynolds’s first hires was former ExcelinEd lobbyist Jack Powers. I guess it’s an added bonus to be familiar with the initiatives of the guys writing the checks, right?

Her latest scuffle comes after previous revelations that Reynolds was not a licensed educator and residency issues. Questions continue to circulate about where Reynolds spends the majority of her time – Texas or Tennessee.

The Texas native was recently absent from a Tennessee State Board of Education meeting. Whether it was an excused or unexcused absence is unknown.

Late Friday, the Tennessee State Ethics Committee voted 4-0 to dismiss ethics charges against Reynolds. In a letter sent to Reynolds, her attorney, and Hemmer, they noted that her willingness to pay back the money was a mitigating factor.

“The Commission found that, although the need to address these matters is disappointing, ultimately, due to Commissioner Reynolds’ repayment of the expenses in question, there is insufficient probable cause and insufficient value to be gained by proceeding with this matter further,” the letter states.

Who knew? If you rob a bank and you give the money back, can you avoid jail time?

For me, the money shot comes near the end of the letter when the panel recommends that all of Governor Lee’s cabinet members to complete the same training as required by lawmakers.

“The Commission is convinced that the circumstances here might never have occurred had Commissioner Reynolds sought guidance from the Commission or the Commission’s staff regarding [ethics laws],” the letter states.

Really? You think a class is necessary to understand why you shouldn’t take perks from lobbyists, especially if you used to be co-workers? How do you tell me you think somebody is intellectually challenged without telling me you think they are intellectually challenged.

Oh well, off to the next challenge, and trust me another is coming. When you are not from a place and you take little time to learn how they do things, you are bound to step in it again.

Speculation is that if things continue to get hotter for Reynolds, she’ll just pack up and return to Texas.

I’m of the opinion that it doesn’t really matter what Reynolds does, as she is a lame-duck commissioner appointed by a lame-duck governor. She already comes with an expiration date.

In two years, Tennessee will get a new governor and an opportunity to break the cycle of failure at the Tennessee Department of Education. Let’s hope we take advantage of the opportunity.

– – –

While I’m inherently opposed to Teacher of the Year awards – teaching is a team sport and not an individual one – it’s still important to recognize the positive when possible.

This year, Bryan Kerns, an educator from Kingsport City Schools known for his compassion and dedication to his students, as the 2024-25 Tennessee Teacher of the Year. According to a press release from the TNDOE Kerns possesses an admirable resume.

Bryan Kerns, a fire management and math instructor at Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport City Schools for the last 18 years, is viewed as a leader, mentor, and advocate in his school and community. He championed the development of the Dobyns-Bennett Fire Program, which has helped over 30 young men and women enter careers in the fire and emergency services industry. Additionally, he serves as the President-elect of the Bays Mountain Park Association Board and is the Southern Blue Ridge Fire Learning Network Landscape Lead for the Unaka and Great Smoky Mountains Escarpment.

In addition to naming Kerns as Tennessee’s Teacher of the Year, the department rolled out a brand new award – Novice Tennessee Teacher of the Year. Essentially these are Rookie of the Year awards.

Per the TNDOE, The Novice Tennessee Teacher of the Year Award, to celebrate and recognize the wealth of excellent novice teachers in Tennessee. Winners from each CORE region and major municipals were recognized.

I’ve got questions.

What are the criteria for being named Rookie of the Year?

How do you prove you are effective?

Are all these novice teachers licensed, or are some working on a waiver?

I’m sure all of these people are wonderful, but will they still be teaching in 5 years?

I’d argue that the true rookies of the year are those newbies quietly working in schools all over the state. They are seeking out veteran teachers to improve their classroom management skills. They are employing skills that may or may not prove to be effective.

To win state TOY, a teacher must have been teaching full-time for at least three years, have a track record of exceptional gains in student learning, and be effective school and community leaders.

Three years. That’s it.

Luckily, Kerns possesses a longer track record.

– – –

Congratulations! Tennessee has won yet another meaningless accolade.

The Tennessee Firefly writes: “While most states are struggling to provide parents and student advocates with transparent data about “learning loss” that came as a result of COVID-19, Tennessee is among the handful of states that has consistently made longitudinal student performance data available to education stakeholders.

I’m not going to lie, I have no idea what that sentence means. It’s like Tennessee is being awarded for its ability to build superlative unicorn barns. Nobody has adequately explained to me how you can lose something you never possessed, and a look at standardized tests shows that there was never any guarantee that all students would possess what they’ve hypothetically “lost” during the COVID years.

Following me?

Yeah I know, these kinds of things pay the bills. Unfortunately a lot of bills.

According to a report from the Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) – has there ever been a more appropriate acronym – it’s “not easy at all” for parents and student advocates in most states to compare student performance before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The report graded all 50 states and Washington, DC’s school report card websites on an A-F scale, based on how easy it would be for a parent or advocate to find longitudinal data on performance going back to pre-COVID times. Only seven states earned an A: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

In a statement included in the report, CRPE states: “Our findings reveal that most states are failing to provide accessible, transparent longitudinal performance data—at a time when parents, advocates, and the general public need it most to address continued pandemic learning loss.”

Again, I have no idea what they are talking about.

According to CRPE:

While data about learning loss was mostly available in the seven A-rated states, each state still varied in how visible they made the performance of different student populations, such as students with disabilities and non-white students among others.

“Delaware made longitudinal data by student group impossible to find. It was easy to find longitudinal data and student group data separately, but we could not find the intersection on the main webpage. The same was true in Tennessee, where longitudinal data were also a bit buried, though findable with some ingenuity,” the report said, noting that Tennessee’s report card was still much more navigable and useable than most.

Tennessee’s Report Card gives parents the ability to see how their child’s school performed on state testing and it provides a School Letter Grade for how well the school is serving students.

I guess somebody forgot to tell the CRPEs that Tennessee’s post-pandemic report card is significantly different the pre-pandemic report card. Pre-pandemic the emphasis was on growth, while post-pandemic the state focused on achievement.

Kinda an important distinction, no?

But fear not, they didn’t leave out the sales pitch.

“There is no reason to have 51 completely different models of report cards, and many of the most unusable report cards were from smaller or more rural states that might not have the internal capacity to create more appealing interfaces. For instance, of the 13 F states, all are in the bottom 30 states in population size,” it read. “States should consider working together, perhaps led by an organization like the Council of Chief State School Officers, to improve report cards.”

Ah yeah…never forget there are bills to be paid.

– – – –

Normally I’m not a fan of podcasts. It’s not that they aren’t educational and often entertaining, but rather that I just don’t have the time. I can’t sit thre waiting for the hosts to get to the point while prattling on about stuff I don’t care about. That’s what sports talk radio is for.

However, last week, education policy advocate Ezra Howard gave me a heads-up on an episode of a Nashville podcast that sounded intriguing.

POD Bless Nashville is a local podcast hosted by Janie Hollin and Braden Gall. Hollin may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but he never fails to be interesting. Askill that is becoming rarer and rarer in Nashville.

I am unfamiliar with Gall, but he appears to have no trouble keeping up with Hollin.

In this instance, they are talking about TSAA and Tennessee High School sports. It’s definitely worth checking out, as well as their other episodes.

That’s my shameless plug for the week. You can find it wherever you get your regular pod casts.

– – –

Now it’s time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“You have ability and people who don’t never forgive you for it. Your very existence is a constant reproach to them.”
― H. Beam Piper, The Works of H. Beam Piper (27 books)

Earlier this week, Peter Greene wrote a piece that got me thinking.

For those of you who don’t know, Greene writes a blog called Currmudgucation. I often cite his words, but always struggle to describe him.

He’s an education policy expert. Expertise forged from decades in the classroom.

He’s a father, having both raised grown children and is now doing it all over again with toddler twins.

He’s an advocate for the arts, regularly performing with local artists and in community theater.

He’s also a fellow Pennsylvanian, though he’s from the “pop” side of the state while I hail from the “soda” region of PA.

In short, he’s what we used to call a Renaissance man. A term that seems to have fallen out of favor these days.

Basically…he knows a lot of shit about a lotta shit. You may not agree with all of his conclusions, but you can rest assured they are seeped in experience.

This week, Greene weighs in on names and what to call students who want to be referred to by a name different than the one given at birth.

In Tennessee, this is a relevant topic because of recently passed legislation. One law requires that teachers notify the parents of children who wish to be called by another name, while another frees teachers from being forced to honor those student’s wishes. We are pretty good at that talking-out-of-both-sides-of-our-mouth thing.

Many of the students impacted fall under the banner of trans, and thus for many, their concerns are easily dismissed. But it’s not that simple.

As Greene writes:

“Names have power, so it makes sense that young humans, who are generally in search of both identity and some amount of power over their own lives, will often try to exert some control over their own names.
As a teacher, it’s not a fight worth picking. I taught so many students–soooooo many– who wanted to be called by another name. Sometimes it was perfectly understandable– a common nickname for their full name, or going by a middle name. Sometimes it was a leap– “Albert” would prefer to go by “Butch.” I had some unusual cases, like the girl who had the same name as three other students in class, so told me she’d rather go by Andrea (pronounced Ahn-dray-uh). And a few times, I had a trans student who wanted to use a different name.

Did I agree with all of them? No more than I agreed with some of my students’ questionable fashion choices. But it cost me nothing to honor these preferences, to give students that small measure of control over their own identities. It was a small thing for me, but a thing that helped make my classroom a safe, welcoming space where we could get on with the work of learning to be better at reading, writing, speaking and listening.

You may not believe this, but TC is not the name on my birth certificate. I know, hot take – as the kids would say.

I moved to Nashville in 1989, fresh from a radio job in Pennsylvania where my on-air name was TC Weber.

Most of the people I knew here were through my radio job, it was too confusing to revert to my birth name, so TC remained.

Over the years, I built up history and more relationships, all under the moniker of TC. My wife used to joke that she married a man with an alias.

That name became tied to my identity, even as I continued to use my birth name for “official business”.

Four years ago I took a job with a local brewery. My much younger co-workers never bothered to ask me what I wanted to be called, they just began using my birth name as it was written on my application.

At first, I didn’t try to correct them, despite it feeling dismissive and disrespectful. I just let it slide, thinking eventually they’d figure it out.

They never did. Because it was never important to them, which was well communicated to me.

Even after years of working there, and countless people coming in and asking for TC, they clung to my legal name. A strange thing took root as a result. I continually felt less valued, respected, and connected. My resentment started to grow.

To use another word coined by the kids – I felt increasingly unseen and alienated.

I no longer work there, and truly I don’t miss it.

Is this a feeling we want to replicate with kids?

Greene tells the story of a teacher, Vivian Geraghty, who had two trans kids in her classroom and refused to call them by their chosen names. She cited religious principles as justification for her refusal.

Admittedly, I’ve not read the whole bible, but I’m familiar with large chunks of it and don’t recall a portion where it states, “Thou must only be referred to by their given name.”

Perhaps it’s in the book of Ruth or Act II, and I missed it.

Here’s the thing, how you refer to someone says as much about you as it does about them.

For example, calling me “boss”, is a virtual guarantee that you and I are not going to be friends. The same goes for “chief”. You are not someone I really want to align myself with in the future.

Maybe you don’t want bwe aligned with me in the future either, and thats fine, but again, it is not that simple.

If I’ve learned anything over my nearly 60 years on this earth, it’s that life is pretty hard for everybody. If you choose to identify as gay or trans, or anything else outside of the perceived norms, it gets even more difficult.

You know what makes it a little easier?

People allow you to be yourself.

Maybe it does make you uncomfortable, but that’s no excuse. Go ahead, it won’t hurt you to absorb a little of the difficulty and feelings of discomfort.

How dare we make life even harder for other people because we can’t simply say, “What do you go by”, and then honor their response.

I don’t care if you want to be called Riki Tiki Tavi, honoring that wish shows I value you and I respect you.

Greene states it more eloquently than I:

I do not and probably never will grasp the current argument that one cannot practice one’s faith unless one is fully free to discriminate against people of whom you disapprove, and yet that argument surfaces again and again.

But I do believe this– it is not a teacher’s job (nor, really, that of any adult) to tell a student who he or she is. We can nudge, offer encouragement and support, and create a safe place for them to try to figure it out. But the most basic part of treating a human being like a human being is to call them by the name they have for themselves. If you can’t do that and if you insist that you must have the God-given right to make your disapproval of their identities clear to them in every interaction, then you do not belong in front of a classroom.

– – –

Talking with my daughter, I brought up the pending legislation banning cell phones in schools.

“Yes Dada, some kids have trouble managing their time, take that up with them.” she said, ” I’m a straight-A student and I’m capable of managing my time, so why do you want to punish me?”

It’s a fair question and just another example of the broad brush legislators like to paint with.

Much of the cell phone talk centers around the use of Yondr bags. These bags are used to secure phones during the day, and students unlock them as they leave school and exit the phone-free zone.

We can’t get dope and guns out of schools, but by god, we are going to get phones out.

Last I checked these bags weren’t free. I anticipate a district that uses these bags, will invest several million in their purchase.

The laws of economics say that if you have a fixed budget and increase spending in one area, you have to decrease in another.

District officials argue that schools already don’t have money for teacher salaries, the arts, laptop updates, or a plethora of other items. Where is the money for the purchase of these bags going to come from?

Speaking of the money, it’s always good to follow the money.

Here’s a little backstory on this initiative as well. This is another ExcelInEd pipe dream.

In case you forgot, that’s the bunch that used to sign the paycheck for our state commissioner of education. Some might argue they are still signing her paychecks, but that’s another story.

At this year’s annual ExcelinEd shindig, founder Jeb Bush outlined why his posse felt this was an important initiative. Ironically, while the former Florida Governor was speaking, a glance around the room revealed a majority of adults tapping away on their phones while the pearls of wisdom dropped from his lips.

You can’t make this stuff up.

– – –

In my day, high school football was a source of community pride. Every Friday night it was our boys against your boys in a battle to determine who was superior. The boys on the field had grown up in town and were an integral part of the community for many years before donning the uniform. We knew the history of every athlete that became before and what it meant to rep our school. Many of those prior athletes found seats in stands for decades after their playing careers expired. Their exploits were held in reverence for eternity. It meant something to be a Cardinal or a Bear. An Eagle or a Warrior.

These days, in the age of Name, image, and likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal, that community spirit is beginning to recede, replaced by individual glory rising over team accomplishments.

The two have combined to reduce the game to a pursuit of next-level opportunities. There is too much money to be made by both students and adults to not try and hijack the game for personal interests. Players on losing teams don’t get looked at by college scouts. If you can’t start at one school, there is always one down the road.

It’s become all about Instagram, recruiting sites, and next-level jobs for coaches.

This week a story comes out of Cleveland, TN where a QB suited up for opening day with one school, only to transfer to their crosstown rival for week two. It serves as an illustration of just how much things are changing.

The player in question, Cash Bandy, played for Cleveland last Friday but will suit up for Bradly Central this week after the school lost its starting QB to injury last week. Reportedly he was dissatisfied by the QB rotation implemented by his former coach, so he seized the new opportunity and was welcomed by his new coach.

Said Bradley Central head coach Damon Floyd:” This is kind of the way high school and colleges is going. As long as you go by the rules, and he did. Approved by TSSAA. He’ll be playing this week. We are going to do whatever gives our team the best chance to win, and we feel like he will give us that chance. He has been in the playbook quite a bit studying. We’re just trying to catch him up as quick as we can. Obviously, our playbook will not be as wide open as it normally is.”

I can’t say this quote makes me comfortable.

I was raised to believe that wins came about through collective blood, sweat, and tears. Their value was derived from working together for months on end before collectively achieving success. The bigger the obstacle the greater the victory. .

I don’t know how many times I heard, that shortcuts are for the weak,

There are no shortcuts to success.

Success is brought on by outworking, not outbidding.

As someone who played three years of varsity soccer, I have to ask, do bought victories taste as sweet as those earned collectively? We sucked my sophomore year, but in my senior year, we competed for districts. Damn those were sweet victories. When I recall those teammates, I do so with pride and affection.

Coach Floyd may be giving the team the best chance to win, but is he doing what’s best for them?

For me, the seasons of losing only made the winning seasons sweeter. Forty years after graduation I still feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in the Pocono Mountain Soccer program. We built it, and handed it over for future generations to continue the work.

I learned that hard work has its rewards.

Bonds are forged in steel through shared commitment.

But hey, if you can get someone to come in from another team on Monday and win on Friday, who needs bonds of steel?

One other lesson that I was taught by my father as a child, and feels relevant here, is that if you are involved with someone and they cheat on you, they are likely to do it with the next person as well.

Football coaches are fond of claiming to be molding not just football players, but men. This begs the question, what kind of men are we molding?

But what do I know, I’m just an old white man stuck in the past.

– – –

In case you haven’t heard…the teacher shortage in Tennessee has been solved.

Districts across the state are reporting higher staffing rates than in past years. Knoxville is the latest.

According to The TN Firefly:

Knox County Schools says the district has reduced teacher vacancies to near-zero levels through a “cultural shift” in the hiring process that simplifies the process for potential candidates.

In a district blog, KCS says only a handful of full-time teaching positions were open at the start of the school year.

“The most meaningful changes were made by thinking about how we can remove barriers for interested teachers to apply, and then how we could be more responsive to candidates and principal’s needs,” said KCS Talent Acquisition Executive Director Alex Moseman.

So how did they do it? Most of us know that prevalent practices of combining classes, increasing class size, utilizing long-term subs, and pulling unfilled listed positions, have been the preferred practices of other districts, but how is Knoxville doing it?

According to Moseman, it’s by making the application process easier.

This quote by Moseman is a strong contender for the Quote of the Year award:

“You can buy a home from your phone nowadays. You should be able to get a job at Knox County Schools from your phone,” Moseman said. “Life can get busy, so for the people that need some flexibility in their schedule to get a job with us, we’ve built systems to account for the fact that they don’t need to be in a specific place and time to interview with us.”

NewsFlash: If you get hired as a teacher, your life is about to get three times as busy. So, if you don’t have the flexibility to apply for a job, color me skeptical that you’ll have the ability to hold a teaching job.

The district additionally worked to make the hiring process itself more visible and accountable for principals. As part of that work, the Talent Acquisition team shared a scoreboard every week with principals and gave “shout-outs” to schools that were 100% staffed.

Nothing screams quality like a weekly scoreboard. Just get a body in there so we don’t look bad in front of our peers.

The Firefly goes on to share these nuggets of gold from the district’s Talent Acquisition Executive Director Alex Moseman:

“We had to put ourselves in the mindset that we’re competing with everybody for great talent,” Moseman said. “We’re not just competing with other school districts, but also other organizations throughout the region. And with high competition, speed and efficiency is going to be the key component to being successful.”

Probably won’t shock you to learn that Moseman’s only classroom experience comes from a two-year stint as an Indianapolis TFA corpsman.

– – –

Quick question, has anybody seen Tennessee Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds? Was she in town for her ethics committee meeting, or is she still in Texas? Asking for a friend.

– – –

Before we wrap up, I want to brag for a second. Last Friday night my 13-year old Freshmen son started and played the whole Overton HS varsity football game against Father Ryan. I’m guessing that since he doesn’t turn 14 until the end of September, he ranks among the youngest to ever accomplish this feat. The game didn’t turn out as planned, but football games rarely do. We look forward to many more Friday nights and anticipate outcomes only improving.

– – –

Now it’s time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“A heroic society is almost a contradiction in terms.”
― Jane Ellen Harrison, Ancient Art and Ritual

This weekend marks the kickoff of high school football season in Tennessee, As such, it also marks my son’s first start as a HS varsity QB.

He worked hard all summer. That work coupled, with a tragic injury to the senior QB, makes him the next man up. A challenge he relishes.

The promotion brings pride and trepidation.

I believe that he is ready to play, but I wish he weighed another 40lbs.

I tell him to be smart out there, to be cautious, but I can’t make him to cautious because then he won’t be true to himself. To succeed, he has to be himself. He can’t play scared.

I know he’s good, but will he be good enough?

If he’s not how will he handle it? How will he handle success if it comes?

These thoughts are not dissimilar to those on the minds of parents in every town, in every state. It is not just about football either,

Some parents may be sending their kids off to the first year of college, or their first job.

Some have children competing for scholarships, chairs in the band, or a preferred role in the school play,

Some may be starting an academic course just outside of their comfort zone.

Whatever the undertaking, pride and trepidation are consistent partners.

Whatever the challenge, parental fears are universal. You never know if your children are ready to fly until they actually attempt to fly.

As an adult, you are familiar with the pain of failure. Despite knowing that there is no growth without pain, it remains intrinsic to try and spare our offspring that pain.

As I dropped Peter off at school this morning, I told him I was proud, but to keep in mind that this is just the next step.

No matter how well he plays tonight – three touchdowns or three interceptions, win or lose – it’s not going to be the best he’s ever going to play,

Win or lose, come Monday, it’s back to the practice field in pursuit of continuous improvement. That remains the ever-fixed mark.

Tonight though, the coaches have the team well-prepared. They’ve done everything in their power to ensure that everyone is ready for tonight’s undertaking.

His teammates have worked equally hard, and the upperclassmen look at this season as a culmination of a lifetime of work, while the younger players see it as the foundation for years to come. This team has a plethora of potential stars and tonight they may begin their ascent. As one senior told him, “Don’t think that anyone is expecting you to do everything. We’ve all got this.” Important words.

Now it’s time to have some fun.

I hope he takes a moment to breathe in the decades of history represented by the people in attendance.

I hope he hears the yells of encouragement from the cheerleaders, augmented by the school’s marching band.

I hope he appreciates the camaraderie of his teammates and the unique bond that will unite them for eternity.

Today they are young men taking the field to compete, but someday they will be older men, far removed from the football field, swapping lies of gridiron glory. So it has been, and so it will be. There is something special about that.

I hope he takes a moment to appreciate the fact that he has assumed a role in a uniquely American tradition.

Tonight, Friday Night Lights become more than just a compelling television show.

Good luck to all the teams opening their season, may it be safe and competitive.

– – –

It’s been nearly a decade since I first started this blog. Over my years of covering education policy, I feel like I’ve seen just about everything,

But, every time I start to feel that way, a new wrinkle reveals itself. One that has me shaking my head in disbelief.

The latest entry in the misguided fools sweepstakes comes out of nearby Wison County where a newly elected school board member has fired an ethics complaint against a teacher who has been recognized as a teacher of the Year.

News 2 reports:

According to the complaint, the teacher posted online about an interaction between that school board member and another teacher during a parent-teacher conference. Per the complaint, she claimed online that the school board member was yelling at the teacher.

The plaintiff, school board member Greg Hohman, maintains that the story was a complete fabrication. He is now asking the teacher to be held accountable and is asking for a public apology from the school.

Not quite sure what Hohman is looking for as far as accountability. As a general rule, public apologies are worthless

Ironically, the Board of Ethics was created to address the behaviors of board members. Not the other way around.

As Executive Director for Professional Educators of Tennessee JC Bowman points out, ““I don’t know of any other incident in the state of Tennessee where anyone has done this.”

“I don’t know of any other case in the state of Tennessee where they basically put a teacher on trial for a code of ethics violation,” Bowman continued.

At the heart of the matter is an incident were the board member hypothetically at a teacher.

In his filed complaint, newly elected school board member, Hohman, wrote that during a parent-teacher conference with his son’s teacher, another teacher claimed to have overheard him yelling. During his campaign for school board, he claimed the teacher who overheard the alleged interaction posted about it online. He called it a “fabricated story.”

I’m a bit puzzled about what ethical standard is being violated.

I wonder if anybody has run a risk/reward analysis on this nonsense.

Should Hohman win, the teacher will likely only incur a slap on the wrist and a stern talking-to. The cost of that win could include increased difficulty in recruiting and retaining teachers.

Per Bowman, “If they convict her for this and hold this as a real ethics complaint, I think you’ll see a serious problem and see teachers leave…you’re going to create something where teachers will not want to teach in that school system because they are afraid to say something that later they could get held accountable fo.”

Obviously, people shouldn’t be able to say whatever they want, whenever they want, but let’s employ a little common sense here.

There is plenty of real work that needs to be done.

– – –

Are you a Nashville principal or coach who’s feeling a little down because you missed out on the multitude of AVID training offered by the district?

Sad, because you didn’t get to attend a conference in Florida or Texas with your peers this summer?

Cheer up, in November there is another opportunity for you to get trained on AVID’s model of Leadership, Culture, and Instruction.

November will mark the third convening by AVID at the Martin Center MNP. The first occurred in May and the second is set for September.

Attendees of the previous convening were fortunate to hear from the esteemed Dr. Bellamy. Since Bellamy is no longer employed by the district, he’s been replaced by his successor Dr. Renita Perry.

I would argue, that since Bellamy no longer has professional obligations to fill, he should still be the one presenting at this private function. Alas, the district doesn’t see it this way. They insist on using a salaried employee.

One caveat before you rush to sign up. There is a tuition fee involved in this training opportunity. It’s $4500 unless you enroll early, then it is only $4K.

That’s a tidy sum you say?

It is for AVID, who per the contract keeps all tuition fees. They are also given free access to the Martin Center, a taxpayer-funded building designed to facilitate training for educator training.

Let’s see if I follow the logic at play. We give the private entity the taxpayer-funded venue for principal training, then use additional taxpayer money to take principals and support hub folks out of town for annual training while repeatedly claiming the district is underfunded.

Am I missing anything?

– – –

In case you were wondering about the multi-million dollar lawsuit between several MNPS educators and the District, here’s an update.

Both sides took a stab at arbitration, but it went nowhere. I’m assuming that one side overvalued the settlement and one undervalued. I have no way of knowing, but that’s how these things usually roll.

As a result, a trial date has been set for next summer.

If you are in need of some salacious reading material, give the lawsuit a read. It is quite entertaining and enlightening.

– – –

Remember back in the Spring, when everybody was all worked up about the bill allowing teachers to pack heat in school?

Remember how I told you that everybody was getting way overworked up, and because of the way the law was written, few districts would be participating?

This week ChalkbeaTN confirmed my predictions.

“Indeed, for all the protests and discord over the legislation, before it passed, there’s little talk among school districts or educators about using the option to arm teachers or staff as the new academic year begins. Not a single school system has indicated that it’s planning or working to train employees to carry a gun voluntarily under the new law, according to dozens of school and law enforcement officials contacted by Chalkbeat”

The law was designed so that smaller, poorer districts had a way to secure their schools. So far, it’s opposition with no participants.

But it sure was a good distraction.

– – –

Still trying to dig into this one, but let’s put it on the radar.

For over a decade, Tennessee has used WIDA testing as a means to measure the academic growth of it’s English Learner students. It is a well-respected test and I seldom hear complaints about it.

By most accounts, Tennessee was doing a pretty solid job on EL education. EL instruction has long been a sense of pride for MNPS.

Last year, for some reason, Tennessee’s contract with WIDA came up for review. The state chose to go with a new assessment, ELPA21. Included is a dynamic screener that allows districts to identify students in need of EL services.

The screener tests students in three domains – reading, writing, listening, and speaking. This is the first time that kindergarten students are being tested for reading and writing. Reports are that there has been increased identification of students requiring EL services,

This is a good thing, except that the state is under-resourced when it comes to supplying those services.

Students with disabilities can apply for an alternative test, Those with IEPs can apply to omit domains. For example, a deaf child can omit the hearing domain.

Here’s another interesting wrinkle, Tennessee’s newly enacted “parental rights” law requires parents’ consent before students are recorded. The ELPA21 screener requires student recordings.

This translates to students not receiving required instruction because districts have not received parental consent forms.

An article in today’s Tennessean points out that only 40% of parents have returned parental consent forms required to administer basic health care treatment to students.

Of the 40% returned, 90% have given permission.

The Tennessean reports that in Rutherford County, parents who declined to give consent are asked to arrive at the school within 30 minutes of notification from the school that their child has a minor illness or injury, according to their consent form. Otherwise, the school may call EMS. Other Tennessee counties are enacting similar policies.

– – –

Now it’s time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“I told her the world was full of nice people. I’d have hated to try to prove it to her, but I said it, anyway.”
― Jim Thompson, A Hell of a Woman

I don’t think we ever truly appreciated what we had in Penny Schwinn when she served as Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education.

At first blush, dismissing her as just another grifter drifting from job to job collecting paychecks like a Mookie Betts collects home runs is an easy narrative to embrace. But she is so much more.

Each check becomes a little larger than the last. Starting as a TFA corp member in Baltimore she quickly drifted back to Cali, where she went from department head to school board member to charter school founder in under 5 years.

Then back to the East Coast to take a six-figure job with the Maryland DOE before moving to Texas for a similar position with their DOE. Heck, for most of that time, she was drawing a paycheck from both coasts. That ain’t easy.

Miraculously she ends up on Tennessee’s shores, where she wreaked havoc for 4 years before the Governor had to cut strings.

I know, I know, she resigned of her own volition, but do you really believe she did so without a little urging from the nationally recognized RINO?

In her wake, she left a series of controversies and questionable financial activities. The beauty of Ms Schwinn was her selflessness, not only did she ensure she got paid, but also made sure there was a paycheck with her husband’s name on it from one of the many organizations she did business with.

As her tenure with the TNDOE came to an end, she bought a $1.8 million mansion in Nashville and secured a $375K gig with the University of Florida that allowed her to work remotely. That gig is separate from her multiple speaking engagements. Sweet!

I mean, you look objectively at her entire career and you can’t help but be impressed. She entered a field where practitioners are chronically underpaid and turned it into an ATM. No small feat.

Unfortunately, everything comes with an expiration date and Schwinn’s may be drawing closer.

About a month ago, University of Florida President Ben Sasse announced that he would be stepping down as university president to attend to his wife’s health challenges. That led to folks looking closer at his hiring practices and getting a dose of sticker shock.

The Alligator, the University’s student paper, reports that Sasse more than tripled his office’s spending, directing millions in university funds into secretive consulting contracts and high-paying positions for his GOP allies.

In one year, spending in the president’s office grew from $5.6 million to $17.3 million.

The paper goes on to report:

A majority of the spending surge was driven by lucrative contracts with big-name consulting firms and high-salaried, remote positions for Sasse’s former U.S. Senate staff and Republican officials.

Sasse’s consulting contracts have been kept largely under wraps, leaving the public in the dark about what the contracted firms did to earn their fees. The university also declined to clarify specific duties carried out by Sasse’s ex-Senate staff, several of whom were salaried as presidential advisers.

The paper lists numerous “friends” who benefited from Sasse’s generosity, including Tennessee’s former darling:

Outside of his Senate staff, Sasse also tapped former Republican Tennessee Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn as UF’s inaugural vice president of PK-12 and pre-bachelor programs. Schwinn, with a starting salary of $367,500, worked the newly-created position from her $1 million home in Nashville, Tennessee.

The paper and I may quote slightly different figures, but we paint the same picture.

Schwinn wasn’t alone in her remote work, all but one of Sasse’s political appointees worked for UF outside of Florida and commuted to Gainesville on the university’s dollar when needed — a move reflected in his office’s travel expenses.

Per the student paper, “In Sasse’s first full fiscal year at the university’s helm, travel expenses for the president’s office soared to $633,000 — over 20 times higher than Fuchs’ annual average of $28,000. Sasse spent more on travel in his 17 months at UF than Fuchs’ entire eight-year tenure.”

That sounds familiar, remember while employed at the TNDOE, Schwinn was fond of traveling on the Tennessee taxpayer’s dime.

Here’s some more fat to chew on. Upon arriving at UF, Sasse entered into a $4.7 million contract with McKinsey and Company. The firm carries prestige as one of the “big three” management consulting firms but is notoriously secretive about its dealings and shielded its work from public view using records laws protecting trade secrets.

Beyond the $4.7 million contract, Sasse hired three former McKinsey consultants as full-time employees in his office, with salaries ranging from $150,000 to $200,000, according to university records.

Right now, you might be thinking, where do I know that name from?

You may recall the company’s relationship with Governor Lee. back in 2019, he gave them a $1.5 million no-bid contract to create a report on the state’s COVID response and then deemed that the report shouldn’t be shared with Tennesseans, even though it was a taxpayer-paid report. Eventually, after a lawsuit was filed, the report was released.

McKinsey’s services have also made headlines because of the state’s legal action against the firm over claims about its role in the opioid epidemic. In April of 2021, Attorney General Herbert Slatery announced that Tennessee would receive $15.2 million from a larger $573 million settlement with McKinsey, targeted for its role in helping opioid companies promote their drugs.

Here’s another series of relationships you should be aware of as a Tennessee taxpayer.

Sasse is a long-time friend of the Bush family, having worked for both George and Jeb.

Penny Schwinn has long been a member of Chief’s for Change, a non-profit education think tank founded by Jeb Bush.

Tennessee’s current Commissioner of Education, Lizzette Reynolds, is a long-term family friend of the Bushes. Having worked for both George and Jeb.

Sometimes it all just sounds so familiar.

No word yet about what’s next for Tennessee’s deposed education commissioner. online political news magazine The Hill is reporting that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is pushing the state university system to look deeper into Sasse’s spending.

“We take the stewardship of state funds very seriously and have already been in discussions with leadership at the university and with the Board of Governors to look into the matter,” Bryan Griffin, a communications director for DeSantis, said in an emailed statement sent Thursday to The Hill.

Here are some fun facts. Alan Levine sits on that Board of Governors. The same Alan Levine serves on the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) and Tennessee’s Public Charter School Commission. Levine is a long-term Bush dude, having served as the former Florida Governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff and senior health policy advisor.

The ripples only grow wider. Maybe Tennessee and Florida could conduct a joint investigation.

Talk is in the air that Florida’s Governor is interested in recouping some of those monies spent with the out-of-towners. If only Tennessee’s was.

Whispers around the state keep linking Schwinn with long-term Governor Lee advisors turned private lobbyist Blake Easley in a business deal. Nobody quite knows what’s afoot, but the two now share separate offices in the same building. Maybe a coincidence.

Right now Easley is busy licking his wounds from recent election primaries. He was a key player in Courtney Johnson’s bid to unseat US House Rep Andy Ogles. Ogles easily dismissed Johnson’s challenge.

Whatever happens, I’m sure it won’t be ordinary. But that’s our extraordinary former education commissioner.

– – –

Last week I mentioned the national push to get states to ban cell phones in schools. This week education writer, and professional educator Peter Greene weighs in on the subject.

Greene is mostly favorable to the idea of removing phones from schools but is leery of legislation banning them. He points out that major opposition will likely come from parents.

For parents who balk at ever letting their children out of their sight or touch or control, cellphones are just the thing to make sure that contact is maintained and that you can check up in at any moment. In all fairness, it’s not just the helicopter parents. Families with three jobs and one car, families with big logistical challenges, families dealing with emergent situations–they all benefit from having the child just a click away.And nowadays, the specter of various school crises are part of the picture. What if there’s a school shooter and my child doesn’t have a phone? What if Something Is Going On and the school doesn’t contact me quickly enough?Parents are likely to push back hard–harder than the students–against cellphone restrictions.

I agree with Greene about parent opposition, but not for the reasons outlined by the writer. Nothing to do with any helicopter parenting.

We were slow to supply our kids with phones, for all the familiar reasons, but Christmas in 7th grade felt like the appropriate time to make the jump. To their credit, the kids have proven the decision to be the right one.

People of my generation like to wax grandiosely about their childhoods. “We’d disappear for hours”, they’ll fondly recall, “Our parents never knew where we where or what what we were doing.”

True, but while I’m no fan of Life360, or any of those other child trackers, let’s be honest, we were often where we shouldn’t have been doing things we shouldn’t be doing.

And yes we all turned out wonderful, at least those of us who made it out of those hours of anonymity. Not all of us did.

A little text here and there allows us to be present but not intrusive.

Phones allow me to work and still be present in my child’s life.

I like to think that a simple “I love you” text in the middle of the day often serves to alter the trajectory of a troubling day. Please don’t take that as an invite to do a study, because I don’t need the data.

In his later middle school, I sent my son to school with the instructions that if the day is turning south, and you think you are on the cusp of making a bad decision, text me, and I’ll come pick you up, no questions asked.

He only used that option a handful of times, and usually, all it took was a few minutes of talking in the car in the parking lot. I shudder when I think of the possible consequences if this option was not available.

Life is so busy for all of us, that a change in plans requires sudden notice. A quick text allows for that.

Sometimes I may be running late to pick up a child, and a text allows for reassurance.

To portray phones as a privilege is a misnomer. They are a tool that makes family life just a little easier.

I admit, I rarely use phones in a disciplinary manner. It never felt effective. My son has always been baffled by why you would take away something totally removed from the infraction. Both kids understood that the punishment was temporary, and they knew they could wait us out. Taking a phone was never an effective strategy and did more to shut down communication than phone usage.

But isn’t it always like that when you try and ban stuff? Books, music, phones – outcomes vary little.

Furthermore, it always seemed more of a punishment for me than it did for them.

That said, I understand the challenge of overcoming distractions created by the ubiquitous use of phones. Parameters do need to be placed on in-school usage.

Like I Greene, I argue:

At the other end of the issue is the actual specific issue of implementing the policy in the classroom.There are lots of great ideas out there for collecting and managing all the cellphones, but there is still going to come that moment–You are teaching class. You see that a student still has their phone. You ask them to hand it in (put it in the box, whatever). They say no. Now what do you do?Stop class to have a battle of wills? Shrug and let it go? Send the student out of the room? Call the office? Call home later? This is different from a simple classroom management issue of focus, of trying to get the student attention directed at what they are supposed to do rather than what they are not. It’s not simply a behavior thing–it’s a moment in which you are trying to confiscate (not just put away) an object (a very expensive object) that they have in their possession.Like so many other policies, this one dies the moment building administration says “Well, what do you want us to do about it?”There is a huge amount of room, a Grand Canyon’s amount, to argue about just how dangerous or destabilizing cellphones actually are for the mental health of young people. But I think you’d find general agreement that teaching would be a bit easier if students were not attached to their phones all day.But cellphone bans run the risk of being one more of those moments when leaders say, “Well, we will solve this social issue by passing a law or policy and then just let teachers take care of it.” Done poorly, it’s one more unfunded mandate for education, except instead of sucking up money, it will suck up time and attention.

At the least, you run the risk of turning a model student into a disruption.

I know, it is hard to believe that high-performing students enjoy checking their phones periodically throughout the day, but they exist in large numbers. Since they follow every other rule, why you risk making them a discipline issue because of a blanket ban.

My daughter is a prime example. She, a high school sophomore, would take a ban as further evidence that administrators don’t trust her to manage her time, despite her regularly proving them wrong.

Do we really believe that the distracted and underperforming student transfixed by their phone will suddenly morph into a dedicated fully engaged slave to the grindstone simply through the removal of their electronic device?

Yeah…let me talk to you about this bridge I own in Arizona.

Since we like to brag about “every student known” maybe we could use cell phones as a positive tool for performance. You know, maintain your grades, don’t be a distraction, and we won’t pester you about your phone.

Because that’s why we are doing this right? None of it is about adult control. Too why not use the carrot instead of the stick.

Unfortunately, I’ve discovered it’s almost always about control.

– – –

Along the same lines is recent state legislation that requires teachers to issue grades that arguably reflect a student’s earned grade versus that previous policy of not assigning a student a grade of less than a 50. Proponents argue that if a student “does zero work, they should get a zero grade.”

That sounds great when you are at the bar bemoaning to your friends the current lack of student work ethic, and performance trophies while ordering your fourth tequila and soda.

The reality is, if a student is doing “zero work” there is likely a deeper issue at play, and since we believe in “every student known”, we should probably work to figure that issue out.

For example, if I’m regularly getting my ass beat at home, I’m probably tired when I get to school and out of sorts as well. My priority is also likely focused on how not to get my ass beat as opposed to completing my History of Civilization homework. It may sound like I’m being a little cavalier here, but trust me I’m anything but.

So during the time I’m getting beat at home, I earn a couple zeroes. The person beating my ass gets tossed from the house after a couple of months, and viola, my work ethic suddenly increases. But at this point, I realize that to get my grade to a “C”, I have to score a 100 on the five remaining tests, and that’s the best I can do.

Where is my motivation? Failing feels like a foregone conclusion.

Is that really the position we want to put kids in? Are we looking to help, or teach them a lesson?

We can do better.

– – –

Before I close with the financial pitch, I need to brag a bit. I’ve got two children in High School now – never thought I’d here those words out of my mouth.

The girl, a sophomore, attends Nashville’s School of the Arts for writing – shocker. She’s also enrolled in Vanderbilt’s School for Science and Math.

Each class is about 25 students drawn from across MNPS, Students spend a day a week taking classes at Vanderbilt, They are expected to make up any work missed at their home school during their absence. It’s a difficult program but the rewards are great.

My Freshman is playing a little varsity football for John Overton High School. He’s got a lot to learn, and the team is young but is embracing all of it.

The picture was taken by the fabulous Teri Lampley Watson. Watson graciously documents the many exploits of John Overton High School students. To say she’s a treasure is an understatement. These images will endure long after careers expire.

There is nothing quite like getting a notification that a new batch of photos has dropped.

I always open the files, scanning for my child, but getting excited when I see others as well. Often, it is a high point of my week, as she has the ability to capture them as I see them.

A special gift.

Watson may be special, but she’s not unique. Schools across the country have photographers who freely give of their time to record history. They go largely unseen but hardly unappreciated. Make sure as we head unto the Fall, you take a moment to say a thank you.

I probably don’t say it publicly enough, but I’m extremely proud and blessed.

– – –

Now it’s time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“The problem, kid,” Shorty said, “is there is no one on either side of the fence keeping measurements about what you do. God is an idea, and the devil is us.”
― Joe Lansdale

Laws written in the state house often don’t play well in the school house. Intentions may be in the right place, but that’s not enough to ensure positive outcomes.

I’m going to assume that Senator Ferrell Gaile (R-Gallatin) and Representative Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) had the best of intentions when they introduced SB 2749. Still, despite those intentions, the results have been a classic dumpster fire.

The law creates chaos on multiple levels and leads to more work for teachers and school administrators. Advertised as a “parents rights” law, it’s a solution in search of a problem, that creates its own set of problems.

Under healthcare, SB 2749 states:

Except as otherwise provided by law or court order, this bill prohibits a government entity, healthcare provider, or other person from knowingly taking any of the following actions with regard to a minor without first obtaining the consent of a parent of the minor: (i) treating, professing to diagnose, operating on, or prescribing for any physical ailment, physical injury, or deformity; (ii) prescribing, dispensing, delivering, or administering any drug or medication; (iii) rendering certain psychological services; or (iv) rendering certain counseling services.

Read the bill as written, and it is easily interpreted as preventing nurses from providing the most basic of treatments without parental consent. That includes dispensing band-aids, taking temperatures, or treating any minor health care needs that transpire daily. As you can imagine, nurses pushed back.

Especially after they read this paragraph:

This bill provides that a violation of the above prohibitions constitute an unlawful practice and is grounds for the offending healthcare provider’s licensing authority to suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew the healthcare provider’s license or take other disciplinary action allowed by law. If the licensing authority of a healthcare provider receives information of a violation or potential violation of the above prohibitions by the healthcare provider, then the licensing authority must conduct an immediate investigation and take appropriate disciplinary action.

This bill authorizes a parent to bring a civil cause of action to recover compensatory damages, punitive damages, and reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, expenses, and any other appropriate relief against the person, government entity, or healthcare provider alleged to have violated the above prohibitions. Such a civil action commenced must be brought within one year from the date of discovery of the violation. If a court in such civil action finds that a healthcare provider knowingly violated the above prohibitions, then the court must notify the appropriate regulatory authority and the attorney general by mailing a certified copy of the court’s order to the regulatory authority and the attorney general. Notification must be made upon the judgment of the court being made final.

Fun, fun, fun, till Daddy took the T-Bird away.

Bill sponsors Haile and Faison responded by saying that they were overreacting.

According to Fox 17 News, State Senator Haile, claims that applying a band-aid falls under the emergency clause where a treatment this sort is allowed. I would point out when considering this interpetation, that Haile has a Pharmaceutical degree and not a law degree.

Nowhere in the law is a definition provided for “emergency services”. In my household, the application of a band-aid has never been considered an emergency service, perhaps in Haile’s it is.

In either case, I don’t think I’d be too keen to show up before a judge or licensing board with the defense of, “but he said it was ok.”

“Teachers operate in fear of being sued all the time,” JC Bowman, CEO of Professional Educators of Tennessee said in response to the state senator’s assurances.

Bowman is not opposed to the law, but he wants lawmakers to provide school staff with clarity and guidance on the law.

Another huge issue is found in the following paragraph:

This bill also prohibits a public employee, other than law enforcement personnel, from encouraging or coercing a child to withhold information from the child’s parent. Additionally, a public employee must not withhold from a child’s parent information that is relevant to the physical, emotional, or mental health of the child.

What this says is, if your child wants to be referred to by a different name, or pronoun, the school must notify parents. That means schools are now in the business of outing students. While again, I understand the intention, this should not be in the purview of schools.

I’d go even further by saying, that if a parent is doing their job, the notification wouldn’t be news to them and they’ve likely forged a strong bond with their child. Maintaining authentic relationships is difficult work, but it should not be the role of a law to supplant that hard work.

On yesterday’s car ride home my high school daughter gave me an earful on the dangers of this new legislation.

“This will do nothing but put trans and gay kids at risk.” she said empathetically, “Not every parent is like you. Some will reject their children and cut off relationships. We say schools are supposed to be safe places for kids, but this takes that away, Once you make it unsafe, you can never make it safe again.”

She’s not wrong. We can’t write laws for a world that doesn’t exist, we have to write laws for the one we all live in.

Unfortunately, there are times when children do not feel comfortable telling parents about their true selves. For whatever reason. If that’s the case, they should retain the right to private disclosure on their own schedule. That’s basic human decency.

I get it, the teenage years fill parents with uncertainty and fear. I’m scared all the damn time. But, one set of rights should not lead to the sacrifice of the rights of others.

The issue has administrative implications as well.

One principal of a large Tennessee high school – not MNPS, so stop guessing – tells me that they now have a list of about 100 gay or trans students who have expressed a desire to be referred to by a different name or pronoun. They now have to go through that list and notify every parent.

Some parents will be fine with it, so the conversations will be short ones. Some will require much longer conversations.

In the case of MNPS, administrators, teachers, and counselors, have been provided minimal guidance on how to handle these conversations. That is inexcusable and puts valuable employees at risk.

Governor Lee did concede this week that changes are often needed in bills he signs into law because the General Assembly just can’t be prepared for every outcome.

This one needs amending quickly and you should be prepared for every outcome when it involves children.

– – –

The banning of cell phones in schools continues to be a thing. A ridiculous thing in my eyes.

The Tennessean reports this week, that Warren County Schools is implementing a new cell phone policy this year.

The policy defines personal electronic devices as cellphones, AirPods, earbuds, Bluetooth-connected headphones, smartwatches, fitness trackers and other devices with an internet connection. Upon arrival, students will be required to place their devices in Yondr pouches.

The pouch will be locked at the start of the school day and will remain locked until the 2:45 p.m. bell. Any devices larger than the pouch, such as tablets or laptops, will not be permitted on campus. apparently there are stations beside exits where students can unlock their pouches on the way out the door. I’m sure that’ll work 100% of the time.

Here’s my favorite quote from the story:

The pouches and related supplies were a “significant cost to the district,” said Swallows, but are nonetheless considered a “valuable privilege” to students. The school district has ordered the pouches and are currently waiting on the shipment. They are expected to be delivered in the following weeks.

Hmmm…schools that are repeatedly reported to be underfunded now suddenly have enough income to purchase these pouches.

I need a little more info on what is meant by a ‘valuable privilege” Are we still arguing that phones are a privilege and not a necessity to participate in modern society? That’s a little outdated.

Lastly, if this is a true crisis, shouldn’t the solution be available by the start of the school year?

My hat goes off to the creator of the Yondr pouch. They are going to make millions.

yes, phones are a distraction, They also serve as essential tools. The modern world is a whole lot different than it was in 1975.

At that time parents probably didn’t need to regularly contact kids, or maybe they didn’t there just wasn’t a means to do it. Either way, phones are going anywhere. So we are forced to overcome a new distraction.

When I was a kid, the outdoors was a distraction. I don’t know how many hours I wasted staring out the window, daydreaming about what I could do out there. It was a pain in the neck to my teacher, who repeatedly had to draw back my attention, but nobody ever proposed blocking the windows during the school day as a viable alternative.

If you are going to force kids to lock up their phones, what about the adults in the building?

Newsflash! They are using theirs as well and they will continue to.

Don’t we have enough to do without getting into the phone police business?

– – –

Something weird has happened on the way to the Coliseum.

Last week, former President Trump threw Tennessee Governor Lee under the bus by describing him as a RINO. It was the highlight of my week.

Lee has long suffered under the illusion that there was a place for him in a Trump cabinet. Where he got that idea is a mystery to me, because he’s never been a Republican.

Despite having an “R” behind his name, he’s long pledged allegiance to the Green Party. The one whose slogan is, “Show me the money”, not the one concerned about the trees.

In a single Tweet, Trump put an end to that illusion.

The weird part is that his former enemies reacted to the Tweet by expressing sympathy for the lame-duck governor. Poor Bill Lee was turned on by a man he’d served as a loyal soldier. They even went as far as defending his Republican bonafides.

Tennessee Lookout reporter Sam Stockard wrote, “It also shows complete ignorance and a lack of creativity by the former President because Lee is no RINO, a Republican In Name Only” before listing all the Governor’s Republican-like behaviors.

Lee dismissed Trump’s criticism, saying, ““I can’t really explain what that was about, but, um, it doesn’t change anything about how I feel about what we’re doing or where we’re going, and everybody has their own style. The president has his, and I certainly am hopeful that his style leads to him continuing to lead and be elected,”

Reporters and Democrats were incredulous, but what else was Lee going to say?

Maybe he’s not a Trump guy, but you know who is? Leadership at the Tennessee General Assembly.

Maybe they throw him a bone this legislative session and give school choice, but they ain’t giving him much more. Trump has already given them a pass to tell the Governor to pound sand. if he were to defend himself, he could kiss choice goodbye as well.

Quack, Quack, Quack.

– – –

Reports are trickling out of Florida that former Tennessee Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn is looking to fill a $375K hole in her family budget.

About 3 months ago she took a leadership job with the University of Florida. At the time, former Bush associate Ben Sasse was in charge. Things change.

Sasse is no longer the man, and reportedly Schwinn is enjoying the waning days of Summer in Tennessee.

Interesting she is still using the UF job to promote speaking engagements and in social media headlines,

I’m sure the self=proclaimed “change agent” will soon find a new gig, but for now, it won’t be in Florida.

– – –

Speaking of state education commissioners, Tennessee’s is once again raising eyebrows.

The Tennessean is reporting that Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds repaid travel and event expenses paid for her last year by pro-voucher advocacy group ExcelinEd following an ethics complaint filed against her alleging that the reimbursements constitute an illegal gift from an employer of a lobbyist.

Reynolds went to two conferences last year hosted by her former employer. State ethics law prohibits public officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists or employers of lobbyists.

ExcellinEd employs a registered lobbyist who advocated for Lee’s statewide universal voucher legislation. What The Tennessean doesn’t mention, is that the former lobbyist hired by ExcelinEd was hired by Reynolds to be the head of the department’s legislative affairs division.

I guess that doesn’t count.

Nor do they mention any trips taken by the TNDOE to ExcelinEd conferences this summer. Nor is there any mention of conferences previously attended by former Commissioner Schwinn.

The article includes a picture of the check, but I’d to see one with the words “cashed” written on the back. I’m also curious why she allegedly received close to $2K in benefits, but the check provided is only for $60. Maybe she’s doing an installment plan.

Why do I suspect this won’t be the last check written by Commissioner Reynolds?

– – –

Time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

If you could help a brother out…and you think this blog has value …your support would be greatly appreciated. This time of year money gets real tight, while the blogging workload increases exponentially.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“We are all very anxious to be understood, and it is very hard not to be. But there is one thing much more necessary.’
What is that, grandmother?’
To understand other people.’
Yes, grandmother. I must be fair – for if I’m not fair to other people, I’m not worth being understood myself. I see.”
― George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin

A couple quick observations before we dive into the meat of the matter.

It’s election season, so people are getting offended around every corner. It could be the opening ceremonies in Paris or the Cat Ladies of America. Either way, there is enough umbrage available for everyone.

I used to get offended all the time when I was a younger man, till I realized that nobody really cared. Sure, there were the six or seven people who would cheer me on in my expression of outrage, but the people who were the subject of my ire paid scant attention.

The person who was affected by my state of offense was myself. I’d walk around muttering to myself, trying to persuade strangers to my side, wrapping myself in my cloak of offense. It was never a very comfortable place to be, and it made me a less effective advocate. Over the years, I’ve found reason and temperance to be much more effective, and I can still enjoy life while fighting the good fight.

That said, I feel compelled to point out that one thing that never – and I mean never – defused my state of offense was someone trying to explain away my anger and dismiss it as unwarranted. Attempting to show me why my taking offense was stupid without acknowledging my feelings, was an even bigger offense. Yet, it is common practice on social media.

Do you really believe that writing a Facebook missive about how the opening performance of the Olympics was about Ancient Greece and not the Last Supper while indicating that anyone thinking otherwise is lacking in education is going to lead to a sudden awakening?

As if the offended party will suddenly say, “Oh thank you for the enlightenment. I see that I misinterpreted this outstanding performance and I commend you for sharing your superior insight with me”?

Try that in person sometime, and let me know how it works out for you.

It’s always my preference to employ solutions that unite instead of divide.

Furthermore, for me, it’s always about the solution as opposed to who’s right.

Last note, this whole introduction of labeling everything Republicans do as “weird” is a little weird.

It smacks of that time my wife and some of her friends were determined to bring back the phrase “word”. They were dropping it into every sentence to generate repetition. It was all a little jarring and at times a little cringy. They never did make “word” prevalent again, but at least they had a little fun. I suspect the “weird” effort will suffer a similar fate.

But these are definitely weird times.

– – –

Tennessee had an election yesterday, and the results were eye-opening. These were primaries and local elections, but seeing Tennessee is dark red, they should be taken with a sense of prediction.

Several prominent Republicans lost their gig, including Senator Jon Lundberg, along with Representatives John Ragan and Patsy Hazlewood.

Ragan was considered a combatant for the Right, but Lundberg and Hazlewood were more centrist. More than that, they were competent.

Lundberg was always willing to take a phone call, and I’ll miss my conversations with him. Much like former Representative Teri Lynn Weaver, he would engage regardless if you agreed with him. He was refreshingly transparent.

Some painted Lundberg as a voucher proponent. That might be a little broad. In talking with him I was never convinced that he was all in on the Governor’s plan. For him, the details mattered, and he certainly had doubts about the policy details around the Governor’s plan. I suspect the new guy will be much more indescriminate in his support.

I am going to have to be nicer to Governor Lee, as apparently he still wields some influence. Several of the candidates he endorsed were victorious, the most notable was that of Lee Reeves. Reeves, a transplant to the Williamson County area, narrowly defeated Brian Beatherd. Beatherd was a voucher skeptic, while Reeves is a supporter. Before the election, many thought Reeves would finish third in a three-candidate race.

He didn’t.

Yesterday’s vote was also good for President Trump. Several of his endorsed candidates won, including U.S. Representative Andy Ogles. The incumbent eeked out a victory over challenger Courtney Johnson. No doubt aided by the multiple text messages sent out by Trump on Election Day. I received three.

It was Trump who provided the largest degree of satisfaction in the aftermath.

It’s long been acknowledged that Governor Lee harbored a desire to be part of the Trump team. This morning the former President put a spike in those ambitions.

“I went 10 for 10 on endorsements tonight in the Great State of Tennessee, including Bobby Harshbarger, running against a strong, long-term incumbent supported by RINO Governor Bill Lee. A Great Day for Tennessee — now on to a Complete and Total Victory in November. MAGA 2024,” Trump posted on Truth Social following the election.

I know, I promised to be nicer to Lee, but I couldn’t resist. Maybe it’s time to go back to being a Democrat.

Leading up to the election, attention was drawn to the large amount of outside money spent on candidates. Complain all you want, it worked.

This morning, Americans For Prosperity is celebrating victory in 12 of the 15 races they campaigned in. As much as I am not a fan, you have to tip a hat to them for a successful campaign season. Many have taken offense to their aggressive social media presence, but the election results show them as not being paper tigers. Not good news for opponents of universal school vouchers.

TEA-sponsored candidates did not fare as well. None surpassed 30% of the vote in any of their races.

There was one race that AFP could not afford to lose, and they didn’t. Maury County’s Scott Cepicky, as chair of the House Instruction Subcommittee, was the sponsor of this year’s school voucher bill. Picking him off would have been a sign of the unpopularity of vouchers with Tennesseans. Despite Tennesseeans for Students Success throwing a ton of money into the race to unseat Cepicky, the incumbent survived and won handily.

In their efforts to defeat the Representative, TSS sent out 10 mailers, numerous texts, and released a hit piece written by Sky Arnold. In the end, it wasn’t sufficient.

Word on the street is that both SCORE and TEA contributed to the TSS PAC. At present, I can’t confirm that but should those rumors prove true, I can’t imagine it’ll be a good upcoming session for either group.

Expect a shake-up in the EducationCommittees in the General Assembly this next session. Lundberg’s loss leaves a vacancy on the Senate side. Rumored suitors are Hensley, Powers, or Lowe. Lowe as Representative Adam Lowe (R-Calhoun) has indicated that he wants the position.

On the House side, it’s all open season. Expect Cepicky to take a larger role, while Mark White (R-Memphis) might find himself serving in a lesser capacity. White was ineffective in arguing for vouchers during the last session and has long been a darling of SCORE.

Representative Kevin Raper (R-Cleveland) should also be in line for a larger role after easily winning his primary. Before Election Day, Raper was considered a potential loser, a potential that went unrealized.

Also of note is the number of local school board seats in Middle Tennessee that went to Republicans. Williamson, Wilson, and the Sumner County school boards all took on a deeper hue of red.

I’m pleased to announce that in Davidson County, Robert Taylor won his race. Taylor’s was the only competitive MNPS board race. He is a fierce champion for students and is seldom blinded by the bullshit. Hopefully, he’ll be able to reverse the MNPS board’s march to obscurity.

In Thursday’s primaries, both incumbent Marsha Blackburn and challenger Gloria Johnson handily won. The two will now square off in November’s general election. The Tennessean is framing it as a battle of Titans. I’d put some brakes on that portrayal.

Gloria Johnson won her race with 143,904 votes out of a total of just under 205K votes cast.

Blackburn received 365,711 votes out of roughly 411K cast in the Republican primary.

That’s a 2-1 margin, and Johnson is going to have to peel off some Republicans and court some independents if she hopes to be competitive.

Sure, the Tennessee Three is a popular brand for securing the base and visits to national talk shows, but now she has to broaden her appeal. In three months we will know if that’s possible.

In the aftermath of yesterday’s elections, it’s pretty clear that we will be talking vouchers come Spring. Though I’m not sure how much talking will be transpiring, and wouldn’t be surprised if legislation is simply pushed through.

– – –

Adding fuel to the voucher fire, recently released data makes an argument for the effectiveness of ESAs.

I’ve long argued that it’s way too early to start making comparisons, but voucher opponents insisted on inserting that data into last year’s conversation. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

At first blush, it is revealed that two years into the program ESA students are still performing at a lower rate than those in public schools. But look closer.

ESA students showed gains of 5.4% in ELA and 7.1 in math. Their public school counterparts produced much smaller gains – .9% in ELA and 6% in math.

It is even more concerning when broken down by district.

Davidson County schools grew by 3.1% in ELA, while their ESA counterparts produced growth of 4.8% in ELA.

It’s interesting that MNPS throws parties for their growth and argues that it shows they “know what they are doing”, while ESA results are labeled by local media as “modest gains” and dismissed.

In Shelby County, the ESA students actually outperformed the district students. Growth wise, the ESA schools procuded 2.6% growth compared to the distruct student’s 1.9%.

Now, the sample size is admittedly much smaller for ESA students than for districts. That comes with both plusses and minuses.

The data does make it more difficult to argue against the effectiveness of ESA’s based on student growth. If the trajectories continue, ESA students will match district students in just a couple years. Now remember, it is easier to show growth in the first three years of a new program, but then rates settle into their normal level. So again, lets not get too excited one way or the other.

That doesn’t stop Commissioner Reynold from releasing a statement in conjunction with the results:

“As ESA students continue making steady academic gains, they are in sync with their peers and thriving, as demonstrated by the 99 percent parent satisfaction rate,” Reynolds said in her statement. “ESAs are delivering on their intended purpose by providing low-income families an opportunity to choose the best education option for their child based on their individual needs.”

Arguably, it doesn’t hurt the Commissioner to tout the results prematurely, seeing as she’ll be back in Texas by the time a correction is warranted.

As of July 26, more than 5,600 students had applied to the ESA program for the upcoming 2024-25 school year, and 4,060 were approved to participate according to the department.

– – –

This week brought a prime example of the dangers of unintended consequences.

Last year, Senator Ferrell Hale (R-Gallatin) faced charges from Republican parents of being soft on transgender issues. To counter those criticisms, the State Senator sponsored legislation intended to ensure parents have a say in their children’s healthcare. Unfortunately, that bill worked to tie the hands of school nurses.

Nurses interpreted the law as an edict to not provide any service without acquiring parental approval. Nobody is looking to risk their license, and so there were little to no services they were willing to provide without parental permission. That includes things as mundane as taking a temperature of a sick child or providing a band-aid..

Not a good thing. Tennessee lawmakers invest millions of dollars in ensuring that schools hire school nurses and then pass a law that prevents them from doing their jobs. Not really the definition of fiscally responsible, nor what’s best for kids.

Districts responded by producing blanket waiver statements granting parental permission and including those in back-to-school packets distributed to parents.

MNPS was slower to respond, but this week distributed those forms to principals for distribution after Metro legal conducted a careful review,

I’d strongly urge parents to sign those forms before school begins.

– – –

Today marks the start of High School Football season. Overton squares off against Maplewood, in a scrimmage today. My son will see his very first action as a high school QB. He’s the backup QB but is expected to see considerable playing time today. I can’t tell you how excited and nervous I am. Off to another adventure.

– – –

Time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“Poles had a dark joke in 1944, about a bird which falls out of the sky into a cowpat, to be rescued by a cat; its moral, they said, was that “Not everyone who gets you out of the shit is necessarily your friend.”
― Max Hastings, Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945

Things are heating up, as election day is looming closer. Tennessee’s primaries are scheduled for August 5th, with early voting already underway,

Several key State House members are facing primary challenges, with several in danger of losing their seats.

Down in Chattanooga, rumors keep swirling that Representative Patsy Hazlewood (R-Signal Mountain) is on the ropes. Hazlewood is being challenged by Michele Reneau. Ms. Reneau favors schools sticking to teaching academic subjects, not life skills and supports vocational education. The challenger accuses the incumbent of frequently voting with Democrats and has said it’s time for some “fresh eyes” in the General Assembly.

Hazlewood serves as Chair for the House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee. During her tenure in the General Assembly, she has often had her conservative credentials questioned.

In Cleveland, Tennessee, Representative Kevin Raper (R-Cleveland) is consistently coming under fire by his opponents. Despite opposing vouchers, critics argue that he was too late in making his views known, as such he’s being painted as a voucher proponent.

Remarkably, his opposition to a bill that passed allowing teachers permission to carry guns on campus is further fueling his opponents. It will come down to the wire in this south of Chattanooga district.

Closer to home, Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoko) remains a favorite whipping boy for the local media. This week, reporters are leaping at reports of Cepicky calling Governor Lee’s voucher bill “terrible” at a local voter meeting. They are delivering the news as if it were breaking news and signified some kind of break with the Governor who has recently endorsed Cepicky’s re-election bid.

If you have been paying attention, then you probably know that Cepicky thought the bill was terrible from the beginning, There is a reason, that the House bill, which the Representative helped craft, was loaded with benefits for public schools, and included protections for private schools and homeschoolers.

“We put parameters in place to make sure this would not break the bank in Tennessee,” Cepicky told voters at the candidate forum. “The growth would be measured so we could get to year four and start to track the academic success of these kids. Homeschoolers were out, private schoolers had protections, and we put protections in the bill to protect your tax dollars from getting out of control like in Arizona.”

Cepicky’s opponent, Maury County Commissioner Ray Jeter, is trying to thread the elusive needle of being both pro-school choice and anti-voucher. His opposition to vouchers is not rooted in a pro-public schools stance, but rather a desire to protect those schools challenging the public system.

“It’s very important to me, very important to me, that government stays out of our private educations,” Jeter said. “Bottom line, whether that’s homeschooling or a private education. No offense, but what he just described to you sounds a whole lot like government regulation in private schools. I don’t want to see that.”

It’s worth noting that despite frequent criticisms from public school advocates, few legislators have worked harder for public education than Cepicky. Much of Tennessee’s touted recovery from the COVID years can be traced back to legislation he supported and helped write.

In 2020, he carried a bill to stabilize school funding despite a COVID-related drop in student enrollment. The bill ensured that districts would not lose essential funding.

Over the last four years, to gain a better understanding of public education policy, he’s regularly engaged stakeholders

Much has been made of his quote last Spring “We’re trying to just throw the whole freaking system in the trash at one time and just blow it all back up”. At face value, the quote is troublesome, but if you consider as a means to improve public education, it is worth considering, Unless of course, you consider the current system as close to perfect as possible,

According to The Tennessee Lookout, Cepicky’s challenger has stated he supports “school choice” but doesn’t want to see public schools “defunded,” claiming Cepicky’s bill would have shifted money.

That sounds good if you say it fast, but how exactly do you do one without the other. If you add more options – be it charter schools, private schools, homeschooling, or the growing options offered by micro-schools – enrollment in the public option is bound to drop. Tennessee’s school funding formula is based on student attendance, so any choice other than the public option would result in a loss of revenue for the local district.

As the opening quote implies, “Not everyone who gets you out of the shit is necessarily your friend.”

Now, if you are not a fan of outside PACs applying undo influence on Tennessee politics, the Cepicky race bears close watching. The Representative is one of a handful of candidates endorsed by the Americans For Prosperity PAC. Seeing that Cepicky was the face of the voucher push, they can ill afford him losing this race. That would kinda send a message that they are not as influential as they’d have you believe. A loss here, would make it difficult for the Governor to bring back voucher legislation next year.

Hard to twist arms, when you can’t protect your arm twisters.

August 5th, gets more interesting every day.

– – –

Speaking of voucher bills, Representative Cepicky’s bill must have put the fear of god in Tennessee’s State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE).

The education policy advocacy group founded by former Senator Bill Frist, has been a dominant force on state policy over the last decade. Over the last couple of years, they’ve elected to take a lower profile as legislator began to ask questions about their financing and agenda. Threats to state testing policy have reversed that trend this summer. The advocacy group has suddenly become ubiquitous in their efforts to defend student testing.

Both Cepicky and House Speaker Sexton, have expressed interest in reducing testing for Tennessee students. SCORE needs that testing to justify its existence to donors. Since the end of this year’s state General Session, they have been relentlessly pounding the drum on the need to maintain current state testing levels.

This week, CEO David Mansouri released an opinion piece through The Tennessean touting the importance of TCAP. If Mansouri is to be believed, testing and teacher evaluations play the largest role in improving outcomes for Tennessee students.

He uses a baseball analogy to establish the importance of data. Ironically, baseball’s over-reliance on data has recently come under fire by baseball purists, many see it as a contributor to a decline in the game.

Like teachers, a manager’s intuition gained through experience, is sacrificed in deference to collected data. As if complex people can be reduced to simple data points.

Baseball analyst Ken Reed addresses the fallacy of that belief:

“Analytics have turned baseball into a game of computers and robots. The art of the game, the gut feel of managers and the human element are all being eliminated by data scientists.

In fact, for some teams, the manager in the dugout isn’t even needed. According to the folks in the data den, a starting pitcher must be pulled at 100 pitches no matter how strong he looks, how great he feels or how effective he’s been at getting the other team out to that point.

Another new analytics ‘rule’ for managers is to take starters out before they face the opposing lineup for a third time. Because of that, we got the fiasco of Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash pulling starting pitcher Blake Snell out of a 2020 World Series game he was dominating against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Snell had a one-hitter going through five innings and had struck out nine. He got another quick out in the sixth and then allowed a single. Despite only having tossed 73 pitches, and with his team leading 1-0, he was pulled. His replacement struggled, and the Rays went on to lose.

Hmmm…sounds familiar, no?

Mansouri argues, “Over the last 20 years, Tennessee has quietly led the way in using data to inform teaching, learning, and policymaking.”

In his eyes that’s the awesome sauce that leads to greater student outcomes.

Our state measures and publicly reports out on student outcomes in K-12 education every year in most grades and subjects. K-12 teachers receive annual feedback on their performance, grounded in data on whether their students are learning, and we have a powerful measure for tracking learning gains (called TVAAS) that helps us understand whether teachers and schools are helping students meet — or exceed — expectations.

Sure we’ve made improvements, yet, a look at State Education System rankings shows the state is continually mired in the middle. Perhaps a shift in spending to instruction from assessment would prove more beneficial.

The problem for SCORE is that investing in instruction means sharing the credit. Increasing freedoms and compensation for teachers puts improvement in the hands of those actually doing the work, as opposed to those talking about the work. That runs counter to their needs.

The old adage used to be, “Those that can’t do, teach”.

In this case, it’s become, “those who can’t do analyze”.

– – –

SCORE is not the only one talking about test results this week,

At this week’s Metro Nashville Public School Board meeting, board members and Director Dr. Adrienne Battle were giddy over recently released student test scores.

Per data shared by district officials, there was good cause to be giddy over.

It’s important to note that while ELA scores have surpassed pre-pandemic levels, math is still not quite there.

The information delivered by district officials was met with back-slapping and self-congratulations, but what is actually being celebrated?

A deeper dive into the numbers raises some questions.

Furthermore, looking at growth rates, white students are growing at double and triple the rate of their counterparts. Thus ensuring an achievement gap that is only going to grow wider.

The same holds true for Math.

Here’s a little math for you, if current growth rates remain consistent, it’ll only be three years before more than 30% of Hispanic students score proficient in Math, and four years for Black students. By that time, over 60% of White and Asian students will have achieved proficiency.

This isn’t taking away anything from teachers. In fact, I would argue that they are succeeding despite MNPS leadership and not because of it.

Despite questions about the data, these numbers are likely to be cited as evidence to increase the usage of scripted lessons.

Under the current leadership team, principals and teachers have become increasingly micromanaged.

Parents, in prepping your kids for school, it would probably behoove you to tell your kids to keep any questions that pop up during class at home. Nobody has time to stop and explore.

So tell me again what are we celebrating?

Don’t fret though, there will still be a parade and plenty more celebrations. Nobody is going to let facts get in the way of a good party.

– – –

Sonya Thomas is calling on MNPS to eliminate the district Charter School office position.

Thomas is the Executive Officer for Nashville Propoel, a parent advocacy group that focuses its efforts on underserved student populations. As Thomas has stated repeatedly, she serves students, not schools.

This week the MNPS board rejected 5 amended charter school applications. In Thomas’s eyes, this represents efforts to deny opportunities to students.

On Twitter she backs her case up by saying, “It doesn’t serve any purpose whatsoever when the school board has illegally decided to deny all Charter school applications since 2021. Put that $ into teachers’ salaries or something or restructure that office to do what it is supposed to do. Stop wasting taxpayer dollars.

She takes further umbrage with board member behavior, “I don’t understand how they sleep at night. Laughing at parents who speak during public comment who struggle to read. I think these parents are brave. Our school board is acting as a dictatorship.”

At this week’s hearing, Board chair Rachel Elrod warned charter proponents about comments, “The comments being made, can no longer be made.”

In listening to a recording of the meeting, I can’t hear, let alone decipher the comments that angered Ms. Elrod. Whatever they were, Elrod didn’t waste time expelling proponents.

She punctuated the expulsions by saying, “So sorry we have to have order in governance.”

Ironically, Elrod has been very vocal in her criticism of State House Speaker Cameron Sexton on using similar tactics to instill order in House proceedings.

The charter schools in question now have the option to appeal with the State Charter School Commission.

– – –

Time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

If you could help a brother out…and you think this blog has value, your support would be greatly appreciated. This time of year money gets real tight, while the blogging workload increases exponentially.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“There are no self-proclaimed villains, only regiments of self-proclaimed saints. Victorious historians rule where good or evil lies.”
― Glen Cook, Chronicles of the Black Company

it seems like just last week the kids were streaming into the house, throwing their backpacks on the table, and proclaiming, “Ain’t touching that until August.”

Two weeks from now, it’s August.

The proclamations of freedom have turned from defiant to resigned.

“16 more days til school”, says the voices from the back of the car on the way to the pool.

Teachers have been trickling back to their classrooms, preparing for the onslaught of pending students. Setting up classrooms takes time; fortunately, teachers willingly donate theirs to help facilitate a smooth start to the school year. Sure there is a stipend if you have your room set by a certain date. but $100 fails to recognize the true level of commitment involved.

Since school is on the cusp of starting, it only makes sense, that last week parents received some of the results from Tennessee’s latest round of standardized testing. You know, the one given way back in April.

If you go to TCAP’s Family Portal and enter the proper information, you can see how your student performed. Results are only available for students in K-8. With high school students, it gets a little more complicated.

If you have a student who was in 8th grade and took integrated math, those scores will not be available until September. A full month after school starts. Is there anything less relevant at that point?

The scores are divided into four categories: Below Expectations, Approaching Expectations, Met Expectations, or Exceeded Expectations. Don’t fall into the trap of taking those scores as a full pronouncement.

The dashboard will give you a score for your child. In this case, we’ll use 343. For ELA that number falls into the category of “Approaching Expectations”.

Some may see that as a cause for alarm, but maybe not so much.

Scroll further down in the dashboard and you’ll see the score ranges. Approaching is 298 – 345, while meets expectation is 346 – 383.

In other words, the kid who scored approaching is roughly one question away from scoring a meeting expectations classifications. There is no way to discern between a student not knowing the answer to one question, or a loss of focus by that student. Yet, either case will earn that student the same intervention.

Unless of course, the district chooses to focus on those students scoring between say 335 – 350 in an effort to move them over the line and show massive growth.

I know nobody would do such a thing, but as the numbers become more and more important to policymakers, someone might be tempted.

Math scores for high school students will also be released in September.

Tennessee continues to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on assessments that have no practical applications. As far as I can tell, the main purpose of state testing is to spur cries of crisis, provide impetus for school celebrations, and reward policymakers.

Doesn’t seem like a quality return on investment to me, but I’m betting we’ll continue to throw away millions in the name of so-called accountability.

– – –

Politically these are unprecedented times.

Last weekend, we had an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate that came dangerously close to fruition. As more facts come to light, concerns should escalate. Questions about resources, procedures, and competence remain unanswered.

Yesterday, via a post on Twitter – I’m still not calling it X – President Biden announced his intent to end his re-election campaign.

What remains unclear, and will eventually require a public explanation, is whether he’s stepping down because of health or he was forced out by Democratic party leaders and donors. Either way, it opens a can of worms that must be addressed.

If it is indeed health-related, how does he continue as the leader of the free world? If you can’t keep up a campaign schedule, how do you keep up a governing schedule?

If the other is true, you have a coup.

Millions of Americans voted in the primaries. They cast their vote for President Biden. I assume those were informed voters making an informed decision. Those votes will now be discarded and delegates will be responsible for appointing the party nominee. That kinda undercuts the whole every vote matters argument. Because in case, it doesn’t, not by a long shot.

An argument can be made that Democrat voters were never allowed to consider any other candidates. Party leaders maintained right up to three weeks ago that the President was vibrant and mentally sharp. It’s become apparent that was not an accurate representation.

As much as party leaders would like to sweep aside these concerns, they are real and can’t be summarily dismissed. To do so puts the country at peril.

Personally, I believe that whoever is President on Election Day, will be President well into 2025. This election’s aftermath is bound to be mired in lawsuits.

The precedent that is being set should give us all cause for pause. The hatred for one man should not be justification for undermining our democratic principles. You can’t save democracy by subverting democracy.

I detest Donald Trump, but I believe in the American people and I believe in the Constitution. I believe he’s likely incompetent, and I find his rhetoric repugnant, but I don’t believe he is a threat to democracy.

Presidents on both sides of the aisle have taken office with an agenda of things they’d like to do. Never has that list gone unedited.

The argument that a vote for a candidate is a vote to destroy democracy is a lazy one which discounts the checks and balances built into the system.

I’d urge all of us, Republican and Democrat, to tread lightly in going forward. Once precedent is set, it is hard to undo.

– – –

Early voting has started across Tennessee. Residents head to the polls with a chance to vote in local races and state primaries.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee continues to try and drum up support for his pet voucher program, by lending support to his preferred candidates.

On a side note, Lee once held aspirations to be named to a Trump ticket as vice president. It was an idea roundly ridiculed.

Last week he watched as President Trump named J.D. Vance to the position. A candidate that arguably brings even less to the table. I’m not going to lie, the irony amuses me.

But I digress.

This past week, Lee did get an opportunity to take his message to the national stage. As a speaker at the recently completed Republican National Convention, the Governor proclaimed school choice as the civil rights issue of our time.

Look, I softened my position on school choice, but Lee’s indictment is ridiculous. School choice is not the civil rights issue of our time.

Do you know what is the civil rights issue of our time?

Civil rights.

You can’t just appropriate an unresolved issue for your own agenda without inviting ridicule. In doing so, the Governor is using a strategy that Republicans often accuse Democrats of employing – preying on emotions at the expense of facts.

It wasn’t a good look.

Financial disclosures released last week show several prominent House members being outraised by their challengers. Among them, Reagan, Cepicky, and Hazelwood are notable.

On the Senate side, the support of the Governor has helped Education Committee Chair Jon Lundberg significantly outraise his opponent by more than $234,000. This causes a bit of a predicament as former President Trump recently endorsed Lundberg’s opponent, the son of U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Kingsport,

Harshbarger’s money has come from some interesting and disparate sources.

Per the Tennessean:

“Harshbarger has received contributions from the Tennessee Firearms Association and outgoing TSU President Glenda Glover, a notable donation after Lundberg was a co-sponsor of legislation earlier this year to vacate the TSU board. He also received an in-kind donation from Brandon Lewis, of Signal Mountain, who runs the conservative activism blog Tennessee Conservative and an associated candidate training platform.”

Over in arguably Tennessee’s wealthiest district, and home to Governor Lee, things are shaping up as a battle between PACs instead of candidates.

Sam Whitson has decided to not seek reelection for the District 65 House seat. Looking to replace him are Republicans Brian Beathard, Lee Reeves, and Michelle Foreman.

Foreman recently ran for the House seat in District 59, my home district. She lost that race, and it cost her a tidy chunk of money after she sued Council Member David Rosenberg for defamation. That lawsuit was dismissed. Now she’s taking a run in Williamson County.

Foreman is backed by Tennessee Stands, a Conservative group that opposed vouchers. Lee Reeves is supported by Americans for Prosperity, and endorsed by Governor Lee. The two PACs are slugging it out, while the most qualified candidate, Beathard, quietly convinces voters of his electability.

Similar scenes are being played out all over the state.

Election day is just two weeks away. Where it all ends is anyone’s guess.

– – –

Once again, Rutherford County has said, no.

Last week the district’s school board heard the appeal of previously denied Novus SMART Academy’s application. The vote to approve the application was 3-3 with one abstention. The vote needed a majority to succeed. A subsequent vote to deny was 4-3.

Financial concerns were listed as a primary concern. The charter school would have been the fourth charter school in the district.

School board member Frances Rosales told The Tennessee Firefly that funding challenges of that growth led her to make the decisive vote against Novus. She worries adding another public charter school might further impact the district’s budget challenges.

“I don’t want to deny a charter school because I do believe in parental choice but at the same time, we have to look at the fiscal impact it is causing right now,” said Rosales.

The vote went counter to the recommendation of the district review team. That team found Novus made the necessary curriculum changes to the application initially denied by board members in April, and now met all state standards for approval.

Novus has the option of appealing the district decision to the Tennessee Charter School Commission, which could overrule the local decision.

– – –

Changes are afooot at the Univesity of Florida. University President Ben Sasse is stepping down, reportedly over his wife’s health issues. Sasse assumed his leadership role just under two years ago.

Sasse, a former Nebraska republican Senator, was a controversial figure who often found himself at odds with Florida Governor Ron Desantis. The President defended himself by pledging to run the university as an academic and not a politician.

A year ago, Sasse hired former Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn to be the University’s first Vice President of PK-12 and Pre-Bachelors Programs. A job that paid $375K annually and allowed the former Commissioner the opportunity to retain her Tennessee residence. Many saw the hiring as an acknowledgment of her service to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s education advocacy group Chiefs for Change.

In her new position, Schwinn has managed to continue doing what she does best, making herself rich while pissing parents off.

During the UF Board of Trustees meeting on March 8, Schwinn suggested changing P.K. Yonge’s, the University’s K-12 school, high school admissions process after the board requested she find solutions to boost the school’s ranking since it is affiliated with the university.

Per WUFT:

“With the proposed changes, students would be admitted based on highest academic performance and standardized test scores. Traditionally, admission into P.K. Yonge is through a lottery system to ensure that the student body reflects the diverse demographics of Florida’s school-age population. This has been in order to meet the requirements of the Sidney Martin Developmental Research Act of 1991 and is a point of pride for the school.”

It was a plan, like most of Schwinn’s ideas, that wasn’t well thought out and instantly drew opposition from stakeholders. Also like most Schwinn plans, it has failed to make much progress towards fruition.

One can’t help but wonder if the new University President will continue to see value in a Schwinn investment.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

If you could help a brother out…and you think this blog has value, your support would be greatly appreciated. This time of year money gets really tight, while the blogging workload increases exponentially. that can’t be overstated.

If you are interested, I also share posts via email through Substack. I offer both free and paid subscriptions, but I sure would appreciate it if you chose the latter. Your support would be greatly appreciate

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“There needs to be an error code that means “I received your request but decided to ignore you.”
― Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol

These continue to be strange times that we are living in. Social media allows us to express whatever pops into our minds and the freedom to do so with little concern of reprisal or long-term impact.

For decades, we’ve thrown around rhetoric that treats our political opponents as mortal enemies instead of fellow citizens. Predictably we’ve become more divided as a country than we’ve ever been in the past. It was only a matter of time before the words became actions.

This week, a candidate for president was shot at a campaign event. The shooter was a 20-year-old man whose motive is still under investigation.

Luckily the candidate survived with just a flesh wound to their ear, but the threat was very real, and the implications concerning.

A secret service agent brandishes a submachine gun while agents and police subdue a gunman behind him after he shot President Ronald Reagan, his press secretary, a policeman and a secret service agent in Washington on March 30, 1981. The policeman lies wounded, foreground, while a White House staff member kneels over James Brady, the press secretary. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

It’s been over forty years since an attack was made against a president or a presidential candidate. Many of us can still remember the aftermath of the attempt on President Reagan’s life by John Hinkley. The images are forever etched in our collective minds.

I don’t care what your political affiliation is, or your personal feelings about a presidential candidate, violence should never be part of our governing process. That’s not how democracy works.

In the aftermath of Sunday’s shooting, social media and the airwaves have been awash with cries of, “but they…”. It reminds me of my teenage kids in the back of the car arguing over who did what and when, though none of it should serve as justification.

This should be a time of reflection for each of us, How are our actions and verbiage contributing to the current climate.

I’ve been alive more than a minute, and I’ve seen presidents of varying degrees of quality. Some I liked, some I didn’t. Some were skilled, some not so much. Two things have remained consistent for me.

My quality of life was determined not by the actions of any president, but rather my own. I have never looked to the president, or any other politician, as a moral compass. Dismiss that argument if you want, but I continue to have many friends from all parts of the political spectrum, united by a belief in kindness, compassion, honesty, and commitment.

While we may disagree politically and philosophically, we can still show kindness to each other. We can rely on facts instead of hyperbole.

Which brings me to the second thing, despite all of these presidents, democracy has prevailed. The country looks a lot different today than it did in its youth under Nixon, but it’s still America, the best damn country in the world.

Round here, we are supposed to fight for our fellow citizens, not against them. We also have a belief and faith in our country and its citizens that seems to be in short supply today.

We assign motivations to others without even really know them, taking little time to interact with them. Meanwhile, we make assumptions that divide instead of unite. We spend more time building fences, instead of tearing them down.

We are supposed to have room in our hearts for all Americans, not just the ones who think like us.

We spend a great deal of time talking about the Civil War, but we don’t seem to have learned many lessons from it.

I’m not sure what it looks like, but we have to do better, and that starts with each of us.

If each and every vote counts, then the actions of each and every one of us matters as well.

My constant reminder to my kids is to worry less about the actions of others, and more about your own actions. Be the change you envision.

If you want better neighbors, be a better neighbor.

If you want a more civil country, be more civil yourself.

This current trajectory can not be sustained.

– – –

The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) was founded almost 15 years ago by former Senator Bill Frist. The premise being that a bunch of non-educators were better equipped to influence state education policy than actual educators. Its current CEO David Mansouri, has never taught in a classroom and holds a music degree. Despite his lack of qualifications, Mansouri earns north of 400K a year for his efforts.

Over the years, SCORE has received nearly $20 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to guide the state in adopting its favorite initiatives. Common Core, Literacy bills, teacher evaluations, TISA, and increased testing have all been among the efforts promoted by the organization.

The board is filled with a who’s who of political elites with names like Frist, Ayers, Levine, Scarlett, Gonzales, Cagle, Haslem, and Niswonger. Not a lot of public school parents on this board.

During the last State General Assembly, SCORE kept a lower-than-usual public profile, as lawmakers had caught on to the grift and had developed a habit of asking uncomfortable questions about the source of the non-profit’s funding and agenda.

However, they did raise their head to oppose the proposed voucher bill. Now let’s be clear here, it wasn’t because they were staunch defenders of public education. Nope, it was because they were staunch defenders of standardized testing.

If you’ll remember the House version of the bill had a provision for lowering testing requirements. That brought SCORE out in protest.

Those test results are very good for fundraising, and SCORE depends on them to fuel the bottom line.

In case there were any doubts about SCORE’s commitment to standardized testing, The Tennessee Firefly is reporting on two memos the non-profit is sharing in support of standardized testing.

A news release emailed to The Tennessee Firefly, the two memos titled “Teacher Evaluation: Driving Improved Instruction and Student Achievement” and “Standards and Assessment: Setting High Expectations and Monitoring Progress” mark the launch of a new memo series dubbed “Policy Pillars: Supporting What Works,” which will examine how state initiatives have worked to improve student performance.

According to the memo relating to assessments, annual Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) assessments and end-of-course exams play a critical role in measuring student proficiency and growth and giving students and families transparent information about college and career readiness. It said these assessments are also important for informing instruction and academic intervention strategies. It noted that following the implementation of state academic standards and aligned assessments to hold students to higher expectations, student performance across the state has gradually improved, with Tennessee “no longer at the bottom of the pack in national comparisons.” The memo added that Tennessee’s academic performance notably stood out as one of the “fastest growing in the nation.”

Let’s be clear here, SCORE is arguing that an exam whose results are not available to parents until late in the summer are somehow magically contributing to increased student performance. Not only that, but are providing transparency for parents. Man if you are buying this, I’ve got some swampland in Airizona you might be interested in.

Again, the non-profit is utilizing the tagline of “fastest growing in the nation” despite it being over a decade since we earned that title on NAEP testing.

Here is my favorite quote:

“Tennessee should maintain high expectations through rigorous academic standards and aligned assessments that reflect student preparation for school, careers, and life. Moving forward, the state should also commit to better connecting education and work data and making data insights about long-term student success more accessible and actionable for all Tennesseans.”

I pray tell, please share with me how TCAP reflects student preparation for life.

No documented research shows a correlation between a student’s performance on state standardized tests and their future quality of life.

Arguably the tests reflect student learning, but even that assumption has been put in doubt as more and more research shows that tests reflect a student’s socio-economic status more than their actual learning.

SCORE’s memo focusing on teacher evaluations noted that Tennessee’s foundational commitments to evaluating educators and providing high-quality feedback “have led to increasingly effective instruction and significant advances in student achievement.” It said evaluations also play a critical role in planning for professional development, determining classroom assignments, awarding tenure status, and making decisions relating to promotions, retention, and compensation.

“Without teacher evaluation, there would be no basis on which to implement these essential strategies,” the memo read.

It’s not like every teacher and administrator in every building doesn’t know who are the effective teachers. Freeing up principals to work with struggling teachers is a more effective use of time than continually evaluating teachers who are consistently performing at a high level.

Someday, someway, legislators really need to do a deep dive into the role of non-profits in crafting state education policy.

Till that happens, it’ll just be more defending of the cash cow nonsense.

– – –

As the start of the next school year quickly approaches, changes are afoot at the upper echelons of Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) leadership ranks.

Chief Academic Officer Mason Bellamy announced early last week that the end of the week would mark the end of his tenure with MNPS. The veteran administrator arrived roughly five years ago after spending the entirety of his career in Clarksville.

The abruptness of the announcement has led to speculation that the administrator has run afoul of MNPS’s Director of Schools Adrienne Battle and was being forced out. It is worth noting that administrator contracts renew at the start of the fiscal year, which is July 1.

In an effort to dispel those rumors, Bellemy made an appearance from his home on a Friday Zoom call with principals. He had nothing but good things to say about his time at MNPS and explained that with his child going away to college, this was an opportunity for him and his wife to take some time to reconnect. He also alluded to an offer in the private sector that he couldn’t pass up.

Sounds great except when you consider that he and his wife likely knew about the coming change well in advance of today. Since both were in Memphis at last month’s Principal Splash, perhaps that would have been the time to give a heads-up to school officials. Instead of using that time to plan for the coming structural changes, principals spent their time watching a movie on equity that is available online.

Bellamy was recently a finalist for the superintendent job in Albuquerque, before pulling out for “personal reasons”.

In a release from MNPS, Dr. Battle spoke glowingly of Bellamy;

“Dr. Bellamy has been a key ingredient in our recipe for success at MNPS,” Dr. Battle stated. “I’m proud of the work we have done to support and grow the students we serve and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

Replacing the outgoing CAO is former Priority School Chief Renita Perry.

On a side note, I love how Priority School Chiefs continue to get better opportunities while the list of priority schools never decreases, but maybe that’s just me.

Perry has been with the district for a little over six years. Initially hired as Executive Director for Elementary Schools, she took over as Chief of Innovation when Sharon Griffin retired.

During this year’s budget season, she riled Priority School principals when she attempted to make up the pending loss of Federal money by asking them to tithe over a portion of their school budgets to fund central office positions supporting Priority School. It was not a popular idea.

When asked about the status of that initiative, MNPS Chief of Communications Sean Braisted responded:

“Regarding the budget question, due to a change in rules by the TDOE related to how priority school grants are allocated, the district worked with principals to develop a budget process that ensured a continued level of centralized support for our Schools of Innovation. This means a portion of funds allocated to schools in the grants process are used to fund positions that work directly to support them. Our Schools of Innovation and Federal Programs collaborated with those SOI principals to develop this budget process to maintain a continuity of services to support student success.”

Supporting Chief Perry in the Division of Academics and Schools will be Dr. David Williams who has been promoted to serve as Deputy Chief of Academics, while continuing to provide support for the district’s teaching and learning teams.

Two other moves were announced. Both raised eyebrows.

According to the district press release, “Dr. Shawn Lawrence, currently serving as Executive Director of Elementary Schools in the southeast, is taking on the new position of Deputy Chief of Schools and will oversee the district’s school and school leadership division.”

Lawrence comes to the position with the reputation of a disciplinarian and a micromanager. Before serving as an Executive Director, he was a principal at Eagleville. The man is reportedly very fond of a write-up as a means of motivation.

In 2018, I wrote the following:

Nashville will have a new elementary school next year, and now that school has a principal. Metro Nashville Public Schools announced Mr. Shawn Lawrence as the first principal of the district’s newest school, Eagle View Elementary School. The elementary school will serve the Cane Ridge Community with a capacity for 800 students. Mr. Lawrence was previously the Principal at Apollo Middle School. Before that, he was at Neeley’s Bend Middle. He is a recognized turnaround specialist. So I have to ask… why is a turnaround specialist for middle schools the perfect fit for a new elementary school? Is middle school no longer a high need for MNPS, and if it is, why are we moving proven MS leadership to the ES level? Just the kind of stuff that goes through my head.

Dr. Rodney Rowan will join MNPS as the Executive Officer of Schools. He brings 27 years of impactful experience in public education to Metro Schools. Throughout his career, he has served as a classroom teacher, professional learning coach, assistant principal, principal, and most recently assistant superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Public Schools. He obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Tennessee State University, an Educational Specialist Degree from Union University, and a Doctorate in Leadership from the University of Memphis. Dr. Rowan is known as a dedicated instructional leader who has consistently demonstrated the ability to build student and adult capacity while accelerating growth and achievement in public education.

Rowan was a key component in the creation of Memphis’s Innovation Zone. The IZone, which was dedicated to turning around low-performing schools, proved to be more successful than the Tennessee’s Achievement School District. Despite that initial success, Memphis remains a chronically under-performing school district.

Memphis recently hired a new director of schools. Dr. Battle serves as an advisor to the new director as a member of the Directors Transition Team.

An interesting side note, MNPS executives appear to be scrubbing their Linked In accounts prior to district announcements. All three of the new appointee’s pages only showed their latest position. Maybe it’s just a coincidence.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“If we’re to be at war, we might as well entertain one another.”
― Max Gladstone, This Is How You Lose the Time War

Fourth of July serves as a marker for the middle of summer. In political circles, it means the next election is drawing close. Primaries are held the first week of August.

Flipping through social media reveals candidates pounding the pavement and scooping up ice cream at local festivals and firework shows. You start to get a sense of who’s falling into what position.

Nationally, things are a mess. Whispers about President Biden’s cognizant abilities have circled for months, and now they’ve grown into a full-blown conversation.

Some folks call for him to withdraw from the race and turn things over to a younger candidate. That’s all well and good, but it’s a little late in the game for that kind of change.

Coupled with the Biden turmoil, some are floating the idea that if Biden goes, Trump follows and we get all new candidates. I wouldn’t put too much stock in that idea.

A big problem with the latter proposal is that neither party has built a deep bench. Who would among them would be capable of winning a national race?

As attractive to the base as they are, Harris, Buttigieg, Newsome, and Booker are not winning a general election. The right has…who?

Haley, Cruz, and DeSantis ain’t going to be any better than their counterparts on the Left.

We’ve kinda painted ourselves in a box through our commitment to hyper-partisanship.

Biden’s potential withdrawal would create even larger issues. If he’s not capable of running for re-election, how is he capable of running the country. Questions of who knew what and when would immediately follow any withdrawal. With a little over three months left before Election Day, the aftermath would be pure chaos.

A bigger question for me is not whether he has the cognizant strength to campaign, but whether he can serve another four years. I don’t think anyone knows the answer to that one.

This is an unprecedented Presidential race on so many levels.

Locally, things seem to be a bit more stable. Three women running to represent Tennessee in Washington are waging campaigns of varying success.

Former Mayor Megan Barry is simply a campaigning machine. She is everywhere and while she heavily criticizes her opponent, she also delivers positive news and updates. She is fully capable of defeating her opponent, US Representative Mark Green, in November’s general election. Green shows little inclination that he wants to be re-elected and Barry is simply outworking him.

Knoxville Representative Gloria Johnson is running against US Representative Marsha Blackburn. Initially, she seemed to be making a lot of headway, but lately, things have quieted. Hopefully, energy will pick up as we head to the November election.

Nashville councilwoman Courtney Johnson, a Republican, is trying her best to unseat incumbent US Representative Andy Ogles, also a Republican. The moderate Rebublican has faced an uphill battle, but fundraising numbers released today are cause for optimism for her supporters.

According to Axios Nashville, Johnson has raked in $715K over the last three months.

While Barry is cause for optimism, the rest is bad news for voucher opponents.

Vouchers were defeated during the last session, but Governor Lee has sworn that he will bring them back. Don’t be surprised if these incumbents who were non-supportive in an election year, suddenly become proponents in an off year.

According to Axios Nashville, Johnson raked in $715K over the last quarter.

Johnston now has over $500,000 cash on hand to bankroll her campaign for the stretch run. In addition to her own fundraising efforts, an outside group called Conservatives With Character has been airing anti-Ogles television ads for about the last two weeks.

Ogles only has about $95K on hand, The Tennessean reported last week that Ogles’ re-election effort relies on the Americans for Prosperity political group for financial support.

Johnson enjoys the support of Nashville’s business community. Her challenge remains with those communities outside of Davidson County.

It’s worth noting that this will only be the second election for the newly drawn District 5.

As for those campaigning on the state level, three months ago I felt that the incumbents might be in trouble this year. They seemed better at crafting drama than they were at crafting policy, and it wasn’t a stretch to think voters had grown weary of the sitcom that had become the State General Assembly.

There was plenty of bad policy to draw the ire of voters. Surely parents were still pissed about the recently passed third-grade retention law, especially since many fourth-graders were at risk.

Nope. The coverage this year has paled in comparison to last year. School reopens in about a month and there is barely a mention of how many kids are at risk of being held back.

Several laws went into effect on July 1, including the ones allowing teachers to carry guns and one that includes mandatory year-long expulsion for students who assault teachers. That should inspire some conversation, right?

Not so much.

On the other hand, I see that the Republican leadership, who crafted most of these laws, has coalesced into a united front. They support each other in joint appearances and do what’s necessary to win re-election. They are also garnering a ton of financial support from the political PAC Americans for Prosperity.

They feel comfortable enough to endorse both former President Trump and Representative Ogles.

For their part, AFP is doing more than writing checks. They are routinely sending out canvasing groups to drum up support for their groups.

We talk about the modern age, and the power of the internet, but as a one-time candidate, let me assure you, there is nothing more important than door-knocking. There is a direction correlation between the number of doors knocked, and your odds of winning.

Mailers also matter, and AFP is supplying the fuel to flood mailboxes.

A sweep by incumbents means a rehash of last year’s voucher fight. You better believe it won’t include this year’s proposed benefits. It’s going to be a pure kick-in-the-teeth policy.

So, if opponents are serious about blocking vouchers, they probably need to find a way to be more effective on the campaign trail. It’s not enough to just find candidates to compete. You need to find the right candidates and give those candidates a fighting chance at victory.

Posting on the internet about how vouchers are evil and the state general assembly is filled with racists and misogynists to your 100 friends who already agree with that sentiment, is not an effective strategy. It might make you feel good, but it ain’t drawing new people to the table. Just saying.

Time is quickly shortening to flip some seats in the Tennessee Assembly, and I just don’t see a wave of new legislators grabbing new seats.

If you were one of those folks who were pulling out all the stops to oppose voucher legislation in the Spring, you need to be among the loudest people in the room supporting new officials.

Otherwise, it was nothing but sound and fury signifying nothing.

– – –

Over the last ten years, I have written extensively about the canard that is the Science of Reading and how Tennessee used the initiative to grow private interests in Tennessee public schools. Now someone else has picked up the narrative.

Writing for the University of Chicago Press Journals, Elena Aydarova, uses Tennessee as a case study for how “SOR reforms served as a catalyst for advancing the interests of private sector actors and monopolizing the market with curriculum materials and consulting services aligned with Common Core State Standards (CCSS), even in the states that moved away from these standards, such as Tennessee.”

She further notes, “This performative move of seeking to address a “literacy crisis” through a change in policy priorities ultimately increased the profits of the companies that supported both CCSS and SOR advocacy.”

She then delves into just how it all unfolded in Tennessee.

“In the most recent iteration of the reading wars, advocacy groups have promoted systematic and explicit phonics instruction under the banner of SOR. Gabriel’s (2020) analysis of testimonies supporting SOR approaches showed that parents urged legislators to direct public funding toward private tutoring for students with dyslexia. She described these narratives as “salvation by privatization”—how individuals overcame their reading difficulties after they received tutoring from private companies. In a similar vein, Gabriel and Woulfin (2017) observed how public testimonies supporting SOR legislation focused on the services offered by tutors, consultants, and other private providers. This framing aligned SOR legislation with other market-based reforms that advance the privatization of public education.”

She exposes the role of so-called non-profits in the adoption of a universal curriculum.

“Philanthropic foundations have played a prominent role in the spread of privatization agendas. Operating as hubs, around which IOs center, and as spokes, philanthropies set marked-based reform agendas in motion (Scott and Jabbar 2014). The networks that bring together various IOs have grown in power to the point where “federal, state, and local policymakers are granting them both authority and financial resources to carry out policy agendas” (Scott et al. 2017, 26). Decades of coordinated IO advocacy efforts have turned privatization and marketization of education into common sense (Schneider and Berkshire 2020), so that even policy formation itself has been increasingly conducted by external actors, such as the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd), and other organizations (Anderson and Donchik 2016; Cummings et al. 2023; Lubienski 2016).”

According to the author, supporters pushed things through the use of a performative strategy.

“According to Goffman (1974, 124), “a performance … is that arrangement which transforms an individual into a stage performer … that can be looked to for engaging behavior by persons in an ‘audience’ role.” Focusing on educational policy, Smith et al. (2004) described policy making as resembling “theater, complete with directors, stages, casts of actors, narrative plots, and (most importantly) a curtain that separates the action onstage (what the audience has access to) from backstage where ‘real allocation of values’ takes place” (Smith et al. 2004, 11). In the context of neoliberal transformations and expansion of private interests into the public sector, what comes to matter most in policy-making circles is not evidence, facts, or data but convincing performance. As Wedel (2009, 40–41) explained, “Performing is an essential ingredient in today’s public sphere, often at the expense of objectivity, expertise, and accurate information.”

Analysis of policy as performance departs from assumptions of linearity and rationality often ascribed to policy processes. This theoretical framing allows researchers to interrogate what is obscured by the public presentations of policy problems or proposed measures to address them. For example, Koyama (2010, 10) noted how “policy is so much more that it appears.” Her analysis of accountability policies applied to low-performing schools showed how public funding was directed to cover private tutoring, supporting the growing industry of providers that used failure for their own profit. Koyama’s (2010) work, along with others (Aydarova 2019; Wright 2005), suggests that policy presentations, justifications, and problem constructions are performative moves that seek to convince the audience to accept reformers’ definition of reality (Goffman 1974). Those performative moves can conceal, obscure, or distort the actual agendas behind advocacy or policy formation (Aydarova 2019, 2022).

Along these lines, even though it is common to examine policy conceptualization as an attempt to solve a problem, Edelman (1988, 22) argued that “the striking characteristic of the link between political problems and solutions in everyday life is that the solution typically comes first, chronologically and psychologically.” With the solution coming first, policy performances staged for the audience can focus on offering problems to go with the solution or stating justifications for the chosen course of action. At the same time, intense focus on problems, such as a “literacy crisis,” draws attention away from the growing involvement of external actors in policy formation (Aydarova 2019). Although parents, educators, and citizens direct their pleas for change toward public officials, those actors are not always the only ones engaged in developing and promoting reforms. Understanding policy as performance affords an opportunity to trace the involvement of other actors whose presence can be obscured by institutionalized arrangements of power.”

Aydarova is less snarky than I, but she’s definitely bringing the receipts.

Some may dismiss recent actions by pointing to the success of students on the state’s standardized testing. Maybe, but keep in mind, that growth has been minimal and the tests administered to students are not transparent to stakeholders. There is no way of ensuring that the tests are of a similar degree of difficulty year over year, other than taking the word of the vendor and the TDOE.

There is a lot to unpack here and too much to cite, but I encourage you to read the piece in its entirety.

My only criticism is that the author tries to paint efforts as a partisan issue. I would argue that the only party that Schwinn, Lee. and SCORE swear fidelity too is the money party.

. – – –

Here’s an interesting one for you. Shortly after leaving Governor Lee’s cabinet as Commissioner of Education, Penny Schwinn created a new company called Bexley Group LLC.

According to the listing with the Secretary of State, the principal office was initially listed as her home in Nashville. A couple of months later, she changed the address to a Knoxville location. Last month, she changed it again.

The new address is 611 Commerce Street. If the address sounds familiar, it should. It’s the same location, with different suites, as Blake Harris and Associates. One of Harris’s associates is Brent Easley, another former Governor Lee cabinet member. Easley was once employed by both TnnesseeCan and StudentsFirst.

Does this possible coincidence mean anything?

I don’t know, but I do know that it is very difficult to pin down information on what the Bexley Group does. The best I can tell they specialize in talent acquisition. This is ironic, as Schwinn was never any good at attracting talent. In fact, just the opposite was true,

Schwinn is currently employed by the University of Florida as the VP for PK-12, pre-bachelor program. She pulls in about $375K for that gig, Parents at the University’s P.K. Yonge school are frustrated with her after a proposed change to the school’s admissions process.

Schwinn wants to make the school a top 10 high school in the state but feels to do so she needs to change admissions to an academically selective process.

One concerned student who spoke at a meeting in the Spring is in 11th grade and has been a student there since kindergarten.

“Being a lifer at PK has been a really beautiful experience for me,” shared Abigail Pruden.

Although she has loved being a student there, she feels this proposal would restructure everything about P.K. Yonge.

“Some of my best friends have learning disabilities, IEPs, 504 plans and wouldn’t get into this selective high school that they’re proposing,” shared Pruden.

That’s our Penny.

– – –

The TDOE is handing out federal money again.

Yesterday they announced over $2.6 million in Perkins Reserve Grant (PRG) grant funds have been awarded to 55 school districts for the 2024-25 school year to support Career and Technical Education (CTE) across the state.

The PRG grant awards support the implementation of programs of study aligned with emerging technology in regionally identified high-skill, high-wage, and/or in-demand occupations or industries, implement STEM in all CTE classrooms, and increase supports for special education students. Additionally, the PRG grant opportunity is designed to support districts in rural areas and maintain high CTE student participation rates.

“Career and technical education plays an important role in every student’s academic journey,” said Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education. “We look forward to seeing how districts utilize these grant funds to implement STEM curriculum, create career exploration opportunities for elementary and middle school students, and inform students on growing and new careers.”

I wonder if anybody asked Reynolds what Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton had to say about this award.

As recently as last month, Sexton was voicing support for Tennessee to continue its consideration of rejecting federal funds. The Speaker cited tax breaks created in this session as evidence that his idea was feasible.

Remember, the state doesn’t get to select which federal monies it chooses to accept, and which it rejects.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“Always trust strangers, it’s the people you know that let you down.”
― Andrew O’Hagan

Last week the Tennessee Department of Education released the data from this year’s state standardized testing.

They always do this in mid-June, long after students are gone and teachers have finished planning for next year. Families are at the beach, and teachers are finishing summer school or deep into their summer jobs.

Mind you, these are just scores showing results for districts and schools. Individual student data will arrive even deeper into the summer when there is really nothing you can do with it.

That’s my opinion. One not shared by Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education. She maintains:

“Our annual TCAP assessment provides valuable data to inform strategic decision-making to best support Tennessee students,” said Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education. “Through the dedication of our teachers, schools, and districts, we are pleased that student performance continues to build on a strong foundation, improving outcomes for future success.”

But what is she going to say?

You see, it’s a money thing. A lot of people make a lot of money off of testing. Tennessee pays Pearson roughly $40 million a year for a test that produces results of a limited benefit and is largely ignored by the public. That doesn’t sound like a prudent use of taxpayer money to me.

I heard this weekend that an MS is projected to house 400 students. employs a full-time testing coordinator. Think about that for a minute. Do we really need that many assessments that we require an FT position for 400 kids?

Of course, these days the stakes are higher. Based on their TCAP results, third and fourth-graders could be looking at repeating a grade.

Well maybe, though not likely based on past results, but always a possibility.

I think last year, after all the exit ramps provided by the state were utilized,1.2% of students were retained. About 900 kids. That’s not more than in an average year. So while the hyperbole may be higher, I’m not convinced that the actual threat is any greater.

This year, according to the TDOE:

English Language Arts (ELA): Overall, 39% of all students are meeting grade level expectations, with proficiency gains in most tested grades, and elementary and high schools continuing to out-perform pre-pandemic levels.
Math: In grades 3-8, 40% of students are meeting grade level expectations in math, with a nearly three percentage point gain for 5th and 7th graders.
Science: Overall, proficiency rates held steady for science, with an increase of one percentage point in overall student proficiency.
Social Studies: Results show a one percentage point gain for all students tested in social studies, showing continued improvements over the last three years.

Of course, the press jump all over the results, producing headlines designed to feed the flames. Depending on who you believe, Tennessee students are either slowly heading in the right direction, or still failing miserably. Neither of which is accurate.

In the case of the former, we are talking about growth rates between 2 and 4 percent. To get to a place where a majority of students score “meets expectations” we are still talking 15% to 30% points. That’s a long journey.

I liken it to me weighing 250 pounds and trying to get to 200. Losing 2% would be 5 lbs a year. Going to take maybe 10 years to get to 200 and that doesn’t take into account that the last pounds are the hardest to lose. Sure, 5 LB a year is worth celebrating, but it ain’t the whole story.

On the flip side. headlines screaming that 60% of kids can’t read is disingenuous as well.

First of all, TCAP is not a reading test. Let me say it again for those who didn’t get it the first time, TCAP is not a reading test. It’s a literacy test that gives indications about reading ability, but not a final pronouncement.

Spelling is included in the testing. A low score on the spelling portion will lower a student’s literacy grade. Does an inability to spell correlate to an inability to “read”?

Yeah, I don’t think so. Or else, I’m in a lot of trouble.

So which is it?

Using the link provided in the TDOE press release, I opened up the spreadsheets provided by the TDOE to decipher the trends. Five minutes later I shut the spreadsheet down, proclaiming, “This is bullshit.”

And it is.

The biggest sin baked into the data dump is that it makes it easy to forget that each piece of data represents an actual living, breathing, functioning being with a higher purpose than justifying our tax dollars and policy choices. Each of those lives comes with its own set of variables and each year those variables change.

PET Director JC Bowman likes using the illustration that these test scores serve a similar function as your school photo. Both are snapshots of a student on one given day. Nothing more, nothing less.

The school and district scores are averages, One demographic overperforming or underperforming drags the whole entity in that direction. Without a much deeper dive, it’s virtually impossible to gain an accurate picture. Ain’t no parents got time for that, thus is born the need to bring in the “experts”.

Scores are divided into 4 categories – failure to meet expectations, approaching expectations, meeting expectations, and exceeding expectations – and results are delivered as the percentage of students falling into each category. No indication is given where students fall within each of the categories. Could be more limped over the line this year into the “meets expectations” category than last year, or less did. It’s impossible to know.

It’s one of the reasons why tutoring for bubble kids was always such an enticing strategy for goosing the outcomes.

Public education policymakers love to paint a picture where all public schools are identical. They are not. Nor are the families and living situations of individual students.

How do we separate all the variables out to draw a direct line between policy and results?

Data wonks say you can, but I remain skeptical.

I’ll never forget how the scores went up at the kids’ elementary school the year after they moved from a run-down school with 28 portables to a brand-new building. But it must have been the new literacy curriculum that did it, or was it the extra tutoring. Maybe it was the change in teachers? The truth is, it could have all of those including that some parents got new jobs, or Johnny and Mary got their own rooms.

You have to take all of it with a grain of salt, and a recognition that it is all about more than just student results.

There is not a professional test that I take as an adult that I don’t have the results back in three to five days. Yet, individual student tests are still not available until three months after the administration of said tests. That’s lunacy. We are not talking administrators in a cave grading tablets, we need to make a concentrated effort to make them available quicker.

In a world that demands immediacy in every facet, we somehow remain content to get student results a quarter of the year later. Why?

Hell, math EOC data, won’t be available until later in the fall pending the standards-setting process. That’s three more months away. That data will be about as useful as teats on a boar.

Maybe the adults are being fooled by our testing policies, but the kids see right through the canard. They know all of this is meaningless, and they approach the tests in a fashion that reflects that knowledge.

We are basing teacher and school futures on an exam that kids care less and less about every year.

This is where some well-meaning expert chimes in with, “That’s not true. Kids love an opportunity to show how much they know. They love to do well.”

I don’t know which kids you are talking to, but the ones I know, love to play video games. They love to play sports. They love to hang out with friends. Some like to sleep. I don’t know any, given a choice, who would choose to take yet another meaningless test over any of the aforementioned activities. Yet we cling to that canard like it’s rooted in reality.

Stupid, and it’s long past time we re-evaluate how we evaluate student learning and school performance.

In a recent editorial, Bowman draws our attention to Singapore and its shift in testing policy.

The most significant change in Singapore’s education system is its adaptability. It has evolved from a system focused solely on achieving exam results to one that fosters development and personal growth. Standardized testing has become deeply ingrained in our education model. In Singapore, the emphasis is on promoting exploration, learning, and personal growth among students to create a positive learning environment.

In Singapore, math and science are taught hands-on, focusing on conceptual understanding and real-world application. The teaching workforce is high-quality, and small classes provide more individualized attention. The primary goal is to free up more curriculum time for teachers to focus on the quality of teaching rather than just teaching for exams.

I’ve yet to see a study that shows a correlation between doing well on TCAP and having a successful career. Life ain’t that simple.

Hopefully, we are producing lifelong learners. If there is a weakness in one aspect, there is usually a strength in another that serves to balance each other out. At some point, people learn stuff that qualifies them for the job they want, or for the opportunities presented to them.

This goes hand in hand with our conversations that portray school as the only place where children learn.

You may hate phones. You may have the internet. But I’ll tell you, as the parent of two teens, both provide double the information we were privy to as kids. Kids are using that information to build a world that meets their expectations and needs, with little concern for how their elders feel about it. The same way that it’s been done for centuries.

Past studies have shown that despite our concerns, kids in a peer group where some read, kids will learn to read based on a desire not to be excluded. Phones and the internet provide the means for kids to learn the things that are important to them.

I remember all the outcry over how television warps kids’ brains, and how viewing time needs to be closely monitored. My response was to watch even more television. Efforts to limit internet access for this generation are likely to produce similar results.

Bottom line, Tennessee spends 40 million a year on a testing program that continues to deliver increasingly irrelevant results. That fact is recognized by a growing number of people.

Isn’t it about time we did something about it?

– – –

This month a new law designed to protect Tennessee teachers goes into effect. Under the new law, students who assault a teacher at school are mandated to receive a one-year suspension.

In the past, a student who assaulted a teacher, even if convicted by the juvenile court, could receive a three-day suspension and then be back in the teacher’s classroom. Such was the case with Mark Hayes, a veteran teacher who taught for 24 years at Maplewood High School.

Hayes and I have talked in the past, and I’m well familiar with his story. In December of 2021, he was shoved to the hallway floor by an 18-year-old student.

“I didn’t see it coming, so I didn’t even brace for it or anything. It knocked me off my feet on my back on the floor in the hallway on the concrete,” Hayes told The Tennessean in an interview. “In 24 years I never had an incident close to resembling this.”

Despite charges filed by Hayes, the student was returned to his class after a three-day suspension. That was too much for the veteran educator. He left the building that day. After months on leave trying to find a solution with the district, Hayes eventually resigned.

“I just cleaned out my desk, my filing cabinet, my room, packed it up, and left. That was my last day at school — 24 years in the same building,” Hayes said. “It was either do what I did and walk away or continue to teach a person that assaulted me and be face-to-face with them when there was pending legal action.”

District leaders may not recognize it, but this was a huge loss. You don’t teach in a high-needs school like Maplewood for 24 years without a deep sense of commitment and sacrifice.

In 2009, a former student was killed by gunfire at the school’s graduation ceremony. Guns continue to be an issue at the school despite a dedicated administration and teaching staff.

Hayes is just one of a growing number of teachers and administrators who have been assaulted while at work.

In the past, MNPS has soft-counseled assaulted employees against pressing charges. I remember one story from a couple of years ago where a teacher was in the middle of receiving treatment when a district supervisor urged them to consider the ramifications of pressing charges. While they never came out and said it, it was clear that the district did not support the teacher pressing charges and favored the student’s well-being over the teacher’s safety. Message received.

When reached for comment by The Tennessean, MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted said in an email that the district has invested in social-emotional learning supports “to help students experiencing emotional dysregulation,” and has added “restorative practices assistants” at the middle and high school level.

“Each situation involving a disciplinary referral must be reviewed and investigated by school administrators to determine the appropriate course of action as outlined in the disciplinary policies of the district, with due process being applied to disciplinary investigations and consequences,” Braisted told The Tennessean. “We encourage any staff member who feels a situation was not addressed appropriately within the code of conduct guidelines by school administrators to reach out to their school’s Executive Director (Principal supervisor) for further review.

It’s a nice word salad but will hold little weight going forward.

In addition to the mandatory one-year suspension, the law requires districts to assist teachers if they choose to press charges, no ifs, ands, or buts.

How big an issue is this?

According to data from the Tennessee Department of Education, there were 1,918 assaults of teachers and staff reported by schools across Tennessee during the 2022-23 school year. That is the highest number of incidents in the last five years and up nearly 700 from the 2021-22 school year.

At MNPS, there were 325 incidents of assault on a teacher or staff member across the district during the 2023-24 school year, according to Braisted, including 11 incidents at Hillsboro High School and 15 at Antioch High School. The majority of the incidents occurred in elementary schools.

Elementary School students might at initial blush seem relatively harmless, but it’s not uncommon to find fourth-graders that weigh in the 100 lb range, and now MNPS includes 5th graders in elementary school buildings.

Special education students are exempt from the mandatory suspension rule, and the district’s director of schools can grant further exemptions.

– – –

MNPS has announced 15 new principals for the 2024-2025 school year. Congratulations to all of them. Though one is not new to the principal job.

Mathew Portell previously served at a Nashville high-needs school. While leading that school, he became an advocate for trauma-informed teaching. In his own words:

In my tenure as the principal of Fall-Hamilton Elementary in Nashville, TN, we utilized the most current neuroscience to transform the school into an international model school for trauma-informed practices. My interest in trauma-informed education led me to start the Trauma Informed Educators Network, a global network of over 31,000 practitioners, which I support with a weekly podcast and yearly conference.

Portell is the lead author of a book being published by Harvard Education Press in the fall of 2024! The book is focused on the impact and strategies to mitigate trauma and stress in schools.

Previously, the decorated administrator left Fall-Hamilton in the middle of the school year to pursue opportunities in the private sector. It appears he still has a lot going on outside of the school building.

Hopefully, this time he’ll finish the full school year, as he tends to form lasting and impactful relationships with teachers, students, and families in a beneficial manner.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“People do not change, they are merely revealed.”
― Anne Enright, The Gathering

Summer is definitely upon us. And when I say upon us, I mean upon us, as most of the nation suffers under extreme heat.

Here in middle Tennessee temperatures have broken the mid-90s with regularity.

Pundits call it an abnormally hot summer, but nothing will top my first exposure to Tennessee heat.

It was 1988, and Fan Fair was still called Fan Fair. it was held on the blacktop at the Nashville Fair Grounds. Nothing will ever top those days for me.

Summer is a time that is perceived as being one of rest and rejuvenation for teachers. Maybe for some, but for others it comes with its own sources of stress.

Waking up with nothing to do is fine for a few days, but as the summer stretches on, finding purposeful ways to fill the days becomes a little harder.

A break from routine may provide a welcome reprise, but separation can become difficult to navigate as it stretches on. Teachers, like most of us, are creatures of habit.

Financial necessity requires many to spend the summer working less fulfilling second jobs. Which creates additional stress.

Summer is also a time when politicians and legislators, perhaps empowered by a false sense of anonymity, make some of their most puzzling moves. Moves that seldom make life easier for teachers and principals.

This past week provides plenty of examples.

First up is a grade-changing scandal.

In this case, Anderson County is the scene of the alleged crime. A small district that sits slightly northwest of Knoxville. The school in question is Clinton High School, home to just over 1100 students. According to the TNDOE, the school received a “B” on the latest Tennessee State School Report Card.

Demographically, the district is nearly 90% white, with 30% considered economically disadvantaged.

Achievement-wise, the school has a success rate of 33.7%, congruent with the district level, but 4 points behind the state average.

Allegedly, at the direction of the principal and the football coach, 1500 grades were altered during the last school year.

If you’ve done this for a while, you instantly start to look for a familiar accomplice. Unfortunately, it didn’t me long to find this one.

Edgenuity is a company that provides a credit recovery program to districts nationwide. Credit Recovery provides a means for at-risk students to retake a required course that they’ve previously failed. It is intended as a way to keep students on track for graduation with their class. Unfortunately, it is often abused.

The Tennessee Lookout notes:

The online programs, purchased by county school boards, have been the subject of controversy in recent years for their lack of oversight by state education officials and the ease with which grades can be manipulated, according to Carolyn Heinreich, a Professor of Public Policy and Education at Vanderbilt University.

The programs allow students to retake coursework, then take multiple tests that assess their mastery of a course, module by module..

But the module grades can be easily changed by instructors who are able to manually override grades or put students in “test only” mode allowing them to skip computer instruction and go straight to taking tests.

Heinreich said her research, which focused on the Edgenuity credit recovery program that was also utilized by Anderson County, has shown that kids working in test-only mode can easily cheat, relying on Google for answers

Metro Nashville Public Schools became a client with Edgenuity after credit recovery questions with another provider arose last decade. Initially, the company was seen as part of a strategy to combat teacher shortages.

Since 2019, the company has provided content and a platform for MNPS’s credit recovery program. The annual cost for the program is capped at a million dollars. Edgenuity’s district contract is scheduled to end later this week but is likely to be extended. For the most part, there have been few problems between the company and MNPS, but there are always questions and the program is hard to monitor because it’s overseen primarily at the local level.

Periodically, grade-changing scandals occur. While I certainly don’t condone these crimes, I’m fully empathetic.

In most cases, there is no financial reward to the crime, simply an attempt to preserve a career dedicated to serving students. No million-dollar payoffs. No kickback trips to Porte-de-Prince.

When you place so much emphasis, and accountability, on an arbitrary system that doesn’t accurately measure student learning, you are fertilizing a field of deception.

At this point in the game, defending the accuracy and usefulness of standardized tests should be a foregone conclusion. Instead of burning brain cells on the well-documented shortcomings of existing practices, we should focus on creating a more accurate measurement system.

We can tsk-tsk over the events at Clinton High School, or we can examine what led to the alleged crimes.

We can demand fidelity to a flawed system of accountability, or we can figure out how to build a better system.

Unfortunately, too often we choose the former over the latter.

– – –

One of Tennessee’s leading education policy advocacy groups is getting new leadership.

Five years ago, national advocacy group Ed Trust, established a branch in Tennessee. Former MNPS school board member Gini Pupo-Walker was tapped to lead that branch.

As a side note, the national branch of Ed Trust was led by former U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. For his efforts, he drew an annual salary of $550K. Walker never drew that kind of money, but she wasn’t under-compensated either.

In an email to supporters, Walker talks about that founding and the success of the ensuing years:

Since then we have more than tripled in size, launched the TN Alliance for Equity in Education, the TN Coalition for Truth in Classrooms, have a record of policy wins, and a reputation as a trusted and formidable advocacy organization not only in Tennessee, but also in the region. It’s been inspiring to see students, advocates, educators and parents build a shared agenda and participate in our movement and lead on the issues that matter to them.

I suspect one of the wins being touted by the former executive director is the overhaul of Tennessee’s student funding policy. Despite, concerns by other advocacy groups, Ed Trust’s commitment was unwavering.

Earlier this year, they announced the launch of Southerners for Fair Schools Funding, with the goal of helping advance better school funding across the South.

Prior to her employment with Ed Trust, she led Nashville’s Hispanic advocacy group Conexion.

Pupo-Walker is now poised to begin a new role as the Director of National Education Strategy at the Raikes Foundation.

“Gini brings a wealth of proximate and systems leadership to our work for educational equity,” said Dennis Quirin, Executive Director of the Raikes Foundation. “I am confident that under her leadership, the Foundation will continue to make durable, transformative progress toward a public education system that supports economic prosperity, the health of our communities, and our democracy.”

While the non-profit has offices primarily in Washing state, Pupo-Walker will reportedly remain in Nashville.

– – –

Atlanta’s school district is getting a new leader, and it is one familiar to folks in Middle Tennessee.

Bryan Johnson, a former superintendent of the Hamilton County school district in Chattanooga, is the Atlanta school board’s sole finalist for superintendent.

Before his time in Chattanooga, Johnson and his wife were fixtures in Nashville. Candy Johnson is a well-respected philanthropic fundraiser.

“The Atlanta Board of Education is thrilled at the prospect of collaborating with someone as accomplished as Dr. Bryan Johnson,” said ABOE Chair Erika Y. Mitchell. “His diverse leadership roles throughout his career will be a tremendous asset, as he helps propel our District by pushing students toward success while advocating for the District’s needs.”

Johnson was named the 2021 Tennessee Superintendent of the Year by the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents and was a National Superintendent of the Year finalist. Furthermore, he was listed as a “Superintendent to Watch” by the National School Public Relations Association.

He abruptly ended his tenure with Hamilton County Schools in 2022 to take an executive position with U.S. Express Enterprises, a trucking company. At the time he alluded to challenges with Tennessee’s changing state education policies as a contributing factor for seeking new employment.

He left his trucking company position to join UTC as executive vice chancellor and chief strategy officer at UTC.

The former Chattanooga director of schools has been a member of the Jeb Bush-funded Chiefs for Change for nearly five years. In that role, he penned an op-ed supporting Tennessee’s literacy law changes and supporting since departed State Superintendent Penny Schwinn.

The progress is also a testament to the leadership of Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn and her team at the Department of Education. The department has taken a number of important steps that I believe contributed to the recent progress.

In hiring Johnson, the Atlanta board cited a desire to increase district literacy rates.

The Atlanta area has become a popular landing place for Tennessee Executives. Former Williamson County, and briefly MNPS, leader Mike Looney leads the Fulton County School District. Former Chattanooga executive Nakia Townes was a Deputy Superintendent with Gwinnett County Public Schools before transitioning to COO at Accelerate, a start-up non-profit, launched in the context of the national achievement gaps that have worsened signiﬁcantly post-pandemic.

– – –

While we are on interesting hires, Jared Myracle has been tapped by new MCMS Superintendent Marie Feagins as their director of literacy.

“As a longtime leader in this work, Dr. Myracle is guided by a fundamental principle — which I share — that literacy is the foundation of all learning,” Feagins said in a press release. “He is dedicated to achieving ambitious results for kids.”

The self-proclaimed literacy expert has taken an interesting path to his new role. The former Jackson-Madison County School’s Chief Academic Officer once penned a book called Common Core Standards for Parents for Dummies. Even as Tennessee moved to disassociate itself with Common Core, Myracle has continued to advocate for the failed experiment.

Myracle, the author of Common Core for Dummies, ironically became the state’s Senior Director of ELA in 2021. Before taking the gig with the state, he also pitched products for Great Minds, both for ELA and Math. Yes…that Great Minds. Wit and Wisdom Great Minds.

A few years ago, in the wake of the pandemic, Myracle announced the formation of a company that would help districts with curriculum adoption. Keep in mind, that prior to the pandemic few LEA’s had the funds from which to draw in order to undertake large-scale curriculum adoption. The problem was solved with the influx of federal dollars.

As I’ve previously noted, just for the record, and not to disparage any of the work done by the teachers and students of Jackson–Madison County Schools, during Myracle’s tenure, according to the Tennessee State report card, literacy scores declined and the district was a Level 1 in growth in Literacy.

Who knows, maybe he’s gotten a whole lot better at this.

To take his new position, Myracle returns to Tennessee from Florida, where he has been serving as senior director of programs with Impact Florida, a nonprofit focused on improving the quality of classroom instruction in Florida schools since 2022.

– – –

And we are still talking about vouchers.

Today an article in The Tennessean outlines how the state’s GOP primary is turning into a referendum on school vouchers.

Governor Lee has vowed to bring the issue to the General Assembly during the upcoming session. To achieve better results this time around, he’s actively supporting sympathetic candidates. Helping him is the national advocacy group American’s for Prosperity.

According to the daily paper, “The upcoming Republican primary is likely to become a referendum on the issue, as dissatisfaction with incumbent positions on school choice — whether in support or opposition — is among the issues that have driven several challengers to run.”

Interestingly enough, one of the races cited is that in the southeast Tennessee city of Cleveland, between Troy Weathers, a 20-year school board veteran, and incumbent Rep. Kevin Raper, R-Cleveland. It’s a rematch of a race narrowly won last cycle by Raper.

The paper touts Weathers as an anti-voucher candidate.

I’ve been on the school board 20 years. I know enough to tell you that vouchers are not the saving grace of education for Tennessee,” Weathers told The Tennessean. “It’s another entitlement program. I’m a Republican, and I don’t believe in entitlement programs.”

Ironically, Raper, who is a vice-chair of the of the House Education Instruction Committee, was a staunch opponent of voucher legislation during the last state session despite pressure from Lee.

While he is a proponent of school choice, he doesn’t include vouchers in that equation, and further voices his commitment to his constituents.

“Now, it wasn’t easy in the fact that I’m an education Chairman, and there was sort of an expectation that, hey, you go along with… what the governor is suggesting. I try to do that most of the time,” Raper said. “But I have to remind myself that, hey, I’m representing District 24. And if they’re adamantly against something, even though the governor or the speakers, or even the legislature is feels the opposite way, I’m ultimately gonna vote the direction of District 24.”

What the race in Cleveland indicates is a blurring of the lines statewide, along with uncertainty about how votes will translate. Governor Lee has limited influence as his term runs out, and candidates’ positions remain unclear.

As demonstrated by Ray Jeter who is challenging Murray County Rep Scott Cepicky.

“I am fundamentally for school choice,” Jeter said, noting the high number of students in Maury County that are not enrolled in public schools. “But I think private education has to remain private. My only fear is that if we start moving funds from public education into private, that soon thereafter, government regulations are coming.”

Cepicky, long a supporter of public schools despite words to the contrary being recorded in private, remains supportive of a state voucher plan.

“I have spoken to many parents in my district and most parents want the option of being able to remove their kids from a public school that is not meeting their student’s needs and put them into another alternative,” Cepicky told The Tennessean in a text message.

I don’t doubt that he has.

But this ain’t the time for nuance.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“When it comes to paying contractors, the sky is the limit; when it comes to financing the basic functions of the state, the coffers are empty.”
― Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Summer always brings out the absurd in education policy.

This week, the Tennessee Department of Education finally got around to releasing scores for third and fourth-graders from the Staes TCAP test. Kinda a big deal, because those scores determine whether a student advances or whether they must repeat third or fourth grade. Yeah, I know it’s mid-June and we should probably already have determined that, but this is the TNDOE after all.

Last year, roughly 60% of the state’s third graders were at risk of being retained, but ultimately, due to the multitude of options made available by lawmakers, the state only retained about 1.2% of them.

Turned out to be a lot of noise about nothing, unless you count student and parent anxiety as something.

Based on the limited results released yesterday, this year there are a similar number of students at risk of being retained. At least if you take the TNDOE at face value.

The TNDOE may have touted yesterday as a release of the scores, but in reality, it was a release of the press release and a promise that the data would be forthcoming someday, department officials just didn’t know when. Maybe it’ll be a repeat of last year’s release of state report cards, which came a couple weeks before TCAP was administered. You know, when they were completely useless.

I presume that many of those kids who are identified as being at risk took the retake as permissible by law? How did they do? How many of those are at risk and must now attend summer camp or enroll in tutoring?

How many of those kids who scored below proficient this year are covered by exemptions from retention provided in the law? Those included students with an IEP or English Learners who have only been in the country a short time.

One of the cool things that Tennessee does is if you show up in a Tennessee school days before TCAP, and speak limited English, you must still take the test.

That was sarcasm, in case you didn’t recognize it. It’s actually one of the more moronic things we do. But I digress.

For their purposes, the DOE would prefer that you ignore the results for third grade and instead focus on the massive growth made by fourth graders – 2.9%.

Again with the limited amount of data available, it’s hard to draw any real conclusions. The graph included with the press release shows growth measured by comparison with previous 3rd and 4th-grade cohorts, but those are all different students. We’d better off comparing last year’s third-grade performance with this year’s fourth-grade performance.

Last year, this cohort scored 40% on track, this year, as fourth-graders, they scored a 46%. That’s promising, but to what do we attribute it to?

Does removing 1.2% of the lowest performers raise the scores overall?

What did those retained score on the third-grade test this go around? Did their scores lower the achievement of the other third graders?

The TNDOE, and Commissioner Reynolds want us to celebrate, but they won’t tell us what exactly we are celebrating.

One could argue that we are celebrating data that demonstrates a lack of need for vouchers because scores are only going up.

Don’t expect a cake with that written on it, All you have to do is listen to the words of Governor Bill Lee to realize that he still ain’t ready to give credit where credit is due.

“Tennessee’s strategic education investments have resulted in significant gains in reading for students across the state,” said Gov. Bill Lee. “As we continue our work to ensure that all Tennessee students can read at grade level, we remain committed to supporting teachers and empowering families with multiple pathways to achievement so every student can thrive in their academic journey.”

Another caveat to keep in mind while receiving these glad tidings is the growing evidence that third-grade retention may goose the numbers in the short term, but most of those improvements have disappeared by eighth grade. I’d consider that a concern.

Paul Thomas, a respected national literacy expert recently noted:

Most of the US has early literacy policy, significantly clustered since about 2010. While this is important context, the figures also reveal a key problem with this report—the source being a conservative think tank, ExcelinEd.

ExcelinEd is a Jeb Bush venture and represents the political and ideological connections among third-grade retention, reading policy, and political gain.

Thomas further notes:

ExcelinEd is grounded in Florida’s reading reform and high rates of grade retention that have produced exceptionally high NAEP scores in grade 4 reading (an outcome this report confirms across the US), but the largest decrease from grade 4 to grade 8 reading scores.

Thomas draws attention to the fact that determinations are based on high-stakes testing, despite us knowing that high-stakes testing data is causally related to out-of-school factors at a 60%+ rate. That’s pretty substantial.

Despite the obvious red flags, third and fourth-grade retention policies remain popular with politicians because of their measurable short-term impact. Most of them will be gone by the time this cohort’s eighth-grade results roll in.

The TNDOE’s failure to make data available hampers Tennesseans from fully embracing results. A full picture of literacy rates in Tennessee is only possible if made available prior to the state submitting their spin on results.

It’s quite possible that some districts raised the average with strong performances, while others lowered it.

TNDOE provides no clear information about the fidelity of implementation by local districts. Maybe it was state policy or maybe it was local, who knows?

Chalkbeat reports that in Memphis, student scores went up by 3 percentage points to 26.6% in third grade, and by 1.8 percentage points to 28.5% for fourth graders.

First off, both the scores serve to lower the state average.

Secondly, if the data is available for Memphis, why is it not available for every district in Tennessee?

Somebody needs to call down to South Padre Island and ask Commissioner Reynolds if she can’t answer a few questions.

Though answering questions has never been a strong suit for her.

Until the data is made fully available, I’d be hesitant to jump on the party train.

– – –

A report out of Nashville tells the story of two 12-year-olds enrolled in summer school who decided to take their teacher’s car keys off her desk and take her car for a joy ride. The pair got about 78 miles down the road before being apprehended.

Metro Nashville Public Schools responded to questions from News 4 with the following:

MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted says they cannot release disciplinary outcomes because of federal privacy laws but they said this does break their code of conduct.

They also said all employees are encouraged to keep their personal belongings in locked storage spaces that are given to them and that no policy changes are being considered right now.

How about instead of telling teachers to lock things up, we tell students there are consequences to taking things that don’t belong to them?

How about one sentence expressing concern for the trauma forced on the teacher by having her car stolen?

Depending on the teacher’s age, that car might have been the largest financial investment she’s ever made. That should not be dismissed or taken lightly.

Classrooms are meant to be viewed as a safe space for teachers and students. The actions of the students have shattered that perception of safety. Yet, nobody from Central Office makes that simple acknowledgment.

A few years ago a similar incident happened at a district high school. That student was suspended for three days and then returned to the teachers classroom. Imagine.

The incident appears to be taken pretty lightly considering the possible outcomes that were narrowly avoided. Imagine if those students had hurt themselves or others?

If any damage was done to the teacher’s car, who’s responsible?

MNPS continues to struggle with teacher retention and recruitment, yet they continually fail to see every public interaction as an opportunity to make a positive impact.

The actions of these students only serve to reiterate the inherent dangers of teaching in an urban school district. Yet, MNPS offers no counter-narrative. Only a warning to lock up your shit, inadvertently reinforcing the narrative by acknowledging the risk of teaching urban students.

Not a good look.

A strongly worded statement from the district would have sent a message of support to both current employees and potential future employees. A simple expression of empathy to an educator who’d been traumatized, would have signaled a sense of concern for teacher well well-being.

Instead, the message is that when teaching in MNPS, you are your own, except when we need you to produce some desired outcomes.

Can’t imagine why the district continues to suffer from teacher shortages.

– – –

Talk around Governor Bill continues to center around his plans to reintroduce voucher legislation during the next session. To further those goals, he’s out endorsing state candidates to the General Assembly that could help further. his cause.

It seems like a strategy with higher risks than rewards, but as State Senator Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) told the Tennessee Lookout, “The governor’s entitled to spend his summer as he likes, but that voucher vacation isn’t gonna be good for Tennessee.”

Personally, the last thing I would want is an endorsement from Governor Lee, but rumor has it that he still enjoys popularity with the general state population. The Lookout lists the following as receiving endorsements.

“So far, Lee has backed Senate Education Chairman Jon Lundberg over Republican opponent Bobby Harshbarger in District 4, and Sen. Ferrell Haile over challenger Chris Spencer in District 18.

In addition, he endorsed Cepicky, House Majority Leader William Lamberth of Portland and Republican Jason Emert in House District 20, which is being vacated by Rep. Bryan Richey as he (weakly) runs for the Senate seat Art Swann is leaving, according to the Tennessee Journal.

The governor is also backing Republican Lee Reeves over Brian Beathard and Michelle Foreman in Williamson County’s House District 65, Republican Aron Maberry over three other Republicans in Montgomery County’s District 68, Rep. John Ragan over Rick Scarbrough in the District 33 Republican primary, and there could be more.”

For his part, Lee better hope at least a few of those win their races, or he’s going to really put the “lame” in “lame duck”. Nothing like positioning yourself as a kingmaker, and then not making any kings.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“We are embedded in habit. We dread the truly new, the truly emergent. We don’t fear the end of the world—we fear the end of the world as we know it.”
― Ray Nayler, The Mountain in the Sea

I learned my first management lesson when I was 18 years old.

At the time, I was managing a team of lifeguards who presided over 4 pools and a beachfront.

After some questionable accounting of hours that led to a delay in paychecks, and some angry life guards, a grizzled old office manager – he was probably 35 – gave me advice that has stuck with me for the last 40 years – don’t fuck with people’s money.

If a budget is a moral document, getting people what they are owed on time is a moral imperative.

People put forth a great deal of effort in bringing your goals to fruition, they depend on you to do the same in getting them their money. The quickest way to lose the narrative is to fail to deliver on time or less than expected. A paycheck envelope is no place to discover surprises.

Last week, many of Nashville’s teachers and support staff who have extended their paychecks throughout the summer got a surprise. Paychecks were roughly 20% shorter than expected.

Metro Nashville Public Schools pays all certificated staff on a 22-week pay schedule, equivalent to the length of the school year. As a courtesy to teachers who wish to maintain a paycheck throughout the summer, they can sign up to be paid in 26 installments.

This is accomplished by MNPS deducting a portion of each paycheck, after taxes, and dividing it between four summer paychecks – two in June and two in July. For some reason, according to MNPS, this year has 27 paychecks, requiring 5 paychecks in the summer. Two in June, two in July, and one in August. That’s some fancy math turning 26 biweekly opportunities into 27.

For the record, an annual paycheck divided into bi-weekly paychecks provides 26 paychecks. Unless the year suddenly has 54 months. Last I checked it was still at 52.

Reportedly the move is born from teacher and employee desire.

Eighteen months ago SEIU and MNEA approached administrators about change to ensure that nobody misses a paycheck. Teachers not affiliated with either union also requested the change. Though I’ve yet to find one that embraces the change and is thrilled to get a lower paycheck.

According to further explanation by MNPS Human Resources, the move was necessitated by the increased Summer paychecks, and a desire to ensure that nobody misses a paycheck all year. I’m not sure that makes much sense. It appears to be a move that better serves those not fulfilling their contracts and HR, more than it does those drawing paychecks. But what do I know?

The system of paying teachers over 12 months is not a new one. It’s been in place for over a decade. Why has this issue suddenly surfaced?

Teachers do have the option to request the remainder of their pay in one lump sum. If they do so, they need to remember they won’t receive another paycheck until August 16th.

Human Resources claims that this move was well publicized over the last two years and that no one should be surprised. Yet somehow, a large number of teachers are just that.

In talking with teachers, it appears that while an explanation was provided in several publications and emails, it was done through a link teachers would need to open to fully access the information. The link was presented as information for those who wished to sign up for a year-long payroll plan. Since many teachers have participated for decades they didn’t feel compelled to open the link.

There has forever been a disconnect between Central Office and the classroom, neither side understanding the day-to-day life of the other.

It should be recognized that teachers cannot deep read every email, and administrators must recognize that and design communications that take that into account, especially during summer months when many teachers disconnect from technology.

I’ve long argued with the brass at MNPS that communications don’t end with you saying or writing something. It’s only communication if the other parties receive the information. Communication is a group activity.

When it comes to payroll, every effort should be explored to make sure no one is surprised.

The district has no problem doing call-outs when it comes to their agenda, so why not call-outs to teachers in this instance?

Why not face-to-face meetings? Call up the principal, ask when the next staff meeting is, and ask for 10 minutes to present.

Why not have extra meetings with bookkeepers?

Every effort should be made to ensure that the change in pay policy is adequately communicated. It should be done in a manner that communicates concern, and not one that is purely a CYA exercise.

Empathy is a key component of social and emotional learning. This would have been an opportunity to demonstrate.

No teacher raising concerns should be met with a lengthy listing of supposed communications offerings, but rather an apology and a how could we have communicated it better? Alas, that’s not what’s happening.

To me, this is a culture issue. If you truly cared about employees and understood the challenges they face in their personal lives, more effort would have gone into the execution of communication.

More attention should have been paid to modifying the process, instead of defending. But the reality is, that administrators feel more concerned with preserving their paycheck than they do with making sure that teachers and support staff understand theirs.

Living paycheck to paycheck is not optimal, but the reality is, too many of us do it. Less money blows a hole in a family budget where recovery is often difficult. That has to be taken into account when crafting policy.

The way this was handled communicates a message, whether intentionally or not, of a lack of concern by the district for its employees. It’s a message amplified by the disparity between recruitment strategies and retention strategies. MNPS is always recruiting but seldom working to retain.

“What! What! What!” I can hear the sputtering from Bransford right now. “We’ve made you the highest-paid teachers in the state. What else do you want?”

It’s not just about money, it’s about respect and empathy that should go with it.

Having spent my whole life working in the private sector, I can’t fathom the idea of advancing people on the first check. The idea that the district finds itself losing “hundreds of thousands” of dollars because they recoup when teachers leave mid-year further speaks to culture issues.

There was a time when the idea of a teacher quitting mid-year, minus a pregnancy or terminal illness, was unheard of. These days it’s all too common, as evidenced by the district’s change in policy.

Perhaps, a little less time spent on recruitment and a little more time making MNPS a more attractive place to work would alleviate the need to “claw back” such a large amount of money.

I promise you, that for some veteran MNPS educators, this will be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Those who may be eligible for retirement, or looking at a career change, might use this as an impetus to pursue that course. Necessitating the need for more recruitment.

When will the district learn that every interaction with the public, either internally or externally, is an opportunity to improve recruitment and retention?

How much time do you think the MNPS school board will spend talking about this issue?

I’m betting, that unless you can throw in a charter school angle, the answer will be none.

But hey, the budget is a moral obligation, though it appears teacher paychecks, are not so much.

Side note, if you received a letter informing you that the cost of health benefits is going up, don’t about an impact on your summer paychecks. Ten-week employees have already had their deductions removed, but will see the increase when they get their first paycheck of the 2024-2025 school year on August 16th.

– – –

So what were Nashville’s principals doing while its teachers were navigating the changes to their paychecks?

They were on retreat in Memphis, of course.

Since Dr. Adrienne Battle became Superintendent, principals are required to attend annual meetings – Principal Splash – outside of town during summer break.

Initially, the trip was just down the road to a local state park. But in the ensuing years, the trips have become much more ambitious. Recent Principal Splashes have been held in Kentucky and Alabama. So at least this year, we are contributing to the Tennessee tax base.

While in Memphis for three days, Principals were wined and dined in both the Elvis Presley Museum and the Museum of Civil Rights at special after-hours events.

Thursday morning they viewed the Nashville Public Education Foundation-produced documentary, “By Design: The Shaping of Nashville’s Public Schools”. The film takes a close look at how past policies worked to design a system of social structures that collectively inhibit the ability for students of color and their families to gain access to resources that help them succeed. The film is based on the work of Dr. Ansley Erickson in Making the Unequal Metropolis: School Desegregation and its Limits.

After the viewing, a panel discussion was held featuring the Chief of Student Support Resources Elisa Norris’s father, John Norris, and former MNPS principal Bill Warren. Norris was a friend of former MNPS superintendent Dr. Jesse Register and serves the district as a Leadership and Organization Vitality Consultant.

My first question would be, why do principals have to go to Memphis to view a film that is available on line.

Secondly, when it comes to inequities in urban school districts, is there anyone more aware than a school principal? Kinda a job prerequisite, no?

I suspect that if we follow the money we’ll find that NPEF and other non-profits are footing a major portion of the bill for this one, and so a little time for a worthwhile subject is in order. That’s fair enough.

The rest of the time was spent on cluster activities and relationship building.

I get that principals deserve a little fawning over, but so do teachers and support staff.

Maybe that’s what the annual AVID trips are designed for.

Can’t wait to find out where next year’s trip is scheduled.

– – –

Speaking of Elisa Norris, she’s undertaking a new project for MNPS. Norris will be charged with the redesign of the city’s alternative schools. An interesting project for a woman who has never worked a day in a school.

MNPS has two schools – W.A. Bass Learning Center and Johnson Alternative Learning Center – that are set up to serve kids who have been expelled from district schools. Combined, the two serve roughly 230 kids. Johnson starts in 6th grade and Bass in 9th.

The district envisions moving toward each quadrant having a center that can accommodate similar kids for 60, 90, or 120 days. As opposed to the traditional year. The goal is to be more respectful and humane towards kids enrolled in these schools, while ensuring they have access to all education opportunities.

While I do applaud the district for it efforts to better serve students, I do feel the need to push back against some of the narratives put forth during a recent discussion by the MNPS board.

At that board meeting, several members described students at the ALC as being there because of “one bad day”. That is not entirely accurate.

First off, if you are enrolled at an ALC, your “one bad day” likely caused harm to someone else. Arguably that makes their day a little worse than your one bad day. I can name several MNPS educators whom are still suffering after-effects from a “one bad day”, several months after the occurrence. That shouldn’t be lost in the conversation.

Secondly, there is some kind of misconception that kids get expelled willy-nilly from district schools. That just ain’t accurate. It takes a great deal of effort, and it should, to expel a student. That “one bad day” has likely been preceded by a series of “one bad days”.

While every effort should be made to get kids back into their traditional school, it has to be done in a manner that doesn’t put educators at physical risk. Teaching should be a contact sport. Hopefully, we will be prudent with the shorter stays and put safety ahead of chasing statistics.

Must admit, based on history, color me skeptical.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“I have lifted the rock and seen the worms writhing underneath.”
― James Hynes, Sparrow

Summer has officially started in the Weber household. It’s a welcome but mixed change.

Kids may be home, but the lazy days have not replaced the school days.

Both children are now high schoolers, bringing on a plethora of new responsibilities and opportunities.

The boy child is at the mid-point of travel baseball season, which fills the weekends and some weekends.

His first high school football camp opened last week, and he’s quickly realizing, we are not in middle school anymore. He routinely grumbles, “I signed up to play football, not run track.”

Basketball tryouts were held last week, and he and three of the four young men who started playing together in 6th grade made the team. The fourth moved south the previous year, leaving a hole that is still felt. It’s cool thinking that these 3 may end up playing 7 years together, surely a rarity.

Basketball camp is held at noon, right after 3 hours of football. Yes, more running.

The girl child returns to school next week for three weeks with Vanderbilt University’s Science and Math program. This year begins the set up to junior year, which will be spent working in an actual lab and producing a published research paper. Heady stuff.

She’s elected to take ballet class this summer for the first time, usually, summer serves as a break from dance. This year, dreams of achieving pointe are becoming a little more real.

In between they are engaging in all the routine activities of kids their age – going to the pool, talking to classmates via FaceTime, and going to the mall. The most frequent statement heard, “Is what’s the plan for today”, which is met by an equally familiar, “I don’t about you, but I have work.”

I suspect the ensuing years will become even more cluttered.

All of this reminds me that the time for the leaving of the nest is fast approaching. Three years may seem like an eternity, but it’ll be over in the blink of an eye, and he’ll quickly follow.

It doesn’t feel as if we are that far removed from the elementary years, when time felt eternal. But, here we are.

The Kansas City kicker, whatever his name is, was bombarded with criticism for celebrating family at a recent graduation ceremony, (I know, he threw in a bunch of stupid stuff as well). Still, I have to tell you, there have been no greater challenges with no greater rewards than serving as a husband and a parent.

I’m grateful for all of it, and look forward to another summer of memories, may yours be equally as rich.

– – –

How’d you like to be a rising fourth-grader and be unsure if you would retain that title?

Tennessee state law requires that students who fail to achieve a score of “meets expectations” on the state’s annual TCAP must be retained. Those scores came back two weeks ago.

A provision of the same law allows for those students who fall short to retake the test, minus the writing portion. That window opened on May 22nd and closed on May 31st.

According to the Tennessee Department of Education, families of students in 3rd grade who scored “approaching” on the ELA section of their spring 3rd grade TCAP or the ELA TCAP retake may also submit an appeal to the department beginning May 28th through June 28th. Beginning this year, authorized district personnel may submit an appeal on behalf of a student with parent or guardian consent. A link to the appeal form will be available here on May 28th and can be submitted based on either the Ground 1 or Ground 2 requirements.

June 28th?!?

So a family can enter the last month of summer and have no idea where their child will go to school. A school can have uncertainty around staffing and spacing a month before school starts. It’s incredulous.

Mary Batiwalla, a former assistant commissioner with the Tennessee Department of Education, told Fox 17, the timeline puts too much pressure on local districts.

“In terms of doing the calculations, making the determination of who needs to re-test, executing the re-test, and then processing re-test results, and notifying parents and students about what needs to happen next,” Batiwalla explained.

When questioned by concerned parents and schools, the TDOE answer is invariably, just enroll them in summer school and tutoring for next year and it will all be fine. Legislators echo that sentiment when questioned about the validity of the bill.

Everybody seems to forget that by enrolling in summer school and tutoring for promotion, students are at risk for retention in fourth grade if they don’t make adequate process on the fourth-grade TCAP. Keep in mind that defining what constitutes adequate growth requires the employment of a formula that feels pulled from a chalkboard on the Big Bang television series. Those results won’t be returned until late June.

So how many kids are at risk?

How many students scored below “meets expectations” on the initial test or the retake?

How many kids are enrolled in Summer School?

What’s the difference between the initial year and this year?

All valid questions, none of which have ready answers.

As we enter June, details and data are scarce. Too many questions remain unanswered. Nobody seems to know just how this process is working.

This is not a computer simulation. There are real lives impacted by the missing data.

We seem capable of screaming for months about the manifesto of a since deceased serial killer but express nary a peep about data that serves the living.

I guess we’ll eventually know the results.

Maybe it’ll be like last year when the TDOE released test results from the previous year a week before testing for the current year was scheduled to begin.

– – –

One thing Tennesseans can seem to focus on is education vouchers. A month after the session ended with no new legislation passed, we are still talking about them.

This week it was reported that Governor Lee is hitting the campaign trail in support of school-choice candidates.

“I’ve said a lot of times that I get engaged in election, and I get engaged in candidates. I’ve met with several candidates, some of who are in open seats, some who are incumbents,” Lee said in a press availability last week. “This year, what I’m talking to candidates about is education, freedom, and choice for parents. I want to know where new candidates stand on that issue because it’s so important to me.”

Lee’s not just out vetting, he’s bringing the checkbook as well. Well maybe not his, but certainly money belonging to close out-of-state friends.

Americans for Prosperity Action — a powerful grassroots group whose sister policy organization lobbied the legislature in support of Lee’s school choice initiative this year — has endorsed several candidates this year. Less than one-tenth of 1% of AFP Action’s national PAC contributions come from within Tennessee, according to FEC filings, while a combined 73% of the PAC’s donations this cycle have come from donors in Virginia, Kansas, and Arkansas.

“We intend to fully leverage our grassroots efforts to support each of our policy champions, and we will continue to monitor the field to ensure all policy champions in need of support during the primary season have it,” AFP Action Director Tori Venable said in a statement to The Tennessean.

If I’m part of the anti-vouchers crowd, I appreciate the Governor’s vetting commitment. I’d ask him to share his evaluations. You know, don’t want anyone slipping through the cracks.

If you don’t want vouchers, you better make sure the Guv doesn’t up any seats, that means heavy politicking.

Earlier in the year, Texas anti-voucher activists cheered the defeat of a proposed bill for their state. The victory was short-lived.

In the wake of that defeat, Texas Governor Abbott declared his intent to continue his pursuit of expanded school choice legislation.

AFP committed themselves to making his pursuit successful and began campaigning against anti-voucher House members.

In March, they managed to turn six seats in the Texas House to pro-voucher candidates, sending an additional eight GOP anti-choice incumbents to a runoff.

Six of those eight lost their seats last week.

Supporters are poised to nominate at least four pro-voucher candidates to fill seats vacated by retiring voucher opponents, netting a total of 10 seats before the overtime round.

What this translates to is Governor Abbott having a tentative majority in the lower chamber on his signature issue. The House is where the legislation was defeated.

It hasn’t been a cheap victory for Abbott and friends.

AFC Victory Fund, the super PAC political arm of the voucher advocacy group American Federation for Children, has spent around $2 million in the runoffs boosting pro-voucher primary challengers. And Club for Growth, a federal PAC, reserved some $4 million in TV and radio ads targeting the four anti-voucher Republicans who were pushed into runoffs, along with House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont.

Will Tennessee serve as a sequel? Who knows.

But, if you don’t want the same in Tennessee, best get to door-knocking.

– – –

What if I told you that a local school district was holding its annual principal meeting this week and all district principals were mandated to attend?

What if I then told you that one principal was designated not to be rehired, but somebody forgot to inform him?

What if I told you the district hired his replacement on Friday?

What if I told you both principals were present when the principal conclave opened up?

You wouldn’t believe me, would you?

– – –

The former dovetails into a recent column by education writer Peter Greene. He begins the piece in the best possible way, by mentioning Moi and a piece I’d written about social and emotional learning.

Greene writes:

“I’ve made my points about SEL before. I think attempts to formalize it and teach it in deliberate classroom instruction are a mistake. that at best they are just kind of silly and at worst result in entering a Human Decency Grade in a student’s permanent record. At the same time, actual SEL is inseparable from the classroom. That’s because young humans are always learning social-emotional stuff, always learning how to function like human beings in the world. Every adult in a child’s life is modeling some sort of social and emotional behavior. Every “this teacher changed my life” story an SEL story.”

He further explains:

Folks who want to somehow get SEL out of education and just go back to learnin’ reading, writing and ‘rithmetic are asking to eat chicken soup without any both, to be married without having another person involved. This is the empty view of education as some sort of content delivery system, a process by which facts are poured into a young human’s brain, perhaps by the latest version of computerized algorithmic “education.”

Except here’s the thing– even that approach includes SEL, even if the SEL lesson delivered is “Your humanity doesn’t matter” or “Life is strictly transactional” or “Only some peoples’ feelings matter” or, in the case of your AI personalized computer program, “Some people are not worth bothering to have human interactions with.”

So even folks like the “premiere pronatalists” who believe Certain People should have lots of kids, but who raise their own kids by hanging an iPad around two year old’s neck and smacking a toddler in the face for bumping a table– well, they certainly imbue their children with all sorts of SEL lessons. Will a school program overwrite the SEL lessons taught at home?

Every school is chock full of SEL in the form of the school’s culture and the teacher’s classroom culture. This is a big reason that so many schools are absolutely wasting money on formal SEL programs. A nice little program teaching tolerance and kindness for thirty minutes a week cannot hope to make the slightest dent in a school where adults emphasize meanness-enforced compliance all day every day.

Here’s the money shot:

If your administrators and teachers spend every day grinding down students to get them to fall in line and do as their told, that is your SEL program. Research shows that some schools and some states have huge disparities between Black and White students when it comes to suspensions for defiant, disruptive, or disorderly behavior; if you are one of those schools, that’s your SEL program. My school, for a time, had obviously selective enforcement of dress code; whether an outfit was a violation or not depended on how good you looked in it. Don’t think for a moment that our students didn’t learn some social and emotional lessons from that.

If you want students to learn grace and kindness, your faculty and staff and administration have to model grace and kindness (recognizing that grace and kindness can wear a wide variety of faces, and not all of them are warm and fuzzy). If you want students to develop socially and emotionally healthy interactions with each other, the adults in your school have to model socially and emotionally healthy interactions with each other (again recognizing that there are sooooo many ways to do that)”

So much truth in so many words. School districts get lost in mandates and goals. They love data and overlook people, forgetting that all of the data is provided by real people. We demand obedience while never stopping to explain the why, yet we wonder why conflicts and resentment arise.

Greene closes with a question and answers relevant to all of us:

Who really needs SEL? The adults in the building. If they aren’t up to speed, all the “Character Strong” sessions in the world will make a difference. Soft skills, human decency (whatever you think that looks like), kindness, grace, respect, integrity, honesty–these all run downhill in any organization, and in schools, students are at the bottom of the hill. It requires leadership and personal commitment. It’s up to adults to be thoughtful and deliberate about what they send rolling down that hill.

Amen, brother, amen.

– – –

This morning The Tennessean published an interview with Nashville Education Advocate Sonya Thomas. Thomas leads the Nashville-based non-profit PROPEL, Parents Requiring Our Public Education System to Lead.

A primary focus of the organization has been on literacy rates. Thomas has been an advocate for Tennessee’s literacy laws but argues that they don’t go far enough. They don’t adequately engage parents.

“I do this work because I never want another parent to feel the way I felt when I realized my son was not getting the education he needed and he deserved,” she told The Tennessean. “When parents are ‘in the know,’ they take action. I believe parents aren’t taking action because they just don’t know.”

She ain’t wrong. Districts will argue that they provide sufficient data to inform parents of where their children are in learning to read, but Thomas disputes that.

A white paper produced by her organization shows that because of positive report cards, 78% of the Nashville parents who were surveyed believe their kids are reading at grade level. Meanwhile, data compiled by the state reveals that only 28.5% of students across MNPS—and only 19.6% of Black students—are.

That’s a disconnect.

Thomas cites numerous reasons for the disconnect:

No one will fight harder for a child’s right to read than their parent. But there is a belief gap about what parents are capable of. The system doesn’t believe parents have the capability to understand. There is some intentional and unintentional data-hoarding going on. The district has done a lot of good work to comply with state literacy laws — they’ve adopted great assessments that accurately measure students’ literacy progress at least three times per year, but that information is inconsistently shared with parents. They are an afterthought. What I mean by that is: Often reports are sent home via “backpack express.” The reports may or may not make it home, and if they do make it home, there is no instruction on how to read the results. Also, reports are typically not parent-facing, and report cards are not standards-based, which is why there is a massive gap in reality between grades and actual skills. That’s why our report calls this a “hidden crisis.” It’s largely hidden from parents.

Again, she ain’t wrong.

PROPEL has some recommendations as well.

They are asking that MNPS share data consistently. Parent-friendly reports on a child’s reading progress should be shared with families in multiple ways promptly after each administration. Currently, the district administers at least six evaluations a year with results posted sporadically with little to no explanation.

They are asking for a redesign of report cards, It’s not sufficient to just assign a letter grade with no comments. In defense of teachers, they have little capacity to write comments for every student based on other demands on their time. This should be rectified.

Thomas ain’t wrong, and it behooves district leaders to pay her mind.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“I’d never been one to give up on lost causes, maybe because I was one myself.”
― Abir Mukherjee, Smoke and Ashes

It’s official.

As of yesterday, I am the proud parent of two high school students. Middle school is officially in the rearview mirror.

I feel like I should wax poetic about the transition. After all, we spent five years, between two students, at the same middle school. However, all I’ve got is relief and gratitude as we draw a little closer to being done with Metro Nashville Public Schools.

Instead of inspiration, I’m left with some random thoughts.

As we navigate the kid’s school careers, I continuously find myself reflecting on words shared by a friend a few years ago. He was hyper-involved with his children’s school in their early years. After years of not seeing him, I ran into him at a local watering hole. After we’d exchanged pleasantries, I asked him if he was still as involved now that his children were older.

“Not so much”, he replied, “I just got tired. Tired of beating my head against the wall. I think that’s by design. They want you involved when the kids are young but then they just grind you down. Unless you can help raise money, they don’t really want you involved.”

I didn’t appreciate the veracity of his words at the time, but over the ensuing years, those words have continually resonated.

Middle school was a challenge for our boy. I wrote a little about it last week and was shocked by the number of respondents who voiced similar experiences.

As much as we talk about gender, we are not serving the vast majority of boys well. It seems as if we are altering the definition of masculinity instead of expanding it, but then that’s a common trap we fall into.

Middle school was a running battle from beginning to end, that often sunk into compliance being placed ahead of learning.

Throughout the years, much was framed in a make-or-break light.

“Better earn an A in this class or you won’t get into the right high school class.”

“They are not going to put up with this in high school.”

“If you don’t straighten up, you’re going to ruin your life.”

“You don’t want that grade on your transcript.”

Lost was the reality that life doesn’t travel on a direct linear path. Some years, everything is smooth, only to be followed by a year or more of turmoil. The reaction to the action is infinitely more important than the action itself. The idea that one action, positive or negative, is capable of defining your life is ludicrous but essential to producing data that justifies the role of adults.

An inordinate amount of focus is placed on grades and testing in the k-12 years. An emphasis that won’t follow students into their adult years.

Sure there will be tests for certifications and licenses, but nobody will be showing up annually to test how much growth you’ve made in the past year. Some of us quit growing the minute we graduated, and that’s our choice.

There will be no record compiling year-over-year growth, with arbitrary benchmarks you’ll be expected to hit. Nobody will be referring back to TCAP tests you took in 7th grade or your Junior year GPA.

Ultimately, like everything in life, it comes down to relationships. No amount of tweets or programs enacted by the district’s 6-figure DEI specialists can have as much impact on students as the relationships forged by teachers, but somehow the former is compensated at double the rate of the latter.

Math lessons will fade. Grammar instruction will recede. But that teacher who connected with a student will forever be a part of their life, and a voice inside their head.

Anecdotally, I’m looking at my social media feed and this year there seems to be an inordinate number of teachers transferring to new schools. It is just another sign of a profession in constant flux due to society’s inability to recognize its value.

I continue to be amazed at the amount of money we sink into social and emotional learning while failing to implement those meaningful practices into adult interactions.

As a family, we’ve been blessed, and we consider ourselves fortunate that throughout his middle school years, we found teachers who lifted him up instead of driving him down. For that, I am eternally grateful.

One of the true blessings this year was a local Church of Christ adjacent to the school. Through the efforts of the PTA president, they opened their doors early to students at no charge. Students who arrived before school were able to spend time in the church’s gym, at no cost, playing basketball and interacting with senior church members. Kids were allowed to burn excess energy and get themselves prepared for a day of schooling.

These church members became some of the students’ biggest supporters, often showing up at school events and athletic competitions. They were present during the school’s 8th grade transition ceremony, but as always you wouldn’t know it unless you knew them. They remained in the background, allowing children to be the focus.

Quietly they served as cheerleaders, confidants, and mentors for these young men and women. I am grateful.

Imagine my surprise, when I was told that once a week my son attended a bible class. We are a spiritual but not overtly religious family.

“You good with that?” I asked.

“Yeah.” he replied, “It’s not bad and they are so nice, They do a lot for us, so it doesn’t feel like a big deal.”

None of it was forced, and all of it was welcome.

On the last day of school, my son and I were talking. He’d failed a high school Integrated Math class. Not because he couldn’t do the work, but because he wouldn’t. Obviously I wasn’t happy, but struggled to keep it in perspective.

For whatever reason, he and the teacher found themselves in a year-long battle of wills, neither willing to capitulate. At times, it got very ugly.

During this week’s graduation ceremony, I noticed that the teacher sat next to him the entire time. I commented on it.

“She asked to sit there.”

“How was that?” I asked.

“Good. She talked to me the entire time.” He responded. “She’s a good person. She can’t teach me, but that doesn’t mean that she’s a bad person. She’s a good person.”

I thought about his words and smiled inwardly. In a world increasingly populated by people who can’t see past their own personal interests, his words were a welcome indication of real growth.

The ability to see past disagreements and make that kind of determination is a skill not measured by standardized testing but will serve him well as an adult.

This morning I dropped my son and six of his teammates off at the football field under the guise of getting ready for high school football which starts next week. I think the real reason was a desire for one last hurrah before leaving their middle school behind.

Those friendships and bonds are every bit as important as what they learned in the classroom.

– – –

Speaking of standardized testing, districts began receiving results this week that could determine if Tennessee’s third-graders advanced to fourth grade or must enroll in summer school to do so. But good luck finding out how many students are at risk for retention. The Tennessee Department of Education has embargoed numbers of those facing retention in third and fourth grade until June 24.

Students who don’t score proficient on TCAP, are eligible to retake the exam. The retake window opened on May 22nd, despite some schools just receiving their results.

Forth-grade students who received accommodations allowing them to advance last year are subject to retention if they don’t show adequate growth on this year’s TCAP. Their results won’t be available till mid-July.

School starts the first week in August. That means that for the entire summer, the threat of retention will be hanging over the heads of these students and their families. Nothing screams important like a failure to implement a reflective timeline.

Students who under-perform on the re-test must enroll in either tutoring or summer school to be promoted to fourth grade, Summer school, for most districts, starts in the next 2 weeks,

Here’s where that old adage, “Your failure to properly plan, should not constitute an emergency for me” comes into play.

The timeline is nothing short of a train wreck. one that fails to properly serve students, families, teachers, or schools.

Most of us have worked for companies that frequently employ a speak-it-into-existance policy. They regularly launch initiatives with little thought to the amount of work required to bring it to fruition, instead depending on staff to make it happen. That’s what is happening here.

Staffing numbers for instruction, nutrition, and transportation are generated using benchmark exams, instead of TCAP, as a means to make estimates. Key word being estimates.

“Those plans actually began to be formulated many weeks ago,” Andy True, assistant superintendent of Kingsport City Schools told WJHI. “We sit down with curriculum, transportation, nutrition directors, and school administrators. Summer school is run by associate principals and they’re working on that, really, as we go through the whole spring.”

Tennessee appears to be following a path laid by its neighbor to the west, Mississippi. One of the first states to implement a third-grade retention policy, Mississippi has pointed to the policy as a major contributor to increased literacy rates.

The evidence to support that claim remains inconclusive.

Mississippi state policy is similar to Tennessee’s where students are retained if they fail to achieve an adequate grade on the state standardized test. Like Tennessee, retakes and other “good cause exemptions” are offered to students at risk of being retained.

The number of students in Mississippi who fail the test and are retained has dropped in recent years, going from 9% of test takers in 2019 to 6.5% last school year. That translates to 2,078 kids.

That number may not be accurate though.

Grace Breazeale, a K-12 policy associate with Mississippi First, an education policy nonprofit, said that, while these numbers may be in the ballpark, she has concerns they are not completely accurate since a student could have failed the test, received a good cause exemption, and still been held back for another reason.

Tennessee, by not releasing data on the number of students at risk, seems to be creating its own smoke screen around test results.

Oh well, they’ll let us know by mid-June when we are all at the beach and not paying attention.

– – –

Per the Tennessee Firefly, officials from the Tennessee Department of Education met with lawmakers in the state’s Joint Government Operations Committee Wednesday to review rule changes governing how the department determines funding for career and technical education (CTE) programs in the state, among other topics.

Former ExcelinEd lobbyist and current TNDOE Director of Policy Jack Powers announced that he department has proposed changing the criteria used to determine direct funding levels for CTE programs under the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) Act. TISA is the recently passed school funding law.

“The goal is to make sure that programs our students are accessing are identified and tiered appropriately based on a number of different factors,” he said. “Tiering CTE programs based on high-wage, high-demand and high skill score determinations – that’s one of the main revisions we’re talking about here today.”

According to Powers, under the proposed formula, a program’s high-wage subscore, which determines what wages are earned from specific occupations, is weighted at 70 percent, while the high-demand subscore is weighted at 20 percent and the high-skill subscore is weighted at 10 percent to help determine a CTE program’s overall score to determine funding needs. A level one CTE program could be something like cosmetology or culinary arts, while a level two program could be business management or finance. Level three programs would be high-demand occupations that require more complex skill sets and pay more, such as engineering or health sciences, among others.

“These proposed revisions reflect input directly from CTE engagement groups that include members of the Tennessee General Assembly, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, Tennessee Department of Labor, secondary CTE teachers, CTE directors, state board members and other external partners,” he said. “The idea is that, as you get higher in the levels, you’re talking about occupations that have a high demand, but also lead to a high wage and require high skill as well.”

The committee voted in favor of the proposed revision, while Representatives Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), and Justin Jones (D-Nashville) voted “no” against the motion.

“I just feel like we’re discounting some of these [professions] people want to be directed to, and that concerns me a little, that everything is based on what wage they think you’re going to earn, when it doesn’t necessarily turn out that way,” Johnson said before voting against the motion.

I’m betting that heating and air technician likely falls in the level three category.

A little concerned that we are overvaluing professions based on hypothetical earnings.

Based on the proposed formula, teachers, police, firemen, EMT techs, and ministers would likely fall in the level one category since demand only accounts for 20% and complex skills 10%.

– – –

While not education-related, I can’t help but comment on Nashville Metro Council’s recent rejection of a proposed sign for his new downtown bar.

Per the Nashville Scene, Councilmembers raised concerns about implicitly endorsing Wallen’s atrocious behavior by giving their stamp of approval to a sign bearing his name.

Ok, what exactly does he think is currently going on in downtown Nashville on a nightly basis?

Lost in the argument, is who built Nashville. We like to evoke the names Jones, Cash, Jennings, Tucker, and Kristofferson as if they were bastions of virtue. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Jones once fired a loaded gun into the roof of tour bus going down the road.

In 1952 when Hank Williams Sr was booked for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct in Alexander City, Alabama. According to Chief Winfred Patterson, who was the man who arrested Hank, the singer was “more or less having DT’s (delirium tremens). He was running up and down the hall, yelling that someone was whipping old ladies and he was going to stop them.”

In 1985 Johnny Paycheck was sentenced to seven years in jail after being convicted of shooting a man at the North High Lounge in Hillsboro, Ohio. The country singer was said to have fired a .22 pistol at the man, with the bullet grazing just past the man’s head.

So Wallen is arguably just following a family tradition.

Sure, his actions are concerning and he’s fortunate that nobody was hurt as a result of his latest, but they are not unique to Nashville.

My favorite quote from the proceedings comes from Councilmember Bob Nash who was one of 30 “no” votes. Nash is a former commander for the Metro Nashville Police Department.

“My primary concern was, here we’ve got a young man throwing chairs off rooftop bars, endangering my former comrades and the public at large,” explains Nash, “and there should be consequences for that.”

He hopes the disapproval will “get Mr. Wallen to shape up a little bit” and that he thinks Jelly Roll should get a sign on Broadway instead. “That’s someone we could all support,” Nash quips.

The irony is not lost on me, Jelly Roll is following in another Nashville tradition, taking on the role of the huckster. Despite his primarily positive message, Mr. Roll still engages regularly in the activities that he warns against through his music. I’d be careful in erecting a sign that you could be forced to remove in the future.

Wallen, is much like former President Trump, the more he’s attacked, the more popular he becomes.

Wallen recently completed a three-night stand at Nissan Stadium, which resulted in millions of dollars for Nashville’s economy. It’s worth noting that Morgan Wallen is one of only a handful of artists capable of producing such a feat.

The city doesn’t have to embrace him, but they probably shouldn’t treat him like a pariah either.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“If you want to write, you can. Fear stops most people from writing, not lack of talent, whatever that is. Who am I? What right have I to speak? Who will listen to me if I do? You’re a human being, with a unique story to tell, and you have every right. If you speak with passion, many of us will listen. We need stories to live, all of us. We live by story. Yours enlarges the circle.”
― Richard Rhodes

My 14-year-old daughter had only one leg in the car before she fired off the first inquiry.

“Dada, I got a question.” She says, slipping into her seat. “Do school board members or district officials ever visit schools and talk to students.”

“”Sometimes,” I responded, trying to figure out where she was going with this. She’s my rule-following child. At least until she sniffs out a perceived slight. Then step-back.

“Which schools? Which kids?” She fires back. “Because if you are not talking to as many kids as possible, you shouldn’t be on the school board. In my opinion.”

“You should talk to all the kids and get their input. Even those who say detention shouldn’t be a thing. We know that’s not going away”, she says. “But that doesn’t mean that they don’t have good ideas. How do you represent us if you don’t talk to us? I get it, they’ll argue that they primarily represent parents, but ultimately, who do they represent?”

My son had echoed a similar sentiment. earlier in the week, during a fight over his math grades and class participation.

“You don’t know what it’s like to be in that class.” He cried. “You don’t know how I’m treated. You think you do but you don’t.”

My children’s awareness of how schools are run and the perceived lack of alignment between the needs of adults and students has been growing this year.

Earlier in the year she got in the car furious over a wellness class lesson that preached the counting of calories at every meal. She felt that such a message put young ladies at risk for future eating disorders and she was deeply concerned about the impact being made by a seemingly well-meaning but wrong approach. Her teacher was sympathetic, but he wanted to know who to talk to to raise awareness across the district.

This year she’s been frustrated by grading practices employed in response to her participation in Vanderbilt’s Science and Math program. For those of you unfamiliar, it’s a program hosted by Vanderbilt University for roughly 25 participants per high school grade. Participating students attend one-day-a-week classes at the Vanderbilt campus, away from their regular high school. They are expected to make up any work missed. It’s a challenging task, but an extremely rewarding program.

You might think that high school teachers would recognize the value of such a program. Most maybe, but a few are unwilling to make accommodations.

For example, throughout the year quizzes are given on the day they attend SMV. Instead of marking the grade book with an incomplete and only changing it to a zero after a reasonable time has passed, students are given a zero. While that zero is recognized as a placeholder, it does factor into a student’s running grade. If you are a student who takes your grades very seriously, that placeholder becomes a source of additional stress. One day of a sub-par grade is 24 hours too long in their minds, and don’t bother trying to explain to them. You’d have better luck explaining Trump’s surge in the polls to a never-Trumper, or why the ex-president should go to jail to a Trump supporter.

What’s that old saying about teaching a pig to sing?

Logically it may make sense, but emotionally it doesn’t register. You don’t know this unless you actually talk to a student.

“So why do you want to know?” I ask, picking up the conversation.

“Because our school is so great, but it has some real issues that need solving and it needs more support. The principal does a good job, but some things are out of his control.”

Nashville School of the Arts is an art school located on the old Tennessee Preparatory School Campus. It originally began as a small magnet program for arts-interested students in Pearl-Cohn High School in 1993. As time went on, NSA grew to a size warranting its own facility, which was achieved in 1996 on the former Cumberland School campus before moving to its current location a few years later. To say the facilities are lacking would be an understatement. There are numerous physical problems including rodents, broken bathroom doors, and a lack of windows, to cite a few.

The District may recognize the need for a new building and more resources, but change and progress are slow. NSA is near the top of the list for a new school building, but what that means is anyone’s guess. It could be 2 years it could be twenty years.

NSA is home to roughly 550 students, enrolled in nine separate conservatories. Students must audition for one of nine conservatories to gain admission. Roughly half of those students who audition are admitted. Some conservatories – band and visual arts for example – are more popular than others, making admission more difficult.

Transportation is another challenge. Like MNPS’s other magnet schools, there is no district transportation provided. For us, this has been a considerable challenge, costing roughly an extra $500 a month. However I must say the extra time in the car together has provided its own dividends. Still, for many families, this is an insurmountable barrier. That’s probably why only 16% of the students who attend NSA are considered economically disadvantaged.

Some see the words “art school” and assume that academics are sacrificed. You know what they say about assumptions.

Last year the school achieved a 40% success rate, outpacing the district at 21%, and the state at 38.2%. NSA is easily one of the district’s top-performing academic schools.

The school’s graduation rate is 95.2%, higher than the district at 81.6% and the state at 89.8%. Not too shabby.

Being an art school, certain other assumptions are made. Yesterday my daughter shared with me that among the city’s high schoolers, NSA is known as the “gay school”.

Hmmpf…I said. I don’t know about all of that. I do know that the culture at NSA is especially welcoming and nonjudgmental. It provided the perfect environment for my daughter to flourish, and could be equally beneficial to others, gay or not. But more is needed to preserve this school.

Unfortunately, Nashville has arrived at a point where the district doesn’t support magnet schools. Both Hume-Fogg High School and MLK High School have recently come under fire as the district tries to force students back to their zones options. In my eyes, that is a huge mistake.

Nothing wrong with the zoned options, but student needs are so diverse that it’s impossible to serve all in one school. Options must exist for those that need it. If MNPS is committed to truly serving all students it must support options outside of the normal pathways.

Looking at the number of economically disadvantaged students served by the magnets, I would think the district would make an effort to lower barriers, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. But as far as I know, it hasn’t even been studied.

Most of the money supplied to NSA is directed toward the Arts, but building on academic success should be equally important. Unfortunately, that commitment doesn’t seem to exist.

All of what I’ve shared with you is information garnered by talking with my daughter, or I should say, listening to my daughter.

If you don’t talk with students, how do you know what they need?

I’m still mulling over a teacher telling my son last week that he doesn’t know his place. That seems to be a more direct delivery of the district’s overall message – know your place, we’ll tell you what you need.

As my daughter says, “You can’t hear the needs if you don’t hear.”

Yesterday, she wrote her first letter to a school board member. Props to new board member TK Wayne for her prompt response.

In the weeks ahead, she’s planning to speak during public participation.

I advised her to practice her auctioneer speech, two minutes is hardly sufficient to express the needs of her beloved school.

I’m proud of her. Seems like one thing she inherited from her old man is a passion for public schools.

Hopefully, her words will spark some action. maybe more than the old man’s ever did.

Meanwhile, thank you to NSA principal Justin Thomas and all the teachers at NSA for a great freshman year.

Proud to be the parent of a Nashville School of the Arts student.

– – –

Any hopes for a break in the discussion surrounding vouchers have been dashed. Governor Lee and the leaders of the General Assembly have indicated they plan to pursue voucher legislation during next year’s session. Lee is telling folks that he plans to support candidates, in the upcoming election, who support voucher legislation. I’m not sure if that’s a help or a hindrance.

Voucher opponents are being drawn from all sides. You have school board members who serve affluent districts trying to preserve their exclusivity, teacher unions speaking out, while some conservatives are making a different argument.

Gary Humble, who leads the libertarian-leaning conservative group Tennessee Stands, has a different take.

He recently told The Tennessee Lookout:

“Definitely we’ll be prepared to oppose … and when I’m speaking (at events), I’m in strong opposition to vouchers. I know this isn’t going to go away, so I’m quite confident this will be the talk of the session leading into 2025 and on and on until they get something done,” Humble said this week.

Ironically Tennessee Stands grosses less annually than many of these advocacy groups pay their CEO.

Humble’s reasons aren’t necessarily a plea to preserve public education, but rather because “education and teaching regulations are “bound to follow” into private education and homeschools if state money is shifted to those schools, because “strings are always attached to tax dollars.”

In other words, let’s not have vouchers because they’ll fuck up our private and homeschool systems. Don’t bring them other kids over here, because then we’ll have to serve them.

Seems like a different version of an old hit.

TEA President Tanya Coats has weighed in, and argued that the Legislature should spend $7,000 more per student in public schools to move Tennessee out of the nation’s bottom 10 for investment.

“The only choices this program would provide are the choices for private schools to profit off Tennessee taxpayers and cherry-pick the students they want to educate,” Coats said in an association statement.

The cynic in me notes that a portion of TEA’s opposition lies in the difficulty of collecting annual dues from teachers who follow students to private schools. The union is struggling as it adjusts to a recent sate law preventing union dues from being deducted from payroll.

That said, if you are a long-term member who can’t remember if you made the switch to payroll deductions, I’d check that to make sure you did. While I don’t always support TEA leadership, the benefits of membership have great value. Both Professional Educators of Tennessee and TEA offer essential teacher protections. Don’t be caught unprepared.

A few things are becoming clearer as we move into election season.

Don’t expect a repeat of last year with its lengthy debates and discussions.

Don’t expect any bells and whistles.

Expect some committees to be repopulated. Do you know who probably won’t be on the House Education Committee? Sorry, Todd but we need your help on the monument naming committee. That’s reality.

If the votes are there the process will be fast and furious.

That’s the other key and the unknown, how do these elections turn out?

How do the elections for speaker of the House and majority leadership turn out?

I honestly don’t know. I suspect a few things, but we’ll see.

Initially, I suspected that Democrats could claw back a dozen seats, but I have reservations. I’m not sure they are challenging in the right races.

One thing is for sure, if you are serious about passing or opposing vouchers, you might want to spend less time posting on Twitter and more time knocking on doors.

What’s the saying again?

You can’t hear if you don’t hear.

– – –

Another week, and another headline for Tennessee Commissioner of Education Lizzette Reynolds.

Tuesday, Rep. Caleb Hemmer (D-Nashville) filed a complaint with the Tennessee Ethics Commission alleging that Reynolds’ out-of-state travel to conferences in October and November 2023 were paid for by ExcelinEd. The transactions amount to a violation of state laws governing gifts to executive branch employees by lobbying organizations.

“ExcelinEd is an employer of a lobbyist in Tennessee and, therefore, not allowed to pay or reimburse for out-of-state travel of an executive branch employee,” Hemmer wrote in the complaint, adding that the travel “does not meet any statutory exceptions.”

Here’s the best part, and not included in The Tennessean story, the lobbyist in question is new to their position because the previous lobbyist employed by ExcelinEd, Jack Powers, was brought over by Reynolds to serve as government relations for the Tennessee Department of Education. Not only that, Powers brought himself an assistant from ExcelinEd, Amy Owens over with him as his chief assistant. Both previously worked at the TDOE.

Ain’t that some shit?

Since The Tennessean story first broke, Reynolds has amended her state of disclosure filed with the state. Under income, she added a rental property in Austin. She also added roughly $500 in legislative expenses associated with her ExcelinEd appearances.

Executive Order 2, signed by Lee in 2019, prohibits executive employees from accepting lodging, transportation, food or anything of monetary value from any entity that “has interests that may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the employee’s official duties.”

Hmmm…

It also directs executive branch employees to avoid actions that could give the appearance of “giving preferential treatment to any person” or “losing complete independence or impartiality,” which Hemmer alleges Reynolds is guilty of doing.

Before filing, Hemmer sought the opinion of Lee’s Chief Ethics Officer Erin Merrick who told him:

“I do not provide interpretations of Executive Order No. 2 to those who are not members of the executive branch,” Merrick responded via email on May 10, according to a copy of the correspondence obtained by The Tennessean.

So there you have it.

Some people question the pursuit of Reynolds in light of her actions not being dissimilar to her predecessors. I think what’s happening is that legislators are finally waking up to practices that give non-profits more power while robbing transparency from Tennessee voters.

It seems that legislators are finally waking up and becoming aware of just how much influence outside parties wield. My hope for the last four years is that the General Assembly holds a summer study on the influence on policy held by education non-profits.

Reynolds might not have been able to help with the passage of voucher legislation, but this is something she is definitely helping with – either intentionally or unintentionally.

– – –

One quick note on some pending retirements from MNPS. Gower Elementary Principal Barbara Frazier and Shayne Principal Donna Gill will both retire at the end of the school year. Both have served with distinction, and both will be missed.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“True development does not respect comfort.”
― Tom Crewe, The New Life

The irony of Metro Nashville Public Schools honoring Jelly Roll the same week my son was being told, “he didn’t know his place” and that “He’s done” isn’t lost on me. I can confidently say, I’m pretty sure that Jelly Roll heard similar things during his time as a student at MNPS. The difference is that now he’s a multi-platinum music star and my son is a 13-year-old boy trying to figure it all out.

Last week, Jelly returned triumphantly to his sorta alma mater Antioch High School. In a Facebook post, the school said that Jelly Roll “graced us with his presence”. That’s another phrase I’m sure he heard while a student, but with a different tone.

The musician with a checkered past, who has a history of giving back to the community, was on hand to announce that the school band would be opening the upcoming 2024 CMA Fest. While there he listened to several students’ works and performed a few of his own tunes. The school called his speech to students “nothing short of inspiring”.

He was presented with a special edition Antioch High jersey and personalized items crafted by Cre8ations by Cynthia Hicks-McCall. McCall is a teacher at Antioch High School.

Jelly Roll wasn’t a student at Antioch for very long, dropping out in 9th grade due to legal challenges. By all accounts, the teenage years for the musician were difficult ones. Many hugs were shared this past week, but I wonder how many of those were shared that 9th-grade year.

School is as much about compliance as anything. Much to a student’s detriment. Yes, discipline is important, but equally important is helping students grow into themselves while retaining characteristics that will serve them well in life.

My son’s success in sports is directly tied to his willpower and relentlessness, the same traits that can make him a pain in the ass. The trick is to not remove that trait but help mitigate it.

As happens all too frequently, we run up against conflicting goals. We want students to develop skills that will serve them as adults, but we don’t want them to use those skills until they are adults. Disrespectful behavior should never be tolerated, but sometimes, simply asking, “why” is considered disrespectful.

It’s a problem that leaves many boys disenfranchised and contributes to a hatred of school. Not a great outcome.

It also sells short our intellectually gifted students. There is a misconception that gifted students are the ones who earn the best grades. Not true, often they are among the most disruptive because they are board and willing to challenge everything.

I learned early on that my son needs to be run like a border collie, or he becomes easily agitated. Frequent exercise allows him to focus and apply himself. Yet in school recess is used as a disciplinary tool. Act up and recess will be taken away, and then we act shocked when issues grow.

He also needs to understand the “why”. A practice recognized by the business world.

Simon Sinek developed the Golden Circle, a concept that advises an organization to start everything it does by first asking why: “Why does your company exist, why do you get out of bed every morning, and why should anyone care?” The Why, your purpose and beliefs, should build the center of your company – your true north. It guides the actions that are expressed in How you do your business – your business practices and processes. Finally, your products and services – What your company offers – form the tangible version of your Why.

Sinek argues that “there are only two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it or you can inspire it”.

In defense of teachers, sometimes manipulation is the only alternative, because of a lack of support from their administration and a lack of capacity provided by an ever-increasing workload. Too much time is dedicated to adult mandates, as opposed to serving the needs of children.

The skills that allowed Jelly Roll to rise above his teenage years and succeed at the highest level, were present when he was a student. They didn’t suddenly emerge during his prison stints.

When it comes to boys, the goal in school is often to eradicate those skills and traits in the name of compliance, instead of providing tools to harness them in pursuit of excellence. I’m left trying to persuade against suspension with 10 days left in the school year for an offense that doesn’t include drugs, violence, theft, or cheating.

But how about that Jelly Roll, we sure are proud of him.

Perhaps, if we’d shown that pride prior to him dropping out, he would have reached the same destination but on a different path.

We are all familiar with the popular meme of, “Well-Behaved Woman Rarely Make History”, somehow the same doesn’t apply to young men.

Before moving on, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the many teachers who have been champions for my son, more then one of you.

To them, I deliver a heartfelt thank you. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated.

– – –

This weekend saw a flurry of press stories about districts bracing for teacher layoffs.

According to a CNN report, “Schools across the country are announcing teacher and staff layoffs as districts brace for the end of a pandemic aid package that delivered the largest one-time federal investment in K-12 education.”

This is a bit of a puzzle for me.

Yes, the emergency funds made available by the Federal Government in response to COVID are sunsetting. Districts will definitely see a drop in funding, but they were given adequate time to prepare.

Furthermore, I’m a little confused about why this would impact teachers. From the onset, districts were instructed that funds should not be used for hiring personnel. Yet, here we are.

In response to the COVID pandemic, in 2020 Congress authorized three rounds of federal funding to help K-12 schools navigate unprecedented events.

Initially, school districts used that money to reopen school buildings by buying masks and cleaning supplies and upgrading HVAC systems. The last and largest round of funding, approved in 2021, required districts to spend at least 20% of the money to address learning loss – which could have included tutoring programs, summer school, or extended school days.

Districts were given more than three years to spend the third round of money, with few other restrictions. It was largely up to local school boards to decide how to spend the funds on a broad range of pandemic-related needs, and they could choose to hire new teachers and staff even though they knew the funding would eventually dry up.

There was a requirement for districts to report how they spent the money, but due to a lack of clarity with those reports, it’s hard to discern how many teachers were hired with the funds.

A new report from CALDER, an education research center, that looked at Washington state found that roughly 12,000 positions, including more than 5,000 classroom teachers, were created with federal funding.

That’s a lot of teachers.

Ironically, the drop-off in funds comes at the same time as districts are continuing to lose students.

This one will bear watching.

– – –

Tennessee Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds continues to draw the wrong kind of attention, and it becomes more and more difficult for me to not say, “I told you so.”

An article written by Vivian Jones for The Tennessean reveals, “Reynolds has maintained ties with her former employer since joining state government, meeting four times with ExcelinEd during six weeks in January and February ― more than any other nongovernmental stakeholder.”

Also at the top of her meeting list was the ed reform group, State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE). This is interesting because the organization took a much lower profile this year in response to increased criticism by state legislators.

SCORE, which supports choice policies, was opposed to the House version of the voucher bill due to concerns that it would lower testing requirements. SCORE uses those tests results to spur investment and justify their existence.

Whoops! Did I say that aloud? Better put my filters in.

SCORE uses that data to ensure that all students are receiving the services they deserve. Better?

Jones is an excellent reporter, but there are some areas I’d push back on.

Jones writes:

“Lee tapped Reynolds last year and the commissioner has said she was drawn to Tennessee because the Lee administration’s education priorities mirrored the policies backed by ExcelinEd, a Florida-based national education advocacy group founded by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.”

None of this holds water. Reynolds is affiliated with a cluster of organizations founded by Jeb Bush that are responsible for the last three education commissioners. ExcellinED, and its sister organization Chiefs for Change, have enjoyed unfettered access and influence in Tennessee for over a decade. I would argue that Lee’s policies less mirror ExcelinEd’s policies than they are delivered by Jeb Bush and his cronies.

The idea that a 60-year-old woman with no previous ambitions to be a state education commissioner would suddenly take a pay cut to move away from her family to a state she’s unfamiliar with for a temporary job in a lame-duck administration, is a bit ludicrous.

She’s taking one for the team.

My belief is that Jeb told her that she needs to get herself to Tennessee where the opportunities are ripe for the taking. Talk about misreading the room.

Furthermore, it would not shock me if the non-profit got Lee to raise the commissioner’s salary to 255K – her predecessor made $220K – to get closer to matching the $264 she made serving the former Florida Governor. Maybe even subsidizing any differences.

The Tennessean reports that, Reynolds and a top adviser attended two out-of-state events in Indianapolis and Atlanta last year with most expenses paid by ExcelinEd. The non-profit also covered travel and lodging expenses, along with meals, to Indianapolis in October for ExcelinEd’s summit on college and career pathways.

Reynolds’ former Chief of Staff Chelsea Crawford, who recently left the department, also presented on education-to-workforce pathways at the national Summit, with expenses paid by ExcelinEd. Crawford also attended the Indianapolis event, with expenses paid by the state.

The paid expenses could be considered compensation, but Reynolds doesn’t list ExcelinEd on her Tennessee Statement of Disclosure of Interests. I’m getting a sense that paperwork just ain’t her thing.

Earlier in the year, the Commissioner raised eyebrows when it was revealed that twice within the first six months of her employment with the state, Tennessee Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds signed forms certifying she had been a state employee for more than six months as she sought a tuition waiver for classes at the University of Tennessee at Martin, She has since paid those funds, but questions remain.

The classes were in response to critics raising questions about her qualifications for the job since she does not hold a Tennessee educator’s license. State law requires the education commissioner to be “qualified to teach in the school of the highest standing over which the commissioner has authority” and have experience in school administration.

I can’t help but wonder how “drawn to” Tennessee Reynolds remains, but so far this is looking a whole lot like the Penny Schwinn Story Part 2. Who, by the way, has got Florida parents in an uproar over proposed changes to a university-affiliated charter school.

Gotta love these change agents.

A great statement for the next Governor would be a public pledge to not appoint an education commissioner affiliated with any Jeb Bush think tank or non-profit.

– – –

It’s third-grade retention time in Tennessee. Tennessee law requires that all third-graders who fail to score “meets standards” on TCAP must be retained unless they meet certain criteria. It also requires that those who gain promotion via tutoring or summer school must show adequate growth on the fourth-grade TCAP or be retained.

This year a bill was passed at the end of the session that made changes to the law that would allow more input from parents and schools before a fourth-grade student is retained.

“What this bill allows is for students to not just face automatic retention,” explained Knox County School’s executive director of learning and literacy, Dr. Erin Phillips, “but for them to have a conference with their principal, their current ELA teacher, and a parent or a legal guardian, to decide if the right course of action is to promote that student to fifth grade with year-long tutoring, or retain that student and have that student repeat the fourth grade.”

That bill, despite all the celebration, still sits on Governor Lee’s desk awaiting his signature so it can become law. The bill passed on April 28th and the Governor has 10 days to either veto the bill, sign it, or allow it to become law without his signature.

More concerning is the published timeline. Third-graders are expected to receive their results on May 20th. Adequate growth data for fourth-graders will be released by July 1.

The former is less than optimal, while the latter is simply unacceptable. Imagine being the parent of an at-risk fourth-grader and not knowing where your child will go to school before July. How are districts expected to plan, when they don’t know until July, or later?

The State Education Department does not list a retention decision deadline for parents and schools considering whether to promote or hold back fourth graders affected by the reading law.

Final third-grade retention decisions will be made in June and July for students who do not participate in summer programming and by July 12 for those who do.

– – –

It’s cutting time for MNPS principals. Typically the district loses on average 20 principals a year. To date, the number was around 8 retiring Elementary school principals. The loss of a high school principal brought it up one more.

Last week word went out to Hillsboro parents that the district was searching for a replacement for the 9-year veteran Dr. Shuler Pelham. Before arriving at Hillsboro, he led John Overton High School, the most diverse school in the state, for seven years. Pelham never quite achieved the level of success at Hillsboro that he achieved at Overton, where he was beloved.

While he definitely had his detractors, personally I liked the man.

Hillsboro is arguably the highest-performing zoned school in the district. It’ll be interesting who Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle turns to for school leadership.

To date an official reason for the action has not been provided. The move is similar to last year when Cane Ridge High School’s principal Michel Sanchez was replaced by Deante Alexander.

That move was troubling. Sanches was well respected and one of only two Hispanic principals leading schools.

Despite now making up 32% of the MNPS student body, Hispanics hold only two school leadership positions.

The district, long an advocate of the importance of having educators resemble the student body, has failed to fully address the lack of diversity in district leadership roles. They district has substantially increased their number of Black principals, but that shouldn’t be viewed as adequate..

When I raised the lack of consideration for true diversity with an MNPS school board member on X, she responded:

I’m NEVER surprised at the notion a mediocre white guy thinks he can try to gaslight a Muslim woman on DEI & feel like you’ve silenced me or put me in my place?! The audacity is real…. But keep doing you! Obviously, you haven’t been paying attention…”

An interesting response considering that I am a parent with a student in the system. More concerning is that it facilitates an idea that only certain people are capable of engaging in meaningful conversations about diversity and equity. That some voices have more value than others. Something I wholeheartedly reject.

Equity does not mean finding a new demographic to marginalize, it means engaging voices at an equal level. Something MNPS continually refuses to do.

It is not an unreasonable request that the district hire more principals of Hispanic descent, more Muslim principals would also greatly increase diversity.

– – –

Prayers go out to Rutherford County Schools Director James “Jimmy” Sullivan. Sullivan’s 10-year-old son Asher was sucked into a storm drain and swept under neighborhood streets after storms ravaged Middle Tennessee last week.

Despite the heroic efforts of doctors, the prognosis remains dire.

“MRI shows part of the brain herniating into his brain stem, and severe damage to just about all areas of his brain,” Sullivan said. “Despite what we are seeing with Asher each moment, we still were hoping against all odds. Unfortunately, the worst-case scenario seemed to have come true.”

There are no words to express the difficulty and impact of this situation, only grief and empathy.

Tragedy strikes the best people with the most random challenges.

treasure every day.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“But you must live your own life eventually. You have one chance only.”
― Sebastian Faulks, Birdsong

Going to kick the morning off with a little good news. Actually, a little great news.

I know. I know. It’s not the normal modus operandi around here, but when it’s good – it is good.

This week, Vanderbilt University and Metro Nashville Public Schools announced a new partnership that will offer full-ride scholarships to MMNPS students who fall under certain financial restrictions, and meet the required academic standards. The scholarships will be available starting with those applying for the 2025 fall semester.

The scholarship program, Nashville Vanderbilt Scholars, will cover direct costs at the University, including tuition, fees, housing, and meals. Also included is a one-time $6,000 summer stipend following a student’s second or third year at the university to help offset the costs of doing a summer internship.

The scholarships are not part of a completion, nor are they directed at a specific demographic. They are available to every student who qualifies.

To qualify, a student must do two things.

Gain admission to Vanderbilt through its Early Decision I or II plans
Qualify for a Federal Pell Grant or have a parent income of $100,000 or less.

Now, granted the first isn’t easy. Only MNPS’s highest achievers will be able to meet the rigorous requirements, but for those who do, this is a game changer. It ensures they will have an opportunity to reach their full potential.

Hats off to all involved.

– – –

As previously mentioned, despite the passage of the bill, urban school districts are still protesting the law that would allow select teachers to carry guns while on campus. Knoxville’s School Board is the latest to take up proposed resolutions to publicly announce their opposition.

The law came about out of recognition that many of Tennessee’s smaller rural school districts struggle to employ security resource officers. Most of us would be surprised at the number of school districts in Tennessee that serve less than 2000 kids. Many of these districts employ teachers who are both ex-military and ex-law enforcement. The law was seen as an imperfect way to provide a measure of security to students in districts that can’t find SROs.

It gets lost in the conversation that in rural districts many kids start hunting at an early age, so exposure to firearms is the norm and not the exception, unlike in an urban environment. Rural children are often taught at home to respect guns while enjoying them as a tool. Guns, for good or bad, are seeped into the culture. Urban dwellers have a hard time understanding just how prevalent they are.

I grew up in a rural school district and entered the woods with a gun in my early teens. I know it was many years ago, and a different time, but it was not uncommon to see a pick-up truck parked in the school parking lot with a rifle in the gun rack. To my recall, not a single student ever got shot at school.

While this is not a bill I support, I can understand why some may consider it an option. Furthermore, I trust people in their communities to protect and serve each other.

At next week’s meeting, the KCS Board will consider two resolutions – one from a Democrat and one from a Republican – that will signify the board’s belief that the police officers in every Knoxville school are a better option than armed teachers.

The two resolutions reflect a different philosophical mindset about the primary reason to entrust security at Knox County Schools to police, not civilians.

One from Kristi Kristy, a Republican who represents South Knoxville, reiterates that school security officers are the best deterrent.

One from Katherine Bike, a Democrat who represents the neighborhoods west of downtown Knoxville, explicitly says the board “commits to not arm teachers and staff.”

I agree, and luckily the Knoxville district can hire SROs. Not everybody can follow suit.

Twitter, or X if you prefer, is filled with critics of the law demanding a list of districts declining the opportunity to arm select teachers. To what an end.

None of the public statements are binding. There is nothing to prevent a district from issuing a public statement in opposition, while quietly approving a select number of applications.

Again, it is important to remember, not every law is for everyone. Some laws are designed to provide opportunities for select people while allowing others to do what they believe is best.

I applaud the districts that are privately choosing not to approve applications for teachers to carry. But I don’t condemn those that choose otherwise.

It is possible to hold two ideas simultaneously.

– – –

If you reflect on last Summer when the Tennessee Department was holding its state-wide listening tour on changes to school A-F grades, you’ll remember that Chief of Staff Chelsea Crawford led the meetings. It was puzzling because Crawford had no experience in education, and Tennessee had a new Commissioner of Education, Lizzy Reynolds.

Well, that puzzle has been cleared up a little bit, as it’s been announced that Crawford is heading out the door to become Executive Director of TennesseeCan.

The press release accompanying the announcement of Crawford’s appointment refers to her as “The Energizer” and touts her more than four years as chief of staff at the Tennessee Department of Education, where she led the commissioner’s office under two commissioners and through the COVID-19 pandemic. Her role spanned overseeing the communications, stakeholder engagement, policy and legislative affairs, and performance and evaluation teams. Her leadership contributed to the passage and implementation of several key administration bills, including early literacy, learning loss interventions, tutoring, and funding reform policies that are positively changing the trajectory for Tennessee’s students.

Ironically, the press release inadvertently lays out Crawford’s qualifications for leading education policy discussions, “Before joining the department in 2020, Chelsea spent 10 years in the private sector, including serving as vice president for a public affairs firm that supported corporate, government, political, and non-profit clients.”

Crawford will be replacing former Executive Director Andi Shaw. Shaw was proceeded by Blake Easley who led the organization from 2016 -2018 before becoming a member of Governor Lee’s cabinet.

Easley has recently hung out his shingle as a consultant and is currently advising candidates across the state running for office.

TennesseeCan has long been a proponent of expanded school choice and vouchers as a means to that goal.

– – –

Been a while since we heard from our Tennessee California transplant who’s been working in Florida while living in the Volunteer State. Fear not, she unleashed a new round of her patented disruption.

This week Penny Schwinn turned her affections towards the University of Florida’s PK Yonge Developmental Research School. The school serves students in kindergarten through 12th grade with a mission to “design, test, and disseminate innovations in education through serving a diverse K-12 community.”

The school currently has a total of 1,350 students, 520 in high school, 450 in middle school, and 380 in elementary school. Of all students, 42% are white, 24% are Black, 23% are Hispanic, 6% are multiracial, 4% are Asian or Pacific islander, and 1% are American Indian/Alaskan Native. It also has multiple types of learners such as gifted students and those with individualized education programs.

That student population is representative of Florida’s racial and income demographics — something it prides itself on as a research and innovation school for Florida. But change may be afoot after Schwinn’s proposal for a selective admission system at the high school.

PK Yonge’s high school is currently #38 in Florida, Schwinn voiced a goal to bump them into the top 10. In making her argument, she pointed out that 35 of the 37 schools ranked above PK Yonge have selective admission (minus two traditional public schools in high-income areas.

“If we are thinking about PK Yonge being a top 10 high school in the state of Florida, it would require selective admissions,” Schwinn said. “There really isn’t a pathway at this point to have the admissions process that we’ve had to date without moving into a selective model, because every school essentially above us has a selective model.”

That would require admissions limitations at PK Yonge. The school currently operates as all public schools do and admits students as they come, regardless of grade level.

“If you are bringing in a student at fourth grade, and that student is two grade levels behind, that is a different type of work than if you have a selective admissions process where you are saying you have to hit certain benchmarks in order to be admitted into the school,” Schwinn said.

The former state commissioner presented three options to consider to pave the path to a top 10: dual programs, reflective K-8 and exclusive high school or to maintain structure and improve. With the current model, she said, maintaining and improving is not realistic because PK Yonge doesn’t have selective admissions like the schools ranked above it.

Danaya Wright, a UF trustee, voiced concerns about PK Yonge becoming a selective high school because “if we really want to save public schools, we have to save it for everybody at the top and the bottom.”

University President Ben Sasse seems to be on point with Schwann’s initiative. He clarified that talks are around future students and not those currently enrolled.

“We’re not talking about any change for anybody who’s already in 9 to 12,” Sasse said. “The debate we’re having is, do folks who are not on a UF track learn that news between senior year in high school and freshman year in college, or might they learn that news between 8th and 9th grade? We’re not making any decisions today, but the question before us will be about whether or not that selectivity moment moves four years earlier, but this isn’t going to affect anybody who’s today in grades 9 to 12.”

We’ll see how this turns out.

– – –

Unlike Nancy E. Baily and other education policy advocates, I don’t believe that teacher shortages are due to manipulation or simply a ploy. They are real and are the natural outcome of a decade of bad policy that focuses on recruitment over retention. This week she writes,

“School districts around the country are describing hundreds of classrooms they can’t seem to fill with qualified teachers. This has been a manipulated ploy to get rid of veteran teachers and employ alternative, revolving door unqualified teachers who will settle for smaller salaries.”

There is only problem with that hypothesis, those inexperienced teachers are quitting at an even faster rate. Once it was considered unprofessional to quit in the middle of the school year, now it’s tough to even get a two-week notice.

Baily and others put forth the argument that there is a wealth of qualified teachers sitting on the sideline waiting for the salaries to become lucrative enough to warrant re-entry into the workforce. I disagree. Those people have moved on and started new careers, maybe not the ones they envisioned, but ones that’ll allow them to support their families and retain their sanity. The latter being the key component.

The writer has compiled a list of root causes for the crisis in teacher staffing. While I may disagree with parts of the diagnosis, she’s done an expemplary job of collecting symptoms:

Lack of control. Teachers are told what and how to teach without being given input. Many schools have signed on to draconian reforms in structured teaching that ignores the needs of the developing student.
High-Stakes Testing. Teachers understand that high-stakes testing is bad for children. They don’t want to be a part of it. They also don’t want their teaching judged by it.
A Limited Curriculum. The curriculum is too narrow. Many teachers (e.g. art and music) have not been hired for years.
Large class sizes. The research is clear that lowering class size especially in k-3rd grade helps students. So why aren’t they working harder to do this?
Non-supportive school administrators. This could be the school principal or school district administrators who look down on teachers and do as they are told by the outside corporate school reformers. Many of these individuals aren’t even educators!
The loss of a good library. Many schools no longer have libraries, and if they do, they are often inadequate. Yet, we know that good school libraries improve test scores and help children thrive.
The loss of support staff. Many school counselors are now relegated to mundane tasks having to do with testing and data collection instead of helping troubled students. A good school relies on a variety of support staff—school psychologists, librarians/media specialists, nurses, school counselors and more.
Data Collection. Teachers who care about teaching find micromanaging useless school data on a child maddening.
Common Core State Standards (CCSS). These un-scientific standards were foisted on all teachers and students removing a teacher’s decision-making power. Many teachers distrust CCSS. The Common Core State Standards are such a volatile issue, it was reported yesterday, that WikiLeaks caught the DNC warning they should not be mentioned in the campaign–calling CCSS a “political third rail.” (A third rail is the electrified rail on a subway). HERE. Donald Trump also seems to be dropping the discussion of Common Core.
Standards in general. The high emphasis on standards started with No Child Left Behind, even earlier, and has done nothing to improve schools.
Lousy school conditions and poor teaching resources.
Lacking respect. All of the above lead to a pervasive disrespect of teachers that lacks professionalism.
Disregard for poverty and a child’s difficulties outside of school. Teachers are caring individuals. They recognize problematic outside circumstances that affect how students learn.
Lacking special education and ELL support for general education teachers.
Professional development that is uninspiring.
An Overemphasis on digital instruction. Teachers are slowly being replaced by competency-based, personalized, individualized–online instruction.

It’s hard to disagree with any of them, and most are correctable.

– – –

Last night kicked off three nights at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium for Morgan Wallen. This morning,

This morning, The Tennessean published a review of the first show by writer Marcus K. Dowling. Even a perfunctory read, reveals that Dowling ain’t comfortable with Mr. Wallen.

The opening paragraphs read:

Morgan Wallen’s first of three scheduled nights headlining at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium felt like another in a series of inflection points in country music’s ongoing pop-culture evolution.

The Billboard chart-topping artist walked out to the strains of his 2022 Lil Durk collaboration “Broadway Girls,” and played COVID-19 quarantine era breakout anthems “Heartless” and “Wasted on You.” Among the evening’s final trio of songs, he performed his 2023-released mega-anthem “Last Night.” However, the evening marked an even more symbolic occurrence for Music City’s audience.

I’m not even sure what that means and is likeliest described as a word salad. But I’d argue it’s a little more.

Dowling writes:

Five minutes into assuming the stage, it was an easy-to-determine fact that the best pure performance of his set is still when he covers Jason Isbell’s “Cover Me Up.”

It’s almost as if his boom arrived via soul songs and trap bangers while, as a person, he was falling in love with the idea that, when they connect, looking people in the eyes and telling tales as songs about your childhood and family has been — for many who have interacted with the art of making music during country music’s century-long existence — actually the most fun thing in the world.

Wallen looking as though he’s curiously poking at a piano while playing “Sand In My Boots” or physically leaning into his guitar to convey the authentic strength of the work of female songwriters via “Thought You Should Know” — a Nicolle Galyon, Miranda Lambert and Wallen co-written homage to honest, down-home conversations swaddled in a mother’s knowing glare and caring love — or Jessie Jo Dillon’s “Lies, Lies, Lies” (an ode to lying to one’s self about a breakup’s emotional impact) humanizes him beyond notoriety in a way that for many, if not yet all, in the crowd, yet, are more than endeared to.

In a night when country’s mainstream expansion was caught in an awkward evolutionary moment, snapshots into Wallen’s soul like these deserve a deeper, earnest revisiting via marketing dollars and radio-ready appeal once the Beyoncé, Lana Del Ray, Post Malone, and Kacey Musgraves fervor dies down.

In other words, Dowling is arguing that Wallen should be following the lead of other more palpable artists instead of the desires of his fans who allow him to sell out three consecutive nights at a football something. A feat that, outside of Beyonce, none of the aforementioned artists are even hypothetically capable of.

Dowling’s statements and his article shed light on why there is a divisive debate over whether Beyonce’s new album is country or not. I’m betting that the majority of those in attendance enjoy Beyonce’s new recording, what they balk at is people telling them what they should listen to and how one thing they like is better than the other. We’ve been doing it for centuries with books, it is only a natural extension to music. That’s the root of the whole debate.

The message delivered via The Tennessean is “You can listen to country music, but instead of the Wallens. Aldeans, and Zimmermans of the world, you should turn to Beyonce and Isbell.” That’s what gets rejected,

Rightfully so, imagine if I told Dowling that Rap was cool but the best of the genre was the Beastie Boys and Yelawolf. Bet I’d get some push back.

Personally, I’m a Wallen fan. As Dowling does note, “Calling any pop hit that Wallen’s had in roughly the past decade anything less than a hyper-magnetic earworm is a slap in the face to any musician, producer, songwriter, or studio engineer who has touched his work.”

Interestingly, he fails to credit the artist in that equation.

In closing, The Tennessean writer offers:

In that regard, lining up, knocking back, and filling up whiskey glasses to hide the truth feels less like a lyric and more like the law of the land.

We’re potentially blinder than ever before, but we’re simultaneously stumbling forth, daunted, but dared by our resolve to achieve a best, if perhaps not yet unified, vision of reality.

That might be one of the most discriminating things I’ve ever read, and Dowling’s dislike of Wallen clearly extends to his fans.

Shame, because last night I met some of the nicest people outside the show. They were kind, and considerate, and seemed to have a firm grasp on reality.

Marcus K. Dowling, on the other hand, probably needs to get out a little more.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“That is my problem with life, I rush through it, like I’m being chased. Even things whose whole point is slowness, like drinking relaxing tea. When I drink relaxing tea I suck it down as if I’m in a contest for who can drink relaxing tea the quickest.”
― Miranda July

We were in the driveway last night – me sitting on the wall to the side, him shooting at the hoop anchored in front of the house – when he made his pronouncement.

“I’m telling you right now, I’m not taking another EOC math exam. If they try to make me, I’m just getting up and “walking out of class. So you better be ready to pick me up.” He said as he let loose with a mid-range shot. “I’ve done my part. I took the test seriously, and I studied. I’m not retaking a test that I think I did pretty well on just because you can’t get it graded in time for it to be included in my grade. That is not a me problem, Sounds like a you problem.”

He’s a 13-year-old eighth grader taking a high school credit course in math. State law requires that if the results are returned before report cards are printed, they count as a percentage of his final grade. It hasn’t been a great year for math. His teacher and he have engaged in a continual battle of wills. Both are equally at blame for how things have unfolded, but neither is willing to concede ground. Ultimately since he’s the 13-year-old, he’ll assume the cost.

“You think I’m kidding.” He says, “But I’m not. I’ve had 5 tests in the last month and I’m done. You tell me testing is done, and then because you can’t do your job, I’m expected to take another. I upheld my end of the bargain, now it’s time for them to uphold theirs.”

I try to choose the words in my response carefully. He’s not wrong, but he’s certainly not helping himself. Earlier in the day I’d gotten a call from one of his teachers telling me that he’d scored exceptionally well on his math I-Ready test, so it wasn’t a matter of capability.

“It’s not quite that easy.” I slowly start. “These tests can shape the opportunities available to you going forward. Don’t do well and they close doors on you. You don’t want to lose out on potential opportunities because you got stubborn.”

“I don’t care.” He angrily responds, “The whole thing is stupid. They repeatedly test you and act as if they are all important. If you have five different results, how does that tell you anything? Just like they get tired, I get tired. I want to be left alone, just like they want to be left alone.”

He throws up a 15-footer before continuing, “They give TCAP first thing in the morning when I’m already tired and if you finish early you get to lay your head down and literally sleep because you can’t do anything else. So an extra hour of sleep – sign me up all day.”

I’ve raised both my kids to not fight unnecessary battles. However, qualifying those battles is left to them, as long as they are willing to pay the associated costs.

Today is a test of my policy.

As an adult, I can see how this battle will end, and I tell him. “I’m not saying you are wrong, but I am saying, ultimately you’ll lose this fight.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll have to live with the grade and perhaps repeat the course. It also may limit what courses are available for you in the future. It’ll be hard to get into advanced academic classes.” I explain.

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it”

“What do you mean?”

“If I take easier classes, it means easier high grades.” He explains, “Leaves me more time for other things, right?”

“No, Let me put it this way.” I respond, “Look at it like travel ball. The Knights are probably the best organization, right? With Select close behind. The Orioles are considered the worst organization, right?”

“Yeah”

“Part of the reason you play travel ball is because it is a path to Division 1 ball. Playing for the Knights or Select gives you a better shot at playing Division 1 than playing for the Orioles, agreed?”

“Yeah”

“If you don’t do well at tryouts, will you play for the Knights or Select?”

“No”

“So you are stuck playing for the Orioles. Do you want to play for the Orioles, which I’m sure would be a lot easier and you’d be the best player, or do you want to play for Select?”

“Select”

“Same holds true for academics.” I tell him,” You can’t see it right now, but the classes you take and how you perform determines whether you play in Division 1, community college, or your playing career ends with high school. It’s about providing the best opportunities to make your dreams come true. You still want to play D-1, right?”

“Of course. But, I’m taking a year off before college if I don’t go D-1 after high school. He retorts.

“That’s another fight for another day. But this is all part of the process.”

“Dr. C says I’m so smart but I constantly focus it in the wrong direction,” he says while laying the ball on the rim.

“When did he say that?”

“Today when he pulled me out of math class to talk to me. Mrs. G was trying to make me sit in a certain seat after I’d already been moved 4 times and I wasn’t doing anything. I said I wasn’t going to move again. I was sitting in the seat right behind the one she was trying to make me sit in.”

Dribbling around the driveway, he added, “I wasn’t going to get into it with her. So I was like, can you please not talk to me anymore and just let me take my test? That’s when she went and got Dr. C.”

“What else did he say?”

“Just that I was very smart but continually used that intelligence to make trouble. I’m not trying to but, I not going to do something just because you tell me to do something if you never listen to me.’

“Unfortunately, that’s a large part of adulthood.”

“I never get in trouble in Ms J or Mr. N’s class, and they’ll get on me and push, but not relentlessly without ever listening to me. Mrs J always says she has no problems with me and that when she says it’s time to get serious, I get serious. It is because she explains why we are doing things and considers my thoughts sometimes.”

“I’ve always said that the hills you die on are the ones that you decide to die on. My job is to help you discern the important from the unimportant. Ultimately you are the one that bears the cost of those decisions. Not me and not your teachers.” I respond,

“What do mean. Don’t they get in trouble if I fail or do not take the test?”

“Nah, not unless three-quarters of the class fail and then it depends. In math, and some other subjects, it’s hard to find teachers, so they’ll almost always pick the teacher over the student.” I tell him. “Sorry bud. Reality is tough. I told you this was a losing fight. When’s the test?”

“I don’t know but, be prepared to pick me up.”

“That serious about it?”

“That serious about it.” He says, putting up a 20-footer that turns out to be all net.

He’s not towing the party line, but he’s not wrong. However, I’d argue we are.

Standardized end-of-the-year testing is a canard. It doesn’t give us information that can be applied to teaching, no matter how much we pretend.

The tests are made up of items that we expect to me memorized when modern technology allows them to be looked up with ease,

Forget a formula. Look it up.

Forget a grammar rule, look it up.

As a manager, I’ve frequently told those I supervise to not rely on their memory, if there is a doubt look it up.

These kids today are tested way too much, on material that we’ll be readily available in the future, to justify adults’ existence, and they see right through our bullshit.

They know what this is all about – adults making other adults feel justified. Justified in criticizing, justified in supporting.

We do so while using compromised data. We assume that kids taking tests attach an iota of importance to these tests that we do. As if the conversation in my household is an outlier.

Some do, but many reject them.

I’ve got one of the former as well. I couldn’t be prouder of my daughter who works diligently on her grades and takes every test seriously. She often earns the highest of accolades, that of being considered a “good student”.

But even she complains about the volume of tests they are subjected to and the lack of connectivity to the real world.

It’s like running a three-card monty when everyone can see the sleight of hand.

Instead of admitting it, and adjusting so we can actually serve all kids, we put on a serious face and say dumb things like, “Don’t take this seriously and you are going to ruin your future” or “You are too young to understand how important this is.”

Most everybody who knows anything about education, knows we test too much, and they also concede that we measure the wrong things and tests don’t tell us what we claim they do. So why do we continue to proceed as if the mark remains unaware of the con?

We had a chance last session, to do something about our testing policies, but we were unwilling to compromise on our hatred for vouchers. So instead, we chose to not limit something that definitely harms kids, in favor of preserving a system that doesn’t serve every kid.

I’ll never be able to align that in my head, and it’ll be a source of anger for a long time.

But today we are not talking vouchers. Well. not a lot about them.

ironically, most education non-profits were silent on the voucher issue, until they became concerned that the House version limiting testing might be enticing enough to pass. More than vouchers, they were concerned that a reduction in testing might actually occur. Fiscally, they couldn’t let that happen. It’s a fundraising tool.

The Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) regularly receives multi-million dollar grants from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Just last May they picked up a million dollars for “operational support”.

How do you justify that investment without tests?

How do you instill the impetus to increase investment without student testing?

How do you justify your existence without a measuring stick that supplies the words for your narrative?

You can’t, and you don’t. Instead, you through your considerable weight behind lobbying to make sure that the state maintains the same policies even as they are repeatedly shown to be ineffectual.

But it doesn’t stop with testing.

SCORE recently released a brief highlighting the challenges of small rural districts securing high-quality teachers. No secret – it’s difficult.

According to their findings:

Over 80 percent of rural district leaders in our sample do not believe Tennessee’s teacher pipeline is producing enough effective educators.
Over 75 percent of rural district leaders in our sample do not believe their district has access to the number of effective educators it needs to support students.
Nearly 70 percent of rural district leaders in our sample do not believe that Tennessee has strong policies and strategies in place to support the teaching pipeline.

ironically, there were provisions in the House voucher bill – lower teacher benefit costs, more funding for rural districts, fewer teacher evaluations – that would have helped with all of this. But we never even talked about this because we were so blinded by voucher rhetoric.

Since the voucher bill died, have we pivoted at all? Have we gone from being anti-vouchers to pro-policy that benefits ALL kids and teachers?

Nope. We are too busy doing victory dances and shoring up defenses for the next voucher battle – posting memes about people wanting to “destroy public education”.

Quite possibly one of the stupidest statements I’ve ever heard.

Are you aware of the billions of dollars that flow through public education?

In Tennessee, it’s just under $9 billion.

Think about it, if you destroy public education, all of that money gets redistributed.

That happens, and all of the curriculum companies, testing companies, tutoring companies, consultants, technology companies, and education non-profits, not to mention those that use schools as a source for tax write-offs, are left scrambling to find a new revenue stream.

We are not talking about poor people here, we are talking about companies and entities where CEOs are making mid to high six-figure salaries. Not to mention the superintendents and their cabinets who have their own six-figure salaries to protect.

The idea that anyone is going to allow the golden goose be destroyed is ludicrous.

What we actually have, is a situation where one group of millionaires wants a cut of the money the other millionaires have, and they don’t want to give it up.

The Science of Reading is a prime example of what I’m talking about.

Is there anything new in it?

Is it even Science?

However, there is no denying that it is a revenue generator. It is also an effective way for new publishers, like Amplify and Great Minds, to get a chunk of the budget that has previously been claimed by traditional publishers.

Those districts, who’ve long been using low-quality curricula, are now forced to reinvest in high-quality curricula. Let’s not forget the accompanying investment in training.

I guess if I was being honest with the boy, I’d explain to him that the tests are important because they keep the money flowing. Get between a man and his money, you are looking for a world of hurt.

It’s a fight you’ll rarely win unless you have more money.

We don’t.

He won’t.

And neither will the other Tennessee children.

At least until we change our priorities.

– – –

Despite the bill being signed by Governor Lee, the arguments against a new law allowing teachers to carry a gun in school continues unabated.

A new article in the Tennessean asks experts if arming teachers makes schools safer. Per the article, the jury is still out on that one.

The article is fine, but I do have to cite one passage, as it gives insight into public opinion of what teachers do.

Mo Canady, is the executive director for the National Association of School Resource Officers. He was a police officer for 25 years before taking on his current role in 2011. Nearly half his time on the force was spent overseeing local SRO programs in Hoover, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham.

Canady acknowledges that law enforcement is in a recruiting crisis.

When asked if he thinks the 40 hours of basic training required under the law is enough for teachers and staff to carry guns in schools, his answer was simple: “Absolutely not.”

He goes on to tell the reporter, that the basic training his organization offers includes things like adolescent brain development and mental health issues, special needs, human trafficking and behavioral threat assessment, among others.

“It’s so much more than just carrying a weapon,” Canady said.

If it wasn’t so depressing, I’d probably laugh aloud.

Does he believe that teachers are not already versed in the areas he mentioned? What does he think they do all day?

I’m betting that his view is one shared by a majority of the general public, and that’s just disappointing.

There are a lot of legitimate reasons for teachers not carrying guns in school.

A lack of knowledge about, “adolescent brain development and mental health issues, special needs, human trafficking and behavioral threat assessment” aren’t among them.

– – –

A quick comment on a bill that’s not education-related. Since I have extensive experience operating a live music venue, I feel qualified to comment on it.

This session the Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill allowing the creation of a Live Music Fund. The law doesn’t actually fund any action this fiscal year, but it lays out a framework through which the state can support music venues, promoters, and performers via grants in the future.

Part of me supports this idea because keeping the doors on a live venue open is damn hard work and there is never enough money.

Former Exit-In owner and Music Venue Alliance Nashville member Chris Cobb lays it out in a press release.

“We are truly excited by the unanimous and bipartisan support for our independent venues,” Cobb says in a release from the Tennessee Entertainment Commission. “It has become increasingly difficult to own, operate, or grow an independent venue in today’s climate, and a fund like this will be a difference maker to ensure that independent venues across Tennessee not only survive, but thrive.”

But, I have some trepidation.

Like my homeschool friends like to say, “What the government funds, the government ends up controlling.”

Part of the allure of rock and roll is being a rebel without a clue. It’s a hard role to play when you are depending on a government paycheck.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“For who can say which is the more empowered, them or us, if we can speak to each other successfully across the chasm of time and difference? Do we ourselves not become wiser and stronger every time we grasp the perspective of people whom we once dismissed?”
― Camilla Townsend

Well, it’s all over but the crying.

Sine Die.

Yesterday, Tennessee’s General Assembly came to a conclusion. Many breathed a sigh of relief, while there were few tears shed.

Mostly, it was more sound and fury, signifying… maybe nothing.

In the area of education legislation, there was really nothing that would have a significant impact on teachers, students, and families. Despite all the noise around certain bills, many failed or were significantly defanged.

A bill was passed allowing charter schools the right of first refusal for district buildings that are either vacant or significantly underutilized. In the Senate, the only no vote came from State Senator Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville).

The State Senator cast her vote out of concern for taxpayers.

“I worry that the problem here is that this would put taxpayers at a significant disadvantage because we are basically limiting the ability for the public to get market value,” said Campbell.

The bill’s sponsor, Senator John Stevens (R-Huntingdon) had a different take.

“These are school buildings that are already owned, that used to be operated as a school more than likely for public school students, just like a charter school is a public school. And so the intent of the bill is to put those buildings back into utilization for educational purposes for educating students,” said Stevens.

Which is right?

Time will tell, but I throw this one in the category of adults fighting over possessions.

Lawmakers waited until the last minute to provide relief for the state’s fourth-graders at risk for retention by the state’s literacy law. House sponsor Representative Gary Hicks was attempting to include a state-sponsored screener as an additional measurement for student progress while making changes to the law permanent. The Senate did want an additional measurement included and wanted changes to sunset after two years.

In the end, the Senate capitulated on the latter but not the former.

State law provides several pathways to advancement for third-graders who fail to score proficient on the TCAP literacy portion. However, any student who utilizes one of those pathways must show adequate progress to advance to fifth grade. Around 6K fourth-graders are currently considered at risk.

The Tennessee Department of Education has devised a formula to define adequate progress. It is a formula not readily understandable by common people and requires a touch of newt along with three coins from Ponce De Leon’s Fountain of Youth.

The new bill allows for family members to convene with school officials to make the retention decision.

I particularly love the idea that the new version requires tutoring during fifth grade for those students not retained. In other words, since it didn’t work last year, we are going to demand that you do it again this year.

That makes sense, right?

I suspect this is the first step in making the whole retention policy moot.

State Representative Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) and Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) pushed a bill limiting flags teachers could display in classrooms.

This bill was perceived as being directed at the gay pride flag, but the stated goal was to prohibit the display of any flag that “represents a political viewpoint, including but not limited to, a partisan, racial, sexual orientation, gender, or other ideological viewpoint.”

The bill failed this week on the Senate floor.

While I take no exception to the display of the Pride flag, the failure to acknowledge that it, along with Black Lives Matter flags and others, have a definite political bent is a bit disingenuous. I can’t help but wonder what the response would be if I proudly displayed the Israeli flag or the Gadsden flag in a classroom.

I am pretty sure that at minimum, I would earn a week’s worth of sensitivity training. Everybody is against censorship unless it’s banning something we don’t like.

Don’t believe me? Try putting up posters featuring quotes by Donald Trump in the classroom. You couldn’t even microwave a cup of coffee in the time it would take for the calls of removal to arrive. I’m talking about yours, not the posters.

Regardless, I throw the failure of this bill in the win column. Some things just don’t need to be legislated.

There was a bill that would allow certain teachers the ability to carry a gun in the school. It passed.

Even though I’m not a fan of increasing the presence of guns, the hyperbole around this one was frustrating.

Opponents of the bill framed it as an effort to arm teachers. If you didn’t read it closely, you’d think schools would be putting the purchase of weapons into their budgets, and then at the beginning of the year, they’d hand them out like backpacks to kids.

This was not even a remotely accurate portrayal. It was an effort to address SRO shortages in rural communities.

I saw countless arguments from opponents arguing that the bill demanded teachers assume a responsibility they were not trained for. Again not true,

Nobody was being forced to carry a weapon. Nobody.

Many teachers are drawn from the ranks of former military and law enforcement agents. Most of these individuals are well-versed in the care and use of firearms, having received extensive training during their previous careers.

Is it an optimal solution? No.

Unfortunately, the threat of violence by firearms is on the rise. Gun control advocates would have you believe that this is an issue unique to the United States, but it is not. Even countries like Sweden and Finland, which have strong gun laws have seen increased incidents over the last decade.

Larger municipalities have access to more qualified people in which to hire SROs, so they don’t need to have teachers carry. Smaller, poorer, districts might not have that luxury.

In the wake of the passage, many districts issued statements that signified that they would not grant their teachers permission to carry. MNPS was one of the fastest out of the gate, and I’m happy about it.

A provision of the bill was that parents would not be informed of which teachers would participate. While intellectually I understand the premise. my heart would want to know who in the school building has a gun.

Over the next month, you’ll likely hear a fair amount of rhetoric over this new law, and then it’ll just fade into the background.

Ultimately we’ll never know how many districts participate, and to what level. While that is a bit disturbing, policy variations exist from district to district across the state. The assumption is that local residents are best qualified to make local decisions.

I don’t disagree, and will always support the right of locals to make local decisions.

I’ll give this one a rating of being troubling, but unlikely to make a huge impact.

Two laws did pass that seems to fly in the face of Republicans’ voiced fidelity to parental rights.

Starting in the next school year, students will be required to take a “politically neutral” gun safety class. Good luck with that. When it comes to guns, there is no such thing as politically neutral.

Furthermore, students will be required to watch a three-minute animated video depicting fetal development.

Neither law provides parents with an option to opt out. Let me get this straight.

I’m qualified to make a choice about my child’s mode of schooling, but I’m not competent to decide whether I want them to be exposed to state-generated propaganda? So much for parental rights.

As for the three-minute video, what kind of impact do you foresee that having?

Knowing teenagers like I do, I see it as a source for unlimited inappropriate jokes. Come to think of it, a good amendment would have required anyone who voted for the law to sit through a viewing with the kids. I guarantee you, adult participation won’t be for the week of heart, because teenage humor runs hard and loose, while having no sacred cows.

If you suffer under the illusion that a three-minute video will work as any kind of behavior modifier, let’s talk about that bridge I’ve been trying to unload.

I label both of these laws as a colossal waste of time.

State Representative Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis) had a bill that would have finally done away with the state’s Achievement District. While it passed in the State Senate, but attempts at modification in the House led him to withdraw it. Parkinson has long been critical of ASD.

The state has failed miserably in running schools and the state should not be in the business of being a school district, period,” Parkinson once said. “The Achievement School District came in and aggressively divided these communities and took over these schools, and then they performed worse than the schools they actually took over.”

Lawmakers did increase k-12 funding by $ 261 million. That funding will continue the push Governor Lee’s commitment to increasing the minimum starting salary of teachers to $50 K by 2026. Important to remember though, that by putting in $261 million they are also increasing the bill for local districts. Some need to start thinking about property tax increases as a means to keep up with costs.

Then there was the voucher, or Educational Freedom Account, legislation that never made it to the floor for a vote in either chamber. Just another example of the inept leadership of Governor Bill Lee.

While opponents danced in the street, proponents tried to paint a picture of an ongoing initiative progressing in incremental steps. That position’s veracity is dependent on the results of upcoming elections.

While the defeat of the voucher program doesn’t break my heart, the loss of the benefits included in the House amendments might. Several things were included that would make a substantial difference in teachers’ and students’ lives, That opportunity is now gone.

Instead the ability of wealthier districts serving fewer students to preserve their exclusivity under the flag of “public education” was preserved. In other words, one monied interest won over another monied interest.

Other than that right, I’m hard-pressed to discern what else was won.

There is an interesting comment from Dustin Park, a parent of kids who go to school in Maryville, Tennessee. He’s opposed to the universal school voucher plan because he said it excludes students with disabilities.

“The only thing that protects kids with disabilities is that federal law,” Parks said. “A bedrock of our public schools is that they accept everybody.”

Hmmm…interesting…even though he lives in a wealthy district, he believes that without Federal intervention, his kids would be denied services. OK, but I’m not sure how a voucher law puts an end to Federal intervention.

The requirement to provide adequate services is placed by the Feds on states, so Tennessee would still be required to show services regardless of where those services were delivered.

A member of the home school community wrote:

“Regarding your question as to what was won in the voucher legislation not passing, I refer to your daughter’s answer about looking toward the future. She sounds very mature. Those of us who oppose vouchers are doing just that. If vouchers become part of private education, eventually, those in charge of public education will want to regulate those receiving the vouchers. In fact, we’ve already seen this desire in Rep Powell’s amendment to HB390, which was withdrawn, but still shows intent. The amendment was to make voucher recipients have to take TCAPs, make teachers and admin of voucher recipients be evaluated on the same schedules/standards as public school teachers, and make schools receiving vouchers follow all the rules that public schools do. Essentially, private schools will be turned in to public schools. And since homeschoolers are considered private schoolers because most operate under Cat IV religious umbrella schools, that means even our homeschools would be subject to this. We know that what the government funds it runs. The only way to have true educational freedom is to have an option that the government doesn’t control. That’s what we believe was won. Even if those regulations didn’t come for a few years, we know they are coming, so we will oppose vouchers every time they come up. Because we want future generations to have the freedom in education that we have now and more.”

That’s a thoughtful answer. While I don’t necessarily agree with it, it is a definable victory by people who fought hard against Lee’s plan.

I’m not alone in questioning what was won. In an opinion piece written for The Tennessean Andrea Williams writes:

“Certainly, it was a victory for the families who are happy with their zoned schools, whose children attend Lipscomb Elementary and Ravenwood High in Williamson County, for example.

But there are other Tennesseans, in other districts, whose conditions won’t change because of this “win.” Already, they were on the losing side of Tennessee’s public schools, and if history is to serve as our guide, that is where they will remain.”

it’s a legitimate concern. Devoid from the entire fight were parents represent the minority or poor children who either be saved or damned by the proposed legislation. It seems like this is just another instance of lawmakers proposing to do things for or to you, as opposed to with you.

The battle over vouchers was one fought with disingenuous arguments from both sides.

There is little evidence that vouchers would greatly alter the outcome for the majority of students, but I’d also argue that there is equally little evidence that the plan would severely alter public education as we know it if adopted.

This morning I read a Diane Ravitch shared article that made familiar arguments.

The article was about Iowa increasing funds for its voucher program. She writes:

“There are some things we know for sure about voucher programs after three decades of experience. First, the actual cost always outstrips the projected cost. Two, whatever the eligibility requirements are in the first year, they will be stripped away so that eventually all students will be eligible for vouchers. Third, vouchers may be initially targeted to needy groups, like students with disabilities, but there is no assurance that these children will be admitted to voucher schools. Fourth, most students who apply for and use vouchers are already enrolled in private and religious schools. Fifth, students who transfer from public schools to voucher schools will fall behind academically. Sixth, many voucher schools will discriminate on any grounds—keeping out children because of their religion or because they are LGBT or because they are simply “not what the school wants.”

Ravitch closes her article by saying:

“This article in the Gazette shows the negative effects of vouchers on Iowa City, a school district with some 14,400 students. Property taxes are going up, the teaching staff will shrink by attrition, and an elementary school will be closed. The vast majority of students will be harmed by a program that subsidizes the few.”

I open and read the article. A couple phrases leaped out at me that seemed to counter Ravitch’s argument.

First, is the claim that “most students who apply for and use vouchers are already enrolled in private and religious schools.”The article says something different, “Adam Kurth, the district’s chief financial officer, estimates the district is losing $1.3 million in revenue and spending authority because about 140 students enrolled in the district last year are now attending private school.”

I’d say that’s a substantial number, and I’d be curious as to why that number of students were dissatisfied enough to take advantage of the program. But that’s a question that public school districts never seem to reflect on. It’s much easier to pin the blame on parents or outside influences instead of self-reflecting and accepting responsibility when applicable.

I guarantee you that any family who leaves MNPS as a result of the district’s unpopular realignment of MLK Academic Magnet school will be labeled as racist, elitist, or not understanding the district’s mission.

The Iowa City School District further argues, that without the Education Savings Account program assisting families with private school tuition and school supplies, they would have another 70 – 80 students enrolled. That still leaves 70 leaving. Why?

To offset losses Iowa provides districts with $1200 for every student within their district who uses a voucher. Even those students who have never attended the public schools.

While the loss in revenue is not significant enough to mitigate loss, there is still revenue coming in for kids who don’t attend public schools.

Ravitch leads the reader to believe that the negative consequences are all a result of increased state investment in vouchers. The article reveals a different picture.

The revenue lost because of families using taxpayer-funded tuition assistance to attend private schools is just one factor in cuts the Iowa City Community School District is making in its budget.

The end of federal pandemic funding also figures in, as does per-student state aid that’s not keeping up with inflation, officials said.

Ravitch also puts forth an argument that was prevalent during this year’s legislative session – students who transfer from public schools to voucher schools will fall behind academically.

I’m not sure I’d publicize that too much. What you are saying, in essence, is that students had fallen so far behind in public schools that remained behind even with greater resources. If you look at their previous performance levels, there is no evidence that they would have scored any higher had they remained in the public school.

This is also an instance of using student failure as a means to argue for advancing a political ideology. That should be distasteful to everyone.

All of these arguments will be revisited this summer on the campaign trail, and possibly – depending on outcomes – during next year’s General Assembly.

Perhaps those questions will be a little more honest and student-focused.

Because this year it was all about one group protecting their pot of money from another.

– – –

New Memphis school superintendent Marie Feagins has named her transition team, and there are a couple faces familiar to Nashville residents included.

Sharon Contreras, a former superintend of Guilford County Schools in North Carolina, is an old friend of former MNPS director Shawn Joseph. Contreras took the Guilford job after Joseph turned it down to come to Nashville.

Carol Johnson Dean, was considered for the superintendent job in Nashville before it was awarded to Dr. Battle. Her resume is a lengthy one that includes director jobs in Boston and Minneapolis.

Also included is the current MNPS Director of Schools, Dr. Adrienne Battle.

Dr. Michael Casserly is the former leader of the Council of the Great City Schools. He was a strong supporter of Dr. Joseph.

Dr. Barbara Jenkins is a former director of Orange County Schools, where in 2014 the district won the Broad Prize for Urban Education. She serves on the executive board of directors of the Council of the Great City Schools, Chiefs for Change, and the Florida Council of 100, and is a board member for Educational Testing Service, New Teacher Center, Strategic Education Research Partnership, The Source for Learning and the SAT Suite Committee.

She is joined by another former Orange County Superintendent – Dr Aleesia Johnson. Johnson is currently the superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools, which is engaged in a massive reimagining. She is a former Teach For America educator in New Jersey, Johnson led the KIPP Indy College Prep Middle School before joining the Indianapolis district in 2015 to head the Innovation Network Schools, a set of district-supported autonomous schools developed by the state.

Dr. Michael Hinojosa is the former Superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District. he is recognized as the longest-serving DISD superintendent of the post-1980s period, though that tenure was not without controversy.

Lastly is the Executive Director at Council of the Great City Schools, Raymond Hart. Hart never led a district but he does have extensive experience in research and development.

Before joining the Council, Hart was a Fellow at ICF International. He also served as Executive Director in the Atlanta Public Schools, where he led the redesign of the research and assessment division. Hart has a bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Cleveland State University, and a PhD in research, measurement, and statistics from Kent State University.

Should be interesting to watch.

Nothing like hiring the same old characters to help facilitate change.

I have a feeling old Dr. Joesph’s probably going to show up in Memphis at some point. After all, all of his old friends are there.

– – –

From a Facebook post.

MNPS currently has about 20 TSU scholarships available looking to attend in the Fall. They require a 20 on the ACT and a 3.3 GPA.

There are also 3 full-tuition scholarships to Fisk available. Those require a 3.3 GPA and 21 on the ACT.

Applicants must come from one of the MNPS-zoned High Schools.

That means none of you Valor or KIPP students.

If interested, you can contact Cordarrell.Cobb@mnps.org

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“Only the strong, the rich, and the dying think truth is a necessity; the rest of us know it for a luxury.”
― Christopher Buehlman, The Blacktongue Thief

Daily, I spend about 2 hours taking my freshman daughter to high school. Metro Nashville Public Schools allow students to attend a specialized school outside their zoned school. She attends Nashville’s School of the Arts for literacy.

It’s been a good fit for her socially and academically. She would have been fine at her zoned school, but would have not had the same opportunities she’s been afforded at NSA. I’m not getting into specifics, but suffice it to say, that the year would have been significantly more challenging had she attended her zoned school.

Her enrollment does not come without a significant cost. In addition to the time spent, it costs roughly $100 a week in gasoline to make the daily trek. Luckily we have been able to absorb the cost with little hardship.

Not everyone can afford that cost, and I’m grateful that we’ve been able to make it work. We need to remember that when bragging about the choice options for MNPS.

Despite the challenges, there are also irreplaceable benefits, for which I’m grateful.

Two hours a day leaves a lot of time for talking, time that might not be afforded otherwise. Over the year we established a trust that allows comfortable conversation, or comfortable silence. You can’t earn the trust for conversation until you earn the trust of silence.

The ability to sit quietly with someone sans the need to fill the silence is one of the biggest compliments you can pay someone.

There are days when the car is filled with idle chit-chat. Some days begin in silence, only to give way to deeper concerns. And, there are days when the conversation is much heavier than usual. Today was one of those days.

“Did you hear about the legislation that passed yesterday?”, she asks as we pull from the driveway.

“The one allowing teachers to be armed?” I respond, “I saw that.”

“It’s scary”, she says.

“It’s not the best piece of legislation.” I reply, “But remember, it’s never going to happen in your school. MNPS is never going to allow a teacher to carry. Nor are most districts. For it to be allowed…”

“I know Dada.” she interrupted, “The police chief, head of district, and principal all have to sign off, and there has to be training. I get that.”

I nod and say, “The only districts that will be really impacted are the small rural ones. People forget how many districts Tennessee has that are less than 1500 students.”

“I get that. But just because it won’t happen this year doesn’t mean that things won’t change in 11 years. One door opening. leads to other doors opening.”

‘You are not wrong”, I say.

“Also it normalizes guns. People become more used to them and it feels normal to have lots of guns around, forgetting how dangerous they are.” She adds, “It’s like what you always say about drugs, we normalize them which leads to us minimizing the danger. So many accidents can happen. It is scary.”

We ride in silence for a while.

She breaks the silence by asking, “You know what else I hate?”

“What?”

“When people refer to those that hold different opinions than them as stupid.” She adds, “They are not stupid, they just hold a different opinion. Calling them stupid, is stupid.”

“We tend to forget that people have different ideas, different life experiences, that draw them to different conclusions.” I say, “The trick is to figure out what it is that drew them to that conclusion and work from there. But, that takes time and energy, neither of which most people are willing to expend.”

We talk for a while about people’s differences and the way the world views them. Some things we agree on, while others we have differing opinions. The important thing is we continue to talk.

That’s a postulate that holds true for all of us.

The law allowing a teacher to carry once they meet the specifications is concerning. I’m proud that my daughter can look past today, and consider future ramifications when making her evaluations. It’s a skill that is disappearing from our culture.

We also have to look closer at how our response in one area, influences actions in another.

In the wake of voucher legislation failing, many took the opportunity to take an exaggerated victory lap – though I still remain confused by what was won.

Republican legislators came under fire from members of their party for not being able to pass legislation considered part of the party’s platform despite holding a super-majority. There was pressure to confirm that they were true Republicans.

The same thing is currently happening on the Democrat side of the aisle, where moderate members are continually called on the carpet for not acting like their more extreme counterparts.

During yesterday’s vote, State Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville) lost himself the right to speak on the floor for two days by repeatedly recording on the House floor. While the recording rule is infrequently enforced, it has been underreported that Jones was asked three times to stop recording and refused to do so.

Second Amendment rights are considered a core plank of the Republican platform. This week’s vote was framed by party leadership as confirmation that Second Amendment rights don’t end at the schoolhouse door. The rhetoric in the aftermath of Governor Lee’s voucher bill, and during the discussion of this bill, left little wiggle room for Republicans who didn’t view it as such.

How you win is very bit as important as winning. Celebrating one win shouldn’t prevent you from earning a second win. In this case, I would argue that it did.

Despite the challenge of breaking with the party, four Republicans ultimately crossed the aisle to join Democrats in voting against the bill, with another three abstaining from the vote. The measure easily passed through the House on a 68-28 vote and is all but guaranteed to become law within weeks, as it now goes to Governor Bill Lee’s desk.

He has the option to either sign it into law or allow it to become law without his signature. While Lee has the veto option but has never vetoed a bill.

Those opposed to the bill should remember, that creating isn’t implementation. Lots of bills become law and then bear little resemblance to lawmakers’ intent.

It took seven years after passage before Tennessee’s A-F grading system was implemented.

And I’m sure that Tennessee teachers are quite familiar with all the laws that have been passed increasing their salaries that have never shown up in their paychecks.

In this case, it’s important to remember that before being allowed to carry a teacher must secure permission from the school district’s director of schools, the school principal, and the chief of the “appropriate” law enforcement agency, in addition to undergoing mental and criminal checks.

Therefore, school administrators could theoretically block any teacher from going armed on campus.

Parents who don’t wish any teachers to carry should make their desires known to district officials.

MNPS wasted no time in issuing the following statement:

“We have a strong relationship with the Metro Nashville Police Department and agree that it is safest for only approved active-duty law enforcement officers to carry weapons on campus,” MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted said in an email. “This has been our consistent practice at MNPS, and we have no intention of changing it.”

There is also the example of the fourth-grade retention portion of Tennessee’s retention policy. Even though it was passed into law, it will be modified this year and still may be repealed in the coming years.

So a lot could happen in the coming years. Much of it though is contingent on this year’s state elections.

These elections will define the course of policy over the next several years. A record number of challengers, from both sides of the aisle, have filed to run against incumbents. How they fare will help determine who is considered the front-runner for Tennessee’s next Governor in two years.

That could mean a change in course, or more of the same. Which it is, depends on you.

You can choose to rend your garments, or you can choose to get out and vote.

– – –

The failure of Governor Lee’s voucher bill has several pundits from the far right calling for the Governor to convene a Special Session to reconsider the policy.

The Governor does have the right to call a Special Session on any subject of his choosing, but calling one during the summer of an election year would not be one of his better moves.

While in session, lawmakers are not allowed to solicit campaign contributions, their opponents aren’t held to the same requirement.

Some would argue, that this gives legislators the impetus to get in and quickly pass the bill. That’s a calculated risk, but unlikely to be successful and more likely to create resentments.

Some of the same pundits calling for a Special Session, are also vowing to find and support candidates who support school choice and oust sitting members who don’t.

Unfortunately for them, the filing deadline has come and gone. They’ll have to settle for the candidates that have already filed.

Until the results from the upcoming election are known, there is no real next step that voucher proponents can take. Unless there is a major turnover in the General Assembly, I’m not sure that any viable next step is available.

That doesn’t mean that people won’t try, but I doubt they’ll be successful

And who knows, by this time next year, we could be reading about indictments from the last time voucher legislation passed in Tennessee.

– – –

It’s kind of a problem when you lead a party that bills itself as the “party of law and order” yet as Governor you employ an Attorney General who regularly puts the party above the law.

In an opinion published on Tuesday, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti laid out his legal opinion for why the law stating commissioners be “qualified to teach in the school of the highest standing over which the commissioner has authority” does not mean the Tennessee education commissioner has to be certified to teach with a teaching license.

In his 10-page opinion, Skrmetti cites laws established in 1919 and 1925. He argues that the requirement imposes a “general standing” that establishes the “education, experience, and strength of character necessary to teach” rather than a specific legal certification.

That’s nice, but in this case, I would argue that “education” equates to certification. How else do you measure the level of education?

According to the Tennessee state code, the education commissioner “shall” have experience in school administration and be qualified to teach at a high school level. Reynolds is a career bureaucrat who has worked for the Texas Department of Education and ExcelinED, but never taught at any level.

The Department of Education pointed to state law and State Board of Education rules aimed at helping address teacher shortages as evidence that Reynolds is qualified for the position. rules allow the commissioner to issue temporary permits to people — based upon work experience, degrees held, subject expertise, and progress toward obtaining a Tennessee license — to enable them to teach.

Per The Tennessean, a TDOE spokesperson has said Reynolds is qualified under these rules but has not issued herself a temporary permit.

Nothing instills confidence like a State Education Commissioner with a temporary license.

Skrmetti has often provided cover for Lee’s schemes, even if just as often that cover doesn’t hold up in court. In this case, it is his opinion that in reviewing precedent, Governor Lee has “unchecked authority” to name a state education commissioner who doesn’t have to be certified to teach.

Governor Lee with “unchecked authority” is akin to a 15-year with a driver’s license and no driver’s education.

But. like all good things, it’s coming to an end.

– – –

In case you were wondering, and I don’t know why you would be, the MNPS School Board heard last night from 5 charter operators looking to establish or grow charter operations. All were quickly denied, and likely will now appeal.

As it stands, I don’t why any operator would put any effort into a Nashville charter application. Might as well wait, and put the effort into the state appeal.

The one that made me shake my head the most was the LEAD expansion application.

LEAD oversees the Brick church school that is transferring back from the State Achievement School District to MNPS. During the review of the process, a chart was showing reading and math proficiency scores since the state takeover.

Under ASD leadership, Brick Church’s results fell far short of those achieved during the MNPS years.

What wasn’t discussed in looking at the district provided chart was the drop-off during the years preceding the state takeover.

During the school year of 2013/2014, the school scored 41.2% in math and 37.2% in ELA. In 2016/2017, those rates had fallen to 11.8% and 10% respectively. That might bear some further investigation. I also don’t think I would tout the fact that your 7.1% never beat my 11% achievement rate. Neither is worth bragging about.

One further note on Brick Church Middle School. Last night MNPS announced that their new Principal would be the current principal of Alex Green Elementary, Robyn Beard.

First off. Middle School is a whole different beast than Elementary. That said, Beard is a 25-plus years veteran, so I’m sure she’s aware of that. This year she led Alex Green ES to Blue Ribbon status. Previously the school had been identified as a state priority school.

That’s where the rub comes. Is Alex Green now considered a “turnaround” success because of one year of recognition?

Is it in danger of slipping back on the list, once the current leadership leaves?

I’ve always been skeptical of the “turnaround” designation.

The lack of academic progress by LEAD, who previously led Brick Church MS, was cited in denying their expansion application.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“After all, when you come right down to it, how many people speak the same language even when they speak the same language?”
― Russell Hoban

It’s official.

Six months ago I told you that I didn’t think they’d be able to get a voucher bill passed. Today, Governor Bill Lee confirmed the worst-kept secret in Tennessee, his Education Freedom Awards are done for this year.

“I am extremely disappointed for the families who will have to wait yet another year for the freedom to choose the right education for their child, especially when there is broad agreement that now is the time to bring universal school choice to Tennessee,” Governor Lee said in a Monday morning statement. “While we made tremendous progress, unfortunately, it has become clear that there is not a pathway for the bill during this legislative session.”

Much of the blame, fairly or unfairly, will fall on the shoulders of Tennessee House members and their over-ambitious bill.

After all, the state Senate seemed willing to pass a more modest bill, but couldn’t reconcile with the House on a bill that could pass in the lower chamber. But, keep in mind, the Senate never passed anything out of their finance committee. A bill never hit the Senate floor, so we’ll never know how much was reality and how much was political posturing.

The real blame though falls with Governor Lee. A governor with an ounce of political savvy, or even a slight awareness, would have known that an election year is not the year to take on something of this magnitude. Still he pushed forward to an inevitable failure.

None of this is dissimilar from his failed Special Session aimed at addressing gun violence in Tennessee. Talk about sealing a legacy.

None of this should come as a surprise, Lee is best described by the title of the accidental governor. A political novice who entered the 2019 race from the back of the pack and some how beat out more experienced candidates in the primary before defeating the Democrat challenger Karl Dean for the governorship.

In 2022, he won re-election against a Democrat candidate with little name recognition.

Throughout his tenure as Governor, Lee has shown an inability to surround himself with the right department heads. His choices for State Education Commissioner – Penny Schwinn and Lizzette Gonzales – were both train wrecks.

Despite Schwinn’s debatable ability to move policy forward, many of those initiatives are beginning to fade away.

The former commissioner was a strong proponent of both the Science of Reading and high-dosage tutoring. Neither of these is holding up well under increased scrutiny. Her other legacy policy, Grow You Own, is also on life support. Out of the initial individual teacher training programs, only the University of Kentucky and the University of Tennessee remain participants.

Much like with his special session, Lee’s voucher initiative came with little definition. It wasn’t until several weeks into the session that specific bills were introduced. In my eyes, this was a decisive lack of leadership on the Governor’s part.

Throughout the Spring, Lee held specific bills at arm’s length, as if he was picking up roadkill and moving it out of the road.

When asked about his signature legislation by the press, he would often speak in platitudes, while never lending support to any specific details.

Lee’s lack of leadership allowed the discussion to become rooted in philosophy instead of policy, and despite the best efforts of Senate and House leadership, it forever stayed there.

As much as I had qualms about Lee’s bill, on a personal note, the defeat is bittersweet.

Mine is one of those families, that makes too little to afford private schools while making too much to garner much empathy or aid. It’s a position I think many parents find themselves in.

In three years there will be even more MNPS parents in that boat when they realize that due to this year’s lottery fiasco, there will be no seats for the city’s academic magnet school Hume-Fogg outside those guaranteed by the admission to the automatic feeder school. But that’s another conversation for another day.

I tend to try not to talk too much about personal schooling decisions, out of respect for my children, but it is April and I don’t have a clear idea where my son will attend high school because of available options.

We’d hoped to attend a private school to give him the best opportunity athletically but did not qualify. While it was offered that some disciplinary issue in 6th grade contributed to his ineligibility, I’m pretty sure that my financial situation didn’t elicit any confidence in our ability to make tuition payments, even with a robust financial aid package.

We are left with our zoned school and one district school slightly further away as the only remaining options.

Neither is a bad choice, but neither does either offer the full potential afforded by a private school, or a school in a neighboring county. Ultimately it’ll likely be the zoned school, as I don’t see a means to overcome the transportation challenges of the out-of-zoned school. It’s not the to and from school that presents the issue, but rather the getting home from football, basketball, and baseball practice that will create the biggest issues.

I already spend two hours a day transporting my daughter to the district school of the Arts, where she is thriving. But, if I didn’t have that ability, she wouldn’t be attending that school, and would instead be at her zoned school which would not be as good a fit.

Last week, someone asked me, do I feel trapped? I do.

Nothing against our zoned school, but yeah, I do feel trapped. This is why wealthy lawmakers talking about the importance of public education while sending their kids to private schools is so enraging.

Whether you realize it or not, the message is that zoned schools are good for my kids, but not yours. You recognize the advantage provided to your children while denying any pathway to those same advantages to my child. Tell me if roles were reversed that wouldn’t piss you off.

Don’t tell me it’s a money issue, because even as money increases, high-paying jobs at the district office increase. Money for curriculum that takes away teacher autonomy is increased. The district invests in turf for the football fields but not for weight training and nutritional information for middle schoolers in preparation for high school.

People say don’t take it personally, but I don’t know how you can’t when you clearly see the doors that will never be opened for your children due to a lack of opportunity.

Will they be fine?

Sure, but we’ll never know the heights they could have soared or the dreams that could have been realized, had they not been used as political pawns.

In that light, it’s hard to watch all the celebrating of the demise of vouchers by those employed by or serving wealthier public school districts.

Mortgages serve equally as cost-prohibitive gatekeepers as do high tuition rates. In the end, what they are celebrating is the preservation of the advantage afforded to those who can afford the mortgages in their districts.

Over the weekend there was an article in The Tennessee Star that exposed the root of the problem with traditional schools.

“For 19 years, I was a master of time. Down to the minute, I controlled time for others and used it to meet my and others’ ends, irrespective of the desires of those in front of me. In short, I was a public-school teacher, and controlling time was my talent. Although I and other adults often talked about helping students reach their potential and grow as learners, what we really did each day was control their time and force upon them ideas and subjects in which most of them had little to no interest.”

Streitel goes on to write:

“What if there were a better way? A way to help each student learn the way he or she learns best, develop autonomy, explore passions, and take control of his or her own time? Thankfully, that way does exist in the form of alternative schools and learning programs that continue to increase in number each day.”

I’ve experienced this regularly. Compliance is often elevated over learning. As my son has pointed out on numerous occasions. “Grades don’t necessarily demonstrate your intelligence as much as they measure your ability to follow orders.”

I’m extremely proud of my daughter’s academic achievements, but the boy’s not 100% wrong.

But do we discuss this? No.

I’d love to see a deeper conversation around a better way to meet the needs of more students, as opposed to serving the needs of more adults.

Instead, we celebrate, the maintaining of an inequitable school system.

I doubt that’ll happen though. instead next year, we’ll be back talking about the same old thing, using the same old talking points.

– – –

If word on the street is to be believed, the Tennessee Department of Education is on the verge of losing another employee. Chief of Staff Chelsea Crawford is the latest to call it a day.

The former CRISP Communications employee is rumored to be leaving at the end of the month.

Crawford served as the face for a series of meetings sponsored by the TDOE to discuss school letter grades. The meetings served as the precursor to Commissioner Reynolds changing the formula used to calculate individual school and district letter grades. None of the ideas shared at the 12 town halls made it into the Commissioner’s final draft, but it was an opportunity to gather and take photos.

Speaking of Commissioner Reynolds, her future with the TDOE continues to remain in question.

She was brought to Tennessee as a policy wonk who was highly skilled at implementing policy. She has proven to be neither.

Since her previous employer, ExcellinEd, and Governor Lee shared the same goal of universal vouchers, it was assumed that she was here to grease the wheels. Unfortunately for the Governor, she revealed herself to be inept at selling the policy to legislators, A fair share of the blame for the failure of voucher legislation falls on her shoulders. Had she been better at presenting the perceived benefits, the bill might have been more welcome.

Unfortunately, she was better at providing sound bites for the opposition than she was at stating the merits of increased school choice.

I suspect that sometime before the start of high school football season she’ll slide on back to Texas.

– – –

Bet you thought teacher staffing issues have abated over the last year. That would be a wrong assumption.

Based on a report by the Pew Research Center, only 33% of teachers reported being extremely/very satisfied with their jobs, with 48% answering “somewhat.” That compares to a Pew survey which found 51% of all U.S. workers were very satisfied (plus 37% somewhat satisfied).

51% were not satisfied with their pay. 3 in 10 teachers say they may look for a new job this year, with 69% looking to get out of the classroom, either into a non-teaching education job or a job outside the profession entirely.

Currently, Metro Nashville Public Schools has over 900 teaching positions listed on its website. In a district that employs roughly 6000 teachers, that translates to roughly 15% of the workforce.

MNPS has 9 Elementary principals retiring at the end of this school year. Over the last several years, the district has replaced between 15 and 20 principals each year. I suspect this year’s numbers will be similar.

The district regularly promotes equity in its hiring. A belief that is not visible in its hirings. Currently, despite the increased growth of Hispanic students, there are only 2 Hispanic principals.

Recruitment remains the district’s preferred method of filling staffing holes, with little attention paid to retention.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, you can’t fill a leaky bucket by simply patching the bucket. At some point, you have to patch the holes in the bucket.

District HR maintains that they’ve improved in teacher support, but I’ve seen little evidence to support that determination. We just keeping more on the plate while taking little off.

It amazes me that every school board and county commissioner will draft resolutions about rejecting vouchers, which would have a limited impact either way, but never draft anything to demand the retention of teachers, whose value is well established.

Veteran teachers, if allowed offer means to move beyond a standard curriculum.

Teacher retention should be our primary focus. As teacher Peter Greene points out:

“The point of hiring trained and eventually experienced professionals for the work is so that they can exercise professional judgment as they deal directly with students. A system that requires each teacher to teach the same lesson in the same way using the same language on the day at the same time is a system that erases most teacher autonomy and agency and eliminates their ability to exercise professional judgment. Sorry kids– You’re having trouble with this concept, and I know some ways to further get it across, but the script says we have to move on. Show me a school that says it’s using this kind of curriculum with success, and I’ll show you a school that is selecting students for whom it works and getting rid of the ones for which it does not (belief in a perfect system is terrible for students because the unavoidable reasoning is that if my program is perfect, that failing student must be defective somehow).”

– – –

Voucher season now gives way to charter school season. Tomorrow night the MNPS School Board is expected to consider 5 applications, 2 by current operators.

I’ll spare you the suspense, none will be approved, and board members, unencumbered by the rules governing public commentary, will have ample time for public posturing. Much of which be oft-repeated as the operators are likely to apply to the state to override the board’s decision.

This should keep us occupied until voucher season begins anew in the Fall.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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I laughed in your face and said,*“You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith”This ain’t the Chelsea HotelWe’re modern idiotsWho’s going to hold you like me?Nobody.No fucking body. Nobody. – Taylor Swift***

This was a week of soul-searching and self-reflection.

The way education policy heard in this year’s Tennessee General Assembly has unfolded makes me want to wash my hands of all of it.

After a decade of covering education policy up close, I’m left with a sense of futility and a sickness in my stomach.

The hyperbole and dishonesty feel inescapable.

“Ah, you are finally seeing the evil of the Tennessee Republics. Told you they were repugnant.”

Nah, that ain’t it. They have their share of bad guys, but don’t think either side is clean. Maybe that hurts even more because I expect Democrats to be better.

They build this narrative of a big tent where all are welcome, but that’s only true if you adopt a certain set of postulates and closely adhere to them.

State Representatives Justin Jones (D-Nashville), Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), and Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) constantly complain that their voices are being silenced, and are quick to drop accusations of racism every time they are challenged.

What do you think that does?

It silences opposing voices out of fear of appearing racist. Every bit as effective as Speaker Representative Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) slamming his gavel. The two actions are interchangeable.

Phrases like “Klu Klux Sexton” are hurled, without any concerns about long-term impacts. So focused on the short-term “victory” that we lose sight of future implications.

We constantly scream for equity, but that’ll never exist until you can disagree with someone of another race and not be considered a racist.

There is constant banging of the drum for more transparency and accessibility, yet there is little qualm in sharing secret recordings presented out of context to shame political opponents instead of countering their arguments.

I scratch my head to understand how public education has reached such an exalted status, that any criticism or voiced displeasure is considered blasphemy on the same level as treason.

Man, I’m of a generation, and tribe, of no-sacred cows and nothing is beyond question.

My daughter said something on the way to school yesterday that resonated.

“Dada, your beliefs are not a reflection of you.” She said, “The actions you take based on those beliefs are a reflection of you.”

That’s an oft-forgotten truth and a welcome reminder.

Early in the week, it was revealed that Rep Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) was on tape telling a private gathering of homeschoolers, “We’re trying to just throw the whole freaking system in the trash at one time and just blow it all backup,”

Ok…not the best phraseology, but blowback has been stupid, I hate to say that, but it’s been blown purely out of context for political purposes.

Over the past several years, I’ve often heard public school systems compared to the DMV. Not an inappropriate comparison.

State motor vehicle bureaus adequately annually serve thousands of people, and do a mostly adequate job as long as your needs don’t fall out of the norm. Then it gets interesting.

If a private entity came along and presented a plan that would revamp the DMV in a manner that could possibly make it more efficient, would we outright reject the idea and call it a scam?

Back in 2015, we bought a house in a neighborhood where you had to contract privately with a trash service. Initially, I bemoaned the idea. Fast forward and there few services I’m more satisfied with then Hudgins Disposal Services. They hire great people who regularly go out of their way to provide great service.

Things change.

Over the last 5 years, nobody, save maybe Rep Mark White (R-Memphis) and Kirk Haston(R-Lobelville), have worked harder than Cepicky on education issues. In that effort, he has traveled the state talking to educators and other policy people, searching for a clearer picture.

He’s been accessible to anyone who wants to reach out.

Can he be bellicose? Sure.

Prideful? Absolutely, maybe even at times arrogant.

Does he always come up with the right answers? No, but he’s continually searching.

At least he was.

Maybe eventually he’ll return to his previous level of openness, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Don’t think other lawmakers aren’t watching either, and adjusting based on what’s happening to Cepicky.

We did the same thing two years ago with Teri Lynn Weaver. Weaver might have had her faults, but listening wasn’t one of them. She fought hard for public education, but she failed the purity test, and so Governor Lee was able to pick her off.

So what do we have now?

Vouchers aren’t completely dead, the Senate now has 18 sponsors listed on its bill. There is money in the state budget that would fund their version if they can come to an agreement with the House.

If the Senate does take up the bill and pass it, there is little guarantee the House is capable of the same.

I suspect, that if the Senate chooses to pass the bill, it’s as much to put another finger in the eye of the House as anything else.

Tennessee Stand echoes those thoughts:

It does seem that SB 503 now has the votes to pass on the floor as the majority vote is now reflected in the bill’s co-sponsors. But how did so many senators co-sponsor this legislation overnight? An effort by Lt Gov McNally and State Senator Johnson threatened members of the senate that anyone who did not sign on as a cosponsor would lose funding in the budget for any bill they passed this year having a fiscal note with needed budget appropriations.

The bigger picture politically is that if the Senate is able to get this passed on the floor, knowing the difficulties of getting this done in the House, the Senate now has the ability to point the finger at the House as the chamber that “failed” to get the Governor’s agenda passed for the people of Tennessee.

What Tennesseans should recognize in all of this is that these are not policy discussions. This is nothing more than political gamesmanship, threats, and finger-pointing. This is the result of corrupt leadership.

While we expect that this bill should garner a majority vote in the Senate, we have much reason to doubt its success in the House. We still believe that ultimately, this bill will fail.

Say vouchers truly are dead this year, what’s been won?

What’s the prize earned?

Some have argued that the $144 million in the budget could go to other initiatives like universal pre-k, or something of that nature.

My only response is, are ya new?

That money is staying right where it is until vouchers are passed or, a new governor reappropriates it.

So what has been accomplished?

Have we beaten back the threat of private corporations claiming paydays with public money?

If so, somebody better tell that to Amplify, AVID, Wit and Wisdom, TFA, TNTP, and countless others, that enjoy million-dollar contracts, using public money, while arguably providing little return to school districts.

In the past 3 years, Metro Nashville Public Schools has sent close to 2000 teachers to AVID conferences, seminars, and training in various parts of the country, mostly on the ESSER dime.

Despite my best efforts, I can’t tell you what they do or anything about them, besides them being a note-taking system and that AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. Sounds a little like grit.

I do know that it is a company with $144 million in assets and grosses over $80 million a year.

TNTP brought in $138,770,582 for the year 2022.

Going through the rest would tell a similar story.

So much for not sending public dollars to private entities.

Knowing that these monies are derived almost exclusively from public schools makes it hard for me to buy the argument that schools are grossly underfunded. I continue to believe that there is a lot of money that flows through public ed, it just goes to the wrong places.

Since we didn’t keep corporations at bay, perhaps, we made more options available to students. No, not so much.

Some of the loudest voices in the anti-vouchers camp came from small wealthy districts that are just as exclusive as any private school.

What’s the difference between admission based on a high mortgage versus that of a high tuition paid directly to a private school?

School board members and Superintendents from these districts repeatedly argued that voucher values were too low to allow for under-resourced students to attend private schools. News flash: since these students’ parents can’t pay the mortgage necessitated to live in their districts, they can’t come to their schools either.

For the record, the Senate version allows students to cross district lines and take their TISA appropriation with them. Yeah…that didn’t garner much discussion.

In essence, defeating voucher legislation serves to protect these exclusive schools’ exclusionary rights. We accept all students as long as they can pay the mortgage doesn’t have the same ring as public schools accept all students, does it.

If somebody wants to introduce a bill that provides mortgage assistance to a family relocating to a high-income community, I’m on board. Let’s see how far that gets.

Hmmm…what about teachers? We love teachers. Surely there is a prize for teachers. Nope.

Their benefits will likely stay the same, except in the case of wealthier districts that can pay more. Evaluations will also stay the same…except in the wealthier districts that can…you know the rest of the story.

They’ll probably see an extra 50 bucks a check extra in their paycheck next year. Except in those…never mind.

What about testing? Surely there is a prize there.

Nope, students will still receive the same amount of testing as in previous years. In fact, we’ll be increasing the stakes on a 4th-grade screener – in essence, adding another high-stakes test.

By the way, if you are a Nashville parent and you’re looking for a way to raise your blood pressure, try getting some information from your school about your student’s screener results and what they mean. Enjoy, you can thank me later.

The hypocrisy around testing and vouchers has been among the most disingenuous of conversations I’ve ever experienced.

I repeatedly listened to people demand that private schools take the same tests as public schools, knowing that in just a few short weeks the same people would be arguing the illegitimacy of those same tests. This year it took even less time than I anticipated.

If we all know it’s bullshit, why are we demanding more take the test, instead of banding together and reducing testing?

By the way, testing costs millions.

My 13-year-old son summed it up on the way to school for another day of TCAP, “This test ain’t for us. It’s got nothing to do with students”. He said, “This is all for adults and to measure what they are doing.”

He’s kinda on to the grift.

At least, Tennessee’s high-ranking public education system was protected. What are we ranked now?

U.S. News & World Report has us ranked 33. !7 places removed from the bottom.

World Populations on Review has us at 43 for Student Success, 41 overall.

WalletHub does have us at 31. Almost in the top 50%.

NAEP puts in the low 30s as well.

In case you were wondering, NAEP also shows that students performed at a pretty consistent level. The average scale score for 4th grade ELA in 1992 was 215 and in 2022 it was…216. Consistent with national averages.

Yeah, good thing we haven’t made any revisions there.

For the record, Arizona often offered as an example of voucher costs running wild is ranked in the bottom 5 of state public education systems. I don’t any possible solution should be off the table for them.

Arizona spends nearly a billion a year on vouchers. A cost this oft cited as a sign of fiscal responsibility. But, compare that to MNPS’s annual $1.25 billion budget that produces a success rate of roughly 30%. If the kids in the voucher program produce rates over 30%, is Arizona’s voucher cost still irresponsible?

Just one more subject that should have been discussed. Unfortunately, we chose to stick to t-shirt slogans and employ language – grift, con, theft – that limited deeper exploration of policy.

So if I’m running a risk-reward calculation – we lose transparency, and accessibility while gaining nothing but potentially a voucher program – I don’t see how we won.

In fact, I can’t help but wonder, who’s grifting who?

Maybe you’ve got a different calculator.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Bo Watson (R-Hixson) sums it up.

“Sometimes legislation gets introduced, it creates an incredible amount of awareness,” Watson said. “It may not be ready at a particular time, but it builds great awareness, builds strength behind the idea… and makes the next session debate even easier.”

Anti-voucher folks have an opportunity this summer to make that conversation a lot more difficult if they get out and campaign.

Maybe, when that tally arrives, the risk-reward equation will look a bit more balanced.

– – –

A bill providing charter schools the right the buy underutilized or empty school buildings at market value or below passed this week. It sparked considerable discussion, highlighted by Representative Bo Mitchell suggesting that MNPS bulldoze buildings before allowing them to go to schools serving large numbers of impoverished and minority students.

“I have a new high school in my community, the old property is not being used. Probably the most valuable piece of property in Davidson County right now,” said Mitchell. “I suggest to Metro bulldoze it before you ever give it to them.”

News 5 reporter Phil Williams wouldn’t even need a hidden recorder for this one. It was said right on the House floor. Imagine if those words had come from anyone in House GOP leadership.

One Republican who did push back was Representative Jody Barrett of Dixon.

“I can’t support the bill because we’re allowing these charter school organizations to come in and interfere with the negotiation that’s already been done so that an LEA can’t get the highest and best dollar for the property,” said Barrett.

That argument was countered by the bill’s sponsor, Representative Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville).

“If you have buyer A who’s been working the LEA and they are 10 percent over fair market value, then all it says is the charter has the ability to buy it at that rate or higher. They get the opportunity to say no or to refuse at that rate,” said Williams. “I’m not trying to be divisive or argumentative, I just don’t agree with your synopsis of what the first right of refusal in this agreement means.”

Ultimately the bill passed 63 -26 and is headed to the Governor’s desk for his signature, making it law.

– – –

Last week, MNPS school board members were taking a victory lap celebrating the revisions to their public participation policy. They were most proud of the removal of the requirement to speak only on agenda items. A provision that was voted on by several of the current board members wishing to speak about school closing and masking policies during COVID.

The new policy limits public participation to no more than 20 speakers or 4o minutes. each speaker receives 2 minutes.

Apparently, action was taken just in time because slots are going fast for this upcoming board meeting. Expectations are that the list will hit capacity.

Can’t wait to see which subject matter has spurred inspiration – magnet school lottery screw-up or charter school applications.

– – –

Speaking of Magnet School screwups, MNPS is finally owning up to one of the city’s worst-kept secrets.

Communications Chief Sean Braisted offers that;

“An error in setting enrollment capacity at Meigs for the 6th grade led to an unexpectedly large class size for the next year, but currently only a 20-student increase in total school enrollment compared to this year. While enrollment could rise by up to 29 more students, this is unlikely based on past trends. Final enrollment numbers are still uncertain due to ongoing school choice processes, but no impact on classroom space is expected. Other MNPS magnet schools are at or near enrollment projections, and adjustments continue as families update plans.

He maintains that plans are in place for mitigating the error.

“6th graders at Meigs will continue to have a guaranteed pathway for Hume-Fogg in 9th grade for the 2027-28 school year, provided they apply and meet criteria. Despite the enrollment mistake, the lottery system functioned correctly. Efforts are underway to address this oversight and support affected schools and families, with the potential for more students to attend their preferred schools. Enrollment trends will continue to be monitored.”

Missing from Braisted’s explanation is the impact this screwup will have in three years.

Meigs provides an automatic pathway to one of MNPS’s high-achieving academic magnets, Hume-Fogg.

Typically, seats to Hume-Fogg are divided equally between the automatic pathway and new students. With this year’s upcoming 6th-grade class being twice as large, that’s going to severely limit seats for students outside of the automatic pathways.

Meigs leadership has told parents that the number of enrolled students for 6th grade next year is 340. Hume-Foggs grade level capacity is 225, so it’s hard to understand how HFA will be able to accommodate this class of students in 27-28.

Hume-Fogg is housed in one of the district’s older buildings and is located in downtown Nashville. Expanding seating would be difficult.

There will not be any opportunities for students to join the class of 2031 at HFA.

District parents continue to raise questions.

MNPS School Board Chair Rachel Elrod has said that maybe 1 teacher would need to be hired. A statement not born out by the MNPS hiring platform. Meigs is hiring 7 additional teachers and an additional assistant principal. Even as they are losing 5th grade to elementary school.

There have been other problems that have come up with the lottery. Why is a DEI specialist, Ashford Hughes, in charge of the lottery (something that is primarily logistics)?

Ironically, the district claims to prioritize DEI, but they are cutting the middle school academic magnet seats at the school (MLK) that has more diversity and is located in a poorer, Black neighborhood while doubling 6th-grade enrollment at Meigs. Enrollment is way down in the high school grades at MLK, but this “mistake” will cause over-enrollment at HFA, which is much less diverse than at MLK.

All the investment in preventing vouchers is for naught if school districts don’t serve families.

With to without vouchers, parents who feel that their children are not being served will leave.

As a result, districts will lose funding. It’s not hard math.

– – –

My goal with this blog has always been to bring more people to the conversation. Never has it been to run people out of the conversation.

I don’t care if you are wrong 95% of the time if you show a willingness for good-faith engagement you are a welcome addition.

Maybe we’ll lower that number to 93% of the time.

Maybe you’ll raise my success rate.

We gotta stop with the “gotcha” arguments and the hidden recording. To have a true conversation, at times participants have to have a sense a privacy, A place to voice ideas that may be flawed.

There are no shortcuts to producing quality outcomes.

It has to be policy over personalities, and we gotta start running risk-reward calculations.

Nothing is pure, and everything has unintended consequences.

My son often gets caught up in perceived actions of disrespect. Last night we discussed a play where one of his teammates hit a ball to the pitcher, who proceeded to run it all the way to first instead of make the throw.

Supposedly this is interpreted as a sign of disrespect.

“When I did that I got cleated”, he said.

He then asked, “Would you be mad if they did that to you?”

“Probably not”, I responded, “I. try not to get caught up in the disrespect thing. My focus is on the end goal and how to get there. The rest is just noise.”

“Whether you respect me or not is secondary to achieving the goal.”

Furthermore, it’s all about forging relationships. Especially ones that live outside your silo

I suspect you’ll hear from me next week as I’m a bit of a glutton for punishment,

But this has to get a little more enjoyable.

Or maybe just tolerable.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“We’re from where we’re from,” she says back. “Scars are part of the deal, aren’t they?”
― Stephen Graham Jones, The Only Good Indians

It’s amazing, how sometimes I write something, and then just days later an incident arises that serves to illustrate my point. It’s happened again.

On Friday, I wrote about how when it comes to education policy, we don’t do nuance well. It’s all hyperbole, straw men, and sweeping generalizations.

Sure enough, Monday arrives with several quick examples.

Tennessee is again embroiled in a debate over whether teachers should be allowed to carry on school property. I find it ironic that we can’t find enough teachers, yet what gets us worked up is whether the ones we do have are allowed to be armed on campus.

Sure, that’s the priority.

The Nashville Scene has an article written by Betsy Phillip on how the conservative argument for teachers makes no sense. You know it’s going to be a good one when it opens with:

Y’all, I try to understand conservatives. I truly do. But how — if, according to conservatives, men are naturally the protectors and women are naturally the caregivers — does it make any goddamn sense to arm teachers and expect them to exchange fire with school shooters? Teaching is a female-dominated profession. The people packing heat in schools, if teachers are armed, are therefore going to be women.

First off, no you don’t. Anyone at the Scene saying that they try to understand conservatives is as full of shit as Governor Lee saying that he tries to understand liberals – wait, that’s a bad example – it’s like Andy Ogles saying he tries to understand liberals.

Let’s be honest here, neither side is making a good-faith effort to understand the folks on the other side. What they are doing is trying to understand the opposition based on the caricatures they’ve created in their heads to promote an agenda. Not the same thing.

Philip’s argument is no different, it tries to build on the myth of the uber-macho male who is now depending on what they consider the weaker sex to protect children. The author tries to create an image that is just not rooted in the reality of the bill, let alone life.

They write, “But the very same women who can’t be trusted with politics can be trusted with guns? Can be trusted to discern who should be shot and killed at a school full of children?”

Read the article and it seems, that the goal of the the bill is to just randomly hand out guns to the chicks as they walk in the schoolhouse door. A Glock for you. A .45 for you. Two derringers for you.

None for the fellas, this armory distribution is ladies only.

Unfortunately, that is not a picture reflective of the proposed legislation.

The training participating teachers receive is the equivalent of that given to an armed student resource officer. The guidelines drafted in the bill were taken directly from the requirements for an SRO. There is also a mental health component that must be passed.

Before a teacher can carry on campus, they must get sign-off from the principal, the district superintendent, and the police chief.

The supposition is that the teachers who wish to carry will be drawn from the ranks of ex-military or law enforcement.

News Flash Nashville Scene: Women have been serving in combat and law enforcement for quite some time now, and have proven themselves to be equal to, or better than, their male counterparts.

I think, and again I can’t speak for them, they would take offense to this statement from the Scene:

But the very same women who can’t be trusted with politics can be trusted with guns? Can be trusted to discern who should be shot and killed at a school full of children?

Women get all the responsibility but none of the power.

I know several women teachers who already carry, and while I would never feel comfortable with the idea of bringing those guns on school grounds, I can understand it.

The reality is, that this bill is not going to serve as some open spigot flooding schools with guns. At best, a few rural teachers are going to participate.

Is even a handful of new guns on campus too many?

Absolutely.

Do I think it’s a great idea?

Absolutely not.

Unfortunately, as a parent, I don’t rule by absolutes, and neither do I in this case.

Parenting includes a lot of listening, weighing, compromising, and sometimes the acceptance, due to circumstances, of things I’m not wholly comfortable with. Sometimes I have to step out of my comfort zone and accept that life doesn’t come with absolute.

As usual, we spend 95% of the time talking about something that only makes up 5% of the problem. Yes, Covenantt school was a huge tragedy. Mass school shootings are horrific, but they only represent a minuscule part of the problem.

The bigger threat, and we are just lucky that something more serious hasn’t happened, is guns brought to school by students. Handguns, not semiautomatic weapons. It happens all too frequently.

Raise your hand if you knew that four guns have already been recovered at Metro Nashville Public Schools since January.

Hmmm…let’s see, is that one in the back?

Luckily in all incidents, officials acted with prudence, and the guns were recovered without an incident.

Kudos to those professionals, but any of those incidents could have turned tragic with one misstep. By the grace of god, they didn’t.

Personally, I’ve never seen the need for a handgun. But I’ve also never put much stock in denying reality either.

Decisions are always framed as being good versus bad. As an adult, I’ve learned that sometimes life makes us choose between bad and bad.

Sometimes you just have to consider things you never thought you would consider and try to choose one that maybe does the least harm.

That decision might not be the same in Nashville as it is in Trousdale.

But being that it is state law, it needs to serve Trousdale County as well as Nashville.

– – –

Monday morning also brings another dose of “Gotcha TV!”. News 5 reporter Phil Williams is out with another hidden recording revealing the depths of depravity our state leaders are willing to travel. Or so he’d have you believe.

This time it’s State Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) who is the evil villain caught tying the innocent damsel, played by public schools, to the railroad tracks.

The article leads with the following:

The lead sponsor pushing school vouchers in the Tennessee state House says his goal with Tennessee’s public education system is to “throw the whole freaking system in the trash,” according to a recording obtained by NewsChannel 5.

Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, whose children attend a private religious school in Columbia, said he believes that “blow[ing] it all back up” is the only way to “fix” the state’s public schools, which he describes as “terrible.”

Oh lord, how awful. I’m sure my social media feed will be clogged with the clutching of the pearls by public school acolytes all week long, especially seeing as Lee’s voucher bill is already on the ropes.

While Cepicky’s choice of words is questionable, there are times that I feel – gasp – exactly the same.

I’ve spent the last 10 years fighting to defend public education while watching the system underserve a growing number of kids and drive some of its most dedicated practitioners out of the classroom.

I’ve watched politicians demand fidelity to a system while sending their children to a private system, effectively providing them with a future advantage. Shaming those who try to provide greater access only serves to protect their own privilege.

I’ve seen the public system do everything it can to limit public participation while bragging about its inclusionary practices.

I’ve personally felt the frustration of trying to find an option for my child that will provide the opportunity for them to complete in the field of his desire on equal footing, and not have any great options.

I’ve witnessed a public system where teachers thrive not because of the system, but despite it. Hence some of the really great success stories.

So I’ll say it aloud, there are days that I think the whole system needs to be trashed and rebuilt.

That’s not a shot a teachers or principals, but rather a shot at the system itself, as I’ve experienced it.

The keywords there are, as I’ve experienced it.

We continually treat public education as some homogeneous entity, which is a disingenuous picture.

Public schools in Trousdale are way different than those in Nashville, which are worlds apart from those in the wealthier Williamson County district.

Sometimes there are dramatic differences between schools in the same county.

In Tennessee’s Sumner County, they have a new school at Libert Creek. It’s a state-of-the-art high school that can rival any private school, while down the road in Gallatin, the facilities need updating and there is no relief in sight.

Public education has not been bestowed a heavenly stature based on the whims of Allah, Jehovah, or God simply because it exists. It enjoys its privileged status because of the professional educators who inhabit the buildings and the resources provided to facilitate their work.

I don’t believe that Cepicky would argue with that statement, and his mission for the last six years has been an imperfect quest to augment the two.

In frequently speaking with him, I find what he says in public closely aligns with what he says in private. I don’t always agree, but he does his homework, more than most.

Furthermore, he’s both assessable and transparent. I value those qualities over alignment.

Let’s hope that he continues to be assessable and transparent. Winning the voucher fight at that expense would be a cost too high for me.

Voucher opponents have shown a desire to win at any cost, which is understandable, but I’ve long maintained that how you win, is every bit as important as winning.

Now let’s take a look at the rest of the tape as shared by Phil Williams.

A leading argument against vouchers has been their financial implications for individual states. Arizona and Arkansas are frequently cited as examples of how policy can lead to a plunge off the fiscal cliff.

Cepicky recognizes that and addresses it.

“The myriad of pitfalls of school choice across this country is well documented,” Cepicky said.

“Those two other ones are train wrecks. They are fraught with all the pitfalls that have happened across the country…. If school choice is going to pass, it cannot be the governor’s or the Senate’s version.

“It cannot — or else, guess what, it will be a billion dollars in two years.”

Both the Senate and the House plans provide for 20,000 school voucher scholarships in the 2024-2025 school year, but the governor and Senate are looking to create a universal school voucher plan in the second year, subject to state funding.

Under the House plan, the program could only grow by 20 percent each year.

No issue there.

Cepicky recognizes and admits that vouchers won’t immediately allow substantial numbers of students to transfer to private schools. He’s heard on the recording saying:

“We figured across the state of Tennessee, by kind of doing an informal poll, we think there’s a maximum of three-to-four thousand open seats in private schools across the state. That’s it.” In his own area, “There’s no capacity in Maury County. They are stuck.”

But is that the lens we are focusing through? Is immediacy the only thing that matters?

If there is demand, growth will come. The hope is that public schools implement some change, starting with transparency and responsiveness, and Tennessee doesn’t need any more private schools.

The impetus to change doesn’t come without pain. Nobody is comfortable and thinking, you know I ought to change a few things.

I look at my own personal journey. Twenty-four years ago I got sober, but that only happened after I got booted from the house and relationship I was in.

Now I would’ve fervently argued against giving me the shoe, but I can testify, that without that action, I wouldn’t be enjoying the life I enjoy now. I’d either be dead, in jail, or meandering through life from one crisis to another.

I take no exception with Cepicky here either.

Now we get to testing, Here is where Cepicky says the quiet part out loud:

“SCORE and all the lobbyists HATE the testing part of our bill – not dislike – yelling at me in my office, hating this part,” Cepicky said.

He added, “Ok, so I know I am on the right path then.”

Under the House bill, private school children receiving taxpayer funds would not be subject to the same testing required for those enrolled in public schools. It also reduces some testing requirements for public school students. That’s not good enough.

Let me see if I got this straight, we regularly bemoan TCAP as being a colossal waste of time, yet we want everyone to be subject to it under some kind of guise of accountability. Even as we argue it’s only adept at recognizing student social status. That makes sense how?

That’s the old, I-went-through-crap-now-you-gotta-go-through-crap argument. Always a losing proposition.

This brings us to all the other benefits included in the House bill. These benefits include proposals sought by public school advocates, reducing standardized testing, phasing out the failed Achievement School District that had taken over troubled schools, adjusting the frequency of teacher evaluations, ending mandatory fourth-grade retention, and providing additional funding for medical insurance for teachers and staff.

In his report, Williams comments, “It’s not clear how such provisions would fundamentally “fix” a school system that Cepicky says is “terrible.”

Nice play to the hyperbole, Phil. Maybe pay a little more attention and you would.

Williams’s words are echoed by superintendents in wealthier districts. Many of them, due to their privileged status, have the luxury of already utilizing some of the options available. For them, most of the additions wouldn’t be beneficial. However, I’m not sure how they couldn’t benefit from increased funding in TISA to rural districts or increased teacher benefit funding.

Once again, to be clear, I don’t know their districts intimately so I’m not wholly qualified to comment. But sometimes the benefit to the whole should outweigh the benefit to the singular.

It seems that if I am in a poor rural district struggling to attract teachers with no private competitors available, the reward would outweigh the risk.

Cepicky was asked whether he could just remove school vouchers from his bill.

“We’ll never get the good stuff for the public schools,” he answered. “It will not happen because I’ve been trying to get it for six years. We’re using leverage to not only get what the governor wants, use that ambition to get the fix for our public schools.”

Again, he was candid and said the quiet part outlaid, as has his House counterpart Representative Kirk Haston (R-Lobelville).

It is called politics, without leverage, things don’t get passed. Just because you recognize it as a good thing based on conversations with educators, doesn’t mean it is universally recognized.

Cepicky recognizes that basic tenet and goes one step forward,

“All the governor wants to be say, the major words of ‘universal school choice.’ Because we allow everybody to apply for it, he can utter those words,” Cepicky said.

Asked why that initiative was so important to Lee, the Republican lawmaker noted that it is an effort being pushed by the Republican Governors Association.

Lee is the current RGA chair.

“Of all the states around us, who haven’t passed school choice yet?” Cepicky asked.

I get it, I still think the Governor’s pushing the wrong agenda, but that ain’t going to stop him, or the next governor.

We can’t just keep regurgitating the same arguments over and over, and expect quality outcomes.

We also can’t support barriers that limit student potential in the name of a system just because that’s what we are comfortable with.

We have to force ourselves into having deeper more nuanced conversations.

Lastly, gotcha politics are great for ratings, they are not great for governance. All it does is lead to small victories at the cost of assembly and transparency. There is not a private entity in the world that would prescribe that as a supporting best practice. Why would we subscribe to that for our public entities?

There is a reason that this upcoming Presidential election is reduced to a duel between two octogenarian candidates that nobody really wants to support.

Our current manner of politics has made the job unattractive to anyone else.

We have to do better.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“It always gets late with you. – Is that a compliment?”
― Patricia Highsmith, The Price of Salt, or Carol

As a public, we don’t do nuance well, if we do it all.

Our policy conversations tend to be filled with t-shirt slogans and sweeping generalizations. Rarely do we dive under the surface in promoting our positions. Content to fling emotionally charged statements at each other, we dedicate more attention to winning rather than developing solutions.

Equally concerning is the move to politicize everything, and a lack of willingness to defer from the party line. Strangely this phenomenon occurs even as the number of Americans who identify as independent reaches a record high.

Nowhere is the allegiance to party over policy more apparent than in the Tennessee General Assembly.

With two weeks remaining in this session, legislators are facing a ton of pending legislation with little time to hear it. What will get passed and what gets left behind, is likely dependent on who strikes the most emotional chords.

Earlier this week the State Senate passed a bill that would allow teachers who meet certain criteria to carry guns to school.

The primary arguments in support of this legislation are that your Second Amendment rights don’t end at the schoolhouse door and that smaller rural districts are unable to fill Student Resource Officer positions, thus putting kids at risk.

When it comes to the latter, I can’t imagine the challenges faced by those living in a small rural county. Since I don’t live in a small rural community and haven’t done so for decades, I feel unqualified to definitively say, if it’s a bad idea. It doesn’t really sound like a great idea to me, but again, I don’t know all the variables.

The proposed bill allowing teachers to be armed passed in the Senate amid a chaotic scene in the gallery. A couple hundred protesters, including parents from the Covenant School, disrupted proceedings by loudly expressing their displeasure at the proposed bill. At one point, Lt. Governor Randy McNally ordered the clearing of the gallery, after several of his warnings went unheeded.

Down on the Senate floor, State Senator London Lamar (D-Nashville) held her infant while telling fellow lawmakers, ““It is really hard, even as a new mom standing here, to have to be composed on a piece of legislation that I know puts my son’s life at risk.”

Compelling political theater, but not really true to reality.

Contained in the bill is a provision that states, that before any teacher can pack heat, the district supervisor must sign off on the policy.

That ain’t happening Nashville. Nor Memphis, Clarksville, Hamilton County, Williamson County, Maryville, or 95% of the other counties in Tennessee.

It may happen in one of those small rural communities, and if it does, I have to assume that it happens out of a sense of need and a sense of everyone knowing everyone and feeling comfortable with the idea.

I don’t think it’s a good idea, but then again, I’m not a member of that community. As such I don’t feel any more compelled to tell them how to conduct their lives than I do to let them dictate to me how I should live in Nashville.

If things go horribly awry, as I suspect they might, that’s on them, not me. In a democratic society, we have the right to make decisions I don’t agree with as well as those I support.

As for the Covenant parents, my heart aches for them, but I continue to fail to understand how being a victim of a horrific gun crime makes you an expert on gun laws.

Again no disrespect, but how does going through such a tragedy earn you more political clout than someone who never went through such an ordeal?

This whole debate also sidesteps the much bigger danger involving guns and children. School shootings involving automatic weapons remain our primary focus, despite the majority of gun instances involving a handgun as opposed to automatic weapons.

I am not sure anybody has the stomach to tackle limiting access to handguns on a scale that will impact student safety.

– – –

As I mentioned earlier in the week, Governor Lee’s voucher bill is on life support. Legislation in both government bodies has been held up in their respective financial committees for three weeks, while lawmakers look for a way to reconcile the two bills.

I’m told that there has been some progress in reaching a compromise on the two bills, but there still remain a few hurdles to overcome.

Even if the bills become aligned, there is no guarantee that they will pass their respective finance committees. The challenge in the House is larger than that in the Senate.

One sticking point appears to be the Senate’s insistence on voucher recipients taking some form of annual state-approved test allowing for the measurement of the program’s academic success. The House version has no such provision.

This is part of the whole “accountability” argument put forth by voucher opponents. They insistently demand that private schools face the same level of accountability that public schools do. It’s an argument that is disingenuous and public school proponents better hope that they never face the level of accountability private schools are subject to.

Besides, teachers and students, public schools rarely face any accountability. Money is never taken and schools are never closed.

The Tennessee Achievement School district hasn’t taken over a school in 5 years. While an abject failure, the ASD did interject some real accountability into the equation.

Some would argue that the rhetoric around low-performing schools encourages families to seek alternative options, thereby costing the local district needed funding. Maybe, but somehow public school leaders never do any self-evaluation over why enrollment continually shrinks.

Still, somehow, even as enrollments decline, district funding finds ways to increase.

Take Metro Nashville Public Schools as an example. This week they submitted a budget of $1.27 billion for the 2024 – 2025 school year. That’s an increase of $63 million. That number could grow as the Mayor crafts the city budget.

Granted the district makes a strong argument for the increase, but missing from the budget presentation is the number of projected students enrolled for the coming school year.

A glance at MNPS’s open enrollment portal shows that the district has lost about 3k students over the last 5 years, and there is no evidence to support an assumption that the trend won’t continue. Keep in mind when looking at the portal data that MNPS doesn’t separate charter schools from traditional schools, so the true shift is likely even greater.

MNPS has a tendency to take every criticism as being misguided and unfounded. I can’t remember the last time I heard a district leader say, “After careful review, we’ve realized that our policy is not correct and we’ve decided to change course as a result.”

A couple prime opportunities currently exist in which the district could practice transparency and responsiveness.

The first is around plans for changing the grade structure at Martin Luther King Academic Magnet School. Opposition to the plan by the community has been pretty strong, while the district has remained unresponsive.

The other opportunity is with recent errors in the district’s enrollment lottery for Magnet School. The district has purportedly overenrolled 6th graders for the upcoming school year. Repeated inquiries to MNPS about the issue have been ignored. Privately parents are being told, Yeah that happened, but that’ll work out. Once again, a little transparency would instill trust and make it harder to poach students. But it’s a practice MNPS fails to engage in.

The district spends millions of dollars in Social Emotion Learning, yet leadership fails to practice the basic tenets themselves.

Maybe MNPS Equity administrator Ashford Hughes could take a break from his social media posts, and host some workshops on admitting when you are wrong, and how to say I’m sorry.

That would go further in fostering a community of inclusion, than his frequent posts on ensuring “that each student feels recognized and valued, fostering a strong sense of belonging and academic excellence on their educational journey. ”

Part of valuing people is recognizing and crediting their concerns, and not just summerly dismissing them. Listening to them, and hearing them is how you foster a sense of belonging. When was the last time MNPS responded to any voices but their own?

Sans practice it just becomes words.

Private schools, on the other hand, face incredible scrutiny from parents and require administrators to be responsive. You don’t think a parent drops $20k a year and then never asks another question. Endowments are created and dismantled based on performance. Losing students translates directly into lost revenue and adjustments.

Yet we want them to subject themselves to an assessment that we regularly recognize as being flawed.

The idea that a standardized test is going to be able to factor out all the elements of a child’s academic progress, is a bit ludicrous. A child not getting stability at home is going to face the same challenges in a private school as they do in a traditional school.

On the flip side, some students will thrive in a classroom that is devoid of distractions. Some kids will suffer from social anxiety. There are a multitude of factors that enter into a child’s performance on a standardized exam.

We’ve come to accept the limitations of standardized tests to accurately reflect student learning. Yet, voucher opponents insist on applying the same test to kids who accept a voucher to a private school.

If the test is inadequate in one circumstance it’s inadequate in all circumstances.

A better idea would be to lift testing requirements on all students and look for a better model to measure performance.

Sssshhh…don’t tell anybody, but there is stuff in the House version that addresses that very subject.

It should be a fun week next week, full of public posturing with little nuance.

The good news is that we are likely to get to do it again next year.

– – –

Speaking of accountability, Tennessee’s recently passed literacy act includes a provision to retain 3rd-grade students who fail to meet adequate performance levels. On the third grade level, there are provisions – retakes, alternative tests, tutoring, summer school – that allow at-risk students to avoid retention.

Because of those exemptions, 1.25% of last year’s third graders were held back under the new law. That translates to just under 900 kids.

What many overlooked, was the requirement that those who took advantage of the tutoring or summer school option had to show adequate growth in their fourth-grade year in order to pass to 5th grade. If we are going to invest in tutoring and summer school, might as well make sure it is effective, right?

Not according to the public, parents and schools hate the idea.

What we are talking about here is roughly 12k kids, with the TDOE estimating as many as 6K of those could be retained.

At first glance. I would argue that a 50% success rate doesn’t make a great case for the effectiveness of tutoring and summer school. But remember, we don’t do nuance, so all the focus is on the 6 thousand kids.

This week a bill advanced to the House floor that would widen the criteria for determining retention.

The results from a local state-approved benchmark test could be considered as well.

The bill introduced by Representative Gary Hicks (R-Rogersville) would also allow for parents and districts to meet to decide on retention.

Any kid who receives an accommodation, and is passed on to fifth grade, is required to enroll in tutoring or summer school. In other words, another dose of the same medicine that didn’t work last year.

Being an election year, the bill is likely to pass next week in both bodies. Though not without reservations from the Senate, as voiced by Education Committee Chair State Senator Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol).

“We set a line years ago, and it’s a tough line,” Lundberg said. “I don’t want 6,000 people to fail. I don’t want 3,000. I don’t want 300. But some are going to fail, and moving them along just because these are difficult conversations for parents to have and teachers to have, that’s a problem.”

Also of note, is the emerging role of Hicks as a counterweight to Governor Lee’s education policies. Hicks has been a strong and vocal opponent of Governor Lee’s voucher plan. The Representative hails from the same community as recently named National Teacher of the Year Missy Testerman. So maybe she exerting a little influence.

Like Todd Warner (R-Chappell Hill), also a vocal voucher opponent, Hicks is running unopposed in upcoming state elections, which frees him up to speak his mind.

– – –

Several years ago, when the Science of Reading first took off, I warned about the dangers of assuming there was only one way to teach reading. I’ve always advocated for putting more tools in a teacher’s hands, as opposed to taking tools away.

My objections were largely ignored and states, including Tennessee, rushed to adopt materials reflective of the Science of Reading.

Of late, there has been some revaluation and some familiar problems have begun to arise.

Education writer Peter Greene looks at how Common Core opened the door to the state-imposed curriculum.

“It was one of the big objections to the Core itself– how dare the federal and state governments dictate what and how will be taught in local schools. The local control of school districts was an inviolable feature, a given part of How Schools Work. Sure, there were state departments of education providing some oversight and accountability, and they often had programs they wanted to push. But if you are a Teacher Of A Certain Age, you remember state-run professional development as an attempt to sell the idea, an attempt that implicitly accepted that it was up to the district and the teachers to buy the idea, or not.”

The Washington Post has a piece tracking how different states have passed laws to impose certain curricular and instructional requirements on what should be taught (or not). We could also discuss the moves in various states to push Science of Reading laws, mandating a particular type of instruction for reading.

This is especially problematic in light of a recent summary by The National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado on research about the current “Science of Reading” fad. The summary finds that the “science” is missing. SoR has turned into another “miracle cure” that is being imposed and mandated by legislatures, anticipating a dramatic result in which “no child is left behind.”

The summary includes a close examination of Tennessee’s Literacy Success Act (LSA). NEPC Fellow Elena Aydarova of the University of Wisconsin-Madison analyzed videos of legislative meetings and debates, stakeholder interviews, and examinations of bills, policy reports, media coverage, and other documents associated with the LSA, which was passed in 2021.

Aydarova found little evidence that advocates, intermediaries, or legislators grounded their support in anything resembling scientific evidence. Instead, “science of reading” becomes a catch-all phrase representing a grab bag of priorities and beliefs: “[I]n advocates’ testimonies and in legislative deliberations, neuroscience as SOR’s foundational element was reduced to vague references to ‘brain’ and was often accompanied by casual excuses that speakers did not know what ‘it all’ meant.”

She goes on to note that motivations for supporting SOR reforms range from commercial to ideological. For instance, Aydarova notes that after the passage of The Literacy Success Act in 2021, nearly half of Tennessee’s school districts adopted curricula promoted by the Knowledge Matters Campaign. This campaign, supported by curriculum companies such as Amplify and wealthy backers such as the Charles Koch Foundation, added SOR wording to its marketing effort as the curriculum it had originally supported fell out of favor due to its association with Common Core State Standards, which had become politically unpopular in many states.

In her opinion, legislators focused more on reading instruction than out-of-school factors.

Aydarova’s research supports Greene’s argument against having curriculum and instruction decisions made by legislators.

Per Greene:

It’s not a good idea for a variety of reasons. Legislatures favor people who are good at politics, not people who are good at teaching. Legislatures are far too removed from classrooms to know what the hell they’re talking about. And the whole exercise is one more way to reduce teacher autonomy and cut their professional judgment out of the equation.

Can’t say I disagree.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“There is still, I think, not enough recognition by teachers of the fact that the desire to think–which is fundamentally a moral problem–must be induced before the power is developed. Most people, whether men or women, wish above all else to be comfortable, and thought is a pre-eminently uncomfortable process.”
― Vera Brittain, Testament of Youth

The weeks are winding down on Tennessee’s 113th General Assembly. As those weeks tick away, it looks less and less likely that Governor Lee is going to secure his desired signature legislation.

In an effort to expand school choice, Lee has proposed a universal voucher bill that was poorly thought out from the get-go. The proposed legislation remained speculative until over a month into the session, when an actual bill was finally introduced. Actually three bills – the Governor’s, the Senate’s, and the House.

At their core, all propose universal vouchers, but that is the only similarity the three share.

The Senate version is arguably the closest to Governor Lee’s vision but uses the state’s existing funding tool TISA to finance vouchers. It also allows for the transference of students to schools outside of their district, and comes with a considerably lower price tag than the House version.

The House version is a comprehensive education reform package that includes fewer teacher evaluations, less testing, lower insurance costs for teachers, an end to the Achievement School District, and a repeal of the fourth-grade retention portion of the state’s literacy law. The price tag for the House version is approximately $400 million, and Lee has indicated that were this bill to pass, legislators would have to fund it outside Tennessee’s annual state budget.

Both bills are scheduled to be heard in their respective finance committee meeting this week. Something that appears less and less likely as the two bodies continually fail to coalesce around a uniform bill. In the House, there is increasing speculation over whether the votes are there to pass the bill out of the finance sub-committee. Every delay only adds to that speculation.

With maybe two weeks remaining on the calendar, the odds are decreasing that a full vote will be taken on the floor in either body and even if it is, the legislation will pass.

If I was a betting man, I’d put my money on it not passing this year.

Of course, all of that could change on a dime.

The demise of this initiative leaves me with mixed emotions. While Lee’s vision is not one I share, school choice options are only going to increase, and we must have a more nuanced conversation about what that looks like.

This year’s discussion on vouchers never made the leap from arguing over philosophy and focusing on policy. It remained hopelessly rooted in ideology. Both sides have littered the conversation with disingenuous arguments. Increased school choice is not the silver bullet for either dismantling public education or drastically altering student outcomes.

A glance at state school system rankings shows states that have incorporated vouchers in both the top and bottom tiers.

I’ve spent over a decade standing in opposition to vouchers, but I have to tell you, each year my opposition becomes less firm.

Public education has become an ever-growing monolith, and with that growth comes an increased sense of entitlement, demanding more money to educate fewer kids every year. Supporters seem to think that any money invested in education must go to the public system or it is theft.

Public education has morphed into a system where self-protection trumps being responsive to those it purports to serve. Teachers, students, and families are regularly treated like chunks of coal designed to feed an all-consuming steam engine.

As it stands, there is no way for any of the aforementioned parties to be heard if they feel dissatisfied, or disenfranchised. Any criticisms are dismissed as a character issue of the critic and not the system.

Defense of this system is cached with phrases like, “They’ll be fine”, or “My kids went and they enjoyed it.” Neither of these should be viewed as a legitimate argument for enrollment.

Maybe some parents are looking for their kids to just do as well as they’ve done. Maybe they are looking for a place where their kids can go and be content.

Not me.

I want them to do better than me, and not by a small margin.

I want them to have a shot at all of the opportunities I was never given.

I want them to be limited by their talents and not their circumstances.

To get there, there will be times of discomfort. It’s been my experience that comfort frequently acts as an antidote for growth.

In short, I want for them what is regularly offered to the children of wealthy parents and often denied to those of lesser means.

For me, this is the first year where the anger at those who reinforce the barriers to greater opportunities, while ensuring that they still exist for their children, has broken the surface.

The hardest thing for a parent to accept is the inability to provide for or protect their children at their desired level.

One pro-public school state legislator defended their choice to send their kids to private school by saying, they only did so because that’s where all their peers were going. Exactly my point.

She is providing the opportunity to continue to build relationships with future high earners, ensuring that the doors forever remain open to increasing their own wealth, while demanding that those who can’t afford the tuition settle for less.

Not just settle, but embrace.

That’s a non-sustainable tenet and the cracks will only grow in the future.

The same holds true with public school defenders in wealthier school districts that continually argue the importance of public education. Yes, a strong public education system is vital to the health of a society, but let’s not pretend for one minute that your public education is the same as mine.

You are fighting as hard to preserve your privilege as you are for opportunity for all children. Which is understandable, but just say so.

Please don’t mistake my dwindling lack of faith in the public school system for a lack of faith in public school teachers. Nothing could be further from the truth, and in my eyes, they are the one thing that keeps public education viable for all students, despite the best efforts of some administrators.

Public schools have become like a restaurant that invests heavily in location, decor, and menus but forgets about the cooks. Without the cooks, you have no restaurant. Without dedicated and certified teachers, you have no public education.

Everybody publicly provides lip service to that fact, but what consistently transpires behind the scenes is the opposite. We hold lavish banquets to honor select teachers, while rarely acknowledging that successful teaching is a team sport. Without those unheralded peers, there be considerably fewer rock-star teachers.

We talk about the need to retain veteran teachers but promote policies that do the opposite. Teachers who consider teaching more than a profession are routinely run off, to be replaced by those who look at it as just another job. A job that is easy to leave behind when the level of difficulty inherent in the job is realized.

Don’t think for a minute that student learning is not disrupted when teachers leave in the middle of a school year. Yet we do little to prevent that from transpiring, and instead, it happens with ever-increasing frequency.

There is a part of me, that believes that if vouchers were readily available, the monolith would be forced into being more responsive and addressing its growing shortfalls.

As it is, as much as we talk about accountability for public schools, none really exists for anyone but teachers and students.

When was the last time a district budget was actually cut?

When was the last time a public school was closed for underperforming?

When was the last time a public school was taken over by the state?

It doesn’t happen. About the most that happens Is people talk bad about schools on the internet.

Perhaps the issues I’m raising are exclusive to large urban districts, and things are completely different in smaller urban districts. Maybe, but it is hard to separate when the public conversations we have continually treat public education as being a homologous entity.

Which is just not true.

Maybe there has to be a little pain, in order for the system to reverse direction.

Speaking of pain, if voucher legislation does fail to make it out of this year’s session, don’t expect it to disappear from the conversation. It’s likely to return next year.

Furthermore, if legislation fails to pass, don’t think there won’t be a price extracted.

House Representative Todd Warner (R-Chappel Hill) has been a fierce critic of vouchers. In response to his opposition, he is being celebrated by those in opposition to vouchers. Bucking his own party has earned him the ire of fellow party members and pro-voucher advocacy groups. Americans for Prosperity vowed to make an example of him but failed to produce a challenger for the upcoming election. Outwardly it appears that Warner is riding back into the House triumphant and untouched.

But is he?

Odds are, he won’t be able to pass any legislation over the next two years. Recording private conversations isn’t likely to instill trust with fellow party members, so it’s fair to predict he’ll have few supporters when he bills forward in the future.

Over the next two years, his district will be represented by a legislator who will struggle to bring their needs to the table.

Maybe vouchers were a big enough issue to bear that kind of cost, but maybe that’s not a price his district was willing to pay. Ultimately it’s a tab that won’t be picked up by him, but rather his constituents.

No matter what happens in the coming weeks, the voucher conversation is far from over.

– – –

Like voucher legislation, allowing teachers to carry guns always seems to surface each legislative session. It’s an argument that continually fails to recognize that a decision to carry a firearm is a decision to shoot someone. In the case of a teacher, that someone has a high probability of being a student.

As a society, we’ve had images of gunfighters shooting pistols out of their opponent’s hands, and undercover cops sliding across cars firing off accurate shots ingrained in our subconsciousness. Neither is representative of reality.

In reality, combatants rarely strike their intended targets, or if do, the bullets pass through that target and are imbed elsewhere, often in the flesh of an innocent bystander. In the case of teachers, that intended bystander is likely to be a student.

Proponents will often doubt their prowess at the range as evidence of their ability. There is a world of difference between being at the range and being involved in a live event. How you’ll perform live is not necessarily how you’ll perform in a staged setting. Failure to match the former with the latter means a bystander is likely to be struck. Again, that bystander is likely to be a student.

I’m willing to bet few of us would encourage our children to play in the middle of a seldom-traveled road because the odds of getting hit by a car were low, but that’s what this legislation is purporting to do.

Yesterday the bill passed in the Senate by a vote of 26-5. It was another vote straight down party lines.

Before passage, during debate, Lt. Governor Randy McNally was forced to clear the gallery after several spectators verbally interrupted proceedings.

The bill requires that those who wish to carry must first get an enhanced handgun carry permit and complete annual training with law enforcement. Liability in the event of an accidental shooting falls solely on the shoulders of the armed teacher.

Sponsor, State Senator Paul Bailey (R-Sparta), thinks that situation would be unlikely due to three elements in the bill constructed to prevent such a scenario: training for the person carrying the gun, along with a psychiatric evaluation, and a sign-off from local law enforcement.

That wouldn’t be enough for me, but then again, I’ve never seen any success in carrying a handgun.

The bill must be taken up by the House and passed before it heads to the Governor’s desk.

– – –

Last night the Metro Nashville Public Schools board held a governance committee meeting with the sole purpose of revising their public participation policy. The meeting serves as a stark example of what I referenced earlier about the unresponsiveness of the public school system.

The initial conversation took place two weeks ago and proposed limiting the amount of time in a meeting devoted to public participation to 30 minutes, varying the time allotted to speakers based on the number wishing to speak, and requiring participants to write out and submit their comments 48 hours before the board meeting. Several board members raised concerns, and the reforms were tabled until last night.

The finalized bill is much more palpable but clearly serves board members instead of the public. Going forward, participation will be limited to 20 speakers, each given 2 minutes. Prepared remarks need not be submitted before speaking and subject matter will no longer be limited to items on the agenda.

The entire board conversation was framed through the needs of the board, with little shift given to the public. At one point during the discussion, board member Abigail Tylor, who argued that time for public participation be extended to 60 minutes, offered that it was “easy” for a participant to alter their presentation from three to two minutes if necessitated.

That’s not necessarily true and fails to acknowledge the challenge to those who wish to speak. For someone unaccustomed to public speaking, addressing the board is a daunting task.

Most rehearse their speeches, timing them out in advance.

Most hit the podium filled with nerves and anxiety that can create a difference in delivery time.

For many, there is nothing easy about the process and they agonize extensively over it.

That needs to bear recognition.

Early in the meeting, Board Member Cheryl Mayes made a public passionate defense of the rule change, claiming that despite public perception it was in no way intended as a means to limit public participation.

This in part. prompted member Sharon Gentry to ask, “What is the problem we are looking to solve with this policy change?”

The question was set aside while board members massaged the language in the new rule. Only after the new language was approved, did Chair Emily Masters answer Gentry’s question.

Masters cited the original need to revise the rule that limited speakers to items on the agenda, but also pointed out a need to avoid the potential of a lengthy public participation period that would make it “difficult to do the rest of the work of the board.”

Perhaps Mayes and Masters should get on the same page. Because their two statements are not aligned.

During the board discussion, the members admitted that in recent years, because of several reasons, the list of commenters was rarely even close to 20 and usually ran less than half that number. Based on that fact, the board could have just as easily adopted Tylor’s proposal of 20 speakers given 3 minutes.

Instead, they chose to limit input by constituents, on a hypothetical justification that public participation would interfere with important board business.

My next question would be, what exactly would that business be?

When District Superintendent Dr. Battle opted to switch benchmark testing from MAP to Fastbridge, was there a lengthy board conversation?

When former board member Christina Buggs resigned mid-term was there any discussion about how the board would proceed in the absence of representation for her district?

When MLK parents voiced concerns about changes in the grades served by their school, was there a lengthy conversation?

The answer to all of the above is no.

What the board prefers to take up at its meetings are items that only paint the district in a positive light.

So in other words, a lengthy public participation period would limit the amount of time devoted to clapping each other on the back, with little time left for giggles and dancing.

Current Board Chair Rachel Anne Elrod, much like her predecessors, loves to use her position to deliver a sermon. Perhaps cutting out those sermons would provide more time for public participation.

Just a thought.

Elrod has often advocated for constituents to email her with concerns. Again, a police that puts board member needs above constituent needs.

Argue whatever you want, but let’s be honest, this new policy is all about making sure the board never has to spend too much time listening to people they don’t want to hear.

Not much different than the people at the Tennessee General Assembly who they regularly rail against.

– – –

Per usual, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“The ship is always off course. Anybody who sails knows that. Sailing is being off course and correcting. That gives a sense of what life is about.”
― Michael Meade

Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education Lizzette Reynolds just can’t seem to get out of her own way.

Vivian Jones reports this morning that the Texas transplant – maybe Texas tourist is a better descriptor, seeing as she hasn’t fully established residency in Tennessee – has twice within her first six months of employment with the state, signed forms certifying she had been a state employee for more than six months as she sought a tuition waiver for classes at the University of Tennessee at Martin.

If you’ll remember, Reynolds has never taught in a school, nor does she possess any credentials to do so if she suddenly got a wild hair to practice what she preaches. Chew on that for a minute.

The person in charge of directing Tennessee schools isn’t qualified to teach in one, yet still feels qualified to collect $255,000 a year for directing them.

Which ironically is about $25K more than her predecessor. What Governor Lee has done, is replace an incompetent model with a higher-priced priced unqualified model. Brilliant.

According to Jones, “The records show that Reynolds enrolled at UT Martin to seek a master’s degree and teaching license after Lee appointed her to lead the state Department of Education on May 1.”

The rules require that state employees wait 6 months before after their hire, before they qualify for the tuition waiver program.

Reynolds first signed a tuition waiver form on Aug. 11, 2023 – about six weeks after taking her oath of office on July 1. She signed a second tuition waiver form on Nov. 20. By the time the spring 2024 semester started, Reynolds qualified for the waiver under THEC’s rules.

This is like somebody offering you a six-figure job to be the head of Goodyear’s Tennessee division. One of your first actions is enrolling in classes about the manufacturing of tires. You then bill the tuition to Goodyear.

Of course, the go-to excuse of “administrative error’ is being put forth as a reason for the incompetence.

“This was an administrative error, which immediate action has been taken to correct,” education spokesperson Brian Blackley told The Tennessean in an email. “Upon realizing the mistake, Commissioner Reynolds personally covered the cost of all classes that were ineligible for the state waiver, in accordance with language in the waiver application.”

I find that a little hard to believe. It’s not a difficult form, and if you sign it you own it. Maybe she needs a better administrative assistant.

Why she would even pursue this route in covering the tuition completely baffles me. I’m sure that her former employer ExcelinED would have been more than happy to have covered the cost.

They’ve saved about $50k a year since she shifted to the state payroll, and gained even more influence. What’s a couple thousand for tuition?

ExcelinED’s sister organization, Chiefs for Change, was only too happy to provide off-the-book services to former commissioner Penny Schwinn as a member in standing. One of those services was the hiring and compensating of the PR firm that built the Website promoting TISA legislation while it was still pending. Got to figure that a damn sight more expensive than a little tuition.

The Commissioner’s latest misstep comes on the heels of several disastrous appearances in front of the General Assembly this session. Throughout her appearances Reynolds appeared uninformed and underprepared, regularly deferring to cabinet members to answer lawmaker inquiries,

What emerges is a surface picture of a Commissioner who is under-qualified, but a deeper dive makes an argument for one who just isn’t that vested in Tennessee.

If she cared, there would be marked improvement between committee appearances.

If she cared, she would take extra care to properly dot the “T”s and cross the “I”s.

If she cared she would have brought her own administrative assistant that would facilitate her public appearances and required paperwork.

If she cared, she’d spend a whole lot less time at BNA waiting for a flight to Texas, and a whole lot more time in Tennessee schools.

It’s the old saying about believing people when they show you who they are. Commissioner Reynolds is a tourist, one with little desire to become a resident. She is quite content in taking Tennessee taxpayer dollars and shipping them back to Texas.

Now she’s trying to get us to pay for her education.

– – –

Early in the week, I talked about how voucher legislation is currently on pause, waiting to be heard in the finance committees of the two bodies of the General Assembly. The pause has given opponents the supposition that there just aren’t enough votes to bring Governor Lee’s vision to life.

I’ve been skeptical of the likelihood of passage since inception, but did believe that the House bill made the legislation a little bit more possible if people could talk policy instead of philosophy. They can’t, so I’m back to doubting.

The major hold-up continues to be in reconciling the two versions of the bill in the Senate and the House. Sam Stockard over at the Tennessee Lookout believes that “a testing reduction in the House bill and an open enrollment provision for public schools in the Senate bill are the sticking points.”

I believe it runs a whole lot deeper. The Senate is of the opinion that if you are going to run a voucher bill, run a voucher bill. They have little interest in supporting a voucher bill laden with condiments. The House needs all those condiments to garner support and secure enough votes for passage.

Kirk Haston (R-Lobelvill), chairman of the K-12 Subcommittee, has already testified that if you start pulling out condiments, he’s pulling out.

The stall leaves voucher proponents trying to exude confidence while making ridiculous statements.

Per The Tennessean, House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland), told reporters Thursday that the House and Senate “in my opinion, have never been closer together on this.”

Sure, if I live in Knoxville, and you live in Memphis, and I move to Oak Ridge, we are closer than we have ever been, but we are still a long way from each other.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) said conversations remain ongoing with Senate colleagues about crucial pieces of each version of the bill — like the House proposal to overhaul K-12 testing requirements, and the Senate’s proposal to allow open enrollment.

“We’ll see what they’re comfortable with,” Sexton said.

Ok, is it a little too much to expect that with roughly two weeks left in the session, the two sides have a pretty good idea of what each is comfortable with? Perhaps the “comfort” was a discussion better suited for November, or January at the latest. Color me old-fashioned, but crafting legislation on the fly is never a desirable option.

Then there is the Governor weighing in.

“I’m confident they’ll find a way forward,” Lee said during a recent talk radio appearance on “The Matt Murphy Show.” “We have multiple meetings every week around a lot of issues – this one in particular right now.”

Lee calls school choice “the conservative issue of our time,” and laments plummeting outcomes at “government-run” schools, arguing that his proposal is a “challenge to the status quo.”

“When our children are all going to government-run schools, the power is in the government’s hands with regard to where our children are educated, what they learn, and how they learn it,” Lee said. “This is not about getting government into private education. This is about getting the power out of the hands of the government and getting into the hands of parents.”

That statement is so idiotic, that I have a hard time even processing it.

As a business owner, surely he understands the concept of, “if you fund it, you control it”. The old, if you live in my house, you’ll follow my rules trope ring a bell?

If the government is paying, then the government is controlling, and by extension, you are just creating more government-controlled schools. If you can sweep up some home-schoolers as well, all the better.

I suspect that part of the delay in advancing bills has to do with letting the candidate filing period expire, lest incumbents draw challengers. That expired this week.

If that was part of the strategy, then it was a failure, because as we are about to discuss, incumbents already face some stiff competition for re-election.

I still think that this circus folds up its tent in two weeks, with vouchers becoming Lee’s defining moment.

Just not in the manner he envisions.

– – –

Since we are talking about getting the power out of the hands of the government and getting it into the hands of parents, let’s talk about a new law that would require public school students to watch a video on fetal development produced by an anti-abortion group, or something comparable. Under the law, participation is mandatory even if parents have different desires.

During the same floor session, the Senate also voted to send the governor a bill that would require annual firearm safety instruction in public schools, including safe storage, avoiding injury if a student finds a gun, and informing adults if one is discovered. No live guns, ammo, or firing could be involved. No parent opt-out would be available.

Democrats took note of a lack of alignment between these laws and the rhetoric regularly delivered by their Republican counterparts.

“I’ve heard many members in this body talk about school choice, parent choice as the lay of the land and how it should be,” said Democratic Sen. Charlane Oliver. “But it seems to be only convenient when it fits a certain political ideology.”

That’s a hard argument to counter. But, I’m only a parent, so what do I know.

Just remember, The Governor is a staunch supporter of parental choice.

“There’s a broad public acceptance for the ability for parents to have more choice for where their kids go to school,” said Governor Lee. “Parents are the best deciders for where their kids go and what they learn.”

– – –

As I mentioned earlier, the state filing period for candidates looking to run for state office closed this week. The list of challengers is extensive, and some entrenched members have good cause for concern.

Familiar names like Gardener, Lumberg, Ragan, Haile, Hakeem, Garrett, Bulso, and Cepicky, are going to have the spend the summer working if they are looking to come back for next year’s General Assembly. Kinda like those kids who have to go to summer school if they want to pass on to fourth grade. Maybe they can get some tutoring. Oops…too soon?

Representative Jody Barrett, a ubiquitous presence on social media has drawn a primary challenger. His primary target, Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) has not. She’ll advance to the general election where she runs unopposed. So, even if she loses her race for the US Senate, she still has a guaranteed seat at the table.

Republicans Reedy, Haston, and Moody all are running unopposed. The latter two are entrenched in leadership positions with the House Education Committees. So don’t expect too much movement next session in those in that area.

Longtime House Education Chair Mark White (R-Memphis) faces a Democrat challenger, Noah Nordstrom, who is a high school Spanish teacher, community organizer, and proud union member. Nordstrom is purportedly running for state representative because the war on public schools must end. I would argue that it’s probably time for White’s reign to end, but what do I know.

Interestingly, Justin Pearson, one of the Tennessee 3, has drawn a primary opponent. His primary opponent is David Page, a veteran teacher of over 25 years. He better be careful lest Pearson drops his war chest on him.

This one cracks me up. Americans for Prosperity scapegoated Todd Warner for his opposition to vouchers. They vowed to make an example of him, repeatedly saying bad things about him on Twitter. Yet they were unable to secure a primary challenger for him.

Well, they kinda did, but he couldn’t get his paperwork turned in on time, so Warner will advance to the general election, where he’ll face a Democrat candidate running for the very first time. Meanwhile, AFP is scrambling to find their teeth because Warner just kicked them in.

Ouch, that’s got to hurt.

Still scouring the list, but the next couple of months out on the campaign trail could get very interesting.

– – –

It’s April, so we must be talking about legislation that would allow teachers to start packing heat. Seems like it happens every year around this time, then smarter heads prevail.

Carrying a gun requires a conscious decision to shoot somebody. There is no other reason to carry a gun.

Some may argue that its mere presence serves as a deterrent. I was raised that you don’t show a gun or knife unless you intend to use it. Therein lies the conscious decision to shoot someone.

In this case, that someone may be one of the teacher’s charges.

I don’t care how well-trained you are, you ain’t Sonny Crocket sliding across the hood of a car while squeezing off shots and hitting your intended target with each. Reality has a way of crashing in, and innocents have a way of getting hurt.

Remember, the unintended consequences.

No need to spend too much time on this subject, other than to offer a prayer that this year’s legislation suffers a similar fate as in past years.

While I don’t question the intent, I do question the outcomes.

– – –

One of the attractive condiments in the Tennessee House voucher bill is a decrease in state-mandated testing. Something you’d think everybody would be on board with, but surprisingly some are in opposition of the idea.

Reportedly, The Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) is telling legislators that they are against the idea, and are urging them to reject any legislation that supports a reduction in testing.

Normally the group is in the thick of state education policy initiatives, but on voucher legislation, they’ve been strangely quiet. Perhaps it is the less than cordial treatment they received last year from lawmakers that has led to their reticence to weigh in this session.

In case, once again, they find themselves on the wrong side of an issue, but at this juncture, is anyone surprised?

– – –

The teaching shortage in Tennessee continues to be a real challenge. One that continues to hinder academic performance by students.

One way that districts are attempting to fill empty positions is through the use of permitted teachers. These are teachers who have undergraduate degrees but are not licensed to teach.

According to Metro Nashville’s Chief of Communication Sean Braisted, the district employs 349 of these instructors.

Braisted tells DGW, “You are probably aware, but just a note that all teachers on permits have to be non-renewed or placed into support roles at the end of each school year, as the permits are only valid for one year at a time. Schools must justify the need for a teacher on a permit each school year, and those needs change from year to year.”

A little clarification. The teacher’s employment is terminated at the end of each school year, but the permit can actually last for up to three years. Technically a permitted teacher released in June can rehired in July if they are willing to wait, and the need is still there. A not uncommon occurrence, nor necessarily a bad one. Though it may inadvertently dampen a principal’s desire to find a licensed teacher knowing that a capable candidate is in the wings.

– – –

On Tuesday of next week, the MNPS School Board will convene. On the agenda is further discussion of proposed revisions to their public participation policy.

The new policy proposes to limit the total time of public participation to 30 minutes a meeting. It would further require that those wishing to speak, submit a written version of what they intend to say 48 hours before the meeting.

The agenda typically comes out on Friday before the Tuesday meeting. Public participation is already limited to items contained on the agenda. Under the new policy, speakers would have to peruse the agenda on Friday to make sure their topic was part of the agenda. They would then have Saturday and part of Sunday to write out their speech, which could be 2 to 3 minutes long depending on the number of speakers scheduled.

Board leadership swears this isn’t about limiting speech, but the proposed changes come on the heels of a large contingent of MLK parents signing up to speak in opposition to changes in grade structure for their school.

Me, I say, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s likely a duck.

Everybody loves the idea of parent voice until it doesn’t say what they want.

Ironically a new Vanderbilt poll shows the board with an approval rate of 57%.

I think that’s likely a result of people just tuning out, as the board has continually made itself less and less relevant.

– – –

As always, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“I know the word “incompetent” from my father. He uses it when there’s something political on TV, or when he and Uncle Miki are quarreling about something political they’ve seen on TV. Incompetence means doing something even though you haven’t the faintest idea how to–like governing Yugoslavia, for instance.”
― Saša Stanišić, How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone

We often hear admonishments against building the plane as we are flying it. I can’t find anybody that would advocate for such a strategy. Yet here we are in Tennessee, and that’s exactly what legislators are trying to do in an effort to appease a Governor, who by all accounts should be considered a lame duck.

For some godforsaken reason – one only known by himself and Corey DeAngelo – Governor Bill Lee decided that an election year would be the perfect time to run a voucher bill. At a time when divisions are still mending from the last go-around, with indictments still hanging in the wind.

The decision itself might be forgivable, had the Governor not decided to wait until November to make his intent known, leaving legislators to scramble to craft a passable bill. It’s been a work in progress ever since. Will changes to the happening weekly, even as we enter the final weeks of session.

Meh. Who needs to campaign when there is a shit sandwich to try and digest?

Actual legislation wasn’t even revealed until mid-February. Even then, instead of getting simpler, things only became more complex.

Initially, there were three competing bills – the governors, the House, and the Senate. The Governor’s version faded to black pretty quickly, but while the House and Senate versions still exist, are two very different animals.

The Senate remains a straightforward voucher bill that embeds voucher funding in the state’s public school funding system (TISA).

The House bill is an education reform bill, chock full of things that will benefit schools, students, and teachers. These are items that come directly from the state’s education stakeholders, and there is no reason to believe they would improve students’ outcomes. If they stay in the bill.

Personally, I applaud House members for trying to attach needed legislation to an unpopular bill deeply desired by the Governor, Leverage is everything, and they smartly chose to use that leverage to mitigate the potential damage of Lee’s voucher vision.

I’m still baffled by the number of long-time politicos who have forgotten that over the last few months. It’s all about using the carrot and the stick in equal measure. There is a reason why each party has a designated Whip.

Whether the added items get stripped out of the House bill or not has become the million-dollar question. One acerbated once again, by Governor Lee’s unwillingness to fund the amendment that lists those benefits.

Is anybody noticing a trend here?

To fund the amendment, House leaders are proposing raiding the fund dedicated to teacher raises.

“The No. 1 issue they have in a lot of areas is the amount they have to pay for insurance,” House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) said of teacher feedback education committee members have received. “We propose to pay 60%, and increase what the state pays with a goal of trying to get to 80%. That would increase the take-home pay of what teachers take, in a lot of instances, and it frees up a lot of money locally that they can put back into teacher increases if they so choose.”

House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) echoed the Speaker.

“When we put teacher raises out there, there are many counties where they’re not getting raises,” he’s said. “So if you’ll just raise the amount we put towards their health insurance, that actually is money that could go directly into the teacher’s pockets and that’s what we want to do.

Fair enough. For years, legislators have been stymied by their ability to increase teachers’ salaries. They designate money, and districts divert it to other needs. TISA was supposed to solve that issue but did not.

Despite how it was advertised, TISA, just like the previous BEP, is a funding plan and not a spending plan. Lawmakers have little control over how a district spends its money once it hits their account. Some of that is about to change, but we’ll talk more about that soon.

Time now for a little math. We’ll use a $22K annual premium as a basis, I don’t think that is too far off for most teachers. Save the young single ones.

Currently, the state pays 45% or $9900, which leaves $12,100 for teachers to pick up.

Now let’s say the state picks up 60%. That’s $13,200 for the state and $8800 for the teacher. A difference of $3300. Divide that up over 20 weeks and you get $165 a paycheck. That’s before taxes, realistically it’s closer to 100 or $50 a week. Which is about the same as the last few state-granted pay raises.

That’s provided the districts actually apply the money to teachers. No guarantee there.

Let’s be honest about the 80% and ever getting there. It ain’t happening until the next time teachers have a little leverage.

I don’t know what leadership is thinking, but nobody is going to embrace this idea, and the optics alone are awful. Who wants to go out and campaign on the argument that teachers benefitted from the General Assembly stealing their money to pass voucher legislation?

Once again, Lee could have supported legislators by funding an amendment that would benefit everyone and instead decided to throw a high pass across the middle. thereby leaving his “friends” exposed once again.

Again, has anyone noticed a pattern? I bet they have on the national stage and it’s probably why you haven’t heard Lee’s name mentioned for any positions.

This week both bills were supposed to be heard in their respective finance committees. Both, instead, have been rolled while leaders convene to try and reach a consensus bill. One that will satisfy enough people in both bodies to support it.

Here we go, breaking out the screw guns and bolts even as the plane heads toward the landing pad.

A little over three weeks left in the session and the legislation is still being written. A law that could ultimately cost the state a billion dollars is still being written on the fly. Maybe the Governor and Legislators need to take a project management class because none of this is considered best practice.

There have been rumblings that if the Hoses can’t get the Senate to budge on compromise, the bill will be stripped down to its essence, and run. If it doesn’t pass opponents will be targeted during this election season, and next year we’ll just do this dance again.

Don’t think that won’t have repercussions. There is already limited trust in the General Assembly, and they’ve been saying all along that House leadership was just running a bait-and-switch. Stripping the House bill down will just confirm those accusations.

Ultimately, this could lead to a tougher path to re-election for incumbents.

I’m no News 5 reporter Phil Williams. I don’t get all worked up over hardball politics. Remember that carrot and that stick?

Politics is a contact sport, and every decision comes with potential consequences. Any legislator who took office without that realization, probably ain’t long for Capital Hill. The question becomes, who has the numbers?

Who has the influence?

Who has the political capital to expend?

Last election cycle the Governor targeted four House members, he only got two of them. With most of his operatives having fled to the private sector, I doubt he’s gotten any better at the game.

Americans For Prosperity is out there trying to flex their muscle. How much is bluff and how much is reality remains to be seen.

Their chief advocate, Corey DeAngelo, has been all over social media talking about the election upheaval in Texas where 6 members lost their races in an effort to instill fear. He’s also using the carrot by showing repeatedly touting the adoption of Education Freedom accounts in other states.

As far as Texas goes, I doubt those are all the result of single-issue voters, but maybe. Texas ain’t Tennessee though.

Tennessee Republicans have bigger issues. This session has seen proposed laws over chemtrails, vegetables, cold beers, marriage between first cousins, and PRIDE flags, along with the inability of anyone in leadership to manage a couple Sophomore House members. There are serious questions about exactly what is going on.

Any incumbent that showed up at my door would be greeted with a, “What the fuck are y’all doing?”

To be perfectly frank, I would marry my first cousin if the state could get food costs under control, get me some tax relief, and fix the roads so I didn’t break an axle every time I drove down the highway.

Tennessee has a Republican supermajority, but they have not been acting like conservatives. Where is the support for local control, small government, and personal freedoms?

Instead, they are following the lead of a Governor that seems to be more Democrat than Republican.

Somebody should file a warrant against Lee for arson. Because that’s what he commits every day he’s in office..

Only it’s political capital he’s taken a torch to instead of houses and business. It’s political careers that he’s torching. The amount of air that has been sucked out of the room with his pet project and national pandering is inexcusable.

All in the name of a select number of individuals trying to pry the money out of the hands of a different set of individuals loathe to let a dime go.

I don’t believe for one second that vouchers are a transformative idea that will serve as a vehicle for saving kids, any more than I believe vouchers will be the death knell of public education.

I do believe that a voucher program will decrease the number of non-government-controlled education options available to Tennesseans. That’s a marketing slogan and an argument to raise prices rolled into one.

In 10 years when we do the autopsy on the public school system, it won’t be vouchers, charter schools, or Teach for America who will be the primary culprit. It’ll be the system and its failure to treat students and teachers right. It’ll be the system’s inability to loosen control and adapt that rings the death knell. The signs are everywhere, you just have to be willing to read them.

Over the last few months, everybody has preached about Arizona and the exploding costs associated with their voucher program. Let’s look at another state.

Wisconsin has had voucher programs for decades, yet public education is still in existence, albeit with declining enrollment, but arguably thriving.

Between 2020 and 2022, private school enrollment increased by more than 5,000 students statewide. Home school enrollment, meanwhile, soared in fall 2020 by 47.3 percent or 10,234, up to 31,878 students. While those students still represent a small portion of the state’s children, they are significant.

When you hear the wealthier districts in Tennessee speak out in opposition to vouchers, rest assured that it’s homeschoolers they are scared of.

Last year, 86K Wisconsin students received vouchers, The value of a K-8 voucher jumped from $8,400 to $9,500 per student. For high school students, it jumped from $9,045 to $12,000. That’s not insignificant.

Wisconsin also allows children to attend a public school outside of their home district. In the 2023 school year, 73,280 students transferred, up 1,791 students from the previous year.

The Public School Open Enrollment Program is funded by state general equalization aid transfers between sending and receiving school districts, with the transfer amount calculated on statutory provisions. For the 2023-24 school year, the transfer amount is an estimated $8,618 per student or $13,470 for students with disabilities. Resident districts cannot deny a student’s open enrollment application for cost reasons.

So, what kind of results does the Wisconsin school system produce? By most accounts, using various factors, the state falls in the top 10. Tennessee unfortunately falls much lower – typically ranked in the 30s.

Wisconsin spends just shy of a billion a year on vouchers. The entire amount spent on public education is $13.24 billion for just under a million students. A hefty cost, but they get an exceptional system for that amount.

By contrast, Tennessee spends $11.6 billion annually for a similar number of students.

I don’t think that vouchers are the secret sauce in the difference, but I do think a willingness to focus on students plays a role.

That’s something we could use hear in Tennessee.

– – –

This week saw the General Assembly vote to vacate the Tennessee State University board. The university is an HBCU plagued by administrative issues over the years. Recent growth has created housing problems for the university, as it has for many schools nationwide, putting the school under the eye of legislators.

Over the last two years, the State Comptroller office has produced several audits critical of TSU’s financial management.

In an audit of the 2022 fiscal year, the office included nine findings related to lack of oversight for finances, and at least three findings have been previously reported in other audits. The audit of the state itself for FY23 includes six findings concerning how the university handles federal grant awards for students financial aid.

The State’s action wasn’t taken without issues. In the House Government Operations Committee, an amendment was passed to vacate only three of the eight board seats. But as soon as the amendment was brought to the floor for discussion, the vice chair of the committee, Rep. Jay Reedy (R-Erin), withdrew the amendment. Objections were made, but a vote along party lines removed the amendment from consideration.

Harold Love (D-Nashville) attempted to revive the amendment but was told by the clerk that since it had been withdrawn a new amendment would need to be filed.

This caused objections from Democrats who attempted to either roll the bill a week or refer it back to other committees in an attempt to buy time to reintroduce the amendment. All efforts were voted down.

The delays did give Love time to file a new amendment, which was the same as the old amendment that had been withdrawn. While five Republicans voted with the Democrats — Rep. Sam Whitson (R-Franklin), Rep. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson), Rep. Monty Fritts (R-Kingston), Rep. Ron Gant (R-Piperton) and Rep. Hurt (R-Halls) — it was not enough to pass the amendment.

State Representative Bo Mitchell (D-Nashville) asked the million-dollar question.

“Have we ever vacated an entire board of a university before?” Mitchell said. “But an HBCU that we owe $2 billion to? ‘Oh, yeah. We’re going to take their board.’”

Ultimately, the House voted 66-25 to vacate all eight seats of Tennessee State University’s board. The Senate had previously passed its version 25-6 on March 21.

If you are curious about the invisible hand behind all of this, all you need to know is that Governor Lee not only signed the law hours after passage but named the 8-member board as well. So a Governor who can’t craft timely legislation can name 8 board members within hours of passage. Color me skeptical.

The outcome of that vote was known before anyone walked into the chambers. It was a foregone conclusion.

For the record, the new board members are all TSU graduates. They are:

Trevia Chatman, president, Bank of America Memphis
Jeffery Norfleet, provost and vice president for administration, Shorter College
Marquita Qualls, founder and principal, Entropia Consulting
Terica Smith, deputy mayor and director of human resources, Madison County
Charles Traughber, general counsel, division of real estate, retail, and financial services at Bridgestone Americas
Dwayne Tucker, CEO of LEAD Public Schools
Kevin Williams, president and CEO of GAA Manufacturing
Dakasha Winton, senior vice president and chief government relations officer at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.

– – –

Now time for a little positive news. Once again Tennessee is home to the National Teacher of the Year.

Rogerville’s Missy Testerman beat out other worthy contestants to win the award given annually by the Council of Chief State School Officers. Rogersville City Schools Director Edwin Jarnagin is rightfully proud of his ESL teacher’s accolade.

“Her dedication to the teaching profession and her students is truly exceptional and has shaped her reputation of being known as a leader and mentor to her colleagues,” Jarnagin said in a news release from the Tennessee Department of Education. “Missy exemplifies excellence in how she collaborates with our community and connects families across the rural Rogersville area to set students up for success.”

Tennessee Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds was equally proud of the national award winner.

“Missy is deeply committed to her students and community, serving as a leader, mentor, and advocate, and I am thrilled she will be able to take her expertise nationwide and impact thousands of educators over the next year,” Reynolds said in a news release from the Tennessee Department of Education.

Testerman is the first National Teacher of the Year in 35 years.

Hats off.

– – –

As always, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“A talent for following the ways of yesterday’, declared King Wu-ling in 307 BC, ‘is not sufficient to improve the world of today.”
― Peter Frankopan, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World

This week marks the anniversary of the Covenant School Shooting. Ironically, once again this week, Nashville was struck by the senseless death of a child from a gun.

According to Channel 4 News, it was around 10 p.m. on Saturday at their Edgehill Avenue apartment. The child’s mother, DeAnn Radley, says she was searching for her keys in her purse. During the search, the unholstered pistol inside her bag went off, killing her 13-year-old daughter.

“I didn’t know my gun was loaded in my purse and shot through my bag,” Radley said. “Then I saw the blood and oh God…”

Words can not describe the depth of this tragedy. Yet, it’s barely made. blip on the radar in a city getting ready to commemorate a school shooting that took 6 lives.

In the wake of the Covenant shooting, there was a mass call for changes in gun laws, most targeted at semi-automatic weapons. However, the sad truth is the children who die from guns, most die from handguns and not semi-automatic weapons.

Nobody’s talking about changing handgun regulations.

Many years ago, I was running a club and ownership tried to get me to carry. I told them no. if I had a gun, one of two things were likely to happen, and I wasn’t comfortable with either. I’m still not.

It could be argued that the mother’s decision to carry a gun just reached its logical conclusion. The intent of carrying a gun is to accept the fact that you are ultimately planning to shoot someone. It is never imagined, that it will be a loved one that will bear the repercussions of that decision.

My heart does go out to the mother of 14-year-old Dearria Radley. I can’t imagine the grief she will carry for the rest of her life.

I’m always torn about new gun legislation when we fail to adequately enforce the laws we have now and pass others that make it easier to carry a pistol. At some point as adults, we have to be smarter with our decisions.

This story did not have to end this way. have to be this way.

– – –

With annual TCAP testing just weeks away from starting, the Tennessee Department of Education has finally gotten around to releasing the State Report Card using data from last year’s TCAP testing. Mind you; it’s only almost 6 months late.

“The updated State Report Card shares powerful data about Tennessee’s public schools and districts, and importantly, empowers families and local communities with information to help them best advocate for students and their public schools,” said Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds.

Commissioner Reynolds went on to tell reporters that the Report Cards would have been issued earlier but she left them on her desk in Texas and…okay, I’m making this last part up.

What is not made up is the fact that data included in the report card, at this juncture, is useless.

The purpose of standardized testing is to measure where kids are at, and then make adjustments through programming and instruction. It’s hypothetical a safeguard to ensure that schools are fully serving students. So how do adjust or hold accountable schools, when in less than 3 weeks students will be assessed based on knowledge they’ve gotten through instruction over the last year?

The simple answer is, you can’t.

Lawmakers and advocates spend a great deal of time sparring over fiducial integrity when it comes to taxpayer money.

In her pursuit of a revised state report, Reynolds conducted 10 town halls, convened 4 or 5 stakeholder groups, and consulted with various others., Additional money had to go to designers, analysts, and data entry specialists. In all likelihood, this endeavor probably cost in the millions.

To what end?

Reynolds and her, admittedly understaffed department, just devoted an inordinate amount of resources to producing reports that are ultimately nothing but a footnote.

And nobody cares.

It’s just one more failure in a litany of failures by Tennessee’s new State Education Commissioner. But you know who loves her?

Her old boss at ExCellinEd, Patricia Levesque. The Jeb Bush-founded education policy advocacy group is just one of the outside organizations fighting to bring Governor Lee’s voucher bill to fruition.

“Lizzette Reynolds is a strong state education commissioner with some of the longest-running experience in leadership within a state education agency,” Levesque told The Tennessean. “We are proud to work with her on issues of importance to Tennessee families.”

Yeah, so much wrong with that statement and more people are catching on.

There are growing rumblings that maybe it would be best if the Texas bureaucrat returned to her roots. That’ll probably happen in the next 6 – 9 months, but again, to what end?

Reynolds would likely be replaced by another commissioner culled from the same herd. It’s not by accident that all four of the recent Tennessee Education Commissioners have been drawn from the ranks of a Jeb Bush-created education policy non-profit. The former Florida Governor is the brains behind both Chiefs for Change and ExcellinED. The latter was the recent home of Commissioner Reynolds. The former produced her three predecessors.

Nobody just walks away from that kind of access and influence. They are going to do everything in their power to retain that status. For Tennesseans, that translates to more of the same. Unless the state gets a better Governor.

Complicating things is that the TDOE has a staffing problem, as hardly anybody works there anymore. Attracting quality is going to be difficult, because who wants to go to a place where the Governor is a lame duck, and nobody knows who the next governor will be?

Not a single high-quality candidate thinks they are going to expose their family to that kind of risk while having no idea whether any of their initiatives carry over after the pending leadership transition.

The best we can hope for is that Lizzettee recognizes her shortcomings, and heads back to Texas.

Sam Pearcy is given the keys to the car, and instructions not to wreck it further. That’s assuming Pearcy will even do it.

A New Governor comes in, and we get somebody competent.

And to think we are paying Reynolds about $20K more a year than the previous train wreck, Penny Schwinn.

– – –

The never-dull Tennessee drive to universal vouchers had some interesting twists this week.

On Monday Governor Lee publicly announced that he wasn’t interested in paying for the condiments designed to ease the eating of his shit sandwich. I’ll let the Professional Educators of Tennessee (PET) Executive Director, J.C. Bowman, explain:

The updated budget proposal by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee includes over $350 million more than originally proposed for retroactive franchise tax refunds. However, it does not allocate any funds for the public school benefits included in the House version of the statewide school choice program. The budget amendment reflects the administration’s position on key legislation, including the governor’s voucher bill. The higher amount for restructuring the state’s franchise tax and offering retroactive refunds aims to address potential legal risks in how the tax is calculated on businesses.

There are differences between the House and Senate versions of the school choice legislation, with the House version including more funding for teacher health insurance benefits and school building infrastructure and maintenance. It also proposes changes to teacher and principal evaluations and standardized testing requirements. However, the administration does not support the House’s proposed $250 million in new public school benefits in the budget proposal. The final decision on these proposals will be made by the committee and the General Assembly.

Lawmakers could still allocate additional funds for public schools, but they would need to do so from other areas of the budget. The omission of funding for public school benefits may complicate negotiations on the final version of the bill, particularly when trying to convince Senators who support their own version of the legislation.

Overall, the budget amendment reduces total state spending by approximately $10 billion, a decrease of about 16% from the previous year. This reduction is mainly due to the end of federal COVID-19 aid. The budget amendment also includes funding for various other items, such as Jillian’s Law, mental health screenings for defendants, the TN Entertainment Commission’s Film Incentive Fund, volunteer firefighter equipment grants, grants for nonprofits, the TN Economic and Community Development Department’s Nuclear Development Fund, infrastructure improvements, and additional funding for the state’s Rainy Day Fund.

In other words, Lee’s not paying for those enticements included in the House version of the voucher bill. Lawmakers are free to pick up the check, but they have to look somewhere other than him for the money.

So does that mean those enticements will be stripped out of the house version?

Not necessarily, Some of the stuff, like teacher evaluations, doing away with fourth-grade retention, and decreasing testing, probably doesn’t cost much.

That can’t be said about giving extra cash through TISA to rural schools and increasing the state portion of health coverage for teachers. Those carry the majority of the added costs for the amendment and are likely at risk.

I think one of two things influenced Lee in his decision to not fund the added costs.

One, he decided that the condiments weren’t spicing up the meal enough, so he said forget it.

Or, two, he figures he has the votes, and she doesn’t mind serving up a dry shit sandwich.

Despite the public posturing, I’m not sure he has the votes without at least a little ketchup and mustard.

At least not in the House. Senate could fall short as well.

The bill’s progression through the State Senate has been a relatively quiet one. Their version is the most similar to Governor Lee’s. Two major differences are, the pathways for students to attend a public school outside of their district and that money for vouchers be drawn from the state’s school funding formula (TISA).

On the latter, Senate Education Chair State Senator John Lundberg (R-Bristol) has been adamant in his opposition to creating a separate funding stream for vouchers. If the Governor insists on his version, will Lundberg continue to be a supporter? If not, does the bill even pass out of the Senate?

Neither version of the bill is expected to be heard in their respective bodies’ finance committees until after the Easter holiday.

So we’ll just have to continue watching, waiting, and anticipating.

Quick side note, even though it wasn’t on the agenda at Wednesday’s Education Administration meeting the topic did come up.

State Representative Tim Hicks (R-Gray) is running a bill that would suspend the 4th-grade portion of the state’s retention law. The language in the proposed bill has been adopted into the House voucher bill. Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) asked Hick’s committee to have his bill on the desk until the fate of the voucher bill was determined.

Representative Brian Richey (R-Maryville) asked if the retention language was included in the State Senate’s version of the voucher bill. It is not, and as such could be stricken in consultation, leaving the law on 4th-grade retention unaltered. The Senate does have a version of Hick’s bill, but it limits suspension of retention to two years.

Hick’s bill passed out of committee unanimously with no concessions from Rep. Hicks. In listening to the conversation, I’d say, there are still some Republican legislators that are not enamored with the voucher bill.

– – –

Word on the street is that Metro Nashville Public Schools Chief of Students Support Resources Michelle Springer has retired from MNPS. Her replacement is slated to be long-time MNPS administrator Elisa Norris, who has been doing the job on an interim basis. According to her MNPS bio:

Dr. Elisa Norris, Chief of Student Support Services, previously served as MNPS’s Executive Officer of Strategy and Performance. Prior to joining MNPS, she worked in Hamilton County Schools, Shelby County Schools, Sharon Public Schools, and Cambridge Public Schools as an organizational consultant and has more than 20 years in public education. In MNPS, she has led districtwide initiatives that have resulted in greater collaboration between the Support Hub and schools. Dr. Norris’s expertise in building these strategic systems across departments and schools has resulted in improved academic and SEL outcomes for students. She coaches executive leaders in how to lead people, manage operations, and monitor processes to achieve sustained results and promote collective efficacy. Dr. Norris has a doctorate in Learning Organizations and Strategic Change from Lipscomb University.

Sounds good right?

Here’s the rub. Norris has never served as an educator. Not one day in the classroom, yet part of her job will be supporting teachers, principals, and students in dealing with discipline issues.Might be helpful to know what those look like in practice, as opposed to theory.

In the aforementioned districts, she served mostly as a consultant. Her introduction to district work came through her father Bob Norris, a long-term consultant to former Hamilton County and Nashville Superintendent Jesse Register.

According to the TDOE Compass, she does not have a teaching license, an administrator license, or a superintendent license.

It is a case of history repeating itself. In 2017, News5 reporter Phil Williams did a story on MNPS having unlicensed administrators. It seems that despite a change in leadership, habits haven’t changed.

It is also worth noting that former district superintendent Shawn Joseph was criticized for having 5 Chiefs in his cabinet. With the addition of new Co-Chief Financial Officer Jorge Robles, Dr. Adrienne Battle is now up to 10 Chiefs drawing a salary of roughly $200K a piece. Of. the 10, Only 2 are state-licensed educators.

The plan is for Robles to go through this year’s budget process with current Chief Chris Henson, and then assume sole possession of the Financial Chief position. Henson will then assume the new created position of Chief of Special Projects to ensure recent initiatives continue to bear fruit.

This is information gathered through internal communications, The district, while updating its website has yet to release an official announcement.

Jorge Robles previously served as the Chief Finance and Operations Officer for Tulsa Public Schools, and when he worked for the Denver Public Schools he oversaw the English acquisition department. Robles holds a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from The Broad Center, an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and a BS in Agriculture Engineering from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. His career also spans 15 years in the private sector, where he gained valuable experience in financial services, marketing, business development, and client relations.

Interestingly, former MNPS board members Amy Frogge and Jill Speering fought very hard to keep the Broad influence from seeping into the district, and now a Broad graduate sits in the Superintendent’s cabinet.

Go figure.

– – –

Sticking with things heard around town, some parents are talking about errors with the recently completed school choice lottery process. A process overseen by yet another high-ranking district official without an educator’s license, Ashford Hughes.

Looking at a document produced by a parent FOI request shows a larger than usual place offering for three [articular schools. All three of the impacted schools have transitioned to housing grades 6-8 as opposed to 5-8. So while the number of seats offered is comparable to last year’s offerings, they don’t take into account the existing seats where there were none in the previous year.

Short term, the problem can be mitigated by utilizing recently vacated seats and hiring more teachers, but that doesn’t take into account the impact on other district schools. Several MNPS middle schools are projected to potentially fall below an enrollment of 300 students.

There are also problems upstream, as Meigs is a feeder school to Hume-Fogg with guaranteed admittance. Arguably, if the class holds together it will present space challenges for the Magnet HS.

All of this comes as MNPS plans to move 7th and 8th graders out of MLK, one of the most diverse and high-performing schools in the district, back to Head Middle School against the wishes of the parents. I don’t know about you, but I see several potential headaches.

Hughes tends to spend a fair amount of time on the X, talking about equity issues, while the choice program becomes increasingly inequitable. Maybe fewer tweets and a little more focus would be helpful?

Ironically, it’s some of the city’s staunchest supporters of public education who are most concerned about the potential mistakes.

– – –

Closing with some more gossip. There seems to be some interest in extending Dr. Battle’s contract even though her current one has two years remaining.

I can see the logic of getting that done before a new board gets established, especially since a couple of her staunchest supporters are rolling off. Newer members may be less enamored.

Of course, the reason being given is that Dr. Battle has some serious suitors, and we need to keep her here. I can’t remember a single superintendent in the history of superintends who wasn’t purportedly being courted for outside employment going into their contract years.

I can also count on one hand the number of superintendents who left before the expiration of their contract for another position unless they knew the board wasn’t renewing them.

It would also be helpful to have a new contract in place before a settlement or judgment comes in for several lawsuits facing the district. These lawsuits, brought forth by MNPS administrators, could cost the city millions. Dr. Battle is a prime player in these legal actions.

Hopefully, this is all just chatter and we’ll get to the contract when appropriate.

– – –

As always, I need to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

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“you can’t tell a single thing about a person’s true character if you both want the same thing. That’s like a dog and a cat getting along because they both want to kill the mouse.”
― Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

My editor at The Tennessee Star ain’t going like to hear this – due to me being so slow to file pitches of late – but there is a lot to talk about with Tennessee education policy.

Now we can get down in the weeds and start talking about the implications of each little item, but I will ask that you pull back the lens a bit and focus on the larger picture. I would challenge you to ply a litmus test to all these individual threads, and ask yourself, “Just who is crafting and driving education policy in Tennessee?”

I will argue that it’s not Tennesseans.

For this exercise, we are going to suspend evaluations of quality and focus more on the source. I’ve never been an end-justifies-the-means kinda of fellow. Stuff that starts off corrupted, only becomes more corrupted with time – no matter how well-intentioned.

The involvement of several education non-profits in shaping Tennessee’s Education policies over the years is well documented. Chiefs for Change, SCORE, ExcelinEd, Teach for America, TNTP, and to a lesser extent, The Education Trust have all driven initiatives over the past decade. The statewide Science of Reading literacy initiative, the calls for high-quality materials, Tennessee Investing in Student Achievement (TISA), and Education Savings Accounts, all have their roots in organizations outside of Tennessee.

Well-funded organizations that serve their own agenda.

Last summer, Ian Round, a reporter for the Daily Memphis wrote a piece documenting the off-the-book role Chiefs for Change played in the passage of TISA.

To sum it up, former Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn was a member of the Chiefs for Change. With that membership status comes certain perks. The scope of those perks is unknown because…well, we are not members and they are a private entity not beholden to transparency laws.

We do know that Chiefs contracted with a third-party vendor to create the website used to promote the passage of TISA. They did so without a contract or scope of work. They collected data on Tennesseans while arguably masquerading as an extension of the Tennessee state government. However, since they are not actually government entities, they are not subject to the same oversize nor transparency requirements as actual government entities.

In other words, they stand under the flag of Tennessee while operating outside of its parameters.

None of which is illegal, but it does beg the question of how it serves citizens.

I will further argue that this is how democracy dies. While we are out screaming about Donald Trump and Joe Biden, they are quietly going about their business undermining the interests of the average Tennessean, or even American, all under the assumption that they know best.

They are shaping policy, and crafting rules far from the sight of the average individual, who has no idea what’s going on while they are busy screaming on Twitter. (And no, I am not going to start calling it “X”. It’s still fucking Twitter)

Let me give you a couple case-in-points.

New Commissioner Reynolds – well not her, she’s in Texas watching High School football games – but her minions, are out traipsing the Tennessee countryside under the guise of gathering information about how Tennesseans want their schools to be graded. To the credit of Tennessee educators, every stop has a handful of erstwhile educators, who extend the benefit of the doubt to the Texas transplant by showing up and offering their insight.

Here’s the rub. Grades are due in November, and that’s the extended date.

The law requiring the TDOE to release “A-F” grades on individual schools was created in 2016, with a due date of 2017.

While the formula for calculating has been created, the grades were never released. The same formula is used for our federal accountability requirements.

To their credit, EdTrust has put together a decent explanation of Tennessee’s accountability formula.

Let’s this straight, money is being spent to travel the state asking people how they feel schools should be evaluated when they’ve never seen results based on the already adopted formula.

That’s like selling me a car in 2017. I pay for it thinking you’ll deliver by next year. You don’t deliver it for 7 years and then on the eve of delivery, you want me to come by the local dealership to talk about what I’d like the car to look like, or if I want a new car.

How about you just deliver the car, and then after I’ve driven it for a while, I’ll decide if I want to invest more money in a different car or make changes to the one I bought.

As disturbing as that is, here’s my main question, Who told Commissioner Reynolds we need a new car?

With the implementation of a new funding model, third-grade retention implementation, a floundering grow-your-own program, and a burgeoning Education Savings account program, all at full tilt boogie, who demanded her first order of business be “A-F” letter grade revision?

I am at a log of events with fellow parents, and not once has the subject of school ratings been broached. Not once has somebody said to me. “I think our school is pretty good, but I wish I had some grades to judge it on.” Or even, “My kid is miserable at this school, but the TVAAS ratings are through the roof. So we are staying.”

Trust me, 90% of parents already have an opinion of their kid’s school. They formed it based on data they self-collected and deemed relevant.

This week, for the 357th year in a row, Gallup released a poll on school satisfaction that revealed:

Of parents of K-12 students, 76% consider themselves completely or somewhat satisfied with their oldest child’s education quality. But when it comes to the U.S. system as a whole, those parents are only 41% completely or somewhat satisfied (14% for completely).

So why do need a grading system if most participants are already satisfied?

Maybe we can find some clues if we look at the website for Commissioner Reynolds’s former employer, ExcelinEd.

As big proponents of private school choice programs, they have a whole checklist for implementation. Included in that checklist is the following:

Media coverage often reports only on academic outcomes of school choice programs. Fortunately, there are hundreds of high-quality private school choice studies that look beyond that metric. Those studies also look at parent satisfaction, civic values and practices, racial/ethnic integration, fiscal effects and school safety. Tracking the multitude of outcomes from school choice programs showcases a commitment to transparency and helps keep policymakers informed of progress.

Hmmm… every one of the aforementioned non-profits is a proponent of school choice. So is it parents demanding these policies, or is it the agenda of outside interests?

At some point, someone is going to have to address that elephant in the room.

– – –

Over the last several years, Tennessee state lawmakers, at the supposed urging of constituents, have passed laws that regulate the teaching of race and sexual orientation. As stated recently by State Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma), the Tennessee General Assembly has determined that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives are not welcome in the state.

“They create discrimination, not diversity, preference not equality of opportunity, and division, not mutual respect. These false flags, or any tenets thereof, are illegal in Tennessee public schools,” she said.

Embedded in the law is a ban on 14 concepts being taught, including that “an individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or sex, is inherently privileged, racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously.”

The new laws have reportedly made teachers scared to teach in Tennessee. So much so that the Tennessee Education Association (TEA) filed legal papers to overturn the law. Per the Associated Press:

“The ban poses an imminent threat to teachers in public K-12 classrooms in Tennessee,” the lawsuit states, adding that teachers face potential termination, license revocation and “reputational damage for teaching lessons they have taught for years.”

Pretty serious stuff.

This week Commissioner Reynolds announces her first official hire, former Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) educator, Brin Elliot. Elliot, a member of Chiefs for Change, has spent the last few years in Washington DC serving as the executive equity officer and will now oversee the state’s lowest-performing schools as Tennessee’s new State Turnaround Superintendent.

In her role with DCPS, Elliott oversaw the district’s push to become a “whole-child, anti-racist school district.” Toward that goal, her Office of School Improvement and Support released a recommended Reading and Resource list. Included are books like:

Anti-Racism Resources for White People – By people across the U.S.
How to be an Anti-Racist – Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
Steps Latinos Can Take to Combat Anti-Blackness – Andrew. S. Vargas
Guide to Allyship – Amélie Lamont

All sure to get Tennessee’s teachers in hot water if found in the classroom.

Elliot has won a ton of awards. But for her equity work, not her academic achievement work. Arguably that’s what is needed by turnaround schools.

Her most recent award is the Dr. Effie Jones Humanitarian Award. In a short interview on YouTube, Elliot accepts the award and provides insight into her views.

I’m not taking exception to anything she supports. Some I agree with, some I don’t. But I am confused about why state legislators pass a law against the teaching of “divisive concepts” only to have the state department of education turn around and hire a leading proponent of the teaching of “divisive concepts”.

Teachers are reportedly terrified of running afoul of the law, yet the TDOE puts them in harm’s way by hiring someone whose past practices could put them in violation of the law.

Something is not jibbing.

Either the “divisive concepts’ law is not the will of the people and was fostered on the state by outside entities.

Or the Commission of Education views herself as not being accountable to the General Assembly and by de facto the people of Tennessee.

Or both.

When asked about the propriety of the Elliot hire, State Representative John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge), who sits on several House Education Committees, replied, “I must defer comment on Ms. Elliot because I have neither met nor spoken to, her. Furthermore, unlike some, I do not make judgments on the basis of social media and YouTube entries.”

Gotta respect that.

Ragan did add, “Regardless of who occupies seats in the Executive Branch, these individuals are expected to honor their oath of office which requires them to support and defend our federal and state constitutions. The Tennessee State Constitution vests power to create law in the General Assembly, not an executive official.”

“Moreover, Executive Branch officials are sworn to faithfully execute the laws passed by the General Assembly. Consequently, Ms. Elliot, just like all other state employees, is expected to follow, both, the letter, and the spirit, of the law.” Ragan said, “As a result, I have every expectation that she will do so. Any judgments of her performance I may have will come after I have had the opportunity to observe such.”

– – –

Want to have some fun? Take a look at the website for Tennessee’s Education Saving Account program.

First of all, you’ll notice that the TDOE and their contracted partner, Students First Technologies have still not delivered an electronic platform for families to apply to participate in the ESA program. Theirs has been a troubled relationship.

If you want to play in the ESA pool, you have to mail your application in and then they’ll call you on your home phone line or telegraph your acceptance.

Ok…I made the last part up, but really, mail it in in 2023?!? Lord.

The website does offer this hope, “The department is currently contracting for a secure, online system for the ESA program. In the future, families will use the online system for application and for approved educational expenses.

Shhh…don’t tell them the contract (Contract_TN_Electronic_App_Wallet_Executed_Redacted) has August and September 1st as delivery dates. But what’s a few missed deadlines between friends?

The real fun begins when you take a look at the list of schools approved to participate in the ESA program for 2023 – 2024.

Without spoiling anything, get yourself a bottle of your favorite spirit, and every time you read a religiously affiliated school, take a drink. I promise you won’t make it halfway through the list before you are in the bag. Now if you reverse the criteria and only take a drink when you see a non-religious school, you’ll be safe to drive.

Hmmm..I wonder how many Tennesseans are cool with subsidizing the state’s religious educational institutions, which already get tax breaks.

– – –

Tennessee’s new school funding formula (TISA) provides a provision for a direct allocation of Career and Technical (CTE) education funding. A fancy way of saying VoTech, for those of us old enough to remember.

As such, it is subject to the state board of education’s rule-making process. On September 21, there’ll be a hearing.

There’s a lot of technical jargon in these proposed rules, and I’m not going to pretend to fully comprehend them at this juncture. However, to this untrained eye, it appears that we are tying funding levels to some specific criteria:

Career and Technical Programs shall be designated into one (1) of three (3) levels. Programs will be classified into the three (3) levels based on alignment to Wage-Earning Potential indicators and additional resources required to support the program if aligned to Wage-Earning Potential occupational pathways.

The proposed rules call for:

Programs will be scored using information on aligned SOC codes to establish the Wage-Earning Potential for each program by analyzing high-wage, high-demand, and high-skill data points. Each of the analyses detailed below will begin with the list of up to ten (10) SOC codes identified within each program as detailed above.

In addition:

Using employment projection data provided by the TDLWD, the Department will identify the top five (5) in-demand SOC codes within each program based on regional prevalence of demand and volume of demand. If a program has fewer than five (5) aligned SOC codes, then the available SOC codes will be used for the purposes of this determination.

I may be wrong, but this sure feels like an attempt to manipulate the market. Which, again, being in a state with a conservative super-majority, seems to run afoul of core conservative principles.

But what do I know?

– – –

This weekend marks the second annual MNPS Festival of Schools. Because everybody loves to give up a weekend to parade around Titan’s stadium.

The September 9th Celebration of Schools Parade and Fair at Nissan Stadium is designed to showcase district schools and educational options to parents. But not every option. Once again, MNPS leadership has opted to exclude public charter schools from taking part. I guess the thinking is, if you don’t tell them about it they won’t know any better.

It wasn’t always like this, but these are different times. The district giveth, and the district taketh.

“The Celebration of Schools Parade and Fair is the vision of Dr. Adrienne Battle to showcase and celebrate the unique qualities and traits of our schools who are operated by the district and follow the traditional public school governance model. It is not unusual for the district to hold events that only include our district-run schools, which operate under the leadership structure of MNPS, and this is the same format as last year,” said an MNPS spokesperson.

Funny thing, we always hear about equity, but only when it suits the speaker. An analysis by the Nashville Charter Collaborative last year found that 80 percent of public charter school students are students of color compared to 69 percent of the MNPS district overall. Charters also average 4 percent more economically disadvantaged students than the district.

The ironic part is I’ll bet 90 percent of them come from families who vote Democrat.

– – –

Time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

If you could help a brother out…and you think this blog has value, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“Someone can decide it’s in their best interests to agree to something, but a choice is only really a choice if there’s a genuine alternative. Otherwise, it’s manipulation and it’s taking advantage.”
― Jane Harper, The Lost Man

And, just like that, Labor Day is upon us. Another summer goes in the books. it’s been a relatively quiet summer, but early indications are that it was just the quiet before the storm.

Back in June, Tennessee lost its erstwhile Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn. Ms. Schwinn had reached the end of her usefulness, therefore it was time to switch to phase two – or maybe phase 10.

I’ve lost count since Chief’s for Change and its sister organization, ExcelinEd, sunk their ugly tenacles into Tennessee.

You may not realize it, but the former Florida governor’s non-profits have been playing a major role in Tennessee policy for the better part of a decade. We’ll hit on their latest shenanigans throughout today’s issue.

So back to Mrs. Schwinn. In May, she quits her job just months after buying a $1.8 million dollar home in South Nashville. Despite spending the better part of the year beating the bushes for another gig, she fails to secure a position before her tenure as commissioner ends.

In a bit of irony, her very own sugar daddy Chiefs for Change passes her up as head bottle washer. Instead, they hired Robert Runcie as CEO.

In case you forgot, Runcie was the former Parkland Superintendent who was indicted over questions of his management of a $1 billion bond issue that passed four years before the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High massacre. Runcie had promised that the primary focus would be to improve school safety. Members of the grand jury in their final report accused the future CEO and the school board of “uninformed or even misinformed decisions, incompetent management and lack of meaningful oversight” in the bond’s implementation.

That indictment was lifted because he only lied in one county, state law only gives the grand jury jurisdiction over crimes that occurred in multiple counties. Now Runcie is the HMFIC of Chiefs for Change.

No one should be surprised, because remember three-quarters of the founding class of Chiefs for Change was either terminated or indicted. Runcie will fit right in with Bush’s Hall of Shame. But I digress.

So over the summer news surfaced that Mrs. Schwinn had a new gig as a fellow with FutureEd and the Walton Family Foundation. FutureEd’s web posting indicated that she was also serving as a senior leader for a university. Strangely that university wasn’t named.

This week, it was revealed that Schwinn is now working at the University of Florida. She started on June 15th. Her official title is Vice President of PK-12 and Pre-Bachelors Programs. A fancy title, but in reality, she serves as a senior advisor to the President of the University. A funny thing is that the UF org chart shows a plethora of presidents but no Vice President of PK-12 and pre-bachelor programs.

Here’s something for you to chew on. Alan Levine, head of Ballad Health, sits on the board that governs Florida’s State University system, of which the University of Florida is one. If you’ve been paying attention you’ll recognize Levine as he serves on Tennessee’s Charter School Commission. A graduate of the University of Florida, he is recognized as a member of the University of Florida Hall of Fame.

It is worth noting that a glance at the University of Florida’s new president, Bob Sasse, shows a relationship with the Bush family going back decades.

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions, but here are some more fun facts.

It’s no secret that during her tenure as Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education Schwinn’s husband Paul had several jobs. First, he worked for the Nashville charter school STEM Prep. Then it was TNTP, right around the time they were awarded a $8 million state contract to train teachers. When the bloom came off of that rose, he took a position with ANet right around the time they secured the contract with the state to design the test Tennessee teachers must pass to get their literacy seal.

Some of you might remember the Commissioner double dipping while she was a state DOE employee in both Delaware and Texas. She purportedly put that habit to bed when she got to Tennessee. On a whim, I took a look at her California Charter School’s tax records for 2022.

While they are no longer paying anything to their founder, they do have a couple new contracts. The first, to Cross Country Education, for $106,897. CCE appears to be an educational employment service.

The second is with the Achievement Network or ANet, for $101,500. imagine that.

Yea..I think former Education Commissioner Schwinn is going to be just fine state post-employment.

– – –

It always sucks when Twitter – yes, I’m still calling it Twitter – beats you to your job announcements. On Wednesday a Tweet from a DC colleague indicated that Tennessee was getting a new State Superintendent of Turnaround Schools. Today the department made it official, DCPS’s Brin Elliot is coming home to Tennessee as the state’s turnaround superintendent.

The Tennessee State University Graduate previously served under Pedro Garcia in Metro Nashville Public Schools, as both a teacher and an administrator. In 2020 she applied to be the director of schools for MNPS. A job that instead went to Dr. Battle.

Elliot’s hire as state superintendent was the result of a three-year job search conducted by the TDOE. As quoted by Chalkbeat, “Victoria Robinson, the department’s spokeswoman, said making the hire was a priority for new education commissioner Lizzette Reynolds.”

The former Nashville turnaround specialist will be responsible for all of the state’s turnaround efforts, including the should-be-defunct state Achievement School District. Reynolds hasn’t indicated her plans for the failed experiment, but now that she’s named a superintendent, I’m sure she’ll provide plenty of work for her.

Oh…I almost forgot to mention, Elliot is a member of Chiefs for Change.

– – –

One sure sign they don’t really want your opinion is when they start holding town halls under the guise of wanting to co-create something. For example a new “A-F” school grading system.

As the TDOE’s town hall train pulls into its final stops, some things are becoming glaringly apparent, and Commissioner Reynolds is becoming more reluctant to hide her cards. They ain’t pretty cards either, and in case you didn’t know, unless you possess an employee badge from ExcelinEd, she and her cadre, don’t give a damn how you think schools should be evaluated.

She also doesn’t care whether you think it’s unfair to change the rules midstream, and then use last year’s data to issue grades.

Over the last several weeks, there has been a fair amount of scuttlebutt about how she thinks she can change Tennessee’s accountability model without input from the State Board of Education or lawmakers. Apparently, there is always a workaround.

As I’ve previously mentioned, back in 2017, when the TDOE was working on crafting the rules for the A-F grading system, they asked state superintendents if they wanted the system to be separate from the federal system. Supes said, “Let’s go with one”. So the DOE tied our state accountability model to the federal system.

For their part, the Feds don’t care about A-F grades, they just want to make sure you are identifying the C, D, and F schools. So if you uncouple the two, they are fine with it, as long as you still give them what they need.

Uncoupling apparently doesn’t need approval from anybody but the commissioner, and if you are just changing the state system, you don’t need any of that pesky oversight from the aforementioned either.

Normally undertaking a project of this magnitude would require a fully staffed department, but when you have access to the resources of ExcelinEd, that no longer becomes a necessity. Reports are that phone calls are burning up the wires between ExcelinEd, Reynolds’s former employer, and Reynolds’s small staff on a daily basis.

So what are they talking about? As was discovered with TISA, when you use a private entity to implement policy, you don’t have to adhere to any of those pesky open records laws. You just go about business, and the public discovers your plan when you are good and ready to share it. There’s only one cog in that machine – everybody has two friends. So details start to slip out.

Tennessee’s current accountability model incorporates achievement, growth, English language learners, special education, and chronic attendance in its calculations. High Schools have the added categories of graduation rates and graduation ready.

In order to give a little more weight to achievement, we use annual measurable objectives (AMO). Every year schools are given a goal of how much they are expected to grow students. Reach that growth projection and you get points added to your score. Even though it’s classified under the growth category, it’s an achievement measurement. Achieve the number, achieve the bonus.

Under Reynolds, the inclusion of the AMO feature would end. Achievement would also be weighted more heavily.

On more than one occasion, she has publicly stated that she rejects the idea that a school with 23% proficiency could be considered an “A” school. She has insinuated that rewarding a school with a low proficiency score is akin to lying to parents. Which quite frankly is just as asinine as anything that ever came out of Schwinn’s mouth.

It’s 2022, and at this point, the research has pretty clearly revealed the link between social status and proficiency rates. There are unfortunately a whole lot of outside factors involved in hitting high proficiency rates. In 2017, Morgan Polikoff pointed out the fallacies of proficiency measurement:

Some argued that proficiency rates essentially measure who is enrolled in a school, rather than how well the school is doing at educating them. Because such status measures merely capture the current performance levels of students, proficiency rates are highly correlated with student socioeconomic status and other demographics. Growth-based measures, on the other hand, can show students’ year-to-year changes and better demonstrate the school’s effectiveness or contribution to student learning.

Others pointed out that even among status measures of performance, proficiency is an especially poor one. It creates an incentive to focus efforts primarily on students very near the threshold, as very low and very high achievers are unlikely to change from proficient to not (or vice versa). It is of course based heavily on where the state decides to set proficiency, and states have varied tremendously in that decision.

To me, a good school is one that is taking students where they are and growing them. We can argue about how much growth is required, but not its importance.

Reynolds also reportedly wants to move away from measuring sub-groups. Now that data will still be required by the Feds, but for the state report card, the preference will be to measure all students as one.

It sounds good if you say it fast and with the proper facial expression, but the reality is, that we designate a great deal of resources to serve kids in these sub-groups. How do you know what’s working without separate measurements?

My biggest question on all of this is, who’s driving this initiative?

It’s certainly not the 30 people showing up at the scheduled town halls wondering what the hell they are doing there. None of them have voiced support for a change, rather just the opposite. Finish the original assignment before moving to the modification. In case you didn’t know, despite being a law since 2017, A-F grades have never been released by the Tennessee Department of Education.

Are you sitting around barbecues with other Tennessee parents clamoring for a new way to judge your kid’s school? Most parents already have a clear picture of their kid’s school, including the parts that are not measured by collected data.

Much like TISA, this is a school-choice vehicle. TISA gives them the bag – as the kids say – while the “A-F” school grading system serves as a state-provided Consumer Reports. As Sherlock Holmes used to say, eliminate all other options and the one left is the answer.

I’m going to leave you with a little bit of my experience with school choice before we wrap this section up.

My daughter attends a choice school. There were numerous factors that went into that decision, and that decision has worked so far. I drive 30 minutes 4 times a day in order to get her to and from that school. that equates to about $120 a week in gas, Luckily I can afford it, barely. But can every family that would benefit from that school? Where in TISA is transportation listed? Choice costs a whole lot more than recognized.

The base question through all of this remains, Who gets to write Tennessee education policy? Is it outside interests that don’t even live in the state, or should it be the people who live, play, and work in the great state of Tennessee?

For me, it’s a no-brainer. But unfortunately, the educational tourist from Texas and her employers think differently.

And the evidence continues to mount that their vision is superseding that of Tennesseans.

– – –

The Tennessee Department of Education released data on Wednesday for third-grade students who participated in state-sponsored summer learning camps and completed the required post-test. it’s not encouraging.

Beginning this summer, third-grade students scoring “approaching” or “below” on the ELA portion of the spring TCAP assessment faced retention unless they participated in the state-provided pathways to fourth-grade promotion. These include the TCAP retake opportunity, free summer camp, and tutoring in the upcoming school year. Third-grade students who choose to participate in summer school must show adequate growth – defined by the State Board of Education(SBE) as 4 percent – to be eligible for promotion. Participants must also meet a 90 percent attendance measure.

A total of 24,907 third graders were eligible for the summer camp attendance and adequate growth option for promotion to fourth grade. Eight thousand five hundred ninety-two students took the post-test administered at the end of the summer learning programs. Of those students, 2,055 demonstrated adequate growth. That equates to roughly 24 percent, less than 1 out of 4. Ouch.

Even though those students who showed adequate growth are now eligible for promotion to fourth grade, they still face possible retention at the end of their fourth-grade year.

State law requires that a student who uses the offered interventions to avoid third-grade retention, show adequate growth in fourth grade or risk being retained. Unlike those students in third grade deemed at risk, there are no exemptions or alternative pathways to fifth-grade promotion for those students who fail to show adequate growth.

The kicker is that the SBE has yet to define “adequate” growth. They are not expected to take up the subject until their November meeting.

The TDOE does not yet know the number of fourth-grade students potentially impacted by the law. Local districts are currently compiling that data and filling out their spread sheets. The deadline for that reporting is September 1.

The number of third-graders retained this year is less than initially projected.

One local superintendent told The Star, off the record, “I’ve always said this wasn’t a third-grade retention law. It’s a third-grade promotion law and a fourth-grade retention law.”

You can expect bills proposing a similar policy for math when the General Assembly returns in January.

– – –

A couple quick observations on the just completed Special Session.

Speaker Sexton continues to remind me of that quarterback who always delivers high passes across the middle to his receivers. Eventually, those receivers start protecting their ribs, instead of making an effort to catch the ball. Just saying.

For Democrats, what’s the long-term plan? is it to just hold existing seats for 20 years while disrupting sessions and holding signs? Walking out of session makes great theater, but does it actually serve to recruit voters in order to flip seats? Keep in mind that the only voters in Tennessee who matter are not just those in the gallery or forming lines outside the capitol. Not everybody was disappointed that nothing got done at this month’s conclave. Your job is to convince them they should be, without insulting them or shaming them. Otherwise, you might as well laminate those signs because you are going to need them for a long time.

– – –

Time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

If you could help a brother out…and you think this blog has value, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“The most important part of an introduction always occurs in one’s absence.” ― Kate Zambreno, Green Girl Before we get rolling, let me apologize to Greeneville, Tennessee. Inadvertently, I misspelled the district name in last week’s blog post. As... Read More ›

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“Call them gooks, call them niggers, call them kikes, micks, spics, wops, or frogs, call them whatever you want as long as you call them something—anything—that removes one layer of human being from their bodies when you think of them.... Read More ›

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“It’s not that you don’t understand, it’s that you don’t like it.” ― Min Jin Lee, Free Food for Millionaires The first week of school is officially in the books for Nashville schools. Still trying to wrap my head... Read More ›

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“It doesn’t take much to make the daily round with one’s employer work smoothly. A couple of ‘yessirs’ when you know that ‘not on your life’ is the thing to say. A few expressions of doubt about things you’ve spent... Read More ›

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“if people begin by thinking rationally, the danger is that they may end by acting rationally also.” ― Grant Allen, The Woman Who Did Let’s get the not-directly related-to-education things off of our plate first. At first blush, they... Read More ›

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“Oh! dreadful is the check—intense the agony— When the ear begins to hear, and the eye begins to see; When the pulse begins to throb, the brain to think again; The soul to feel the flesh, and the flesh to... Read More ›

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“Up there the world is divided into bastards and suckers. Make your choice.” ― Derek Robinson, Piece of Cake As I’ve probably mentioned more than once over the years, my son is a pretty solid ball player. He’s 12... Read More ›

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“Finally, after years of study and watching, I realized our teachers were not just teaching steps or imparting technical knowledge, they were giving us their culture and their tradition. “Why” was not the point and the steps were not just... Read More ›

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“You cannot have a taste for minimalist décor if you seriously read books.” ― Linda Grant, I Murdered My Library “Book banning” continues to be front-page news, and I continue to observe with some amusement. Don’t get me wrong,... Read More ›

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“The workings of the human heart are the profoundest mystery of the universe. One moment they make us despair of our kind, and the next we see in them the reflection of the divine image.” ― Charles W. Chesnutt ... Read More ›

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“Ellen smiled and nodded. ‘Just like their father.’ She was proud of them; she watched until they were out of sight.

‘Isn’t it funny to watch children grow?’

Ellen said, ‘It’s a privilege.’

Ruth scrutinised this possibility. No, she thought, it’s melancholy and strange. Children were so temporary.”
― Fiona McFarlane, The Night Guest

And just like that she is gone. Thursday marked the official end to the reign of one Penny Schwinn, she now has “ex” officially attached to the front of her title.

Schwinn, like the month of March, came in like a lion but left like a lamb. Touted as a disruptor, she lived up to advance billing. The problem was, once she disrupted something she was incapable of creating anything in the space.

It didn’t take but a month for Schwinn to run afoul of the State General Assembly. Her eyes were on changing the state’s accountability system but didn’t feel a need to discuss the future with state legislators. In what would prove to be a prophetic statement, State Representative Mark White (R-Memphis) asked her to slow down.

“We’ve asked her to go back to our stakeholders to start a conversation,” White told Chalkbeat at the time. “We know we don’t have a perfect system, and we’re always looking to improve.”

Those were words that he would have to repeat often over the next four years. Schwinn disrupted state literacy practices, the school funding formula, and teacher licensure. However, when it came time to implement a replacement policy, she was always strangely absent.

Even as Tennessee wrestles with the rollout of the new school funding formula, TISA, along with new third-grade retention policies, she was often absent from the state.

For the better part of the last 6 months, she’s been a frequent visitor to Austin, California, New Orleans, and Washington DC, anywhere but Tennessee. Invariably her time was spent promoting disruptions that have yet to bear fruit.

Instead of using her final week for briefs with the remaining staff or cleaning out her desk, she was in DC at the Ronald Reagan Institute as part of a panel discussing teacher pay and ways to boost the teaching profession.

Schwinn has not shared any future plans. By all indications, she’s leaving without a clear landing spot. She was rumored to have chased several federal jobs, none of which panned out. Taking another state commissioner job would be a lateral move, and I don’t see a job at an education non-profit offering the sphere of influence she’s grown accustomed to. Still, there is a 1.85 million dollar house to pay for and the husband hasn’t shown a propensity for long-term employment.

To be honest, it’s him I worry about the most. In the time that Ms. Schwinn has held one job, he’s had 3.

When the young family arrived in Tennessee, he went to work for STEM Prep as the Chief Academic Officer. A year later the Nashville charter school operator chose not to renew his contract. Think about that for a minute, you are the spouse of the state commissioner of education, and the local charter school elects to non-renew you. Admittedly, I don’t know all the details, but that takes work.

Next up was TNTP, who hired Mr. Schwinn to be a part-time leadership coach. It was about that time that the junior Teach for America org was awarded a $16 million contract by the TDOE to train teachers in reading instruction. That contract runs until next year, but Ms. Schwinn made sure that there was no hang-up on the payoff by restructuring things so all money has already been delivered. I must say though, the contract lasted longer than Mr. SAchwinn’s employment.

Currently, Mr. Schwinn is employed by the education non-profit ANet. As luck would have it, ANet is who the TDOE turned to for help creating the examination teachers must pass to earn their certification to teach early literacy in Tennessee. Without that certification, a teacher can not obtain or renew a license.

Causation or correlation? Hard to say, but if you consider that he also worked at the charter school in California where she was an administrator and IDEA charter school in Houston while she served as a deputy commissioner in Texas…I think it is safe to say…he’s benefited from employment.

In assessing Dr. Schwinn’s legacy, we are going to have to wait and see. All of her “signature initiatives” are still in their infancy. From Grow Your Own programs to literacy laws to changes in the school funding formula, none have produced measurable results as of yet. Maybe in 5 years, we’ll be singing a new hymn. One that praises her as a visionary instead of a train wreck. Maybe.

My prediction is that she’ll spend the summer enjoying her children and making up for time lost over the last 4 years due to her responsibilities as commissioner. When Fall gets here, she’ll likely open her own shop and sell her wares on the open market. Traveling from convention to convention, and selling a vision based on supposed outcomes can be quite lucrative. By all accounts, Schwinn is a compelling speaker, who cuts a charismatic figure, and more then a few people owe her favors.

Meanwhile, the state of Tennessee awaits the arrival of the next educational tourist. In the case of new education commissioner Lizzette Gonzales Reynolds, we are talking about an actual tourist on more than one front.

She’s never spent any significant time in Tennessee or in the classroom. There is no indication that she has any skills for managing an organization the size of the Tennessee Department of Education. She’s going to have to get up to speed quickly. She’s got some approaching storms on the horizon.

The third-grade retention law has gone into effect this year, but keep in mind, next year, districts will be holding summer classes without the benefit of federal funding. They’ll be looking for tutors without federal money. TISA goes into effect as well, there is an argument that it will usher in increased local taxes. Reynolds will face these challenges with little institutional knowledge to rely upon.

There will be an argument for “giving her some time”. The old, “what she doesn’t know, she doesn’t know”, argument will certainly be put forth with regularity. But remember, Reynolds’s ascension is not without precedent.

It wasn’t that long ago when Tennessee had another disruptor at the education helm. Kevin Huffman could disrupt with the best, but like Schwinn, he was not very good at construction. At the time of his termination, Chlkbeat wrote:

“After Tennessee became one of the first states to win a $500 million federal Race to the Top grant in 2010, Education Commissioner Huffman was charged with implementing the controversial Common Core state standards, dramatic changes to the state’s teacher evaluation system, and the rapid expansion of charter schools to partly help some of the state’s worst-performing schools improve.”

“Those are all things the governor wholeheartedly supports that he brought me here to push”, Huffman told Chalkbeat. Sound familiar.

Huffman said he was leaving not because of political pressure, but because the timing was right for him and his family. “I didn’t feel like I was ready to make a long-term commitment [of another four years],” Huffman said.

Feels like I’m having some deja vu, and not the former shoe store on Demonbreun kind.

“Improving education in Tennessee has been a top priority for our administration, and having someone of Kevin’s caliber to lead the charge during this time of significant progress has made a difference,” then-governor Haslam said in a statement on Huffman’s departure. “I am very grateful for his commitment to our students, educators, and parents, and I wish him well as he continues his commitment to education.”

Compare that to Lee’s. words.

“During her years of dedicated service, Penny has played a key role in our administration’s work to ensure educational opportunity for Tennessee students and secure the next generation of teachers, while navigating historic learning challenges,” said Lee. “I have tremendous gratitude for her leadership and wish her much success in her next chapter.”

Dr. Candice McQueen replaced Huffman as commissioner of education. She too came from the policy world, but at least she was a Tennessee resident. It felt like fresh air blowing in. It wasn’t until 3 years later that the realization sunk in. McQueen was simply a kinder gentler version of Huffman.

Five years later, here we are again.

And the wheels on the bus go round and round.

One last side note. It appears that Schwinn employed the old Irish goodbye to staff and state superintendents. Not so much a so long and thanks for the fish on her final day. Just a slip out the door and a disappearance into the night.

What’s that old adage about not letting the door…

– – –

As the dust starts to settle after yet another miscommunicated and under-executed policy rollout by the TDOE, it’s beginning to look like the brouhaha around third-grade retention all might have been a lot of noise over – not nothing, but not a lot.

Initial numbers put 60% of Tennessee’s third graders at risk for retention. That number has since been whittled down considerably. Excluded from the retention are kids who have previously been retained, are English Learners, or have a reading disability.

Any student who is in the “approaching” category could avoid retention and summer school simply by applying for high-dosage tutoring in the upcoming year. Boom! That’s a large swath dealt with.

Last week, students who did not score as “proficient” were given a retest. Results of those tests across the state are not fully known but MNPS reports, around 11 percent of MNPS students scored “proficient” on the retest, and another 10 percent boosted their scores from “below” to “approaching.” Welcome to the fourth grade.

Next came the appeals. Students who scored 40% on annual benchmarks, or had some kind of mitigating occurrence were eligible to file an appeal. By all accounts, the TDOE is honoring all appeals. That knocks out another large group.

What’s left are those kids who scored as “below”. How many of those kids signed up for summer school and tutoring is unknown, but considering that MNPS reports that as of Wednesday, 17,260 students were enrolled — including 3,860 third graders. Numbers that are up slightly from last year.

Those numbers from MNPS come with the caveat that the summer programs are nearly fully staffed, with 1,810 people hired. Yea, those of us with experience with MNPs are familiar with how the phrase “nearly fully staffed” translates. During the school year, the district often argues that they are “nearly fully staffed” while relying on long-term subs and split classrooms to cover classes.

Some parents have expressed concern that increased summer programming puts additional unsustainable pressure on teachers and that some students who really need additional support services might not get them due to a lack of resources.

In yet another wrinkle in this baffling law. students in the “approaching” category who sign up for summer school must pass an exam at the end showing 5% growth in order to avoid retention without tutoring. For those in the “below” category, there is no such requirement. All they need to do is sign up for summer school and tutoring, meet the attendance requirements, and it is off to 4th grade.

I’m going to put this word of caution here. We need to be really careful in the near future – as we are dedicating resources – that the so-called ‘bubble kids” don’t become the primary focus. By focusing on those kids on the cusp of reaching proficiency, it becomes easier to show significant ROI.

In the end, I suspect we’ll see less than 5% of the state’s third-graders retained, and that includes those whose parents chose to have them retained.

is this a defense of the policy? Not really.

Should we expect changes next year? Nah.

Ironically, next year’s model will include the usage of a state benchmark. So instead of misusing one assessment, will be misusing two and creating another high-stakes assessment.

Yeah, team.

– – –

The MNPS principal merry-merry-go-round is on full-tilt boogie this summer. So much so, that I’m finding it nearly impossible to keep up with all of the comings and goings.

What seems to miss from the process is rhyme and reason. Principals who were popular with staff and the community are forced out, while those not so popular are forced in. Candidates with primarily middle school experience are selected for high school, along with those who showed a lack of judgment in the past. Amid all of it is the obligatory creation of jobs at the central office to reward past loyalty.

By my count, the district was at about 17 transitions before I stopped counting.

Adding a little urgency to the process is the upcoming “Principal Splash”. That’s the annual gathering of the tribes to lay out the future.

This year, early week events are taking place locally at the Martin Center, before the Caravan heads to Louisville for a couple days of bonding.

Yep, public employees are taking state and local tax dollars to Kentucky for Battle-only knows reasons.

I would guess that the districts would want to have everyone in place before the bus pulls out for the trip north.

– – –

I’ve long argued that the trope “a war on public education” is an overused one. This week Fredrick Hess makes a similar argument.

“Over the past century or more, public schooling has been subject to a barrage of reforms: compulsory attendance, district consolidation, larger schools, smaller schools, magnet schools, standards, test-based accountability, merit pay, and more. Some of these ideas were good. Some weren’t. But in hindsight, it’s pretty clear that they weren’t “attacks” on public education; rather, they were attempts to improve it.”

I rarely agree with Hess, but in this case, he may have a point.

“Public education can encompass a lot of approaches, and it can be organized in many different ways. Rather than blindly insist that “defending public schooling” requires clinging to outdated policies from decades (or centuries) past, we would do better to clarify principles, examine particulars, and then debate proposals.”

State departments of education and local school districts routinely contract with for-profit firms for books, buses, data systems, technology, and testing — and they pay to place some hard-to-serve students in private settings. Yet these systems are deemed obviously “public” because, well, mostly because we’re used to it. In truth, there’s nothing especially novel about using private partners to provide mentoring or micro-schools.

All very salient points, and equally important to consider:

“Simply calling something “public” doesn’t make it a good thing. While the phrase “public schooling” is suffused with happy notions of inclusivity and fairness, “public” isn’t a magic word. Don’t take it from me: Take it from public education’s staunchest defenders. After all, many who celebrate “public education” will, in the next breath, lament that these schools are underfunded, segregated, oppressive, practicing discriminatory discipline, or obsessed with testing.”

I’ve watched this ‘war” play out for over a decade, and during that time I’ve seen some people become more entrenched, as others have softened their views. I fall into the latter category.

Are we focusing on educating kids, or are we focusing on educating kids solely through a singular process? I take exception to the tenets of the Science of Reading because supporters paint it as the singular way to teach reading. Yet for years, I’ve supported the tenet that there is only one way to educate kids. That appears to be a dichotomy.

If a variance serves only 4 kids, is it wrong to employ it? How many kids must be served before it’s considered a viable addition to the public education canon? If there is no ongoing “indoctrination” why are we clinging so tightly to the idea that all kids should attend government overseen schools? If a child is genuinely not being served by their current school option, how do we have the right to demand that they remain in attendance? If a school can turn a profit and increase student learning, why are they bad?

Unfortunately, I have more questions than I have answers. But I would argue that we need to stop framing arguments as defending public education and start framing them as defending student learning.

Unless that’s not really the goal.

– – –

Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“Did you have parents or just some people who thought they should own somebody?”
― Catherine Lacey, Pew

Another school year has drawn to a close. The best I can say is…we survived.

My daughter graduated from 8th grade with her name etched on the principal’s list. Of course, in a district supposedly governed by the mantra, “every child known”, her name was strangely omitted from recognition at the ceremony, and only after she pointed out the error to the VP mid-ceremony was she given her award.

As always, in making her case she was considerate and polite, but insistent. Not sure what makes me prouder, her academic achievements or her ability to self-advocate. Her father could probably learn a thing or two from her.

The boy has one more year of middle school, and hopefully, a little more maturity – by both adults and himself – will make it a smoother journey next year. Argue however you want, but our schools, especially middle schools, are not designed nor structured, to adequately serve our young men. Too often it is more about compliance than it is about learning. Whole books have been written about the importance of establishing the “Why”, yet somehow those arguments rarely make it to practice.

Despite the challenges, as always there are educators that make it all worthwhile. A football coach who is accessible to serve as a mentor well after the end of the season. A science teacher who piques curiosity while building confidence. A theater teacher who opens whole new worlds. A math teacher, willing to adjust mid-stream in an effort to forge a relationship to facilitate learning. Through it all a front office staff that is universally kind and unfailingly helpful. Scattered along the rocks are a lot of gems. These and more, keep me hopeful.

If I knew now what I didn’t know then, I’m not so sure I would have fought so hard for the system. It’s grown increasingly unresponsive, and I find it hard to argue that it has the capacity to serve all kids. It’s not the money either. Sure more money always helps, but I’ve never yet heard anyone able to define when the public school system is “fully funded.” I don’t think you ever will.

I’ve long argued that the system suffers because of our inability to hold the right conversations. We are so intent on tearing at and, in some cases defending strawmen, that we seldom get to the crux of the subject. Nothing reinforces that like the recent controversy over the third-grade retention law. Sure it’s not a good policy, but why is it not a good policy?

It’s not because it’s a “Republican plot designed to destroy public education”.

It’s not because “it is one more effort to privatize public education”.

The bottom line, it’s a bad policy because it does not take into account the day-to-day logistics of schooling. It fails to recognize the lack of resources and sustainability. it fails to fully engage the people responsible for implementation. It short it feels like something being done to, instead of for.

Now how do we address that without putting self-interest first?

In doing so we need to understand the limitations of the data we are receiving. Keep in mind, the third graders taking this test, are doing so for the very first time. They’ve never taken a test of this scale, evah. Studies show that students perform better after they become familiar with the structure and requirements of an assessment.

We are also talking about an entirely different group than the ones who took TCAP for the first time last year. The only thing they truly have in common with the previous kids is that they are about the same age, live in Tennessee, and don’t attend a private school. That’s it.

They didn’t even have access to the same teachers or school leaders. Tennessee has a very real, and growing teacher shortage, and teaching ain’t plug-and-play.

So it’s a little disingenuous when MNPS proclaims, “results from the 3rd grade ELA TCAP exams show that MNPS students have scored the highest level of proficiency since the TNReady system was implemented in 2017′ as some kind of growth measurement. It’s a nice marker, but I’m not sure it signifies much else.

The scores just released are raw scores, so in some ways, we get more insight, but it also makes the comparison of cohorts more difficult. This year a student needed to score 34 points out of 52 to be considered proficient. That’s an average of 4 questions away from proficient.

While those in the approaching category don’t concern me much, if we look at the data released for individual districts, there are some areas that bear further investigation.

Look at, for example, the Tennessee Achievement School District (ASD), which for years has been recognized as a failure. This year’s results should cause further concern. Sixty-four percent of their students are scoring below proficient. Remember, the ASD was created to serve students not being served by traditional schools. Data suggests, once again, that the solution is not a solution, so why does the policy still exist?

Kudos to State Representative Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis) for making progress this past session in getting this experiment terminated. He passed legislation in the House, that will hopefully be taken up in the next general session that would reform the district, and perhaps make it responsive to students. It should be Democrats who modify the program because it was Democrats who crafted the legislation.

That’s not intended as a shot at Democrats, merely a recognition that both sides are capable of bad education policy.

The number of kids in Tennessee that scored in the below category is about 18.5k. That’s a number that I don’t think any of us are comfortable with. Now we can argue about retention as a solution, but I don’t think that we can argue that eighteen thousand kids are not a problem.

So why are we not talking about that problem?

A News 5 report quotes House Representative John Ray Clemmons, “The more people feel like they have to leave our public school system, they have to look for alternatives, and that goes right into whether it be private, private charter schools, and that’s exactly what they want to happen, so they can have an excuse and reason to steer more tax dollars to their private friends and individuals.”

Maybe they do have to explore other options. Maybe that school is not serving that family. maybe we should have a candid talk about that.

Instead, we argue about the evilness of legislators, test makers, and assorted other culprits. But little talk has been centered around what we do for 18K who can’t score above “below”. If this was a child-centric system, conversations should be all about those kids and what we do for them? Instead, it’s about the system and how we protect it? That’s adult-centric.

Preserving the public education system, while admirable, does not automatically address the needs of those kids. Maybe a forthright conversation goes a step further than just accepting.

Can tutors and summer school? Possibly, what about a deeper commitment to existing RTI programs? Why not supplement instead of supplant?

Can certain social programs that address poverty and homelessness make a difference? Absolutely.

That includes legislation that protects children from gun violence beyond the threat of random gunmen. Nashville had one school shooter this year. In excess of 18 guns were found in schools. None of those were AR-15s.

So instead of just yelling at each over a perceived threat, why not address the real threat?

Last session there were bills brought forth about the storage of weapons in both homes and cars. There was legislation around stolen guns. There was bipartisan cooperation and bills were on track to be passed. Bills sponsored by Democrats like State Senator Jeff Yarboro (D-Nashville) and State House Representative Caleb Hemmer (D-Nashville). But then the circus came to town, and all bets were off.

Democrats will tell you that they’ve tried to pass bills addressing those social challenges, but those assholes would rather drink the blood of babies than listen to common sense. When I ask if they feel that’s a productive position to take, the general response is, “The truth is the truth.” Maybe, but what good is a great idea if it never gets implemented?

Try talking to your neighbors like Democrats and Republicans talk to each other, and let me know how much cooperation you get.

Channel 5’s esteemed reporter Phil Williams aired a so-called investigative story, that boiled down to, “The super-majority is super mean and they don’t listen to us.” Really? That investigative news? That’s the way it works, it’s the way it’s always worked, and it’s the way it’ll work if Democrats get back in control. But instead of winning, how about demonstrating the power of the ideas?

Over the years, people have asked me how I ever got sober. They tell me how much they hate AA, or not being able to go to social affairs or the judgment of friends. I tell them, I didn’t care. None of that mattered to me.

I was willing to do whatever it took to be sober. Whether it made me uncomfortable or not.

I went to 90 meetings in 90 days and hated just about every one of them.

I missed so many “special events” that I lost count.

Last night I was telling Peter, my son, how people who I thought were friends, suddenly felt I was self-righteous and thought I was better than them. Eventually, I made better friends.

I didn’t care about any of that. All I cared about was solving a problem, and that problem was my lack of sobriety. In order to be sober, I couldn’t focus on anything else.

That’s the mindset we need to bring to crafting education policy.

We need to stop focusing on strawmen and start focusing on ideas.

Because I’ll be honest with you, if the public school system, as it exists today, is preserved while 18K gets shortchanged, that’s a trade-off I ain’t comfortable with, and you shouldn’t be either.

– – –

Speaking of focusing on strawmen instead of issues, too many people are walking around thinking that the departure of Penny Schwinn as state education commissioner changes anything. It doesn’t.

I mean it’s satisfying that another huckster is getting run out, but whether she is here or not, the same problems remain.

Some of you seem to suffer under the illusion that she’s some cracked evil kind of genius, bringing her machinations to the Volunteer State. Schwinn ain’t nothing but a tool.

She didn’t spout a single original thought the entire time she was commissioner. She didn’t try to implement a single program that wasn’t stolen from somebody else or handed to her by an outside entity. There isn’t a single initiative she attempted to implement that fell outside of the will of Governor Lee, and in turn, those who fed it to Lee.

Why do you think Lee never objected to her incessant travel over the last year? Because she doesn’t do any of the work. Since she couldn’t add anything to the implementation of third-grade retention or the new school funding formula, why not let her promote the state at taxpayers’ expense.

If you live in Tennessee, and you got the time, ask your local superintendent when was the last time that they saw her at one of their meetings. You’ll be shocked.

Come July, when Lizzette Reynolds Gonzales starts, it’ll be more of the same. All the pundits writing pieces about what she needs to do to “right the ship” are wasting ink.

She’s a Texas native who has never lived in Texas and never taught in a school. Maybe she taught Sunday School, but still, what makes you think she has any vested interest in the students of Tennessee?

She is here for three years, and then back to Texas or Florida. The only interest she has is serving the agenda of Bill Lee. What that is, is anybody’s guess. It could be growing vouchers, or growing tomatoes, or it could be simply keeping the TDOE out of the gossip papers. Maybe he hasn’t even been told it yet.

The bottom line is if you don’t like the direction of public education policy in Tennessee, you better start trying to win the next election and quit worrying about who’s running the depleted Tennessee Department of Education.

That goes for both Ds, Rs, and Is.

– – –

Now that it is summertime, you’ll likely be heading to the pool. If you are looking for something to read while there, you can’t go wrong with former MNPS school board member Jill Speerings book, Rubies in the Rubble

it wasn’t that long ago that the cadre of principals that oversaw Nashville’s high schools was a formable group of educators. They were savvy veterans with a combined level of experience of over a century and a half. Getting a high school principal job with Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) was viewed as a crowning achievement. My how times have changed.

Steve Shaffer, who moves over to James Lawson from Hillwood HS, just five years ago was considered a young buck and is now considered a senior statesman. This year, the principal at Cane Ridge HS has been forced out, while at Overton, McGavock, and Antioch their principals have retired. At East, the principal is under fire, while the principal at Glencliff manages to somehow hang on.

At Maplewood, Pearl Cohn, and Whites Creek, you have experienced middle school principals who recently made the transition to high school. At Stratford, you have an interim that was just recently made permanent.

Only at Hillsboro, Hume-Fogg, and Hunter’s Lane do you have leadership with over a decade of experience at the high school level.

That’s a little cause for pause.

– – –

Nashville is in the midst of a mayoral race, and I’m struggling to find a preferred candidate. If I had to pick now it’d probably be Wiltshire, but that’s not carved in stone. Freddie O’Connell is undeniably running the best campaign, but his populist tendencies still give me concern.

Did he really think Nashville wasn’t building a new stadium? Look outside. See all the cranes? That decision was made a decade ago. Do you this that hotels have invested this heavily in building new ones so Joe from Dickson can spend the night when he and the Mrs. go see Billy Joel at the stadium? Not likely, they’re looking to cash in on the next-level events that only come with a new stadium.

Taylor’s concert in the rain is the stuff of legends, but not everybody is willing to play that game, You need a roof. That building was getting built even if 90% of Nashville was against it.

Equally troubling is the playing of Robin to his Batman by CM Mendes. A Chicago-bred politician that decries Chicago-style politics while fully engaged in… Chicago-style politics. Furthermore, O’Connell likes to assume the role of the smartest man in the room, Mendes is unlikely to concede that position. Still, I really want to fall in love with Freddie.

The Vivian Wilhoite stories continue to bubble up. Kind of impressive that she’s managed to piss off this many people in Nashville.

State Senator Heidi Campbell, is always a formidable campaigner and an old friend, so you can never count her out.

State Senator Jeff Yarboro is equally impressive when he wants to be, I’m just not convinced he wants to be Mayor of Nashville.

Alice Rolli, a smart Republican, has great ideas but is struggling to make an emotional connection with voters.

I’ve always got a soft spot for Fran Bush.

There is my thumbnail sketch of where we are today. Let’s see if it holds.

– – –

With summer here, you are likely looking for some summertime reading. if so, check out former MNPS school board member Jill Speering’s Rubies in the Rubble. As described by Amazon, “There are many different paths in life that we can choose to follow. There are also circumstances where life imposes the only choice of acceptance. Rubies in the Rubble is the story of one woman’s courage and commitment to accept her lot in life and bloom where she was planted.” Check it out.

– – –

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the passing of my dear friend James Lewis. James toured extensively as a vocalist with Trans-Siberian Orchestra. But he was also a successful jingle singer as well. we used to giggle like 12-year-olds over the one he sang for Trojan.

James believed in me fresh out of rehab when nobody else really did. When we met, he was managing the Exit/In and he worked hard at making sure I replaced him. Even though I was still smarting from the first go around.That was pre-diagnoses for diabetes and I was a bear to be around. I remember him saying after diagnoses…I knew something wasn’t right. Even though he barely knew me…he offered grace.Such a kind soul. For my first year of sobriety, he gave me a Vox Bulldog guitar. Google it. Hard to find, and not cheap if you do. Still hangs on the wall of my house and I play it on occasion.I just don’t have words right now other than I am better for knowing him. – – –Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“Rinaldo Barlassina, one of the most prominent italian referees at the time, was the victim of stone throwing during a match at Casale. After refusing to give a penalty, Barlassina used an umbrella to protect himself and he emerged unhurt. Ghirelli comments that ‘it is unclear if this was thanks to his stoicism or to the fact that the stones had run out’.”
― John Foot, Winning at All Costs: A Scandalous History of Italian Soccer

Just a warning…I may curse a little bit today. This whole debate around third-grade retention has got me to the point where I’m ready to put a fork in my eye.

It’s not that I support the legislation, I opposed it when Schwinn and company first tried to pass it in 2020 as part of their push for Science of Reading adoption. They failed at that time and then brought it back during a Special Session under the guise of combating learning loss. That time they didn’t fail. So here we are.

We didn’t have to be here. Like I said, it was defeated once, and had some of those current loud voices been as loud then as they are now…well… hindsight is 20/20.

We talk a lot about “what democracy looks like”. Well, this is what democracy looks like. People who are elected to office pass laws that you don’t agree with but satisfy the desires of those who elected them.

Nobody in the history of governance has ever remained in office by just passing laws that appeal to the minority. Since Republicans have been consistently winning elections in Tennessee for the last decade…they got to be passing laws that appeal to someone.

I know, I know, gerrymandering, oppression, ignorance…I’ve heard all of the excuses, and that’s what they are excuses.

In any contest, the winners have never conceded an advantage in order to make it easier for the losing side to compete. That goes all the way back to the playground. You want to be on the winning side, you got to figure out how to beat the winning side at their own game.

In this case, win elections. I’m pretty sure that in its brief existence, Twitter has never been the source of a winning election. Screaming into the silo is just that, screaming into the silo. You want change, it takes less outrage and more outreach. Fewer fingers on the keyboard, and more boots on the ground.

So let’s take a realistic look at where we are at with third-grade retention minus the hyperbole.

Headlines and Tweets are screaming…”60% fall short on TCAP test”, while the Tennessee Department of Education is screaming “Historic gains”.

Both belie what the results really say.

First, TCAP is not a “pass/fail” test. It’s a measurement of how familiar students are with a set of standards on a certain day. In this case, it just happens to be Tennessee State Standards…or, if we are being honest, Common Core standards with the word Tennessee thrown in so Governor Lee can tell potential campaign donors that he’s eradicated Common Core in Tennessee. He hasn’t and we could spend the rest of the day offering up evidence to support that, but I’d like to get to the record store at some point…so we’ll leave that for another day.

The second point is that the third graders being tested are taking TCAP tests for the first time ever. Yes, they’ve done screeners and benchmarks, but nothing on the level of TCAP. It’s a big change, and hard to predict how they’ll respond to the increased pressure. This brings me to my third point.

The scores released are “raw scores”. That means they are simply the number of points scored out of 52 possible points. This year, 34 points are considered proficient. That is not the same every year. Next year it may be 35, or it may be 32. It changes year to year, which is why post-equating is done.

The state average this year is 29.5 points (Spr-2023-ACH-District Reference Table_05192023). That’s less than 5 points, give the same test on another day and it could be even fewer students considered at risk. Or it could be more.

Just because a kid doesn’t answer a question right on a certain day does not automatically equate to them not knowing. Just that they didn’t have the answer readily available that day. Was it because of nerves? Is it an unfamiliarity with the testing process? A question they didn’t understand? Did they go too fast? To slow? Maybe they honestly didn’t know. There are just too many variables to isolate one and then throw them in the failure basket.

Sometimes it’s simply a case of kids not attaching the same level of importance to something as us. This year, my son regularly scored in the low 20s on benchmarks. When I questioned him about it, his response was, “I don’t care about that. Why is it important to me? I’ll be honest, they gave it on a day I just didn’t feel like taking a test, so I guessed. My bad.”

Maybe not the response we want to hear, but it’s real.

So now we have the results, or I should say a portion of the results. We only have the ELA portion, math will be sometime next month.

The results we do have, show that 60% of the state’s third-graders are eligible for retention, but only if they do nothing. let me explain.

Parents can file an appeal. To me, that sounds about as appealing as the aforementioned fork. Send me any paperwork other than taxes that takes more than 60 seconds, and I’m out. Hell, my kids sign over half of their own permission slips. I just don’t have the capacity. So I’d be a no there. But a parent may want to do so and the law provides that provision. Odds are, based on communication by the TDOE, the appeal gets approved.

The student could take a retake and hope the child learned enough over the last two months to hit proficient. Because hypothetically instruction resumed after the administration of the Spring TCAP.

But…keep in mind…if your child is in Metro Nashville Public Schools…after TCAP they took Fastbridge, and after that they took I-Ready, now they’ll take a TCAP retake. If they go to summer school, they take another TCAP-type test at the conclusion of the 2-week summer school session. Then when they get back to school, after the first two weeks they’ll do Fastbridge again. For me, that’s a bit much. I’m bailing on the retake, unless I’m in below and hope to move up to approaching.

Now, if your child is in the approaching category, where according to the state, 35% of Tennessee third graders live, you got options. You can choose summer camp or high-dosage tutoring next year in fourth grade. By definition that tutoring will take place within school hours.

Summer school means the cancelation of summer plans and an interruption to planned activities. It also means that unless a student shows adequate growth on the post-test, defined as 5%, those 2 weeks won’t prevent you from having to enroll in tutoring. So this is a no-brainer to me, unless I really feel my kid needs it and we are planning on enrolling in tutoring anyways, I’m bailing.

That leaves enrolling in tutoring. Since it is during the school day, nothing extra is required from me. Do I believe there will be adequate tutors to cover the need? No. Can’t staff teachers? How are you going to staff tutors?

Yes, there are provisions made for remote tutoring, but if teaching remotely is ineffective, how will tutoring be effective? I had one principal go even further, if they didn’t learn it from a certified teacher, what makes you think they will from a tutor? That’s a fair question.

Bottom line, if I’m a parent of a third grader who scored approaching, I’m tossing results in the trash, signing up for tutoring, explaining to my child what the test does and doesn’t say, and getting on with my summer plans while preparing for fourth grade. I’m not giving into the hyperbole. I’m not gnashing my teeth over the scores. I know my child and I don’t have to justify anything to the state, the district, or anyone else.

For those kids scoring in the bottom 25%, it’s a different story.

That number represents just over 18k kids. Based on the data available there is no way to tell how many of those kids are ELL or have reading disabilities, and are therefore exempt from retention. Probably something we ought to figure out.

It is safe to say, all of those kids could benefit from summer school and tutoring. Maybe this is a method that ensures they get it. Maybe.

However, I feel about the policy, we should be equally concerned about 18k kids falling far short of mastery on TCAP. Just passing them along and hoping that schools do right by them, is not really a sound strategy.

This does provide us with an opportunity to talk about testing, and whether it is providing the measurement of learning we are looking for. I would argue that it’s time for a change.

Next year, we’ll bring benchmark testing into play, which means that once again we’ll be using a tool in a manner outside its intended purpose. At the very least, by adding the benchmark to the formula, we are further increasing high-stakes testing. Are you good with that?

I love the hyperbole on Twitter about all this being part of a Republican plot to destroy public education. Remind me again who the driving force behind charter schools was?

In Davidson County, I’d be surprised if there were more than 100 Republicans who enrolled their kids in a charter school. Pretty sure that’s true for the rest of the country as well.

Help me here, Teach for America, was that started by Republicans? How about TNTP? Yea…I thought so.

My point is that the weakening of public education is pretty much a nonpartisan issue. Everybody has taken their whack…including public education itself. So let’s reel the hyperbole back a bit.

As far as legislators go, assigning them wholesale ill intent, that’s a bit of a stretch.

Over the last 6 months, I’ve talked with State Senator John Lundberg (R-Bristol) on a weekly basis, sometimes twice a week. Most times I reach him on the first call, but I’ve never gone longer than 4 hours without a return call. Our conversations are not always quick ones, and I’ve come away with a belief that is genuinely trying to find a way to help students succeed. I don’t always agree with him, but I don’t need to make him a villain in order to disagree with his ideas.

We have this false narrative that if I disagree with you, I care less about the issue than you. I’m not sure where that one came from, but it often fails to hold water.

Do I think every elected official, on both sides of the aisle, shares his intent to serve? No. But they all need to be evaluated on an individual basis instead of assigning the same traits and intentions to everyone.

The biggest issue with all of this has been the communication and the timeline.

It all feels rushed, and with a lack of information, feels even more ill-conceived.

I would argue that if we had a fully committed Commissioner of Education overseeing the process during these transformative times, most of these issues could be alleviated. But unfortunately, Commissioner Schwinn tendered her resignation effective June 1, and her replacement doesn’t start until July 1. That leaves Deputy Commissioner Sam Pearcy to try and hold things together for 30 days.

For her part, Schwinn can’t even be bothered to show up at the office for her last week. This week she’s in DC again, as part of a panel convened at the Reagan Institute Summit on Education.

To sum things up, I believe the third-grade retention legislation is a bad policy.

I don’t believe it is borne from some kind of diabolical plot, as much as it is from people doing the best they can to find a solution.

I do believe that it is here to stay, so we need to gather data and assess what needs to be changed. Then work to change it.

The reality is that except for the bottom 13% of students, most kids aren’t in real danger of retention unless parents do nothing.

And as always, if you don’t like the laws being written, elect people that will write better laws. It’s really that simple.

Look at that…I got through this without cursing.

– – –

I meant to mention this last week but failed to do so. Some of you may remember Jeff Smith, MNPS’s Director of Visual and Performing Arts. Jeff suffered a mental crisis arguably brought on by the pressures of the job. He was placed on administrative leave by the district, and barred from campuses with little explanation. Sheriff’s visited his house to serve an emergency court order filed by his wife to remove his kids. He snapped and fled with the two teen boys in the car. He was arrested and held in Montgomery County Jail for several months while he awaits trial. Last month, MNPS terminated him.

This leaves him with no income, and worse, no benefits. I’m keeping my comments to myself, but suffice it to say he could use a little help while he navigates this chapter of his life. Some friends have set up a Go Fund Me account. I know he could use the support.

– – –

Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“So great was the mass of information forced upon the student, that he had no time to think of the mutual implications of the various branches of his knowledge.”
― Olaf Stapledon, Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future

This week, I read a new blog post by education blogger Nancy Flanagan. Flanagan is a teacher who’s been blogging for over twenty years, and she calls upon that experience to craft a list of eight topics education bloggers should avoid due to readers’ lack of interest.

I probably should have seen this list years ago, because it includes some of Dad Gone Wild’s most covered topics. Ironically, among these topics – Research, Racism, Religion, and the Purpose of Education – are the centerpiece of the majority of public conversations these days. This speaks to my frequent observation, we talk a whole lot without saying anything.

I don’t want to run too far down this rabbit hole, other than to say, Nancy Flanagan should be a part of any reading list, and you can expect to hear plenty about the topics on this list at Dad Gone Wild. Because that’s the way we roll around here.

– – –

As many of you know, Governor Bill Lee has gotten around to scheduling his special session on gun control. It’ll be held on August 21, 2023.

A lot of folks are excited about this, including apparently Governor Lee:

“After speaking with members of the General Assembly, I am calling for a special session on August 21 to continue our important discussion about solutions to keep Tennessee communities safe and preserve the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens,” said Gov. Lee. “There is broad agreement that action is needed, and in the weeks ahead, we’ll continue to listen to Tennesseans and pursue thoughtful, practical measures that strengthen the safety of Tennesseans, preserve Second Amendment rights, prioritize due process protections, support law enforcement and address mental health.”

Not me. I’m looking to schedule my vacation during that time. To put it bluntly, it’s going to be a clusterfuck, and I want to be as far away from Nashville as possible for its duration. Pardon my French.

That week in August, every extremist group in the country is going to pack up the traveling sideshow, gobble up some throat lozenges, and start yelling at their perceived enemies. If you think anybody is going to pursue a thoughtful, practical conversation about gun control during a late summer traditionally slow news period session, you ain’t been paying attention.

That doesn’t even take into account that all this will transpire during the opening stages of a presidential campaign.

Supposedly, we are in search of “common sense” ideas to keep children safe. I guess it is safe to assume that some folks think that nobody has ever attended a rhetoric class. You start caching your ideas with adjectives designed to limit discussion, my red flags are going up – pun intended.

When you throw “common sense”, or a like adjective, in front of a subject, you are no longer arguing the subject but whether your intended audience has any common sense or not. Use those oft-advertised critical thinking skills to reason out opposition, and you are easily dismissed as lacking of common sense. Because some magical oracle has deemed these solutions, as the only solutions, recognized by all with any hint of intelligence. Bullshit.

Life has taught me there are very few absolutes, and even fewer when designing public policy. Furthermore, there are always costs and unintended consequences.

I’ve got serious misgivings about “red flags laws”, or “extreme protection orders (EPO)” if you prefer. Notice the similarity between the strategy behind promoting “vouchers” vs “education savings accounts (ESA)” Always reminds me of the late George Carlin’s routine comparing baseball and football.

In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy’s defensive line.

In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! – I hope I’ll be safe at home!

I’m going to say it aloud – you can yell about it all you want – history offers plenty of evidence of support, you start putting people on lists and you ultimately lose control of how those lists are utilized. You may start with addressing gun control, but there is no guarantee that in the near future, those lists aren’t used for other unintended purposes.

I’m not convinced that extreme protection orders (EPO) don’t undermine HIPP protections. If needed, am I going to seek treatment knowing that my name is going to end up on a list? That’s debatable.

Personally, I come from a place where addressing mental health issues is paramount. I want increased access for people, and I want people to feel comfortable seeking treatment. Do EPOs facilitate that?

I’m further fascinated with the argument that if we just ban AR-15s, the threat will evaporate, just disappear into thin air. Really? Like it has with drag queens? And books?

Last I checked, both were still readily available despite recent legislation that purported to ban them. Why should I believe guns would be any different?

I know, all those other countries that got rid of guns don’t have mass shootings, but is that causation or correlation?

Those other countries have completely different cultures, histories, and national identities. In other words, banning guns in America may produce similar results but there is no guarantee.

People ain’t going to like when I say this – as the parent of a seventh grader I wrestle with it regularly – the soundtrack of urban schools is rap music. Rap music likes its guns. Whether it reflects perceived reality or a glorified machismo, the reality is that the normalization of guns takes place daily in our city schools through the music shared by kids of all races. What do you do about that? I have no idea.

Today is markedly different from 1996 when there was an assault rifle ban. We have ghost guns. Technology has progressed to a point where the modification and manufacturing of weapons are beyond what anyone could imagine at the close of the last century. In response, we need legislation rooted in today’s challenges, not those of two decades ago.

It also needs to be said that any law is only as good as its enforcement. Are we adequately enforcing the laws that are already on the books? Passing laws and then not ensuring enforcement mitigates the effectiveness of any legislation.

None of this is presented as an argument to do nothing, but rather to point out that a much more nuanced conversation is needed. A conversation that presents equal consideration to the unintended consequences, as it does the intended. That conversation is not going to take place with a backdrop of political aspirations and noise.

The only people that will benefit from the August special session will be the fundraisers. For them, it’ll be Christmas in August.

The problem is we craft our public conversation like we are pinning on badges. In order to earn the 2nd amendment merit badge you need to believe yada yada yada…no exceptions and no additions.

Want your “I care about kids badge”? There is a separate list of requirements and the same rules apply.

Here’s where it gets really dicey. You only get one badge. You can’t honor the 2nd amendment and recognize the need to limit some gun ownership.

No, no, no…that earns you the dreaded “both sides” badge, and results in you immediately getting removed from the conversation.

I don’t suspect you’ll see a lot of those badges at this summer’s shindig. But then again, I don’t think they’ll be a lot of conversation either.

You don’t think folks on the National level will be paying attention? Ever since the three amigos had their TMZ moment at the White House, President Biden has been looking for ways to add their success to his resume. Anything positive that comes out of Bill’s summer soiree just adds to that resume, so I am sure conversations to ensure that never takes place are underway.

Why Lee is insistent in holding this Special Session is anyone’s guess. But chalk up to future political aspirations. Something he denies.

This week he told folks at the Nashville Business Breakfast, “We have a lot of work to do in this state. This is an enormous task and the challenges are tremendous,” he said during the event at Lipscomb University. “I’m honored to do what it is that I do. My plan is to work as hard as I can to make life better for every single Tennessean in the next three and a half years — and then to go back to the farm.”

If making Tennessean’s lives better is truly the goal, I’ve got a way he can speed that process up and get back to the farm in time for this year’s Fourth of July picnic.

But until then…you can expect politics as usual.

– – –

So last week we were all a titter over the announcement of the imminent departure of Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn. After four years of disruption, she was ready to take her act on the road – pun intended. Most of us were pleased to see her go, and if she needs help packing up her office, I sense there will be no shortage of volunteers.

But once we get past the euphoria, what does it all really mean? Schwinn doesn’t officially split until June 1 and the new boss, Lizzette Gonzales Reynolds, doesn’t come on board until July 1. Hell, Schwinn’s replacement doesn’t even meet with Tennesseans until mid-June.

So for the Commissioner. last week provided yet another opportunity for a public conversation about her favorite subject – Penny Schwinn. Interestingly enough, a perusal of social media showed all the accolades coming from outside of the state, while the “don’t let the door hit you in the ass” remarks came from the locals. By week’s end, she was back on the road selling her wares.

Next up, is a virtual summit where she’ll be part of a panel discussion focusing on teacher pay and education policy.

Meanwhile, in Tennessee, local districts are waiting on a few components that will drastically affect student outcomes in the coming year.

Results from this year’s TNReady are supposed to be available to districts next Friday, May 19th. Will they be?

Keep in mind, there is one person left from last year’s state accountability team. Everybody else in that department is new to the TDOE. That’s kinda a big deal. Those results are the first domino on a string of dominos, so it’s important that everything fall in accordance lest the whole process runs afoul.

At stake are the educational opportunities of Tennessee’s third-graders, who may or may not be required to repeat the grade.

Perhaps, and maybe this is just me, but the Commissioner might want to focus on ensuring that those results are computed and communicated in a timely and accurate fashion before she spends time padding her PR portfolio.

I compare this to when my son wants to go roller skating on the night before a baseball tournament. Sure, it’s doable, but probably not the best idea.

If that’s not enough, Tennessee is switching to a new school funding formula this year. One that completely changes calculations. Even though it is mid-May, and local budgets have already been crafted, districts are still waiting for final calculations.

Maybe, since the Commissioner regularly puts the changing of the funding formula in her win column, she might want to focus on ensuring that the rollout is seamless. But apparently not. She is a disruptor, not a builder. Fixing a mess falls under someone else’s job description. But who’s?

Now that’s a good question.

Most of the shit is going to hit the fan during June.

Convenient, because Schwinn is out June 1 and the new boss doesn’t start until July 1. One leaves before the full ramifications are felt, with one arriving after most issues have been hopefully dealt with. in other words, its “don’t blame me, I don’t work there”, vs “I just got here give a minute to send out a survey, hold a listening tour, and put together an advisory committee”.

For the sake of argument, say things really go off the rail, an entirely likely possibility, who do you hold accountable?

Acting Commissioner Sam Pearcy? Some other scapegoat that happens to be laying around waiting for an opportunity to be thrown under the bus?

That might explain why things are rumored to be so tense around the Tennessee Department of Education as of late.

But I do find it ironic, that two supposed accountability experts have once again found a way to skirt accountability for themselves.

For these two, that’s not just a skill, it is an art.

– – –

Speaking of testing, an opinion piece written by Ronan Shah draws a line from state testing to the behavioral issue among students. His answer is, “I keep coming back to our state tests and what we must teach so students will pass. Too many students are disengaged and unhappy at school because the day is structured around assessments instead of what is relevant to their lives and futures.’ I’m not sure that I disagree. At any rate, his postulate merits discussion.

– – –

Word on the street is that the number of Hispanic principals in Metro Nashville Public Schools is about to be halved. And, Antioch HS goes back to the less than stellar past for its next instructional leader. McGavock HS is supposedly getting a leader who has displayed questionable judgment in the past, while Stratford HS makes a temporary hire permanent. That means roughly a quarter of the city’s HS are in play. That is unusual for Nashville, where leadership at the high school level tends to be rather stable.

– – –

Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“It is important to have questionable friends you can trust unconditionally.”
― Chuck Klosterman, Downtown Owl

Reading the news that Al Kooper has been selected for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame makes my morning.

For those who don’t know, Al was the original lead singer of Blood, Sweat, and Tears, produced the first Lynard Skynard record, and did a slew of other cool things.

He spent a fair amount of time in Nashville during the 90s, and during that time, was a frequent visitor to the Ace of Clubs.

He’s got a droll sense of humor, that can suddenly erupt in infectious laughter. Laughter, that accompanied some of the best stories in music.

I remember a night hanging outside the club cutting up with Al, Billy Prine, and George Marinelli. Now that was some comedy.

He once told me how he came to play on one of the most iconic songs of the 60s – Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone.

He wasn’t scheduled to play or even invited to the studio by Dylan. It was guitarist Mike Bloomfield who was responsible for that. If I’m not mistaken Bloomfield needed a ride, as he was playing guitar on the session, and he got Cooper to take him. Or maybe Kooper just tagged along, in either case, the uninvited was now present.

Once he got there and heard the music, Kooper decided he had to get in on it. So he began to conspire about how he could make that happen. He noticed that there was an unmanned B3 in the corner of the studio, so he slipped in undetected as they were recording, and used it to throw that now iconic organ riff into the song.

Obviously, people were pissed when they heard it on the tape, but Dylan liked it and kept it. Just another mark made on rock and roll history by Kooper.

My favorite Kooper memory is from when Angie and I were living together on Belmont Avenue.

One Sunday night we were hanging out watching TV, and around 830 the phone rang. It was Al.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing just watching TV.”

What followed was perhaps one of the most banal, yet surreal conversations in my life. I can’t remember a thing about what we spent the next 10 minutes talking about. I just remember looking at Angie in puzzlement, with her appearing as confused as I.

Al wrapped things up, and we ended the call. As I sat the phone down, Angie asked, “Who was that?”

“Al Kooper”, I responded.

“Al Kooper, the musician?”

“Yea”

“What did he want?”, She asked.

“I got no earthly idea”, I responded, “I guess he just wanted to chat. That was surreal.”

It was the good kind of weird.

What’s not weird is his being in the Hall of Fame. That’s well deserved.

The stuff legends are made of, and Al Kooper is a living legend. Friday night, I’ll see another living legend.

Taylor Swift is returning to Nashville, and my 13-year-old is beyond herself. It’s been fun watching her prepare for the show, dragging up old memories of the anticipation of an Aerosmith or Kiss show when I was her age. It’s nice to know music is still changing lives, and it gives us a bond to cling to.

On Friday, I’ll bury my adult nature and resurrect my inner child. I won’t complain about the weather, the cost of parking, or the headache of navigating a huge crowd. Instead, I’ll embrace the feeling of being in a stadium filled with people united in a common cause, to celebrate the music of Taylor Swift and how it makes them feel alive.

And I’ll cherish my privilege of having a child that still likes to share the important moments with an old man who is often too cranky, too inattentive, too bossy, and not nearly as much fun as he was 35 years ago before the world threw responsibility on his shoulders.

It’s going to be a good, good night. Now if I can just figure out my outfit.

– – –

The big news this week was the confirmation of the inevitable, Tennessee’s Education Commissioner was departing the stage. Her eminent demise has been rumored for several months, but she’d escaped the long arm of accountability on so many occasions, that nobody was going to believe it till they saw it. And on Monday, they saw it.

But of course, no Schwinn exit would be complete without one last Schwinigan. The commissioner has always been hyper-aware of the narrative around her, always seeking to control it. This time would run true to form.

Monday’s schedule provided for a media call at 10:30 – which I never get invited to – followed by a 2:30 call with the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) and a 2:45 call with state superintendents. At 3 the news embargo would be lifted and the general public informed. Not the way it worked.

Around noon, The74, released their story, an exclusive provided by Commissioner Schwinn. It paints our damsel in distress as just trying to do right by kids, while pulled by the evil forces of politics. She tells the online magazine, “I see it as extraneous politics and my job is to educate kids,” she said. “I knew that my charge, first and foremost, was to move our state forward.”

According to the report, last fall, she told Republican Gov. Bill Lee that she didn’t plan to stay through his second term. This seems to contradict a report floating out in the Twitter-verse, that it was his lack of response to the Covenant shooting that sealed the deal for her to leave. Maybe…maybe that’s just another fabrication from a woman who always seems to live in a world of her own creation.

Once an avowed Republican, Schwinn seems to be moving left in order to appeal to both sides. She cites First Lady Jill Biden’s visit to the University of Tennessee to applaud the state’s fledging “Grow You Own” program. Telling The74, ““I have a great relationship with that administration as I serve very loyally my own,” she said, calling Lee “unwaveringly supportive” during her tenure. “He said, ‘Penny, go do your job, and your job is to make sure our kids are accelerating faster than ever before.’ ”

Unfortunately, lawmakers often felt her agenda was overshadowing that of those “elected by the people of Tennessee”.

“I think there’s still a huge lack of communication to the General Assembly and to [local] superintendents and school boards,” State Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) said Monday. “I think that was one of the pitfalls of Commissioner Schwinn and her regime.”

One of many pitfalls, I would add. But she’s gone.

She has declined to say what she’ll be doing next, but said she has “quite a few good opportunities”, and expects to make a decision in about a month.

It’s no secret that she’s been looking for months, and job opportunities with the Federal Government and Chiefs for Change never bore fruit. She’s got to do something though, because that mortgage on her new $1.85 million dollar home still needs to be paid.

I suspect she’ll form her own consultancy firm, and organizations like Chiefs for Change, Great Minds, and TNTP, among others, who benefited from her tenure will throw her some bones. I’m not suggesting anything unethical, but unfortunately, this is the way business gets done these days, and education, is definitely a business. A profitable one for some.

Hence, the public servant with a $1.85 million dollar house doesn’t seem to raise anybody’s eyebrows.

So what’s next for the TDOE?

Lee has appointed Dr. Linnette Gonzales Reynolds to become the new Tennessee Commissioner of Education. Who’s that you ask.

Well, she’s a Texan who proceeded Schwinn at the Texas Department of Education. She’s spent the last several years working for ExcellinEd, the group Jeb Bush founded when he grew weary of the other group he founded, Chiefs For Change. The odd part is that nobody I talk to seems to know her personally or has worked with her personally, despite her having over 30 years in education policy.

We are not talking plumbers here. It’s a very small select group of people that work in education policy. They all co-mingle. The fact that nobody has worked with her is …interesting.

Reynolds has never taught a day in the classroom. But I assume she’s been to some parent-teacher conferences so…too soon?

All of this might matter, if we believed that Reynolds would be driving her own agenda. But don’t believe that for a minute. She ain’t doing nothing that Lee doesn’t empower her to do and he’s following his own script likely written by others.

Lizzette Gonzales Reynolds has got three years before Lee’s term expires and she gets to affix the “ex” in front of her title. Three years to finish the work Schwinn and Lee started. An agenda that I’m not even convinced is theirs, and not one crafted by a national entity.

The clue for her priorities comes in her quote to The74, “ESAs are the most flexible form of school choice,” Reynolds said. “I’m excited to take the work we’ve done nationally [at ExcelinEd] and implement our ESA program in Tennessee.”

I wasn’t aware of any success that ExcellinEd had experienced with their voucher program, but then again we still don’t know the extent of their involvement with recently passed TISA legislation that changed how public schools are funded in Tennessee. I assume they work as cloaked in secrecy in other states as they do here.

For a state that prides itself on its individualism and freedom, we sure do let a lot of outsiders pull our puppet strings.

– – –

Imagine my surprise when I opened up a newsletter from Metro Nashville Public Schools advertising a summer advanced math institute where participation was limited to the following groups: American Indian, Alaskan Native, African American, Hispanic/Latinx, and Pacific Islander.

First I was surprised to see that the term Latinx was still being utilized, I thought that canard had been put to bed. Trying to lump all Hispanics into one homogeneous group is rife with issues. But my main question on this program was, how is this non-discriminatory?

I get the need to increase the participation rates in STEM fields by those traditionally underrepresented, but you don’t address discrimination by discriminating.

In elementary school, my son was in an advanced math class with a child who was a Syrian refugee. He was brilliant in math, but he would be excluded from this program because most Middle Easterners identify as white.

Many students who are of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese descent are prevalent in STEM programs and excel, but what about those students who are of Nepalese, Tibetan, or Thai, descent? Nashville is home to a large number of refugees from these countries. Shouldn’t we help them succeed as well?

What about the Black child and the White child who are best friends, it happens frequently. Both are excellent in math and want to work together this summer – to hang together and to learn. This program would allow one to participate while excluding the other. That’s an unintended cost that I don’t think is worth bearing. And a lesson that doesn’t need to be taught.

All of this falls into the scope the State General Assembly was concerned with, how does this not risk pissing them off once again. Fighting is admirable, fighting stupid is not.

Luckily wiser heads have prevailed, and the concerning participation criteria have been lifted. That’s a good thing because this program could be beneficial to a lot of students.

– – –

Nashville is losing a valuable leader. Warner Elementary Arts Magnet School Principal Ricki Gibbs is the new head of elementary schools for LEAD Public Schools. The Nashville-based charter school chain does not currently operate any elementary schools but plans to expand to grades K-4 soon. The hiring of Gibbs is the first step in that expansion process.

While one school loses a principal, another one gains. This week, Dr. Michael Pratt has had the “interim” title removed, and he is now officially Stratford Stem Magnet School’s Executive Principal. This was a move pushed for by the community and goes in the “good guys win” column.

– – –

Seems like not that Commissioner Schwinn is headed for the exit, she actually doing some work. The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) released on Wednesday the names of appointees to the newly created Tennesseans Investing in Student Achievement (TISA) steering committee.

As most of you know, the state is transitioning to a new public school funding model. The newly created committee will advise on implementing the new, student-based K-12 education funding formula, which goes into effect for the 2023-24 school year.

Noticeably absent from the Committee are representatives of MNPS, the second-largest school district in the state, and teachers. The exclusion of either is a bit…stupid…telling…not good…all of the above.

As I reported in the Tennessee Star, when asked about that oversight, MNPS spokesman Sean Braisted told The Star that he’s “not clear on the scope or purpose of the steering committee, so it is difficult to say what impact the lack of representation would have on MNPS, but more representation is generally better.”

MNPS is in the early budget planning stages for the 2023/2024 school year. Braisted said MNPS has “not yet received an estimate on how much state funding will be reserved for charters authorized by the charter commission or ASD.” Therefore, they don’t have an exact figure on how much state funding MNPS will receive.

Braisted said, “The Mayor’s Budget ordinance estimates $280 million which is part of the overall $1.2 billion proposed for MNPS in the budget and represents an increase of about $22 million in state funding over what was budgeted last year.”

Seems like a fair amount cash on the table with no representation.

When it comes to teachers, yes, the appointment list includes Melissa Collins, Teacher of the Year, Memphis-Shelby County Schools and Kyle Loudermilk, Principal of the Year, Kingsport City Schools, but remember that is only 2 educators, in 2 schools, at 2-grade levels. It is impossible to believe that they can adequately speak for the needs of all the teachers in Tennessee.

Lee and Schwinn could have lost Sloyan, Evens, Powers, and Walker, and replaced them with a teacher and a principal from each of the grand divisions and improved outcomes, But instead, its more self important proclamations from the self-designated important folks.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

– – –

Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“Kanai, the dreamers have everyone to speak for them,’ she said, ‘But those who try to be strong, who try to build things – no one ever sees any poetry in that, do they?”
― Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide

My social media feed continues to be overridden with calls for “reasonable” gun control laws, or some other variation of that. The heightened calls come in response to the recent tragedy at Covenant School here in Nashville.

Seven lives were lost that day, and three political careers were jettisoned forward. Some of you may object to that statement, but it’s the reality.

The day wasn’t even over before marches were being organized and rallies were being planned. Families affected were provided scant time to mourn before the tragedy was co-opted.

Later in the week, three politicians – Gloria Johnson, Justin Pearson, and Justin Jones – were so overwhelmed by concerns over gun safety, that they took over the well of the Tennessee State House to draw attention to the danger posed by guns. They positioned themselves as representatives of a community, that sans tragedy, they would never interact with.

There is no affinity between those who attend the white Christian conservative private school and those lawmakers who frequently call fellow lawmakers “racist” and decry anyone who chooses a charter school as working to undermine democracy.

Yet, here we are.

The three are now hailed as folk heroes, perfect representatives for an era that celebrates style or substance. The only thing accomplished this year by the three is to disrupt proceedings – nearly every bill they objected to still passed – and perhaps energize a few Democrats that were previously lethargic. They have also forced fellow Democrats to spend large amounts of political capital that they’ve spent years building, with little in return. The only question left is will this affect elections in 18 months.

Maybe, but remember we are in an age of diminished attention spans. How much of what happens today will merely be a footnote in 18 months?

I just thought of something…I wonder if it is too late to copyright “fascist”…you know like, Pat Riley did with ‘three-peat”? Note to self.

Here’s the thing, without the tragedy at Covenant, we are not even talking about new gun laws right now. As much as the three decry a lack of concern over the safety of constituents by their political opponents, prior to the shooting they weren’t offering much themselves. There were no laws brought forth by any of the three activist lawmakers that addressed gun access, let alone any proposed actions that would have prevented the events at Covenant.

Yes, there were some bills from the Republicans addressing school safety, that would have arguably mitigated the threat had they been in place, and a few actual common sense gun bills, brought forth by Democrats, about securing guns that likely would have passed sans the political theater that ensued after the shooting. But we were not holding the conversation that we are holding right now focusing on semi-automatic weapons and red-flag laws. A conversation that I would argue, is the wrong conversation.

A Washington Post article from 2018, revealed the long history of school violence by pointing out that the first recorded school shooting in the United States took place in 1840 when a law student shot and killed his professor at the University of Virginia. He closes with a warning, “The real lesson we need to learn is this: We need not just reasonable gun control, but also a bit more self-control over our emotions and instincts if we want to keep ourselves and our kids safer.”

The article’s author, David Ropier, a retired Harvard Instructor and a risk communications consultant further warns of the danger of focusing on the wrong thing:

Another effect of this disproportionate fear is to direct attention to the risks we’re most afraid of and away from those that actually pose the greatest threat. Far more kids are shot outside school than in one — 7,100 a year between 2012 and 2014 , or 19 every day (compared with about 60 shootings at schools each year, according to the Gun Violence Archive). More than 1,000 of them die. Fear focused on military-style “assault” rifles diverts attention from the larger issue of gun control, which has much more to do with the lethality of guns generally than with what the machine looks like.

All the focus, and all the interviews on MNBC, address automatic weapons and the threat of a mass shooter. Despite such an occurrence still being considered a rarity. You know what’s not a rarity, yet nobody is talking about it? Guns brought to school by students.

According to Metro Nashville’s Police Department (MNPD), 18 guns have been recovered at Nashville schools since the start of the 2022-23 school year. That averages out to more than two guns per month since the beginning of the school year eight months ago in August 2022. That’s twice a month for 9 months that students were at a heightened risk of either being shot or killed.

Thirteen reported seizures occurred at Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) schools. Two occurred at private schools – Covenant Elementary and Ezell Harding – and one at a charter school – KIPP High School. Officers recovered two guns from one individual at Whites Creek and East Magnet.

How many of those involved semi-automatic weapons?

None. Per the MNPD:

Metro police recovered 13 guns over the entire 2021-2022 school year. With two months remaining in the school year, the number of guns recovered to date by MNPD equals those of last year. In 2023, gun reports have been confined to high schools, unlike last year, where guns were found in middle and elementary schools.

Yet, from the city and from the school district there is silence.

How would a single one of the proposed “common sense” gun laws protect students put at risk by a fellow student who brings a gun to school?

Now consider the school safety bill that passed the General Assembly this Spring. In response to parent concerns and the recent tragedy, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville), and legislative leaders passed additional legislation to strengthen safety at public and private schools across Tennessee. These measures include enhanced legislation and funding to place an armed security guard at every Tennessee public school, boost physical school security at public and private schools, and provide additional mental health resources for Tennesseans.

Do I like the bill? Not particularly, but it is an effort and it reflects the challenges of the times.

Do I like that these are the times we live in? No.

Do I think the implementation of Security Resource Officers is the ultimate solution?

No. Funding an initiative is not the same as implementing it. There is funding for a full-time nurse in every school, but that has not come to fruition because attracting qualified candidates is difficult, as is the actual work.

The same will likely hold true with SROs.

According to MNPD, 38 SROs cover all 13 comprehensive MNPS public high schools and a magnet school that was not named for security reasons. These same SROs also rotate among the district’s middle schools.

Per Mainstreet Nashville, a police spokesperson said that in addition to SROs, overtime officers are working the School Safety Initiative in the mornings and afternoons at many elementary schools, a plan begun after the shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 students and two teachers.

So we have a ways to go.

Immediately after this year’s General Assembly recessed for the year, Governor Lee announced that he planned to call lawmakers back for a special session to consider gun legislation, or in his words, “strengthen public safety and preserve constitutional rights.”. What that means is anyone’s guess.

Publicly he embraced his version of “red flag laws”, or as he calls them, “order of protection” laws. Remember, this guy is the same one who refers to “vouchers” as “educational savings accounts”.

I’m a little wary of any special session proposed by Lee. The wounds from the last special session are still a little too fresh. Where do you think “third-grade retention” and increased oversight from the TDOE came from? What makes you believe a special session on guns won’t produce even less desirable legislation?

If the Governor does actually set a date, I’m going to secure a food truck and prepare to rake in the bucks.

You know every advocacy group in the nation from the far right to the far left, and everywhere in between, will bring their 72 slide trombones and big bass drum to the Capitol. So I might as well make something productive come out of it by serving up some vittles.

in the wake of Covenant, some have accused me of being a tool for the Right. Well, you are free to believe what you like, but rest assured I have no allegiance to either party. My allegiance lies with doing the right thing, as opposed to just doing something. Right now, we are in danger of doing the latter, at the expense of the former.

It’s kinda ironic, Jerry Springer died this week. It’s a shame because what we are seeing these days is a direct descendant of what he fertilized with his show and he would have loved it.

Rest in peace Jerry, your legacy lives on and only grows.

– – –

This has been a standardized testing week for Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS). Two solid weeks of TCAP. ELA, and Social Studies last week. Math, and Science this week. At my kids’ school they are having so much fun, that they’ve added I-Ready today, and Monday it is the state’s required screener, Fastbridge.

Let me tell you, that the report from the backseat of the KIA Sorrento is…the kids aint happy. And if the kids ain’t happy, or at least open, how are you getting reliable data?

Don’t blame the schools, they’ve tried to keep students engaged. My kids’ school has started each week with a pep rally. God bless those teachers, because if I had to lead a cheer of, “you say T”, “I say Cap”, “TCAP”, I’d likely start drinking again. Hell, I might even consider smack.

The problem is easily explained, there are too many tests, that are too long, and kids don’t see too few tangible results in a timely fashion. My son, who never buys into these assessments, said to me earlier in the week, “I wish we saw results back sooner.”

Hmmm…do you think he might be more engaged if he did? Nah… let’s lead another cheer.

What about those high achievers? Do you think those 8th graders feel like they have anything left to prove to you? Or are they just counting down the minutes until they are done with this chapter?

Yet…once again…here we are…staging more Kabuki theater, which does nothing but set up more Kabuki theater.

Now don’t assume, I’m opposed to an assessment that allows me to compare student grades with kids that attend a school other than theirs. Just a quick check to ensure that there is alignment. I’m on board with that.

But this, it ain’t working. And now we are threatening to hold 8 years olds hostage because they maybe don’t buy into our flawed measurement system.

All you adults in the back row, raise your hand if since you’ve left school, you’ve been submitted to 2 straight weeks of assessments in your professional life?

Yea…I thought so.

– – –

Mayor John Cooper gave his last State of Metro speech this week. The speech offers a preview of the city budget that he’ll present to the Metro Council this week. Cooper’s 2023 budget proposal will feature an additional $100 million for Nashville schools.

Now the Mayor can’t tell Metro Schools what to fund, but the $100 million should cover just everything on the aspirational budget put forth by the MNPS school board.

Keep in mind that federal ESSER money runs out after the next school year, and hard decisions about what to keep and what to let go of will need to be made. Those kept will need to be funded through a combination of city and state dollars. With the budget now stretching to nearly $1.25 billion annually, those will be hearty conversations.

The increase comes at a time when MNPS’s student population growth is flat and areas around Nashville are experiencing rapid growth. Tammy Sharpe, Chair of the Rutherford County School Board (RCS) recently told The Star Network, “Rutherford County seems to be currently the “it” county and the donut ring around Davidson County and we are literally scheduled to have about 7,000 more students come to our area between now and 2026, and we are already busting at the seams.”

This growth factored into their decision to approve a charter application for American Classical Academy to open up in 2024, “So I think my board member saw it as a way of a partnership and a relationship with someone who wants to come in and provide the money upfront for the brick-and-mortar. That’s something that taxpayers don’t have to pay and help us because our county is in debt.” Sharpe added, “We just went to the county commission and asked for $160 million for three annexes, and those annexes are really only going to get students out of portables on those school campuses. We’re excited. It’s a different curriculum.”

It’s safe to say that other LEAs in Tennessee will face similar decisions, and ultimately MNPS may be forced to reconsider their approach to charter schools. This week they denied three applicants.

– – –

Well, the legislative session is over, so it’s back to speculation on Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn. Despite her recent purchase of a $1.8 million house, common wisdom is that her time is short at the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE).

Great learning more about the realities of leadership for the modern professional superwoman…@SchwinnTeach #wlesummit pic.twitter.com/55fe0dPrIq

— Dr. Khechara Bradford (@khechara) April 28, 2023

Despite the uncertainty, Schwinn is still out on the speaking circuit. This week it is the Women Leading Education Summit. Not sure where this event is held, but I don’t think it’s Tennessee.

– – –

Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“This is not a war, this is a test of how far man can be degraded”
― Sebastian Faulks, Birdsong

I didn’t mean to put this one together, but sometimes…

Last Friday, the Tennessee General Assembly closed up shop until next year, and I couldn’t be happier. Talk about a soul-sucking experience. And I’m not talking about either party in particular, all behaved in a less-than-desirable manner.

Hell, they couldn’t even decide what version of Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure to use. The clerk reportedly had the most recent edition, while whoever was texting tidbits to legislators was referencing an older version.

Representatives would site a particular passage for a ruling, and in the clerks manual that reference number was aligned to something completely different. Should be a simple fix right? A, “hey what page are you on, I’m on 176”, and the confusion could quickly be resolved. Maybe the clerk could secure a copy of the one referenced by the Rep.

But, resolving confusion didn’t seem to be on the agenda. Lawmakers would just read their desired passage and leave the clerk scrambling to figure out what they were talking about. Often times leaving him befuddled and confused about what was being asked. At home, we call that being used as a pawn.

In the wake, there were left great, “gotcha” moments, and soundbites that played well on social media when edited but offered little substance.

A good example, of what I am talking about is the debate over HB1269. A bill offering some protection to teachers, while requiring no other action.

The sole purpose of the bill was to protect teachers from civil liability in the event they don’t use a child’s desired pronouns. Seems like at a time when teachers are being exposed to greater liability on a regular basis, this is an understandable desired protection. It’s equally understandable where there might be some areas of question worthy of discussion. But in our new world, we enter every conversation with the belief that the other party has nothing but malicious intent in challenging us. As a result, we don’t have those kinds of conversations.

“This is bullying a student,” State Representative Bob Freeman, (D-Nashville) said. “I am not asking them to agree with anyone. What I am asking is the common decency of respect to address children and how they should be addressed. These terms matter. They matter to children and they matter to us. These are people who should be guiding these children. I trust they want to do what’s best. But there are bad actors.”

I consider Bob Freeman a dear friend, and one of the better legislators on the Hill, but that statement is extremely disingenuous and more appropriate to address a bill that requires teachers to only refer to students by their birth sex, than the one being presented. This bill was proposing nothing of the sort.

Is it a necessary bill? Unfortunately in the litigious society, we live in, yes.

Senator Heidi Campbell made that same kind of accusation when she told the State Senate during a debate on the Senate version of this bill, “I do think this is about giving teachers the right to bully our kids.”

If I didn’t know the two, my assumption would be that they believe that teachers don’t always have the best interests of students at heart and need lawmakers to understand the importance of their role in children’s lives. Remember, teaching is a service profession, that type of job doesn’t normally attract people prone to bullying.

Though, I would argue that this month standardized testing and high-stakes testing are a form of bullying. We’ll leave it alone right now though because that’s another conversation for another day.

I’m kinda picking on them here, but over the last several years we’ve had laws passed by others under the assumption that teachers were actively trying to not teach kids to read, they were attempting to kick as many kids as possible out of school and were refusing to care about dyslexic students, among other things. There is a pattern starting to show here.

I know, everybody loves teachers, but why would you believe that a teacher would intentionally bully a kid just because civil penalties are not in place?

State Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville) called the proposed law a “license to bully students.” Jones went on to say, “I am sorry to the students who hear what is happening today. I apologize to these young people on behalf of this body. Because what we are doing here is perpetuating harm, trauma, and bullying.”

I’m unsure what he is apologizing for? Because there was a conversation that didn’t parrot his personal views? Because of an attempt to limit potential damage to a teacher who acts out of either religious conviction or just an inability to adapt.

I’m willing to do my best to call you whatever you desire to be called, but sometimes willingness isn’t enough.

I’ve got a friend’s daughter who has changed their name to another version over the last several years and adjusted her pronoun as well. When we are interacting, I do my best to honor their request, and despite 50-plus years of schooling and social conditioning, I get it right about 90% of the time. When we are working together and things get busy, I slip to about 70%.

Is it intentional? No.

Is it an attempt to bully? No.

Is it an attempt to marginalize? No.

If I realize I slipped, I go back and apologize, but I don’t always realize. If they call my attention to it, I also acknowledge and apologize.

Can I do better? Sure.

Do I deserve to face a potential lawsuit? If I was a teacher before this new law passed, that’s a possibility. And that is not fair.

This past weekend, I worked with a wedding planner I’ve worked with for 14 years, ever since she started her business. She called me “TK” all night long.

Was it annoying? Maybe a little.

Did I assume that she was trying to marginalize me and didn’t value my abilities? No

Was I offended? No.

I chalked up to her having a full plate with 1000 other things on her mind. Sometimes we have to extend some grace and decipher between what is intentional and what is malicious. the two are not always exclusive.

I would argue that any teacher deliberately ignoring a student’s wishes is probably failing students in another area, and thus natural attrition will occur.

We also need to recognize that there is a whole room of students, most of which subscribe to traditional pronouns. How are repeated lengthy discussions about pronoun usage serving them? Is there potential for a teacher to bully students into adopting a practice they may or may not be comfortable with, and if not, will we just tell them, “The times are changing and you need to get on board”?

I read a recent article shared by Diane Ravitch, that gave me some pause for cause for pause. The article posted by Anand Giridharadas asks:

As our society fractures, some change-makers are drawn to visions of progress that don’t bother with suasion. I’m thinking especially of those of us who live in what we regard as the America of the future and who think of ourselves as “woke” — aware of injustice, committed to pluralism, willing to fight for it.

As wokeness has percolated from Black resistance into the cultural mainstream, it seems at times to have become a test you must pass to engage with the enlightened, not a gospel the enlightened aspire to spread. Either you buy our whole program, use all the right terms, and expertly check your privilege, or you’re irredeemable.

Is there space among the woke for the still-waking?

There is a lot here in this short piece to scratch to ponder, the chief being, “The woke have a choice about how to deal with the ambivalent. Do you focus on building a fortress to protect yourself from them? Or a road to help them cross the mountain?”

Giridharadas concludes:

When we learn to detect such resonances, we gain the understanding of other people that is required to win them over, and not simply to resist them.

It isn’t enough to be right about the world you want to live in. You gotta sell it, even to those you fear.

On some levels, I don’t disagree. But the idea that there is one vision for America and one path to it, as defined by a group of individuals bestowed with complete authority, does not resonate with me. Interacting with people in an effort to “sell” them something, is not dialog, nor does it recognize and promote freedom. It’s a world where some have decided they have all the answers and questions only remain from those not on board yet.

There were repeated attempts during the House discussion to paint HB1269 as just another front on the war being waged by white Christians against everybody.

State Representative Vincent Dixie (D-Nashville), who is Black, embraced the “times are changing” meme, and said it is up to us to keep up with the times, before asking, “What harm is there to respect someone and call them what they want to be called?”

While I appreciate Dixie’s passion, he might want to ask that same question in his own community. Or the Muslim community. Or the Hispanic community. Or any other community. We are all growing together. None of us are fully evolved.

You can’t legislate kindness, and if you could, I’ve got a long list of items to include in that bill. I have long advocated for a kinder world.

Of course, the bill sponsor didn’t help himself with his response to Dixie.

State Representative Cochran (R-Englewood) answered the “change with the times” call from Dixie, by saying, “No matter how much times are changing you can not tell a person that their religious beliefs no longer matter.” The Representative went on to add that he didn’t believe that the bill permitted teachers to bully kids, but that it did protect teachers from being bullied themselves. He accused the “woke Left” of being among the biggest bullies in history.

And here we go again.

Eventually, the question was called and the House voted to adopt and conform to SB0466 by a vote of 72-22, with State Representative Ronnie Glynn (D-Clarksville) present but not voting. When it came time to vote on the bill, Glynn voted “nay”.

During the debate, several legislators made statements about, “words matter”. They absolutely do, and nobody believes that more than I do. We have to recognize that the words used by those on both sides inflicted a cost, where there didn’t need to be.

You can argue the merits of a bill without using disparaging terms toward or assuming the intent of the sponsor.

Lawmaking is a collaborative process, best accomplished when both sides push to improve the scope. Making debates personal, and focusing on your opponent as opposed to the bill doesn’t help. describing your opponent in deplorable terms does not invite collaboration.

Acting as if the people on the other side of the aisle achieved their position through divine intervention, does not support Democracy.

Which, belies the question of whether America functions as a republic or a democracy. This point was brought up repeatedly in the last week of the session. I’ll leave you with a quote from U.S. Congressman James Clyburn:

The Constitution establishes a federal democratic republic form of government. That is, we have an indivisible union of 50 sovereign States. It is a democracy because people govern themselves. It is representative because people choose elected officials by free and secret ballot. It is a republic because the Government derives its power from the people.

To achieve that representation, we hold elections. Ideally, the people that win these elections, represent the will of the majority of their constituents and write laws accordingly. If not, they run the potential of getting voted out.

Now independent surveys and polls are useful guides to gauge public opinion in a broad manner, though they seldom deal with the nuance that goes into crafting quality legislation. All you have to do is look at presidential polls prior to the last couple of presidential elections and you realize the limitations. Without knowing, how the questions were worded, who was asked, and how many, it is impossible to get a true picture. Opinion polls make great headlines, but the story is often more detailed.

Getting 9K people out on a workday to form a 3-mile human chain sends a message that the subject is important to 9K people. It does not mean that it is imperative that it is equally important to the other 7 million people in the state. It may, be but that’s for elections to decide.

Much has been made of the “Tennessee Three’s” rise to fame, and what a force they are to be reckoned with going forward.

Well if I’m organizing a parade, I’ll call them. If I need someone to preach at church I call them. Despite all the noise, here’s how the scorecard reads:

Expanded Voucher program: passed

Ending teacher payroll deduction: passed

Armed SROs as part of a school security bill: passed

Third-grade retention adjustments: minor and delayed until next year

Representative Parkinson (D-Memphis) got a bill through the House that would end the Achievement School District, but it died in the Senate. maybe somebody should ask Parkinson how he has become one of the most esteemed colleagues in the House, while still taking his shots. Parkinson ain’t scared to throw a jab, but he’s also never shied from doing the work. Nor has Representative Love. Nor Representative Powell.

I just mentioned the education bills, there were plenty of others areas where Republicans proceeded undeterred, and all the fame and so-called “shame” translated to no discernible legislative wins for the Democrats.

Some Democrats would argue that they’ve energized people across the state. Yeah…that’s great…but the next election is in 18 months. Is there a plan to sustain that enthusiasm?

I’d also caution that the antics of the three have equally energized voters on the right. Just because they are not blasting hourly screeds on Twitter, doesn’t mean they are not taking notes.

If I’m a Republican candidate, in a rural or suburban community, I’m praying the lawmakers take a picture with the President on their visit this week.

The next election cycle in Tennessee includes a presidential race. While I pray it’s not another Trump vs Biden rematch, it’s becoming more likely that will be the case. Remember Trump won in Tennessee in 2020 with something like 60% of the vote. The only counties won by Biden were Shelby, Davidson, and, Haywood. State Representatives will benefit from sharing the presidential ballot, the question, as always, is which candidates.

Democrats in Tennessee for the last decade have been screaming oppression and decrying their diminished voice. Again it’s a great sound bite, and will likely play well on Rachel Maddow and MNBC. What it won’t do is help win elections, and that should be the goal.

A super-majority is not good for anybody. It makes those in power fat and lazy while demising the alternative voice. It provides means for both sides to retreat to their silos and scream at the walls.

My son plays youth baseball. Over the years, we’ve come up against umps whose strike zone falls outside of the conventional area. In these instances, my boy has at times struck out looking. In the car ride home, he’ll complain that those weren’t strikes and it’s unfair that they were called as such.

In response, I ask, “Did he call them that way the whole game?”

“Yea”

Then your responsibility is to adjust and figure out how to hit the ones that he calls strikes because that is your job as a hitter. Complaining to him won’t change anything, may make things worse. The stat sheet is not going to show that you struck out due to miscalled strikes, just that you struck out. Get enough strikeouts and you’ll find yourself on the bench because the coach needs hitters – if you are not a hitter, there is no sense in putting you in the game.

That’s where Tennessee Democrats sit these days. The question is, and remains, are they going to be media darlings or are they going to be hitters?

– – –

Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“Well, ain’t you the clam’s cuticle!” said Mr. Ogden.”
― Ngaio Marsh, Death in Ecstasy

As I type today, I’m watching the Tennessee House floor session – hopefully the last of the year.

I’m going to refrain from adding too much commentary – as I believe those who seek the spotlight should be sated at this point.

Though I will say, that when you make a policy argument personal and leave no room for a graceful concession, you make permanent enemies. Some folks wear that list of enemies as a badge of honor, but the longer that list the deeper the baggage carried, and there ain’t no porters available.

In the age of immediacy, and social media dominance, we fall into the trap of mistaking the sound bite for a sound argument. In other words, we confuse knowledge and wisdom.

Decorum these days is seen as an ancient artifact, whose rules must be rewritten by each individual. There is no recognition of history, context, or precedent. There is no observation of professionalism towards one other.

We’ve entered a place where we share citizenship in arguably the greatest country in the world, yet we are quick to claim the status of oppressed. A term tossed around with little recognition of what true oppression looks like around the world. Frank Karsten and Karen Beckman back in 2012 wrote in Beyond Democracy, democracy cannot be fixed because it is inherently broken:

“The problems of democracy are inherent. It’s like having dinner with a million people and deciding up front the bill will be split evenly. Everyone has a strong incentive to order more than he would individually, resulting in a huge bill that everyone deplores but no individual could do anything about. Democracy, therefore, has a very limited self-cleansing capability. Our politicians have a natural short-term outlook since they are only temporarily in office. They will overspend, overtax and over borrow knowing their successors will have to deal with the negative consequences. Besides that, they spend other people’s money anyhow.”

I’m beginning to fear that they may be correct. But, in this case, it is not the bill we are fighting over, but rather the meal itself.

It is an easy task to disrupt, but more difficult to build. As I’ve stated for probably a decade now, It’s fine to make plans to win a war, but it is equally important that plans are developed to win the peace. I see no evidence of anyone considering the construction of those plans.

Talk to any teacher, and they’ll tell you that the number one issue schools are facing is discipline. We cite all kinds of reasons – poverty, COVID, social media, etc. – but do we ever stop and look at the behavior modeled by adults? Do we ever consider the example we set when we engage in what was once considered social discourse?

Under the guise of making a “better world”, we don’t search out equity, but rather new people to marginalize. We tear at the social fabric without consideration, nor concern for what comes after. We all want to be Supreme Court Ruth Bader-Ginsberg or Dr. Martin Luther King, but we think we can get there without exhibiting any of the grace, empathy, or self-awareness they exhibited.

Listening to freshman Tennessee state representative Justin Jones and Justin Pearson go after Speaker Sexton, I can’t help but think of the words of Ginsberg: “Once asked how we could be friends, given our disagreement on lots of things, Justice Scalia answered: “I attack ideas. i don´t attack people. Some very good people have some very bad ideas. And if you can´t separate the two, you gotta get another day job. You don´t want to be a judge. At least not a judge on a multi-member panel.”

I see no good ending to any of this. You cannot shame and humiliate those who disagree with you into submission. This is unsustainable.

Today, the idea of a “national divorce” creeps around the edges, dismissed as fear espoused by conspiracy theorists and fringe elements. But stop and think for a minute, how many divorced couples once treated the idea of their marriage dissolving as a ridiculous idea? How many wish, they would have taken it just a little more seriously when there was still time to reverse direction?

Yet he we are, rapidly accelerating towards what feels more and more like a predetermined destination.

All I can say is…breaks my heart and I fear for the world our children will inherit. A world where nothing matters and what if it did.

– – –

This week several bills pertaining to education made the leap to passage, and now await the governor’s signature to make them law.

The first guarantees more money for teachers while taking away the ability for teacher labor organizations to make payroll deductions for dues. The new law states that within five years, starting teacher pay will be set at $50K.

The increase in pay is a welcome benefit, but the loss of payroll deduction is considered a vindictive act by many. Both the Teacher Education Association (TEA) and Professional Educators of Tennessee will be impacted by the new law. An unintended consequence should be a tighter focus on issues by both organizations.

Instead of a deduction coming directly from a teacher’s paycheck to the organization, they’ll now have to briefly park in their bank account, where it’ll actively compete with housing, utility, and grocery bills. This will create a Monty evaluation of value, as opposed to the annual evaluation previously faced.

In talking with local union officials, they expressed disappointment with the law, but argue that it changes little. The work still needs to be done, and the work is continually ongoing.

They argue that there is no problem attracting new members – MNEA leadership was recently recognized for their recruitment efforts – the problem is retaining members. Not because of dues, but rather because they leave the district or profession on to regular an occurrence.

– – –

Both halves of the Tennessee General Assembly have passed bills that would expand Tennessee’s ESA pilot program. Though the two versions differed in the counties that will be included in the expansion. The Senate bill only included Chattanooga, while the House expands eligibility to both Knoxville and Chattanooga.

The original bill was tied up in court for the last 3 years, and just this year began enrolling families.

In arguing against the bill, Representative Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis) stated that expansion was being proposed because “nobody was interested in participating”. Interesting argument considering that 500 people are currently enrolled, and 1500 additional applications are currently under consideration. So is Parkinson arguing that those 500 people are, “nobodies”?

Representative Yusuf Hakeem (D-Chattanooga) made an equally interesting argument. He argued that the House was ignoring the will of the people despite the new bill being brought forward by an elected senator from Chattanooga. In essence, he was arguing that his position should be recognized as the will of the people over the other representative whom he accused of trying to impose his voice over Hakeem’s as the will of the people. I’ll let you untangle that one.

The House voted to undo its amendment that adds Knoxville to the pilot program and then voted to approve the Senate version which expands eligibility to Chattanooga families.

Once again efforts were framed by voucher opponents to paint the program as targeting primarily black and brown kids. Not quite sure why if black and brown families feel their children are being adequately served by zoned schools they would explore alternate options, but okay.

I’m also going to throw this out there, as someone who has spent considerable time with people of both the Black and Hispanic communities, I am continually perplexed by efforts to portray them as being homogeneous in their interests.

I would argue, that even in their individual demographic designations there is a wide range of ideological visions among them and that any attempt to portray them as sharing common interests beyond health, wealth, and happiness, is at best disingenuous. It reeks of being more of a political tool than an accurate reflection of reality.

Representative John Ray Clemmons (R-Nashville), Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville), and I all share a common skin tone and place of residence, beyond that, the similarities end. Yet nobody expects us to be of a like mind, a luxury seldom afforded to other demographic groups.

Here’s something else I’d like to share with Rep. Parkinson and his fellow legislators. Unlike several of them, my children attend public schools. And I’m not talking about the Spanish emersion schools that have no Spanish people. I’m talking about schools that serve high populations of immigrant and impoverished students.

After 8 years, I’m more and more inclined to take a look at one of those vouchers for myself.

Must be the racist or homophobe in me.

Or maybe, it’s the slow recognition that the narrative doesn’t match reality, and the interests of my children are of no concern to state and district leaders.

Maybe when those legislators tossing around slurs slide their chips on the table next to mine, I’ll consider their words as more than public posturing and a means to hold onto their jobs.

– – –

Speaking of adult needs, has anybody seen that Tennessee Commissioner of Education? You know…what’s her name…Jenny…no…Connie…come on, last name is…Sin…no…anyway, you know who I’m talking about…seen her lately?

I know next week she’s out of town. Heading back to DC for yet another symposium. This one is with the Aspen Institute. She wasn’t around this week either. Travel records from the first quarter indicate she’s earned a lot of frequent flyer miles.

Now she could be busy moving into that $1.8 million house she and Paul just bought last month in the southern part of Nashville.

Of course, a glance at her recently filed conflict of interests disclosure shows the old house, one she sold six months ago for $1,157,500. I know, it probably still feels like home.

Who knew that being a public servant came with such perks. I just hope the lady gets the come off the road for a bit so she can enjoy those perks.

– – –

Metro Nashville Public Schools has submitted its proposed budget for the 2023-2024 school year, and it seems like they are asking for a raise. I say seems like because the budget is divided into different components and only the basic is totaled up. It comes in at just over $1.1 billion due to inflationary impact. Ironically, the district notes the impact of inflation on their budget but remains silent on whether COLA raises for teachers are included.

in addition to the baseline budget, there are a number of aspirational items. These are not totaled, as explained by MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted, “As we have done for the last few years, we’ve included a large menu of options based on stakeholder feedback over the years along with the costs to fund those programs. We do not expect or anticipate they will all be funded, and the continuity of federally funded initiatives will continue to be funded with ESSER through the end of next school year.”

There is a funding request to incorporate “classroom associates.” These associates would be assigned to individual schools in general assistant roles but could also be utilized as substitute teachers. They would be employed full-time and eligible to participate in benefit and professional development programs. MNPS has requested a $12 million budget for this strategy.

If this sounds familiar, you might recognize it from my run for school board run. It was one of my primary proposed initiatives.

This year the district has federal money to supplement the budget, next year things change.

The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding will end next summer, requiring MNPS to increase its annual budget request or find alternative grants to continue programming. Nashville schools received $425 million in ESSER money and have used it to invest in tutoring, summer learning programs, reading support, mental health resources, teacher bonuses, laptops for students and staff, and putting school nurses on every campus, to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After the 2023-2024 school year, federal funds through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund will no longer be available. In their budget proposal presentation, MNPS lists separate amounts needed to sustain programs impacted, at around $55 million annually.

Things get even more interesting when you add that TISA implementation starts this year. TISA is the new formula Tennessee is using to fund schools. It calculates funding based on a formula that assigns a base value to every student and adds money for certain weights to arrive at a per-student funding amount. Safeguards are in place for the first four years of implementation to prevent districts from losing funds due to a decline in enrollment.

Currently, MNPS growth is flat. District enrollment – traditional and charter schools included – grew by o.26 percent, or 622 students, from 79,651 to 80,273 students in pre-school to grade school. Tradition school enrollment grew by 460 students, while district-authorized charter school enrollment grew by 162 students.

While advertised as a per-pupil funding plan, that’s not exactly true. MNPS uses its own student-based funding plan to fund individual schools. Their categories do not exactly match that of the state.

The way this works is that a number for the district is derived from the state’s per-pupil funding formula. The district is then given that lump sum, of which they add an additional roughly 40% of local money, before running it through their per-pupil funding formula and awarding another lump sum to each school. In other words, the back packs of cash get traded out on the way to the student.

The budget now heads to Mayor John Cooper, who will review it and decide how much he wishes to include in his city budget, which he is scheduled to present to Metro Council by April 30. MNPS will hold budget hearings and then approve a final budget by the end of June for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on July 1.

The mayor and council can only approve a funding total; the city charter prevents them from directing funds to individual line items.

Buckle up. This could get fun.

– – –

Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“Liking other people is an illusion we have to cherish in ourselves if we are to live in society.”
― John Fowles, The Magus

Earlier this week, I can across an old friend, at least I’d call him a friend. I’m not always sure how he feels about me. We met about a decade on opposite sides of the fence over charter school expansion.

In talking about current events it became clear we were once again standing on opposite sides of the fence.

After patiently listening to my side of the argument, he responded, “I appreciate that TC, I really do, but I come at it from a different perspective.”

“If you’ll remember”, he said, “We met each other under different circumstances. When we met we both held different opinions on charter schools. But because of mine, I had people digging through my trash, video-taping me, and calling at all hours. It sucked. All because I held a different opinion.”

“That was wrong”, I told him, “And I believe I said it at the time. I’ve definitely said repeatedly since.”

He nodded, but I’m not sure he truly believed me, and I don’t know if I would believe me either. And that makes me sad.

Despite our differences, I enjoyed our sporadic talks. I find him funny, kind, and insightful. When we talk, I usually come away with some new knowledge – be it on stereo components, sports, or education policy. To not have him as a resource, would quite honestly suck, and while I didn’t directly invade his privacy, I supported those who did. All in the name of a policy, that today I’m not as sold on.

I regularly tell my kids that I’m self-governed by a guiding singular principal – that if they walk into a room and observe my actions, I can explain them in a manner that is consistent with my voiced beliefs.

Those of you who are parents are likely familiar with the arguments between siblings that start with, “But they…”.

In our house, all of us are told that if any defense of behavior starts with those words…it is not a sound argument and you need to amend it.

We frequently discuss allowing opponents to gracefully retreat from an argument, granting them the ability to save face once beaten.

Furthermore, whenever you fight, always consider the cost of victory, and never enter a battle without a plan for peace. Winning the peace is every bit as vital as winning the battle, and never forget, any tactic you use to win will ultimately be used against you, with even more viciousness.

There is one more lesson, argue ideas over personalities. There will be many people in life you don’t like, but that doesn’t mean they won’t have sound arguments.

There are more than a few people that share my ideas, but I can’t stand them as people. If you are focusing on the personality, you may be listening, but you are not hearing.

We are all focused on the personalities of Justin Jones and Cameron Sexton. Or Gloria Johnson and Gino Bulso. Maybe it’s Justin Pearson and Andrew Farmer. They are heroes or villains, depending on the view from your seat. The reality is, with all due respect, they don’t really matter. They are just placeholders in a much larger picture.

Hear me out before you get too upset.

I intentionally omitted their ” Representative ” titles because we are forgetting that is their role. They are not the first to hold the honor of serving as elected representatives. Many individuals have come before them, and many waves will follow.

What is important is what remains behind, and that it is a system of governance that functions in an orderly way and represents everyone. Equally important is that the behavior of their representatives reflects how we the people will conduct business. How will the lessons of today be interpreted and applied in the future?

By forgetting that these people are representatives, we ignore who they represent. We judge people by our life experiences without ever considering those. In doing so we assign motive and intent, that may not exist.

Much has been made about the supermajority of Republicans in Tennessee. But what about conservatives who live in Nashville? Where is their voice?

A Politico piece on the current events in Nashville shares, “And, though no one measures this directly, the city’s growing hordes of millennial tech workers may have contributed to its slight blue-ending over time — a Vanderbilt University poll shows an uptick of city residents calling themselves liberal or very liberal since it was first conducted in 2015, albeit from 26 percent to 30 percent. (They outnumber conservatives by six points, and self-described moderates handily prevail over both.)

Yet despite this slight edge, Metro Council has but 2 out of 40 members who identify as Republican, and both are regularly ridiculed by the local media. Ask current Mayoral candidate Alice Rolli what it feels like to run as a conservative in Nashville.

If Jones, is truly about “THE PEOPLE” how has he included these voices in his agenda?

What is a conservative in Nashville supposed to do if they repeatedly see the city head in a direction they are not comfortable with? I’m betting they appeal to their state reps, who try to help. Stories are ever as simple as we’d like them to be.

Years ago I sat done with a young black woman who was an active supporter of school choice. I thought I had her all figured out, but I knew nothing and my assumptions were merely that. My conversation with her remains a small but pivotal moment in my life.

By blanket painting House as racist, and assigning all their actions to that intent, you by defacto paint those who chose them as “racist”. I

n some cases, that may be a correct assumption, but there is danger in painting with a broad brush, and nobody deserves to be mislabeled.

I believe that words like “racist” and “rape” describe such heinous acts, that they should only be utilized with strong evidence, lest they water down the depiction of the acts they describe.

I feel very strongly that a government, where the voices of a few can drown that of others, is not an effective government, let alone a representative one.

Ironically, I agree with much of what “The Tennessee Three” is championing. But there is a mechanism to get heard. It involves winning elections, writing legislation, filing bills in a timely fashion, and making a sound argument for them that is more than an emotional plea. It means taking the time to consider the unintended consequences.

When you lose a fight, you don’t just keep imprudently swinging. You reevaluate, you restructure your argument, and you get bigger allies. Repeating the same strategies and expecting different outcomes is the definition of insanity.

Over the last decade, I’ve been involved in efforts to expose education leaders as the frauds they are behind their facades.

Dr. Shawn Joseph and Dr. Penny Schwinn are very similar individuals. It took nearly four years to convince people about Joseph, and it’s taken about five to do the same for Schwinn. Who, by the way, once sent State Homeland Security to my house to investigate me as a threat. So I guess Jones and I could swap some stories.

Throughout the process, others that worked with me continually looked for the “knockout” punch. Repeatedly I said, there is no “knockout” punch, there is only tireless work that requires the building of a case. A case rooted in being right, but not righteous.

I got one last story before we move on. My last job was co-managing a phone room. Ownership hired a new manager. He and I butted heads from the get-go. He was a lot of show with little substance. We fought relentlessly, often bringing our disagreements to upper management. After about 6 months he was terminated, because he showed them who he was, and it wasn’t who they assumed.

For about a week, I did a victory dance. Then they fired me.

The lesson learned was, nobody wants to expend a lot of energy trying to figure out who the bad guys are, they’ll just lump y’all together, and be done with you both.

It was an important lesson, and one I won’t soon forget.

Back to Education

Has anybody seen Tennessee’s Education Commissioner of late? More and more, she appears to be that guy at work using up their sick time and vacation hours in pursuit of another gig. Regularly absent from important state business.

This week, a bill expanding Tennessee’s Education Savings Account pilot program passed out of committee and is scheduled for a final vote in the House on Monday. Despite legislators asking the previous week for the Tennessee Department of Education to be present at the next meeting, Schwinn was nowhere in sight when the gavel dropped. Instead, it was a former representative, and current TDOE advisor, Bill Dunn, along with Governor Lee’s legislative enforcer Brent Easley who attempted to answer questions.

Some of you may remember that it was Dunn who worked nearly a decade on vouchers before getting legislation through in 2019.

I’m not even sure that Commissioner Schwinn was in Tennessee for this important policy vote. Recently released travel records for the first quarter of 2023, show she’s still jetting around the country with some frequency.

Included in the filing, are multiple trips to DC, along with trips to Austin and New Orleans. Keep in mind, these are only the jaunts where taxpayer money is being used. Recently she traveled to San Diego for another conference and she’s been a frequent participant in national panels throughout the early months of the year. It’s a repeated pattern from the fourth quarter of 2022.

Unfortunately for her, all of this job hunting on the public dime has failed to secure a new gig.

It has also left local districts in a bit of a quandary as they look for guidance on third-grade retention and the implementation of the state’s new school funding formula.

I guess there shouldn’t be too much concern though, as this is the same woman who once simultaneously held down 6 figure jobs running both her charter school in California and serving as an executive director with the Delaware Department of Education.

I suspect, that after this testing cycle, she announces that fate has called her to leave her beloved adopted home state and in the service of kids, she must move on. Seeing as Governor Lee has only three years remaining, and the next governor gets to appoint their choice, I don’t look for a heavy hitter to replace her. Instead, look for someone like Mark White (R-Memphis) or Dunn to serve as a placeholder.

Third Grade Retention

Three months ago, all anybody could talk about was the state’s new third-grade retention law. These days, with state testing starting next week, there is nary a peep.

The law requires that any student who fails to achieve a score of “meeting expectations” on the literacy portion of TCAP must repeat third grade unless they participate in a number of different remediation programs. Those programs include primarily summer school and tutoring. Students are also eligible to take a retake of TCAP, which includes everything but the writing portion, at the end of the month.

In response to voiced concerns, lawmakers have proposed legislation that would tweak the bill after next year. The changes are minimal and include expanding who in a school district can help with an appeal, expanding summer school options, and consideration of results from a second state-provided benchmark test — but only for third graders who score “approaching” on their TCAP. That bill is slated for a full Senate vote next week, but will likely pass.

My big issue with these changes is the usage of the benchmarks.

First of all, not all districts administer the state-approved benchmark test. Included in the same legislation that included third-grade retention provisions, local districts were required to adopt a state-approved benchmark, but given the option of utilizing either the state-provided version or one of 6 alternatives.

Despite the state option being provided at no cost to districts, only a little over 50% have adopted it. The others remained with their preferred assessment. Only those using the state-provided option – aimswebPlus – are eligible for the expanded consideration. In other words, the state giveth, and the state taketh.

Most importantly though is that aimswebPlus and TCAp are two very different tests administered in two very different ways, and scored very differently. Their results are not interchangeable. One is designed to guide instruction, and the other is an accountability tool. What’s quietly being done here, is the introduction of another high stakes test, even as parents say they want less high-stakes testing.

Senate Education Chair John Lundberg (R-Bristol), who has been exceedingly assessable during the tweaking process, says he is comfortable with the law moving forward, feeling that predictions of mass retentions are likely hyper inflated.

“I think that this is going to be a good year”, he told us, “I think after the results come in we won’t see the mass retentions, and that families will realize that their students are being better served.”

Lundberg added, “I think at this point people are ready for this to move forward. Districts are aware, teachers are aware, and parents are aware. The adjustments we have proposed are needed and will only make the bill stronger in the future. We arrived at these changes by talking to families across the state, and hearing their concerns.”

Time will tell. But one thing is certain when this discussion next begins, it will include actual data, as opposed to supposition.

School Security

Hmmm…it seems while everybody is focused on gun control as an option for keeping kids safe, other avenues are not being fleshed out as they should. Main Street Nashville has a report on the state of Nashville Schools’ plan to increase security officers at public schools. The plan announced last Fall, was for all schools to have armed school resource officers present at some point during the day. In addition, MNPS was looking to secure, in partnership with MNPD, 70 School Safety Ambassadors. These would be unarmed security staff for each elementary school.

Per Mainstreet,

In August, there were 22 SRO vacancies in a force understaffed by 200 officers. Eight months later, the number of vacancies remains the same despite 75 new officers.

According to MNPD, there are presently 38 SROs that cover all 13 comprehensive public high schools and a magnet school that was not named for security reasons. They also rotate among the middle schools.

Got a way to go on this initiative.

Still in Custody

Here’s something for you to chew on next time the idea of self-care for educators comes up.

MNPS Director of Visual and Performing Arts still sits in the Montgomery County jail, a month after being arrested for evading arrest, 2 counts of reckless endangerment (he had his two children in the car), and a charge of resisting stop/frisk.

Per the report from WKRN,

According to Metro police, a welfare check regarding Jeff Smith was received, and on March 9, a mobile crisis counselor visited Smith at his Antioch home.

he report said officers responded to the listed address in reference to the associated report number. The complainant advised that her husband was having a psychotic episode. Mobile crisis responded and provided an evaluation. The mobile crisis counselor determined that the listed victim did have a mental illness, but was not a danger to himself or others.

According to the DCSO, the next day, seven deputies came to Smith’s home to serve an emergency child custody order to take Smith’s two children.

What was the expected outcome of 7 deputies showing up at the house of a man who had acknowledged mental issues, but was not considered a danger to himself or anyone else?

At the start of the year, Smith was the director of a successful city-wide program, now he sits in jail, separated from his children and a profession he has served for over two decades.

Yeah…tell me again how we are willing to address mental health. Breaks my fucking heart. But does anybody care.

The television report concluded with Smith sending a message yo his kids,

“I love you. Daddy misses you. I just want to see you and I’ve loved you my whole life. Everything I have done is to support you into growing into the incredible human beings you are. You are both gifted and smart, more than you give yourself credit for. You are warriors for social justice just like your dad. Stay safe kids and trust nobody no matter what they do to me I will not stop loving you.”

Final Note

I know some of you are displeased with the arguments I’ve put forth in recent pieces. If I offended you, my apologies, I take y’alls support very seriously. My goal has always been to encourage deeper thought.

As former Blogger Crazy Crawfish once told me, “My job isn’t to be the smartest guy in the room, it is to get a bunch of very smart people in a room for a discussion that delivers the best policy.” I never lose sight of that.

Trying to see both sides of a situation is not a valued trait these days, but critical thinking is more needed than ever.

I will always try to err on the side of kindness.

I will also always put country before party.

– – –

Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“Someone else had come out with that old line about winning not being everything. Probably Emilia, that’s exactly the sort of thing she liked to believe. And then one of us replied … perhaps even me, I’m not sure … one of us said, Of course winning is everything. Why else do you think we call ourselves the human race?”
― Christopher J. Yates, Black Chalk

It’s been an interesting one around these parts of late. In case you haven’t heard, the Tennessee General Assembly expelled three members yesterday. How you feel about it, unfortunately, likely falls on which side of the political aisle you sit on.

Those on the left scream, that it’s all fabricated and those expelled legislators did nothing but exercise their first amendment rights. To paraphrase the words of one, Justin Jones, he was “fighting for your kids”.

Those on the other side of the aisle holler that these three fostered their own version of January 6th, and threatened to shut down the government. Those actions warrant expulsion.

It’s all hyperbolic and geared toward fundraising.

What? You haven’t gotten at least 5 emails telling you how important you are and how it’s more important now than ever to dig into that checkbook and contribute? Check your spam folder.

We’ve descended into a world where sound bites and one-upmanship are favored over statesmanship and solutions. Our individual pain routinely supersedes our collective pain. We have no shame in hijacking the tragic deaths of 7 people in order to push our desired political agenda. Protests are planned before funerals.

For the record, here’s the definition of insurrection:

An organized and usually violent act of revolt or rebellion against an established government or governing authority of a nation-state or other political entity by a group of its citizens or subjects; also, any act of engaging in such a revolt.

In my eyes, last week’s events meet the criteria of the first, but definitely not the latter. But much like I missed the term “violent” in the explanation, others are missing “usually”, or confusing it with “always”.

Those gathered in protest were peaceful, and I don’t believe that there was ever a sniff of the scent of violence in the air.

Unlike in 2021 when protests broke out at the Capitol over the threat of a state income tax. Activities reached such a level at that time that Governor Sunquist was forced to release a public statement,

“State employees, legislators, and law enforcement officers should be able to do their jobs in a safe, reasonable way. I am particularly critical of some radio talk show hosts and at least one legislator who encouraged disruptive behavior and destructive acts. I hope the budget debate will continue but in a calm, reasonable way. My top priority has [been], and
continues to be, the welfare of Tennessee’s children.”

So it is probably a good idea to employ some perspective when tossing the word “insurrection” around. Sound advice to me as well, I’ve been a little loose with the definition myself.

But I remain baffled that we have rules of conduct for the office, the classroom, and the courtroom, yet somehow holding the same expectations for the House floor are antiquated and racist. Next time you are in court try emulating the conduct of the three lawmakers in question. Let me know how that works out.

I expect I’ll never get another call from the school telling me my child is disrupting class. If I do, I’ll just tell the teacher that he’s just excising his First Amendment rights and I expect him to be accommodated.

We all have passions, society can’t function is those passions are expressed in whatever manner we choose, whenever.

Another word we hear tossed around without impunity is “fascism”. For the record:

A governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

First off, Thursday’s hearing for the three lawmakers lasted the better part of the day, I doubt that in Iran, Syria, or even China, you’d be extended such a courtesy. Russian courts are mysteriously backed up while dissidents are locked up indefinitely, or killed.

But let’s forget that for a minute and ask – who is serving in the role of dictator here? Speaker Sexton? Majority Leader Lamberth? Governor Lee?

Per The Tennessean, Jones told lawmakers during his hearing, “Your extreme measure is an attempt to subvert the will of voters who democratically elected us as representatives to speak and to passionately fight for them.”

Which voters is he talking about?

Tennessee recently held elections in which Sexton garnered 82% of the vote in his district with 19,655 votes. William Lambeth won his district with 78% and 13,875 votes. Governor Lee secured 65% and 1,129,390 votes.

By contrast, Justin Jones ran unopposed in the general election, securing 8587 votes. The Democrat primary was a little tighter, he received 53% of the vote and 1931 votes. Justin Pearson won the Special Democratic primary for District 86 with 1235 votes, in the general election he received 443. Gloria Johnson secured 58% of the votes cast in her race with 8465 votes.

You can parse these vote totals how you will, to tell any story you want to tell. I wouldn’t have voted for any of the three Republicans, but the bottom line is that a lot of Tennesseans think that they are doing a good job representing them. That may not be what is wished for, but it is reality.

Luckily there is a way to address that. Next year is another round of elections. Hopefully, Democrats will run better candidates, who run better campaigns.

To quote a dear friend, “We are fighting about drag queens, while I can’t drive 10 blocks without hitting a dozen potholes.”

The best way to tell Republicans to focus on the important stuff is to vote them out of office.

So again, a little perspective. And now a little history.

Tennessee Democrats had control of the governorship, the state’s congressional delegation, and both chambers of the General Assembly as recently as 2006. In 2008, Republicans took both the state House and the Senate. They’ve held control since, for reasons, we can endlessly debate.

If you are in the minority – trust me I know all about the minority, because it’s where I live – you often feel like you never get heard. This is true for whoever is in the minority. The Republicans certainly felt that way in the 90s.

Whoever holds the gavel, is usually a bit of a dick. They need to make sure that their party’s bills get through while keeping the minority in the minority. Before Sexton, it was Glen Casada who ran the show like a mafia don. Definitely a dick.

While the Democrats were in the majority, Jimmy Naifeh served as the longest-running Speaker of the House. A tenure that lasted for 20 years. Naifeh had a well-earned reputation as a ruthless political fighter. Republicans accused him of stealing their ideas and passing them off as his.

He didn’t earn his reputation by allowing ample opportunity for Republicans to speak. and trust me, no one was coming to him and saying, “Jimmy, you really need to be much nicer to the Republicans. They probably have some good intentions.”

As one former House Republican remembers:

“Jimmy Naifeh was first elected Speaker when I was a freshman. He ruled the House with an iron fist fiercely defending the institution and utilizing the House rules, which were democratically voted on and passed by the majority of the members. Speaker Naifeh was also politically rigid and protected his Democrat majority by sometimes ruthlessly wielding his gavel to protect his caucus or to punish the opposition but always operated within the rules of the House. Case in point, Speaker Naifeh led the redistricting effort in 1992 to place 12 sitting GOP members into six newly politically gerrymandered districts to reduce the number of GOP members. We didn’t like it, but he played within the rules to benefit his Democrat caucus.”

In 2008, Republicans won the majority of the state House, winning 50 seats and the Democrats holding 49. This marked the first time the GOP held a majority in the Tennessee House since 1971, and the first time both the House and Senate had Republican majorities since Reconstruction. Naifeh was done as Speaker, but the Republicans’ narrow majority in the House did not allow them to elect their preferred Speaker. While 49 Republicans voted for Jason Mumpower, the 49 Democrats and Republican Representative Kent Williams voted for Williams to succeed Naifeh as Speaker.[2]

Naifeh, who was chairing the House for the last time, helped to engineer Williams’ election by instructing the House clerk to change the procedure from the normal practice of conducting a roll call of the members in alphabetical order, instead calling first on the Democrats, then on the Republicans. This allowed Williams to vote last, so that before he voted he knew that his vote for himself would be the deciding vote. Pretty clever.

My point is, that political gamesmanship has always been at play, it’s just more heightened today, and maybe sometimes a little meaner. All the more reason to protect the process more than ever.

So in describing that day of the protest, here are Brother Jones’s words, per The Tennessean:

“This is what we’ve been challenging all session, was a very toxic, racist work environment where we are not even allowed to speak,” he continued. “That’s why we went to the well because the speaker wouldn’t call on us (and) he turned off our microphones. He ruled us out of order any time we brought up the issue of gun violence. When I went outside to support the protesters he turned off my voting machine so I couldn’t even cast a vote on the House floor.”

The Lookout has this quote, “It feels like these lawmakers were used as a scapegoat because our Tennessee General Assembly didn’t have the courage to pass strong gun laws and stand up to the NRA,” said Brenda Gilmore, a former state senator, and representative, speaking at a news conference held by the Nashville NAACP.

So naturally, I went looking for the legislation that they introduced. Since the House isn’t a social club, where members just kinda talk about whatever comes to their head when it comes to their head, I figured at least one of them had some legislation they were trying to get passed.

Nope, no legislation. Just a desire to talk.

None of the three had introduced any legislation on guns or school safety since the start of the session in January. So if gun laws and school safety were such a priority for their constituents, why did they wait until tragedy struck before taking up the subject?

It’s not that Johnson and Jones hadn’t filed any bills, they had plenty. It’s just that none of those bills even remotely pertained to guns or school safety.

To be fair, Johnson had a “red flag” bill, HB 1873, she pushed in 2020 and 2021, that failed to pass out of the House. She wasn’t reintroducing it this year, until post-Covenant School shooting.

That’s why Representative Mark White (R-Memphis) on the floor Thursday asked Justin Jones, “Where have you been.” Because palpable or not, a primary focus of this year’s General Assembly, has been school safety.

You may not like their solutions, or find them particularly effective, but at least they weren’t waiting for a tragedy to start the process. They were also following the diction of their constituents.

Now, I don’t want to paint too flattering a picture here either. Over the last several years, Republicans have passed several laws that made it more permissible for Tennessee citizens to carry firearms. Jones and colleagues argue that these laws were passed at the behest of the National Rifle Association (NRA), once a political behemoth but now on the downslide.

These days, while the NRA has been severely weakened, they are not without influence, as an article in the Washington Post reveals:

But the NRA’s decline has not reduced the potency of guns as an animating force in right-wing politics. A Gallup survey last year found that support for stricter gun control had fallen five percentage points to 52 percent, the lowest percentage since 2014. Americans disagree on whether stricter gun control would reduce mass shootings, and policy proposals tend to break down along partisan lines, according to the Pew Research Center.

It’s safe to say, that Jones, Johnson, and Pearson may have believed in their solution, but it’s not clear that everyone in Tennessee shared their conviction. Personally, while I’m certainly not a gun guy, I don’t believe it is possible to ban anything, be it drag queens, books, or guns.

In an age where functioning AR-15s can be printed on a 3D printer, or constructed with parts available through mail-order, it is going to take more than banning the legal sale of firearms. Even if Tennessee were to ban firearms, we are still bordered by 6 states, some of which show no intention of following suit. We can look to Chicago and see how that plan plays out.

A recent report by Chicago Public Television shows, “Chicago police have recovered 12,716 illegal firearms in 2022 for an average of more than 34 per day. That included 1,073 assault weapons — a 54% increase over 2021 — and more than 750 unregistered, privately made ghost guns.”

Per an NPR report on Ghost Guns, Alex McCourt, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health who studies firearm policy says:

Moving forward, McCourt said that policymakers should take a closer look at 3D-printed ghost guns, which were not the focus of the final rule.

There’s a question of whether the latest efforts to fight the proliferation of ghost guns made with kits could lead to increased production of ghost guns made through 3D-printing, McCourt said.

“We’ve seen that technology moves very quickly and policy tends to move a little bit more slowly,” he said. “As these new technologies pop up, policy needs to be able to respond much more quickly than it has.”

A 2021 New York Times article says:

Ghost guns — untraceable firearms without serial numbers, assembled from components bought online — are increasingly becoming the lethal weapon of easy access for those legally barred from buying or owning guns around the country. The criminal underground has long relied on stolen weapons with filed-off serial numbers, but ghost guns represent a digital-age upgrade, and they are especially prevalent in coastal blue states with strict firearm laws.

We really need to stop having 1995 conversations about 2023 problems.

When Jones, Johnson, and Pearson strode to the well and began directly addressing the crowds, in arguably an inflammatory manner, without being recognized by the chair, they were saying that their opinion and hypothetically those of their constituents superseded the agenda and beliefs of the constituents of the other 94 districts in the state. That is the very definition of undemocratic.

They’ve argued that they were never given an opportunity to speak, but I disagree. I watched a lot of committee meetings this session and both Jones and Johnson spoke frequently. Jones often went off topic or refused to concede a point, and as a result, he didn’t get to talk as much as he might have liked, but, as I mentioned before, the job of the Speaker or chair is to move the process along.

Critics argue:

Tennessee Republicans are all about decorum when it benefits them. Their decorum wasn’t violated when former Rep. David Byrd was credibly accused of sexual assault by girls he coached in high school basketball, standing by him until he declined to run for reelection in 2022.

They didn’t worry about decorum when three Republican legislators — former Speaker of the House Glen Casada, former Rep. Robin Smith and sitting Rep. Todd Warner — had their homes and offices raided by the FBI in Jan. 2021, and continued to support Smith and Casada until they were indicted of federal charges of fraud and money laundering.

They didn’t seem to care when former Sen. Brian Kelsey was indicted on five counts of federal campaign finance violations in Oct. 2021. Kelsey resigned from his seat as Senate Judiciary Chair, but there was no mention of expulsion.

Surely our critical thinking instincts haven’t eroded to the point that we can’t see the difference between those incidents and what happened last week. Every one of those transpired outside of the chambers. Every one of them happened when the House was out of session. The actions of The Tennessee Three halted the session and prevented the House from doing the people’s business.

The procedural rules that will govern how business is conducted in the State House are voted on every year at the start of session. Jones and Johnson presumably agreed to those rules. Pearson wasn’t present at that time but surely was briefed on them before being sworn in.

Arguably every one of the bills up for discussion last week was important to some constituents, somewhere. What the three did, is shove past those constituents while deeming their concern inconsequential and demanding their priorities be addressed.

In other words, they engaged in the very behavior they felt was being directed at them. So who gets to decide what a priority is and what is not? Who decides the order of consideration?

Is it the 1500 people outside the statehouse holding signs demanding, or is it the 2.5 million people that showed up and voted last November, equally demanding action?

The bottom line is, Republicans had to take some action. Action that was not just strong enough to deter those accused from repeating their actions, but to prevent others from emulating them. The other reality was, nothing delivered was going to be palpable to Democrats.

Unfortunately, Representative Brian Richy’s (R-Knoxville) attempt to show grace to a fellow Knoxvillian, backfired and, inadvertently, set the stage for charges of racism. But let’s not forget, that it was another Black man, Sargent of Arms Bobby Trotter, who the three ignored as he tried to get them to cease their actions. It took a Black woman, the visibly agitated Representative Karen Camper (R-Memphis), to get them to leave the

Sadly, and for me, nearly unforgivable, these events played out with the funerals of the 7 people killed – 3 adults, 3 kids, and the shooter – transpiring in the background.

So what happens next?

The two young men dismissed are likely to return to the House come Monday. Though in Memphis, that is in question, as local leaders float the possibility of House leaders punishing Memphis should they reappoint Pearson. A possible scenario, but also a convenient cover to go another direction.

At least 29 members of Nashville’s 40-seat Metro Council said they plan to reappoint Jones and send him back to the Tennessee House of Representatives, maybe as soon as Monday. I’m not what they hope to accomplish with that move other than to increase tensions between the state and the city.

It’s not likely that the House supermajority would reseat Jones upon arrival. Since he wouldn’t be on any committees, I’m not sure how much representation his constituents would be getting if he was restored to the seat.

Yea, I know I keep thinking that this is about constituents and not the ego of city and state leaders. Ironically, the voices leading the charge for reinstatement, CMs Bob Mendes and mayoral candidate Freddie O’Connell, are the same ones that were most vocal in opposition to Nashville hosting the Republican National Convention, which served to ignite a simmering feud between blue Nashville and red Tennessee.

If you don’t think the reseating of Jones will have consequences that will affect our schools, you are not paying attention. Legislation for expanding vouchers and a new state education funding formula are already on the table, and if TCAP results aren’t incredibly high, they’ll be even more action coming.

These supposed city leaders are urging action that will do nothing but buy new yachts for attorneys.

Back in college, I started a fight one night from the back seat of a Camaro. Bet you are not surprised that didn’t turn out well. I got the crap kicked out of me. The lesson learned is don’t start fights from the back of a Camaro. Run your mouth after you’ve moved to a position of strength. Nashville keeps starting fights from the back seat of a Camaro.

The smarter play would be to appoint someone like school board member Christine Buggs. Buggs has served two terms as chair, so she understands the job of government and is the niece of long-time state representative Harold Love. She co-founded the Equity Alliance with State Senator Charlane Oliver. She is as likely to be as big a thorn in the side of Republicans as Jones, she has the added benefit of actually being qualified for the job. Give her the seat in the interim, and I’m betting she holds it for 20 years.

I’m certainly no fan of Buggs, but at least that would be a move that made sense. Poking the state in the eye for the sake of poking the state in the eye makes no sense. As shared on Twitter this morning, by SomeRandomGuy, “There are three groups of Americans. Two are at war with each other and the largest group in the middle is held hostage by ideologues on both fringes.”

We live in a world where two people can witness the same event and derive a different narrative based on a political bent. Always been like that to a certain extent, but now there is no civil discourse altering either with fact. It is not a good place we live in these days.

In closing, I’m going to steal these words from the Twitter account of Eric Nelson, “Most of the world’s disagreements start with a person who wants to teach a lesson and a person who doesn’t want to learn it. If you want more peace in your life, stop trying to teach those who didn’t ask for it, and be open to the lessons of others (even when they are wrong).

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Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“All I want in life is clarity, and transparency, so I know who is doing what, and to whom, at all times. My only real enemies in life are liars, and they’ll do everything to stop me because they want the contamination to continue, because it’s comfortable for them, or completely ignorant mindless fools who believe every word they read in a daily rag.”
― John Lydon, Anger is an Energy: My Life Uncensored

This has been a painful week. I’m not going to lie. It feels like we’ve descended into the world of the Mad Hatter, where nothing is real and logic is devoid. We spit, claw, and feud with each other even as the burden on our hearts threatens to destroy us.

Monday, morning Nashville experienced what has become an all too regular occurrence. A private Christian school in an affluent suburb of Nashville was attacked by a shooter that reportedly was born a woman, but as of late has identified as a male. As a result, seven people are dead. Three children and four adults.

Why do any of the aforementioned adjectives matter? They shouldn’t, but in a world that has become increasingly tribal, they suddenly do. It’s not enough to just mourn, we have to do so in a way that reflects our political mores.

Nashville is a city where everybody seems to know everybody, or at least have a peripheral relationship. In my case, the headmistress of the school, who lost her life, is the mother of a woman who taught school at my kid’s elementary school. The young man played baseball in the same league as my son. One of the children was the daughter of my mother-in-law’s optometrist. I’m not unique, connections to the victims run in similar veins throughout the city.

My children are not much older than those who lost their lives on Monday. It was this time last year that we were dealing with our own gun threat.

A child at the middle school they attend brought a gun to school. It was discovered after a bullet fell out of a backpack, and the young lady who brought it was allowed to go to the bathroom and discard it. The school, despite claims by the administration, was not locked down until after the child was in a police car heading out of the parking lot.

In short, it was mishandled and then lied about. And nobody blinked an eye or felt compelled to march downtown in protest. The capitol chambers weren’t seized while legislators were berated to do something now. Bathrooms weren’t blocked from entry by young men. After all, it was just a pistol, and, by the grace of god, nobody died.

Guns in Metro Nashville Public Schools are a much more common occurrence than any would care to admit. Often only discovered by accident. Newsflash, a gun brought to school can take just as many lives as an active shooter.

But I guess on that day last year, there were no state representatives who had brought their bullhorns to work. There were no mad moms and their children who “hoped to “shame” lawmakers into action.”

“We need them to act,” said Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, to the crowd yesterday in reference to Republican lawmakers who hold a supermajority in the state House and Senate. “We need to hold them accountable.”

I guess he didn’t feel that way the week before when a bill was up in the state House that would have allowed private schools to enter into contracts with local law enforcement officials to provide school resource officers to the private schools. The measures passed by a vote of 92-7. Jones was among one of the 7 “nay” votes. Somebody must have left the bullhorn at home that day.

No justice, no peace.

As my kids have gotten older, their issues have become more complex. My daughter will share her pain, and in response, I’ll leap to share my experience and advice. I’m well-intentioned, but I piss her off. “Dada”, she says, “I know you know how it feels, but you don’t know how I feel.”

I have had to work hard at just, shutting up and listening. Taking my cues from her and sharing when she wants. I still have the need to jump in and unleash my superhero skills to solve the issue. Most times she doesn’t need a superhero, just a dad that will value her and her feelings.

The same holds true for those impacted by Monday’s horrific events. There is a tweet I saw, of a mother and her children at the capitol on Thursday that said, “So proud, we managed to pull all of this together in just three days.”

Do the math. That means on the day those people lost their lives people were crafting ways to use their death to push their political agenda and plan how that loss could be capitalized on. Like former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel once said, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.”

Personally, I find it offensive. If you don’t, that is up to you, but for myself, the fact that we never took time to listen to the families, to fully grieve before leaping to rip each other to shreds in the service of politics, is heart-rending. It only serves to compound the tragedy.

If it is truly about life and death, where were you on this day a year ago?

We have spent more time over the last week vilifying politicians than we have the person who actually pulled the trigger. At the end of the day, that is who is responsible for the day’s horrific events. I’m extremely saddened that nobody was able to intervene before they thought shooting up a school was the only option, but still, they committed the action, and responsibility lies with them.

Back to those aforementioned adjectives, there are a lot of people who fit those descriptions. There are a lot of people who are mentally ill, and suffering. There are a lot of people who are angry and feel marginalized. Only a tiny fraction of those folks take the step of killing their fellow man. It is imperative, that we talk about how they got to that final destination. Not only for our safety but also for our humanity. Because safety without humanity is not really safety.

In 1977, at the Hubert Humphrey Building dedication in Washington, D.C., former vice president Humphrey spoke about the treatment of the weakest members of society as a reflection of a government: “The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”

I’m not so sure we are doing so well.

I understand the need to take immediate action, but it has to be the right action. The appropriate action.

Nearly a decade ago, I promised myself I would never write mad. I began to realize that my opinion didn’t have to be the first opinion, it just had to be as well thought out ad I could make it.

There was a time when I was afraid if other voices entered the conversation before mine, it would become irrelevant. I’ve since learned that some issues remain eternally relevant.

Let’s stop a minute though and look at the solutions that are being pushed forward. They are solutions that were crafted in a world that existed 30 years ago, a world that arguably is longer relevant.

Red flag, laws, I’m hesitant to allow the classification of people without proper consideration of how it can be applied in the future. Do you realize that America is among the leaders in the world in the use of anti-depressants? And that was before COVID. Might behoove us to figure out why?

Much like with books, I’m not convinced you can effectively ban guns. I can sit in my living room and order delivery of whatever I want in the time it takes to mix a Tom Collins. Add in that we’ve spent the last two decades reinforcing the belief that government is inept, and I doubt people are going to be quick to concede their personal safety to an entity they don’t trust. So banning does nothing but makes us feel good.

The supposition that, just because people don’t express anger and grief in the same manner as us, they somehow don’t care as deeply is a misnomer. There is a saying in AA that says, “Don’t judge people’s insides by their outsides.”

But we continually argue the personality, over the message, And thus the vitriol grows. To the benefit of none of us.

But let’s be honest, there is no money in the middle. Think about how much money has been raised by politicians in the wake of Monday’s events. Members and organizations on both sides have seen checks written, to save our rights or defend our children. Being prudent, deliberate, and listening, doesn’t pay the bills.

This is a tweet from the day of the shooting by an employee of MNPS. It wasn’t the only one with similar sentiments making the rounds that day, and it was echoed by other MNPS employees.

So where does it all end? What’s the end game?

Tennessee is a Republican state, a status afforded by regular elections. Governor Lee won re-election by a large margin. Agree or disagree, for whatever reason, and whether I like it or not, the state’s citizens voted them into place. No amount of excuse-making, griping, and shaming, is going to change that.

Do you know what changes it? Crafting a message that resonates with people and developing people who can deliver it in a credible manner. Get out the vote. It’s been my experience that people run toward something a lot faster than they run away from it. Lately, the whole Democrat message has been about running away from something. I know that’s not going to win me any new fans, but it’s gotta be said.

On Tuesday night, I stood on a ball field less than 5 miles from the Covenant School. I watched as my son, did his thing on the mound. Joking with the umps. Egging his coaches on. Throwing strikes. laughing with teammates, while needling the opposition.

I’ve always marveled at how the ball field serves as his personal playground. It is a place that seldom fails to bring him peace.

It’s a cold night, and we parents shiver on the sideline. We catch up on events from the last year. We marvel at how much the boys have grown. Most of these boys have played together in various incarnations for years, so we are all very familiar with each other.

The game isn’t really competitive, but that doesn’t matter. It’s the ritual and everything that comes with it.

It hits me as I stand there, last week a young man’s family was standing by a dugout less than a mile away doing the exact same thing. Hope springs eternal, and I’m sure there wasn’t a thought that this would be the last time they would share in this indulgence. That these families wouldn’t come together again until it was time to bury one of their own.

I can’t shake that feeling. I’m mad. I’m depressed. I am short-tempered and combative. I’m reactionary. I’m deeply disappointed. But my feelings are just a fraction of what the families of seven victims are feeling, and my feelings must never supersede theirs.

We all need to spend a moment letting each other grieve. To quote Nashville CM Bob Mendes, “It’s been such a difficult week in Nashville. Everyone is so sad and distressed. Consider checking in on friends & family to see how they’re doing.”

Instead, we fight.

My favorite times are those after games when my son and I ride home from the ballpark, sharing analysis on the just concluded ball game. Sometimes we talk about runs he failed to push across the plate, or pitches he failed to make. At times he offers excuses, and at times they are legitimate, but it always comes down to, if you want to be the guy, you gotta be the guy. No matter what the circumstances.

It’s time for all of us to do a whole better at being “the guy”. Being the guy means listening to voices that express different views. It means finding common ground where none seems to exist. It means explaining things to people in a way they understand. It means considering that others may have ideas we have never thought of. It means extending grace to others.

I often get criticized for being one of those awful “both-side” people, but it’s a badge I wear with pride and I will continue to explore ideas and relationships from all sides. I’ve always found purity tests repugnant.

A number of years ago, I was a part of a public school advocacy group that question my commitment because I regularly talked with members of the charter school community. My response was, “If you think I’m going to submit to your purity test, fuck you and the horse you rode in on.” Needless to say, that relationship ceased to exist.

For many years, I chastised myself and felt I could have handled it better, and I could have. But critical thinking means that at times we’ll reach conclusions that differ from those we love and respect, in times we can’t just change our ideas, nor forget that they are people that we love and respect.

Let’s try to make a plan for winning the peace.

– – –

Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“Endings need to be lived, they cannot be ordained.”
― Manil Suri, The City of Devi

I know, I’m a day late but trust me, I ain’t no dollar short. I think at the end of this, you might want to give me a dollar.

Meant to write today, but woke up to excruciating tooth pain. This is where Will Pinkston might interject, “Which remaining tooth was it?”

However, after a visit to the dentist and a prescription for some Tylenol 800mg, I’m almost good as new, though still a little loopy. Just warning you.

That said…Let’s roll!

There has been a lot of conversation over the third-grade retention law, or as state lawmakers like to call it, the give the kids a leg up act.

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a piece of legislation inspire so much hyperbole. On one side…seven million kids are going to be held back, left to wander the wilderness in the company of those kids who failed to recover from learning loss brought on by COVID.

On the other side, seven million kids will be provided an opportunity they never had, and within 5 years, the number of kids reading on grade level will leap to 60%. But of course, we all know what the response would be should that actually occur – standards and cut scores would instantly be raised. Not to mention a likely cut in funding.

Before we go any further, let me pause, and acknowledge that based on my experience this year, most of the folks trying to fix the issue, are coming from a place of wanting to help, but the solutions are just not clear. So just to reassure everybody, I haven’t seen any eating of small children or kicking of dogs. (Public service announcement: No dogs or small kids were harmed in the execution of that joke)

The biggest part of the problem is that the education industrial complex works overtime on creating a highly specialized language that is constantly confused, and off balance.

Don’t believe me, count the number of times screener, benchmark, and standardized test are used interchangeably in a policy conversation. Newsflash: they are not the same. Count the number of acronyms that get lobbed around. That’s intentional in order to undermine the confidence of those wishing to participate in the conversation.

Keep in mind that most lawmakers are desperately trying to balance maintaining their regular employment with becoming fluent in the areas of transportation, policing, and even parks. It’s a daunting task. Not making excuses, just saying, a little grace hurt no one.

Before we get back on track, can I make another request? Could we please the “fully fund public education” meme until someone can give me a definition of what that means? I’ve been at this for a decade and am still unsure.

We keep investing in programs over people and creating new initiatives that funnel funding away from teachers and students while continuing to ask for more. Eventually, fatigue sets in with the public, and funding starts going the other way.

I know, LAUSD just reached a tentative settlement that will provide raises of about 30% or more for the lowest-wage workers. The tentative settlement comes one day after the end of a strike that shut down schools for three days. While this is good news, I wouldn’t count on it providing an endless loop. By I digress.

This week the amendment to the third-grade retention law continued to move through the General Assembly. The amendment was put forth by Education Committee Chair Mark White (R-Memphis) and essentially does three things:

It adds the state-provided benchmark, AimsWeb Plus as a data point to allow kids to move forward. If a kid who scores “approaching” on TCAP scores above 50% on the final benchmark, they can move on to 4th grade. Now not everybody administers a benchmark, some of y’all just do three screeners a year. You might want to reconsider that decision. Some of y’all, most of you actually, don’t use AimsWeb Plus, you chose instead, one of the other 6 state-approved screeners – might want to reconsider that decision as well.
The second thing is it expands on who can help a student and their family file an appeal if needed. Most local superintendents like this one.
Three – it expands summer school and tutoring opportunities to at-risk students in K-2. Good idea, but has anybody asked where those tutors are coming from? That’s a national conversation with a recent article in Chalkbeat revealing that, by some estimates, just 1 in 10 students — or fewer — are receiving intensive tutoring. So riddle me this, what happens when little Johnny is identified for retention and elects to do tutoring. as a means to move forward, only to have no tutor available at beginning of the year, or one quit in the middle of the year, with no replacement?

On the tutoring stuff, I’d also ask why is direct remote instruction bad, but remote tutoring rocks!

Here’s the other thing that is rarely mentioned, none of these changes take effect until next year. Yep, third-grade retention plans as currently outlined by the legislation are going full speed ahead as written. Regardless of if the amendment passes or not. That’s not confusing now, is it?

Think about this for a second, we are arguing over putting a band-aid on the elbow, when the wound might really be on the wrist. We won’t know until we actually get data back from this year and analyze where the band-aid goes. If it is indeed the wrist then we need to pull it off the elbow before adding it to the wrist. I’m not sure where you’ll find that listed among “best practices”, but it sounds much like a game we used to play as kids at birthday parties – where you blindfolded someone, spun them around, put an ass’s tail in their hand, and told them to put it where they thought it should go.

On Thursday, the Tennessee State Board of Education (TSBE) looked at the General assembly and said, “Here hold my beer”.

At a special meeting, called to pass the rules that would govern third-grade retention, there were more questions than answers, and the board ended up not passing the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) crafted rules, and asking for a thorough edit to be brought forth in May.

Primary among the issues, was rather or not the rules actually aligned with the law, whether the timeline for getting information to districts provided adequate planning time, and my favorite, what was the definition of “adequate student growth” in order for students to be promoted to 5th grade.

The TDOE had no answers to any of these, and due to a large number of answers provided by the TDOE that included the phrase, “we plan to fix that between the first reading and final reading”, board members called, “no mas”.

Here’s some irony for you – when it comes to TN education policy irony is always in abundant supply – the day that the board will hear the new proposed rules, is the same day that districts will get their raw scores back from TCAP. Awesome timing, huh?

The highlight came at the close of the board meeting when Commissioner Schwinn chimed in from parts unknown – she never turned her camera on despite everyone else from TDOE having theirs on – to try and claw back some stolen authority. Board members were not intimidated, and expressed frustration that the presentation failed to meet expectations. despite allusions to conversations that took place between board members and TDOE staff outside of public meetings. Ssshhh…I won’t tell if you don’t.

I suspect we’ll have plenty more fodder for discussion on third-grade retention this coming week as White’s amendment is slated to appear in both the Senate and the House.

Lisa Got a New Job

Don’t be shocked if you see pictures depicting TDOE staff doing cartwheels down the hallway this week. Tennessee’s Chief Academic Officer Lisa Coons has taken her bubbly personality across state lines to Virginia.

This week she was appointed as Virginia’s 27th superintendent of public instruction. During her tenure in Tennessee, Coons served in a multitude of roles, most recently she was a chief academic officer for the Tennessee Department of Education, where she led all birth to grade-12 academic programming, including K-12 teaching, learning in language arts, mathematics, science, fine arts, early childhood education, voluntary pre-K, and Head Start. She also pissed off a whole lot of people in the process.

This move comes in typical Coons fashion, as she was named earlier in the week as a finalist for the job of Nebraska’s State Superintendent of Schools. Coons accepting the job in Virginia came as a bit of a shock to Nebraska. They had no idea she had even applied for the gig.

In the immediate wake of Virginia’s announcement, State Ed Board President Patti Gubbels said the board had not received an official withdrawal from Coons. The board was not aware that Coons was in the running for Virginia’s top education position, Gubbels added. Is that the odor of smoke from a fire on a distant bridge I smell?

Four hours after the Virginia announcement, it was Commissioner Schwinn chasing after the Coons bus, offering very congratulatory remarks via Twitter, I guess MySpace is closed, “Proud and thrilled are not strong enough words to use as we celebrate @lisacoons10 appointment in Virginia! Lisa’s been an incredible member of our cabinet, an advocate for kids, and my dear friend. Go get ‘em Lisa!!!”

So what is Lisa walking into? Well…this is where it gets fun. Virginia’s previous superintendent of Public Instruction, Jillian Balow, announced her resignation on March 1 after just over a year of service. Yongkin appointed Balow last January after she served two terms as Wyoming’s state superintendent.

During Balow’s short tenure, the state education department came under fire for errors in its redrafting of K-12 history standards and for miscalculating how much education funding localities would receive from the state. Hmmm…where have I heard whispers of that before…must have been an Abbott Elementary episode I saw.

Furthermore, the Virginia Department of Education (VDE) has been criticized for its issuance, at Yongkin’s direction, of “model policies” that would limit the rights of transgender students in Virginia schools. That should all be very familiar to Coons.

Despite her resignation, Barlow will stick around and continue to serve as a consultant to the governor. That won’t be awkward at all. Maybe Barlow and Coons will become besties like Coons and Schwinn were. It’ll be like the season of Dukes of Hazard when the original Bo and Luke left, or the Aerosmith record where guitarists Joe Perry an Brad Whitford were replaced.

Professional Educators of Tennessee (PET) Executive Director JC Bowman offered this opinion, “Lisa Coons departure further thins the ranks of the already depleted Tennessee Department of Education. We wish her well in Virginia.”

That’s the unspoken nugget. Who the hell works at the TDOE anymore?

Last month, Charlie Buffalino, the assistant commissioner of Policy & Legislative Affairs for the Tennessee Department of Education, announced that he was joining the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools as senior director of State Advocacy and Support. In the fall of 2022, after moving to Tennessee from California the previous year, Rachael Maves, Tennessee’s state chief of preparation and performance, left the TDOE to join the BARR Center as its chief operating officer.

So it’s Eve Carney or bust until Schwinn makes her pending departure official. Though if I was Eve, I wouldn’t be looking for that top job. Lee has less than three years left, and it’s unlikely that he’ll promote anyone as anything but a placeholder. I’d look for either Mark White or former Knoxville Representative Bill Dunn to grab the brass ring. In Carney’s case, she should love dancing with those two.

Yea, I know that’s all speculation, but do you really expect Schwinn to put her name on a letter to the USDOE telling them that Tennessee is officially exploring pulling out of federal funding? And Speaker Sexton has made it clear that the project is hers.

As a closing note, this week’s episode of “where’s Penny” finds her on a familiar perch, the stage of a conference in Washington DC, as part of yet another education policy panel. This time it was the Council of Chief State Officers Legislative Conference. At this rate, her kids are going to qualify for in-state tuition in DC.

Quick Hits

Next, up in the so-ridiculous-it-couldn’t-be-true category, Metro Nashville Public Schools was slated to present to the House Education Instruction Committee meeting. It didn’t happen, and while there is very little public explanation, rumor has it that they called around 4 AM and canceled because they didn’t get the PowerPoint – complete. Hope it’s not true, but if it is, why are we surprised went state lawmakers fuck with Nashville?

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Speaking of MNPS, school principals have been struggling to craft their annual budgets due to uncertainty around the impact of TISA funding. In a cautionary move, most schools saw their proposed budget cut. Needless to say this was causing some strife among the ranks, luckily Dr. Battle found some extra money in the cushions. At this week’s principal meeting, she announced schools would receive an extra $200 per projected student enrollment. A not insignificant amount. A standing ovation ensued and peace reigned throughout the land.

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Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“For All in the Family and the many shows it spawned, the generation gap merged with class distinctions as the new generation seemed less held back by class than by culture. Mature white working-class men in popular culture, therefore, would be hard-pressed to have values in any enviable sense. This came to the fore in August 1974, when actor Carroll O’Connor refused to show up on the set while replacement workers did the jobs of striking electrical equipment operators at CBS. His nearly month-long show of solidarity single-handedly halted production of All in the Family, earning him the wrath of the producers, television critics, and fans alike. Meantime, his otherwise politically progressive co-stars saw little wrong with going to work in the midst of a strike and treated O’Connor as a bit of an oddity. “I don’t think he has any support anywhere,” remarked Jean Stapleton who played Edith; “It was very noble-sounding, but not, uh, wise.”
― Jefferson R. Cowie, Stayin’ Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class

Here at our house, today marks a return from a week of Spring Break. Nashville students and teachers enjoyed a welcome respite, though not much else slowed down. Let’s dive in.

The Tennessee General Assembly is beginning to wrap up its work for the year. Several committees will be holding their last meetings this coming week, and several bills face their final hurdles. This all could get very interesting.

Up on the Senate floor, tomorrow is a bill that would increase the average salary of a first-year teacher to 50K by 2028. Attached to that bill, is a provision that would end payroll deductions for teacher labor organizations. Should that pass, MNPS and TEA will both have to create a system of collecting dues outside of withdrawing them automatically from teachers’ paychecks. That may not sound like a big deal, but trust me it is.

I’ve heard people ask, what’s the rationale at work here? As always, it’s about politics. Lawmakers argue that the union is using district resources to raise money to invest in opponents that run against sitting lawmakers, making re-election more difficult.

If that was all there was to it, legislators might not take as much exception. But there is also the feeling that too much of that cash goes to candidates who support issues out of the purview of education. The argument is that teachers are unaware of what their dues are supporting, and at times the donations run counter to member wishes. Maybe, maybe not.

On the House side, Representative Chris Hurt (R-Halls) is introducing an amendment that would divorce the salary increase from the ending of payroll deduction. Governor Lee has made it abundantly clear where he falls in regard to ending payroll deductions for labor organizations. I would argue that should this amendment pass, it signifies Lee’s official entry into lame-duck status. At the very least, this should produce some interesting political theater.

Some may assume that the payroll deduction eradication effort is a shot at TEA, the state teachers’ union. But I’ve heard rumblings that it is actually a shot by the Governor’s Legislative Director, Brent Easley, at Public Educators of Tennessee (PET), and its Executive Director JC Bowman, who has been openly critical of Governor Lee’s education policies in recent years.

Bowman is a lifelong conservative, so painting him as a left-wing loony is a bit difficult. Ironically, the change will have little effect on PET, as they have already put in place the infrastructure for collecting dues outside of payroll deduction.

For their part, TEA has been largely absent as a power player in this year’s session. Chief Lobbyist Jim Wrye has been spotted more in the capitol’s designated smoking area than in legislative sessions. Last week, he began testimony on a proposed amendment to the third-grade retention bill by telling legislators that he, “hadn’t had time to fully read the proposed amendment but…”. The amendment is a single page with three provisions.

Should the proposed payroll deduction amendment go through, look for Wrye to take full credit and use it to drive future fundraising efforts.

Full disclosure, we’ve been a proud union family for close to two decades and will continue to be supportive of their efforts as they relate to improving opportunities for teachers. Though I would add, it may be time to consider hiring some new legislative voices.

Fire up the popcorn maker, this should be a fun one.

Third-Grade Retention

What can you say about Tennessee’s third-grade retention that hasn’t already been said a thousand times? This week, there will be even more talking, as an amendment making changes to the original bill will be heard in both the Senate and the House.

If passed the bill would add a state benchmark test as a data point for decisions on the retention of third graders, broaden the scope of who can help file an appeal for families of those students designated for retention, and offers tutoring and summer school resources for at-risk kids in k-2. The latter further lifts restrictions on who districts can utilize for tutoring services.

Will it pass? The word from lawmakers on the Senate side is, it is this or nothing.

My unpopular position is…nothing.

The bill is done. The room has been fully clouded in hyperbolic smoke – from both sides of the argument. Time to let the smoke dispense and gather some actual data in order to guide policy, instead of just smacking on band-aids that may ultimately make things worse.

The other option is to only let legislators who can accurately define the difference between, screeners, benchmarks, and standardized tests, vote on the amendment. Oh, wait…that would just produce my preferred outcome.

A Fond Farewell to Federal Funding

A couple of weeks ago, Tennessee’s State Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) announced plans for Tennessee to look into rejecting federal education funds. Many of y’all didn’t take him seriously when he put it out there. If you don’t think he and fellow Republicans are serious in this pursuit, you are in for a rude awakening. They are as serious as a heart attack.

Last week, Sexton proposed legislation that would form an exploratory committee to lay out exactly what it would take for Tennessee to divorce itself from federal funding and the strings attached to it. The study group would be helmed by Tennessee’s esteemed commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn. This is intriguing because the Commissioner has been spending a lot of time on the road of late, promoting increased federal investment in education.

Over the past several months, the commissioner has made several trips out of state to meet with non-profit groups on ways to grow federal investment in education. Last week, she was a member of a panel at SXSW EDU focusing on the importance of school funding and how it relates to educational attainment, earnings, crime, and poverty.

In response to an inquiry from The Tennessee Star about the appropriateness of Schwinn heading the proposed task force, Sexton’s office said via email, “As we work through the process of moving away from K-12 education funding with federal stipulations attached, the General Assembly will require considerable data and information from the Department of Education. Therefore, it is appropriate to have Commissioner Schwinn as one of the eleven members on the task force created by our legislation.”

Hmmm…interesting, sometimes what is not said is even more important than what is said.

I suspect that outgoing calls from the offices of the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) to employment headhunters just increased.

Nebraska to Get Some Tennessee Flavor

Nebraska is looking for a new chief of education since the old one split after 9 years to pursue life in the advocacy world. An ad hoc search committee of the Nebraska State Board of Education (NDE) named four finalists for Nebraska’s next Commissioner of Education, and TDOE’s Chief Academic Officer Dr. Lisa Coons’ name is among them.

Tennessee’s literacy expert joins the following in pursuit of the position:

Dr. Brian Maher, CEO and Executive Director of the South Dakota Board of Regents, Pierre, South Dakota
Dr. Melissa Poloncic, Superintendent, DC West Community Schools, Valley, Nebraska
Dr. Summer Stephens, Superintendent of Schools and CTE Administrator for Churchill County School District, Fallon, Nevada

Coons likely saw the writing on the wall when Eve Carny was recently promoted to Deputy Superintendent and named a Future Chief by Chiefs for Change.

Now let’s see if she gets the gig.

Short Cuts

Tuesday, representatives of Metro Nashville Public Schools will testify in the House Instruction Committee. The appearance comes in response to charges that legislators never hear from the big four urban districts.

No word on what will be included in the presentation. But I suspect that MNPS officials will want to talk lack of funding, while lawmakers will look to talk about achievement. Let’s see whose desires are met.

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It appears that MNPS’s Director of Visual and Performing Arts remains behind bars in Clarksville. Ironically, and typically tone-deaf, MNPS chose last week to run social media ads promoting the success of MNPS’s individual school bands, and by de facto the work of the man who suffered a mental crisis the previous week. I find it completely baffling that someone with this high a profile could suffer unacknowledged.

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Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” — Winnie the Pooh

Over the years, there have been stories that I have been reluctant to tell. Stories that were either too personal or too painful to share. There have stories that I haven’t always felt qualified to tell. Ultimately I reached the decision of, if not me then who?

I don’t mean that statement out of any sense of ego, but rather a sense of reality. Every day, stories go unreported because we are afraid that they’ll make us confront things that we are not equipped to confront. Often times the story is told in a way that doesn’t provide 360 coverage, casting those that deserve our empathy as villains, while absolving the underserved. Such a story has emerged from MNPS over the past two weeks. A story, that I think is relevant and needs to be spoken of with the proper amount of empathy.

I’m not going to pretend to know all the details. Those involved are responsible for their own self-evaluations, as are those who read this. Maybe those involved feel they did everything they could in the end, and maybe they did, but knowing what I know, I don’t perceive that as a likely conclusion.

Two weeks ago, several principals across MNPS told me about an email that they’d just received. It was encrypted, so it couldn’t be shared or printed. I requested a copy from the Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) communication department, but they were unresponsive. So you’ll have to take my word for what it said.

The gist of the email was that there was a change in structure at the MNPS department of visual and performance art, and future questions should no longer be directed to Jeff Smith, but rather, Jill Petty would field inquiries. The letter went on to say that Smith was not permitted on any MNPS campus and that if he showed up at their school, he was to be turned away and authorities notified. No further explanation was given.

Many principals told me this letter was unprecedented, they could not recall ever receiving a directive of this nature without further explanation. Speculation on justification ran ramped, what could the director of visual and performing arts do to warrant such recourse? Were students at risk if he showed up at a school? In this day and age, the question is never far from the conversation. I would argue that sharing the perceived threat level is a miscalculation.

For those who don’t know Smith, he’s been with the district for just shy of five years, coming from Duval County Schools, where he’d served as that district’s Director of Arts for just over three years. A veteran administrator, he has resumed arts management that spans over two decades. Some described him as difficult to work with at times, but his commitment was never questioned. By all accounts, the work he had done in MNPS was exemplary. As a result, the Nashville School District’s focus grew during his tenure and students benefited.

Usually, if there are areas of concern, I hear something. As much as district officials try to control the public narrative, everybody in Nashville has two friends, and they have two friends, eventually, word gets to me. Not in this case. I hadn’t heard a peep, so my interest was piqued.

A request for a copy of the letter placing Smith on administrative leave was promptly filled by MNPS’s public information officer, but it revealed nothing. As previously mentioned, the request for a copy of the letter sent out to principals went unacknowledged.

On Wednesday Smith began releasing personal correspondence with the district through his LinkedIn account, including a letter he planned to share with District Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle. The letter ironically is dated, March 1, the same day as his letter of administrative leave notification, and the day principals received the related directive from the district.

In the letter, he outlines concerns that should be familiar to anyone remotely connected with MNPS. Let’s face it, district leadership is great about social-emotional learning as it relates to kids, just don’t expect it to be practiced among adults. In his letter, Smith raises accusations of intimidation and harassment. He’d been micromanaged, belittled, bullied, and marginalized.

Now my interest was fully invested. I sent him a request to talk. He responded in the affirmative, and we had an hour-long conversation.

Two things quickly became apparent. One, Smith had legitimate gripes. Two, he was experiencing a high level of anxiety and acting in a very manic manner. Most of his anxiety and stress were related to his work conditions and his supervisors’ actions. I’m struck by a line in his letter to Dr. Battle, that seems particularly relevant:

“We cannot function under the specter of fear of being punished when simply doing what’s best for kids. We cannot function as if the best “optics” are more important than the needs of our children, teachers, and community members. This toxic environment and the cloud of mistrust has taken a toll on my own physical and mental health.”

Even the casual observer should be aware of the culture of mistrust and toxicity that has bubbled under the surface of MNPS for over a decade. It was 6 years ago when an administrator stood up at a central office retreat and boldly stated, “Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room? The main issue is that there is no trust in the district.” Evidently, that hasn’t changed since.

After the better of an hour talking, I point blankly asked him, “So why the email to principals? Were you some kind of actual threat or was the district just being assholes and trying to publicly shame you.”

He never directly answered my question but read me the first of four accusations in his letter from the district. It cited an instance where he recently smashed his district-issued computer with a hammer in the parking lot. I involuntarily chuckled. I bet I could survey MNPS employees and find at least a majority that held similar desires. Unfortunately, it’s a decision that is frowned upon by the district.

None of the other three other citations led me to believe that he was a threat to either harm himself or others. Yes, he was anxious and manic, but if we banned every anxious and manic person from campus, schools would be pretty empty.

Let me reiterate this point, I don’t know Smith, nor am I privy to all the information that went into the district disciplinary action. I just know the history of the district, and the people in leadership, and all of his complaints align with past stories told by others. I’ve long argued that until school districts learn to apply the principles of SEL to adults and how they treat each other, they have no business trying to teach kids. The worst behaviors of kids are way too often on display by adults in leadership.

Jeff and I ended our conversation with a promise to talk soon, alas that’s probably going to have to wait, things went terribly south after we hung up. A man and a father who was in desperate need of mental health care, now sits in a Clarksville jail alone, with nothing but thoughts of circumstances gone terribly awry on repeat in his head, while we all titter at the craziness of his actions. Shame on us.

It’s been 23 years since I got sober, and I’m not saying that Smith has an addiction problem, but I know what it feels like to be alone with the weight of the world feeling like it is going to crush you. Desperately searching for a path forward, but none readily available. It may have been 23 years ago, but it feels like it could have been yesterday. My heart aches for Smith and his family. He’s suffering a feeling I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.

As always, when confronted with circumstances like this, I have to ask, how did it come to this point? The man led a vibrant arts program for 5 years, yet nobody noticed or intervened when he started screaming for help. And trust me, he started screaming well before this, we just never listened. Was he just dismissed and written off as, “Oh that crazy Jeff”?

For over a decade I’ve preached loyalty to a system that demands fidelity while delivering none. It treats employees like chunks of coal on a Mississippi steamship waiting to be flung into the all-consuming steam engine. It is a story that happens all too often far from the main stage, but every bit as tragic.

If you still suffer under the illusion that MNPS leadership values the needs of students, teachers, families, or anyone else over their own, let’s talk about this bridge in Arizona I’m trying to unload. That may sound bitter but after a decade of sitting in the front row, it’s just reality.

It’s hard to fathom that district leadership was unaware of Smith’s mental state. It’s equally difficult to grasp that they were unaware of the potential repercussions of the districtwide communication they sent out. Whether it was malfeasance or ignorance, the outcome is the same.

Smith is left trying to put a life back together, at an age where reinvention becomes difficult. Who knows the impact this will have on his children and their relationship. The bottom line is MNPS does not do enough to protect the mental health of its employees.

The district prides itself on the mental health hotline they provide to employees, but many are afraid to use it out of fear that it is not truly confidential and participation will be used against them. Those who do participate, often are unable to connect with a counselor because there are not enough hired. That’s not a reflection on MNPS’s effort, but rather the world we live in. In the wake of the pandemic, too many have become unmoored and are suffering, some quieter than others, but all hurting.

Despite progress over the years, mental health is still perceived as a weakness. I come down with cancer and y’all rally around to raise money for my medical treatment, that doesn’t happen if it’s a mental health issue. Think I’m wrong, tell me the last time you went to a fundraiser for Bob because he had a mental breakdown and can’t pay for his meds?

Let me say it so those in the back can hear, mental illness, it ain’t a weakness, and none of us are immune. If you think that’d you never behave in a manner similar to Smith this weekend, don’t underestimate your abilities. Mental illness is an illness, just like cancer, diabetes, or heart disease, it does not discriminate on who it afflicts. We are all a hairs breath away – not the saying I wanted to use, but we’re still a family column – from having a loved one or ourselves diagnosed.

It’s not a disease you can outsmart, but it is one where intelligence can hamper as much as help recovery. Can’t outsmart this one.

Do I think Jeff’s circumstances or my ramblings are really going to change anything? Nah, in a couple of days, all of this will fade to the back bins. It will be left to Smith, and whatever is left of his family to rebuild, while it is business as usual at MNPS.

The casualty list at MNPS will silently continue to grow, sans any self-reflection from leadership. I remember being told by one educator a story where they shared with their leadership the level of stress and anxiety being produced by the expectations from the district. Leadership’s response was, “maybe this job is not for you.” Somebody needs to remind leadership that the door swings both ways.

If you could do one thing for me though, this would be it. Take a second, reach out to another person, and ask them, “you all right?”

Then comes the hard part, listen. Don’t just listen, but really hear them. The world has become so divisive and so immediate, that we often lose sight of each other. Let’s try to temper some of that and remember, there by the grace of god go I.

Hey Jeff, whenever you need it, I’m still available for that follow-up phone call.

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Word on the street is that the path forward to third-grade retention will be revealed tomorrow when all of the proposed related legislation is heard. When the smoke clears, it’ll be the Mark White (R-Memphis) amendment (SB 300 HB 437) left standing. There are some interesting proposals on this one.

First, it allows a student to demonstrate proficiency in ELA based on the student answering at least 50% on the most recent state-approved benchmark. This comes despite recent testimony by Pearson that benchmarks and TCAP can not be used interchangeably. Different tests, administered differently, measure different things. One is state normed, and one is nationally normed. But shhh…this will make everybody feel better.

The second provision allows district administrators to assist families in filing appeals.

The third is my favorite, it demands that “a student who is retained in any of the grades kindergarten through two (K-2) must be assigned a tutor through TALLC to provide the student with tutoring services for the entirety of the upcoming school year based on tutoring requirements established by the department. Sounds awesome right, until you realize that “TALLC” stands for Tennessee Accelerating Literacy and Learning Corps. It’s the brainchild of Commissioner Schwinn and allows her to…how do I put this…influence who gets tutoring contracts. Currently, 87 districts are members. So what are the other 60 supposed to do? I guess John TN All Corps.

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On a humorous note – to me anyways – House Speaker Cameron Sexton wants to create a task force to study the feasibility of Tennessee rejecting U.S. education dollars, and he wants Commissioner Schwinn to head up. yep, the same Penny Schwinn who’s been traveling around the country consulting with non-profits on how to grow federal investment in education. This should prove to be comedy gold and may put some giddy-up in that job search.

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Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“He knew what he was against, but found it hard to defend what he stood for.”
― Lea Ypi, Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History

What a strange week it has been – but then I seem to say that every week. This week, I managed to get myself blocked on Twitter by an education reformer whom I’ve come to find areas of agreement with of late. Yea, I didn’t know that was a thing anymore either, the blocking not the agreeing.

Indulge me while I recline in my rocking chair, light up my corn cob pipe, and talk about days gone by.

A decade ago battles raged on social media, particularly Twitter, between the reform troops and those who defended public schools. A lot of that has subsided as we’ve all gotten older, and a lot less bolder.

Funny how you never see twenty-somethings raging at each other on Tik-Tok about the evils of those attacking public education, or those trapping kids in failing schools. But I digress.

I’m not saying moments of vitriol don’t still pop up on occasion, just that we’ve all come to realize that we share the same space, and a little cordialness never hurts. More and more, I’m reminded of the old cartoon where the coyote and sheepdog spend a day fighting each other over the sheep, then clock out at the end of the day and walk together discussing the family as they head home.

Robert Pondiscio has been a round a minute or two. He started as a writer, but after twenty years in journalism, including senior positions at TIME and BusinessWeek, Robert became a fifth-grade teacher at a struggling South Bronx public school in 2002. He hung out long enough to gather enough material to write a book – How the Other Half Learns, based on his year of observations at New York City’s Success Academy network of charter schools – and then skedaddled over to some foundation work. He served as vice president of the Core Knowledge Foundation.

As much as I disagree with much of what Pondiscio puts forth, he is not without his salient points. Truthfully, lately, I find myself more often in agreement than not.

This week, he published a piece that nailed a few things, but got others extremely wrong:

Decades of education policy have evinced unshakable faith that the way to raise student outcomes is to improve teacher quality, whether through training and certification, unlocking excellence through incentives, or by luring away the cognitive elite from more remunerative careers through some combination of higher pay or enhanced prestige. None of these strategies has been fruitful at scale, nor are they likely to be effective in the future. The inconvenient fact is that the nation needs nearly 4 million people to teach its children. Any number that large means the men and women who staff our schools and teach our children will be, by definition, ordinary people. There will never be a sufficient number of classroom saints and superstars to go around, nor enough hours in the day to meet the ever-spiraling demands we place on teachers to fulfill multiple roles, from instructional designer and deliverer to unlicensed therapist attempting to reach and teach the “whole child.”

In sum, there is a conceptual problem at the heart of our decades-long effort to improve teacher performance. We are seeking to raise and enhance the capacities of millions of teachers while, at the same time, placing ever greater burdens on them. We have known for several decades that some teachers are more effective than others. But identifying what makes them so has proven elusive. No consistent or clear relationship has been found, for example, between teacher credentialing or certification exams and classroom effectiveness. If achievable, sustainable progress is our aim, we should endeavor instead to make the job one that can be done with a reasonable degree of fidelity and success by the teachers we have, not the teachers we wish we had.

Pretty solid thesis, right? We are expecting too much from teachers and we need to start removing some responsibilities. I can get behind that.

The “You go to school with the teachers you have, not the teachers you might wish you had” motif may be a bit much. I’d argue that we’ve never really given the teachers we have an opportunity to share who they are, but if we are going to use it to relieve pressures, sure.

So what will we remove? Maybe we’ll pull back on social work? Perhaps curtail some lunch and bus duties? There is a paperwork burden that we are throwing on teachers’ backs, maybe we could alleviate some of that. Curtail the ear growing central office initiatives? Nah, none of that is what he has in mind.

Instead, he writes, “One concrete improvement to teacher effectiveness would be to reduce the burden placed on them by lesson planning, which tends to be incoherent, below standards, and incredibly time-consuming, taking time away from potentially higher-yielding uses of their time and energy. ”

Ah that pesky lesson planning, if only we could rid of that tired burden and just have districts buy our product, and teachers recite our product. Student outcomes would be so much better. Except, A) how do you define student outcomes and B) there is no evidence that supports taking away lesson planning from teachers improves anything but the sales figures for curriculum and textbook companies.

The thing is when perusing Twitter, or other social media, and you see these fantastic claims coming from people other than professional educators, remember, they are selling something for somebody. Even with people who purport to be classroom educators, there is cause to be suspect. Nobody is endorsing the brain drain that is social media 24/7 and posting constantly about their educational miracles without an ulterior motive. They are looking to make a little money. Myself included.

If Twitter and Facebook weren’t the main distribution method for this blog, I would have been gone years ago. But I want you to read my words, and perhaps buy my product – this blog – hence the pitch in the conclusion. And I ain’t unique.

In Robert’s case, I pushed back and raised the question of, wasn’t lesson planning an integral part of teaching?

In my view, it’s where the teacher combines their formal training with observations of the unique properties of their class and devises a means to teach the standards as prescribed by the state government. You may think that the process can be done more effectively by some wonks in an office in Texas or Colorado staring at some data points, but I respectively disagree. A good teacher can teach the standards using nothing but a novel. Others see that as a point of contention.

If you are a wonk or a product pusher, this is a great position to be in. Your product is aimed at an ever-aging target. The third-graders of today will be twelfth-graders in less than a decade, and by then everyone will either be checked out or forget what the discussion was about, let alone the goals you set. You know like 50% reading on grade level by 2025. Newcomers are going to take a couple years to get years to get caught up, and then they’ll be in the same boat. It really is an optimal system for churning a buck.

Look at the current argument around high-quality materials. Baked into it is the idea that districts up until now have been using “low-quality materials”.

Whoa…if Coke designed an ad campaign around the idea that for years you’d been buying low-quality soda, but now they are providing you “high-quality” soda, you’d probably be pissed that they’ve been selling you an inferior product all these years. Might even want your money back.

In education, it seems par for the course and nobody is ever held accountable for once pushing an inferior product.

The so-called “Science of Reading” is another brilliant marketing tool. Those pushing it surely recognize that “science”, by its nature, is ever-changing. So the odds are that once the market is saturated by the current textbooks and materials, “science” will have new revelations demanding the purchase of a new product. It’s kinda brilliant, once you remove the bullshit.

Now some of you may be protesting. You might argue that there are all kinds of “free” stuff out there because we all love kids. Yea…I’m sure you are familiar with the old marketing ploy home printers and razor blades used. We’ll give you the handle or the printer, but sell you the blade and the ink at an accelerated price. She takes place in education.

We’ll give you the textbook, but you are going to want supplemental materials like workbooks, study guides, teacher editions, and exams. But we gave you the books. Now give us the millions.

So don’t believe the hype when people tell you that they are just pushing stuff on social media due to a love of kids. They are selling, selling, and selling.

Now back to Pondiscio. In response to my rebuttal he responded, and I’m quoting from memory because he blocked me, that if lesson planning included “intellectual preparation” and “anticipation of questions and potential misunderstandings”, he agreed that it was integral. He went on to argue that, musicians aren’t composers, actors aren’t playwrites, and chefs aren’t waiters.

Might want to tell Sam Shepherd, John Lennon, Mel Brooks, Bob Dylan, Ethan Hawke, and countless others that, because they are certainly considered among the best and brightest of their profession, and we are in pursuit of the best and brightest…only we are not.

What he is proposing is much more similar to hiring a chef, who has educated himself, and you, in turn, allow them no input in crafting recipes. You start a restaurant, draft a menu devoid of chef input, and just kick out the product. You are not looking for chefs, you are calling for cooks. In turn, you are turning schools into franchises when I thought we wanted a little bit more for kids.

The famed education theologian did not take kindly to my blasphemy, and promptly found myself banished outside the silo. I’ll be honest. I’m a little proud I still got it.

Let me end this portion of our program with the words of Alfie Kohn, which I subscribe to, “Ever notice that when people describe something as “more art than science,” they’re really just saying that we haven’t figured out how to do it successfully? The (annoying) implication is that “art” is synonymous with inadequate science.”

How true. How true.

Union Blues

Democrats in Tennessee spend a lot of time telling folks how dumb the Republicans in Tennessee are. Particularly in the case of Governor Lee. Yet, as stupid as he is, he continues successfully hit them at every turn. This week it was the teachers union that took the blow to the head.

Om Monday, an amendment to a bill called for an increase to starting teacher salaries, with this year’s salary being set at $42K, was introduced. Currently, the minimum salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree and zero years of classroom experience is $40K annually. In 2021, it was $38K. Per the legislation, salaries would rise annually by roughly $4,500 annually until reaching $50K in the 2026/2027 school year.

Pretty good news, huh? Except there is a hitch. The proposed increase in salaries comes with a caveat, local school districts will no longer be able to make payroll deductions for labor union dues. Um…wait a minute…that’s going to hurt the local unions and at the bare minimum require the employment of an administrative person.

In response, TEA sent out their best and brightest, lobbyist Jim Wrye, to defend the need for payroll deduction. While praising the Governor for the proposed salary increases, he lamented the linking of raises to union dues. He confirmed that under the current circumstances, union participation is fully permissive for both the teacher and the district. Despite telling legislators he was “[p]roud to work in a right-to-work state,” Wrye asked that they separate pay and union dues and leave the current payroll deduction system in place.

I never thought I’d see the day that a union rep would tell legislators that he was proud to work in a “right-to-work state”. I thought the argument was that Tennessee being a right-to-work state necessitated the union. Apparently not.

The best part came when Representative Sam McKenzie (D-Knoxville), tried to push back against Brent Easley, who was serving as a representative of Lee. Easley repeatedly stated that the Governor believed that linking teacher raises and payroll deductions was a “good policy.” It was a position he would not waiver from this explanation, despite McKenzie’s efforts to extrapolate more information. It was apparent that Easley felt expressing the Governor’s desire was all the justification needed.

Apparently, his assumption wasn’t wrong, the bill was brought to a question for a voice vote and passed out of committee. Don’t expect it to hit any roadblocks on the way to full passage.

Linking teacher raises to crippling the union seems to be a pretty effective strategy, but we’ll see.

Quick Hits

I suspect, over the coming months, some interesting tales are going to emerge from Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS). Much of it probably won’t be pretty. You likely won’t be shocked by the villains, because it is always the same villains. I just encourage everyone to keep an open mind and remember, there are real people at the heart of it all. I just wish that when it comes to SEL and mental health, we walked the talk.

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I’m not always as impressed with Tennessee Lookout writer Sam Stockard, as Sam Stockard is with Sam Stockard, but today’s piece is a quality read with plenty to digest. I encourage you to sit down and enjoy the meal.

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In my time here in Nashville, I’ve gotten to know some incredible people, many of who I count as friends I would consider bassist Michael Rhodes to be one of them. Back when I wore a younger man’s clothes, we had a lot of fun and shared a lot of joy. The laughs were quick and the music spiritual. It’s hard to conjure up a picture of Michael without a smile on his face. A visage that never fails to place one on mine. Michael left this mortal coil this week and we are all worse for it. God speed sir and know that you were loved.

Today marks both the start of Spring Break, and the release of K-Pop group Twice’s new album. That means it is imperative that I rush my daughter off to the nearest retail out to purchase said release. It does my heart good to know, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

See ya on the flip side.

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Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“The facts miss the heart of the matter; to give us a clear picture, the facts need a vehicle, the anecdote”
― Tim Krabbé, The Rider

I am going to ask that you allow me a touch of self-indulgence this morning. A moment to chuckle at those who are typically quick to deliver pronouncements on others, and now find themselves on the other side of the equation. The universe has a way of humbling us all.

Meaghan Mangrum used to cover education issues for the Tennessean. She came to Music City from Chattanooga, where she worked for the Times Free Press. Mangrum had her fans in Nashville, but I was not one of them.

A writer of marginal talent, she perceived herself as having earned a place among the greats of journalism despite accumulating less than a decade of experience. Unlike the greats she wished to emulate, Mangrum tended to focus as much on her social media presence as she did on her craft. Unfortunately, social media served to expose her thin skin and lack of maturity.

She was quick to take any criticism personally, and not afraid to use stereotypes to refute arguments. It was always old white guys who were the source of her shortcomings along with society’s inherent misogyny. When the paper shorted her on a paycheck, she was quick to bring it to her boss’s attention via Twitter, a move that earned her some time off for reflection. In August, she left Nashville and went to Dallas, for a “self-described dream job.”

This week, she lost her dream job due to actions that should surprise nobody. In a response to a Tweet from Dallas Mayor Johnson, one that wasn’t directed at her, claiming reporters had no interest in reporting good news, Mangrum typed: “Bruh, national news is always going to chase the trend. Cultivate relationships with quality local news partnerships.”

The Mayor didn’t take to her sense of familiarity lightly, posting, “Gotta love when folks let their inherent biases show. I get to be addressed as ‘bruh’ by someone who writes for my daily local paper whom I’ve never met.”

And just like that, Mangrum found herself on the outside looking in. The irony of the exchange that took place between Mangrum and her bosses is not lost on me. Executive Editor Katrice Hardy asked whether she would have used the word “bruh” had the mayor been White. (Mangrum is White; Johnson and Hardy are Black.)

“I told her I would have used the word “bruh,” in any context,” she told The Washington Post. “I told her I was shocked that anyone would perceive it as being racially charged.”

For the record, I believe Mangrum, but if you become all too comfortable in leveling accusations at others, you shouldn’t be surprised when roles shift.

The bigger question for me, is why was that question even asked? Hardy’s question lends itself to an insinuation that had Mangrum asked the question of a white male, it wouldn’t have been as egregious. Perhaps it would have been acceptable if the reporter was a black female or a black male. None of that should come into play in this conversation.

Mangrum offers as a defense, “I’m a millennial,” she said. “That’s a term I use all the time.” Ok… but again, there are codes of professionalism that apply to everyone. Allowances are not made for millennials or generation Xers. Those codes should be applicable to all, regardless of race, color, creed, or generation. But I’m not sure Mangrum or others get that.

She goes on to say, “I do think there’s a generational divide on values and the use of social media,” she said. “I think that I probably, maybe to my detriment, have followed a lot of vocal, young, strong reporters on Twitter.”

Well, we see how that worked out.

The young reporter has also been active on union and labor issues, which supporters cite as a factor in her termination. As a union member, she helped organize a protest on the same day as her termination. Causation or correlation?

Here’s my closing thought though, We’ve taught kids to believe that everyone is equal, and that’s just not reality. It’s all much more complex. LeBron James doesn’t lose his job because he says something stupid. His value to the organization provides him with a level of privilege.

The rookie guard averaging 4 pts a game isn’t afforded that same level of privilege, they can and will lose their job should they irritate the powers that be. The reasoning is, I can get another rookie guard at the drop of a hat, players of James’s caliber come few and far between.

I ain’t saying that Magnum is equivalent to a rookie guard, but she’s certainly no LeBron James either.

The lesson here is the same as that taught to me at a young age, “Don’t let your alligator mouth write a check your hummingbird butt can’t cash.”

In the long run, she’ll be all right. We’ve all had to retreat home, lick our wounds, and heal. The question becomes, what does she do next? I always tell my kids, it’s not the mistake that defines you, but what you do after the mistake.

That doesn’t just apply to Mangrum though, it applies to all of us and the question of whether or not our pursuit of equity is serving to create more inequities.

I’m also going to say to the Mayor of Dallas – and I’d say it to any mayor – as stupid as I think Mangrum’s comments were, if a perceived slight from a 31-year-old education reporter produces this kind of response, you have much bigger issues.

Pearson Testimony

It has been an interesting week on the hill here in Tennessee. A highlight for me was the testimony provided by Pearson rep Amanda Deaner. Pearson supplies Tennessee schools with both the state’s annual TNReady test and the recently adopted universal reading screener, AimsWeb Plus. The company took over the multi-million dollar state contract to create and administer the annual standardized test in 2020 after several years of missteps by then-vendor Queststar.

Deaner shared a lot of interesting things, a few of which I want to highlight.

During her testimony, she painted a picture where Tennessee teachers create the cut scores that set the levels of TNReady. To some extent, that is true.

After the first administration of a TCAP test following the adoption of new materials, teachers are brought in, and questions are sorted from easiest to hardest, and then teachers weigh in based on their experience and what they feel a proficient student should know, From these conversations, levels are drawn.

Now after the levels are set by teachers, the work doesn’t end. Questions are continually analyzed and the psychometricians provide impact results. For example, if cut scores are set where you asked, 70% of kids would score “below’ or “approaching”, so maybe we want to shade it one way or another. Before being set in stone, the Tennessee Department of Education and the State Board of Education weigh in. So yes teachers have a voice, but they are far from the deciding factor.

Furthermore, Deaner gave the impression that scale scores are consistent until the next standard review, something that made me cock an eyebrow. The statement is true, but…while the required score remains consistent, the number of questions required to meet that score varies from year to year. So if say…450 is considered proficient, one year a student may need 19 correct answers to reach it, and the next year it may take 23. That’s an important distinction.

State Representative Mark Cochran (R-Englewood) pushed on Ms. Deaner and the lack of transparency around TCAP, “As far as analyzing previous TCAP tests, it is like we’ve asked for the Kennedy assignation file, or the nuclear codes, so tell me why is that? Is there ever a time when I can look at the 2020 TCAP test and view the whole thing? Is that even possible?”

In Pearson’s defense, Deaner offered that the inability to release a full test for examination by stakeholders isn’t because of a lack of will, but rather due to a question bank that was depleted when they took over. This is interesting because, in July 2019, there was a plan in place to release tests in 2021.

At that time, there was one vendor for the creation of test questions and one vendor for crafting and administrating the test. Educational Testing Services (ETF) were providing the questions. In reviewing a memo between the TDOE and ETS there was a clear intent communicated, and reassurances were given, that plans were in place to release full operational forms beginning with the spring 2021 administration and continuance of this release into the future.

Yet here we are two years past the expected delivery date, and Deaner is telling legislators that it will be another several years before this is possible. Why?

One clue may reside in this excerpt from the memo:

ETS is pleased to collaborate with TDOE on this plan but would like to note that the plan takes us past the contract end date of September 13, 2020. This date has always been problematic because it lands squarely in the middle of forms construction for fall 2020 and spring 2021. The full forms release plan requires addition to staff very soon to support the expanded item and passage development. ETS would like to request that TDOE and ETS work together to change this milestone to a more realistic date that allows for planning and execution of the forms release plan, if this new scope will become an amendment to the current contract. If this scope will be part of the next RFP for assessment development, ETS recommends that TDOE carefully considers these timing issues as that document is crafted.

The ETS contract was not renewed and Pearson is now responsible for crafting the questions. Somebody might want to ask the Commissioner for some clarity around this when she returns to the Hill next week.

One final thing that bears repeating. There has been an effort to paint TNReady, benchmark testing, and screeners as interchangeable. They are not.

One measures skills and the other is standards-based. Two are nationally normed and one is normed to Tennessee State Standards. Unless one is willing to concede that Tennessee Standards are really just Common Core standards wearing an Ol Smoky T-shirt, you can’t even use TNReady results to compare Tennessee kids’ performance to those in the rest of the country.

So while all these exams provide us with useful information, and can serve to guide instruction, they are not the be-all and end-all that they are depicted as, and as such, not worthy of the power we afford them.

When State Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville), who recently proposed legislation that would divorce Tennessee from federal education funding, says, “I don’t think the TCAP test measures much of anything, and I think teachers would tell you that you’re teaching to a test”, you might want to believe him.

The Mysteries of MNPS

Here’s what we know. Jeff Smith, MNPS’s Director of visual and performing arts is on administrative leave with pay as of Thursday, March 2, pending the outcome of an investigation.

On March 1st, around 6 pm, the district’s principals received communication that there had been a change in the department of visual and performing arts and that Smith was restricted from all MNPS buildings. Principals were instructed to notify the people who admitted guests to be aware. Most of them had no idea who he was. No other information was provided.

An email to Sean Braisted, public information officer for MNPS, quickly produced a copy of the administrative leave letter but a follow-up request for the communication sent to principals produced crickets.

On Thursday, Smith posted a cryptic missive to his social media pages.

Nothing powers the rumor mill like a mystery, and these events certainly qualified for that title. Principals almost universally claim that the tone of the district email is unprecedented. Questions arise about what the director of performing and visual arts could possibly do to warrant such restrictions. Are children at risk if he enters the building?

I understand the need to protect people’s privacy, but perhaps a little more clarity would be helpful.

Personally, I hope everything is ok with Smith. These are difficult times, and people are dealing with all kinds of personal battles. Even those who appear the most adjusted on the outside could be struggling inside, It’s one thing to talk about valuing employees, it’s another to demonstrate that value through practice.

That’s where MNPS ultimately, and consistently, falls short. It always seems to come down to protecting the machine at the sacrifice of the individual. Here hoping this isn’t another example.

Quick Hits

Last week Speaker Sexton introduced his bill to expand charter school offerings. If the bill passes the state will allow for a charter school that provides room and board and those who serve home-schooled kids. Details of how it is all going to work are a little scarce right now, but should clearer in the coming weeks.

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Kelsey Beyeler continues to provide recaps of the MNPS board meetings for the Scene. She’s back with a summation of this week’s proceedings. Apparently MNPS has invested $1 million with a company to provide gun detection and monitoring software. Indications are that there was little conversation on this item, and it was passed via the consent agenda. There was more comment by teachers during public commentary than there was by board members on the floor.

“This is a problem that should instead be addressed by investing in raising substitute teacher pay to a level that respects the skill, professionalism and absolute necessity of both long-term and day-to-day guest teachers,” said Antioch High School teacher Hallie Trauger. “Surveillance is not safety, and enhanced cameras cannot substitute for the relationships that make adequately staffed schools thrive as safe and supportive communities.”

Amen

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Nashville has another announced candidate for Mayor, Alice Rolle. Rolle, a former official with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and a staff member for former U.S. Sen Lamar Alexander, says in formally announcing, “I see, and I hear, that while Nashville may be a party for our visitors — it isn’t a party for everyone who lives here,” Rolli said in a statement. “Our young families and our most vulnerable neighbors are struggling.”

Per the Tennessee Lookout, “Most recently, Rolli has worked with QuaverEd, a Nashville-based education technology company using interactive resources to develop curriculum to be used in elementary education. Earlier in her career, Rolli taught school in Los Angeles and was on the founding regional board of Teach for America.”

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Nashville Public Education Foundation has announced the winner of its annual teacherpreneur completion. The completion is seen as a professional learning opportunity that will help teachers identify, design, and pilot innovative solutions while changing the way the community sees educators – as change-makers both in and beyond the walls of their classroom. Select winners receive seed funding to implement or scale their innovative proposed solution.

This year’s winner is Jennifer Love, an AVID coordinator and teacher at East Nashville Magnet High School, who earned first place and a prize of $10,000 for her idea for a program to incorporate a social-emotional learning curriculum in student athletics to provide increased access to mental health supports for high school students.

Congratulations to all who participated.

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Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

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“I don’t want fine. Fine isn’t enough. Isn’t not about the open fire or whatever other clichés you can conjure up, but yes, I want a connection. I want you to care as much as I care. I want you to need it and want it and mean it. I want it to matter.”
― Alexis Hall, Boyfriend Material

Over the weekend I had an opportunity to further review last week’s House Education instruction Committee hearing on the third-grade retention law and came away with a few more items worth mentioning.

On Friday, I quoted Chalkbeat TN, about a provision mentioned by Commissioner Schwinn affording kids the ability to advance forward:

“Parents can appeal a retention decision if their child performed at the 40th percentile on a different test that allows for comparisons with national benchmarks, or if the child experienced an event that reasonably impacted the child’s performance on the TCAP test.”

I wrote that this provision wasn’t included in the law or the rules written by the State Board of Education (SBE) – not entirely accurate, and worthy of further discussion.

Under the rules for promotion and retention, Rule 0520-01-03-. 15 defines a student considered as having a “Significant Reading Deficiency” as one who scores in the 15 percentile or lowers on one of the state’s approved reading screeners. “At Risk” students are those who score between the 16th and 40th percentile. Those students below 40% are considered below proficient. So I’m assuming this is where the 40th percentile number is pulled from.

It’s a little tricky here though because screeners, assessments, and benchmarks, are all used as if they are interchangeable. They are not.

While all of the approved reading screeners must be nationally normed, meaning screener scores, classifications, and score distribution percentiles are reported and calibrated using a representative National Sample, that doesn’t mean that they are nationally normed to the same group of students. They are nationally normed to students of school districts who purchase the vendor’s product.

As a side note, TNReady is not nationally normed, but rather state-normed. Because hypothetically it measures Tennessee State Standards, and no other state utilizes Tennessee State Standards, thus making finding a norming group impossible.

Since there are inherent differences in the norming groups, it stands to reason that 41% on Aimsweb is not the same as 41% on MAP or Fastbridge. All three of them are considered state-approved screeners. Now the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) has cooked up some kind of malarky that it is possible to take all 7 approved screeners and create a composite score, but that’s kinda bull shit. All 7 are different tests and utilize different norming groups, therefore producing different results.

Now if we jump down to the “appeals to the department section” of the SBE rules, ground 1 says:

The student demonstrated growth above the national norm as demonstrated in the student’s composite score from a State Board-approved Universal Reading Screener or the Tennessee Universal Reading Screener administered by the LEA or public charter school; and

The student demonstrated growth in standards mastery based on the student’s scores on a state-approved standards-based benchmark assessment administered by the student’s school

This just talks about growth, not hitting a 40% threshold. So while the rules elude to the Commissioner’s supposition and assertion, I’m not sure they support it. This furthermore illustrates an incongruence between TCAP and the screener/benchmarks, where the percentile for proficiency is around 50%.

Here is another nugget that nobody is talking about. The existing rules on retention state:

If a retention decision has been made, then the school shall develop an individualized academic remediation plan for the retained student within thirty (30) calendar days after the beginning of the next school year. A copy of the academic remediation plan shall be provided to the student’s parent or legal guardian within ten (10) calendar days of the development of such plan.

I would interpret that to mean, that every third-grader who is retained must be provided a written plan. So if a district like Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) retains, say, 500 kids – probably a low estimation – that’s 500 kids that individual plans need to be written for, who’s going to do it? Who’s going to pay the additional expense? It’s probably something that ought to be talked about, but I’ve yet to hear nary a mention.

While I touched on the potentially shifting sands of TCAP proficiency scores in Friday’s piece, I think there is more that needs to be said. Parents likely assume that scoring proficiency on TCAP means getting the same number of questions right every year, but that’s not accurate. It’s a shifting mark. In some years, scoring a 455 would be considered proficient, in others, it would take a 460, while in another year it would only take 450.

Most experts recognize this and accept it as part of the process, and it would be such if the consequences for failure to reach proficiency were not so dire. There are no other tests that operate this way. Any tests we take as adults come with known expectations. You know exactly how many questions you have to get right in order to pass. That’s not the case with TCAP, students take the test and then it is decided how many right answers are needed to pass.

In talking with lawmakers, and I’ve talked to a lot of them, I get the sense that this year will bring little change to the “accelerating students law”, as they prefer it referred to, and I’m not convinced there should be.

Hear me out, changing legislation based on presumption or appeasement, is rarely effective. Sometimes you just have to run things and see if the resulting data supports the predictions and then adjust. Making adjustments sans data is no better than crafting policy sans data. In both cases, you are shooting blind.

Lawmakers will tell you that they’ve carefully studied data from other states, and believe that derived an effective strategy. Maybe, but the devil will be in the details, and right now those details are constantly shifting.

Opponents accuse them of haphazardly crafting policy fueled by ill intent. I will say, in talking to legislators, I haven’t found any of the latter and I’m not sure the former would be accurate either. Though I will say, always beware of the well-intentioned man…or woman.

The Private Sector Recruits from the Public Sector

It’s been rumored for a while, but it is now official, Charlie Bufalino is heading to the National Alliance for Public Charters. Charlie served as the TDOE’s Government Liaison and is now returning to whence he came, the charter school world.

Bufalino cut his teeth working as a starter-up employee for Rocketship Academy, where he learned about the real estate, I mean education world. Sorry Freudian slip.

In his bio for the National Alliance, he takes credit for, “executeding the passage of 13 administration education bills, highlighted by the historic passage of major reforms including: The Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act (a full overhaul of Tennessee’s K-12 funding formula for the first time in 30 years); The Literacy Success Act (foundational reform of early literacy instruction, teacher preparation, and funding supports); and The Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act(permanently established summer learning camps and tutoring opportunities for at-risk students).

It’ll be curious to see if he lists those items on his resume 5 years from now.

Quick Hits

Should be another interesting week on the Hill in Tennessee. Of particular interest will be a presentation to the House Education Instruction Committee by assessment vendor Pearson. Sure to come into question will be this year’s assessment timeline. Last week, Commissioner Schwinn told legislators that it was a tight one, but she was confident. This week we’ll hear from those tasked with meeting the timeline.

We’ve also got our first caption bill of the season, HB1214/SB1194. Andy Spears at The Education Report has the preliminary report. Per Spears here are the two things this 9-page amendment does:

Creates a scheme for allowing charter schools that serve homeschooled students
Allows for the creation of residential/boarding schools that are charter schools

Admittedly this one is just entering our radar, but we’ll be digging in. It’ll appear on Tuesday at the House K-12 Committee.

The Nashville Scene has a new interview up with Nashville School Board member turned mayoral candidate Fran Bush. Bush tells the Scene, “I’m a native Nashvillian. I grew up here. I know this city. I know what it means. I know what it wants. I know people, and I want to be able to connect and get this work done. And people are ready for change. I’m fresh. I’m new, I’m young. I have common sense, right? And that’s what people are looking for, someone they can connect with.”

I’ve been late reporting this but it definitely merits mention, PENCIL has a new Chief administrative officer, and she is a good one. Jane Meneely took the reins effectively on January 30th. In her new role, Ms. Meneely will be a strategic analyst and vision setter. She will proactively assure that the operating activities of PENCIL are running smoothly and efficiently at all times so that team members have the guidance and resources they need to be successful and that the work environment supports both their productivity and individuality by creating easy-to-use systems and supports at all levels of the organization. No small task, but one she is surely up for.

That’s all I got today.

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A new year doesn’t equate to greater financial stability. Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be appreciated.A huge shout-out to all of you who’ve already lent your financial support. I am eternally grateful for your generosity. It allows me to keep doing what I do and without you, I would have been forced to quit long ago. It is truly appreciated and keeps the bill collectors happy. Now more than ever your continued support is vital.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier, but equally informative.

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“I used to think that revenge was about defending one’s honor, but it turns out that honor is just spite dressed up for Sunday.”
― Cat Sebastian, The Queer Principles of Kit Webb

Seems like forever since we’ve seen Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education in the state’s halls of governance. This week she turned up at a State House education committee hearing on the third-grade retention law. Per her standard practice, she brought as many questions as she did answers.

Schwinn showed up to tout the state’s recently passed literacy bill, calling it the most comprehensive literacy bill in the country and telling legislators that other states were rapidly emulating it. She reiterated that any changes to any specific legislation must be rooted in what’s best for the students of Tennessee, and what is going to promote and accelerate their achievement as rapidly as possible. It’s 100% about students.

After that declaration, Chair Mark White (R-Memphis) opened the floor for questions.

In response to a question from Representative Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) on the testing timeline, Schwinn stated, “What I will acknowledge is that over the 4 or 5 years before I started in 2019, the state’s standardized assessment was challenged, and I’ll frame it that way, where we’ve gotten since with our vendor is a very tight timeline.”

Per this timeline, parents will receive their first home literacy report in mid-October, with the second to follow in January of that school year. In March sign-ups for summer programming will begin, with priority given to students identified as needing additional support. May 15 – 26 is when results from TCAP will begin to be available. This year she says raw scores will be available, along with raw scores to scale conversion tables, on May 19th.

The conversion tables are new this year and will allow parents to convert their child’s score to a preliminary scale score. Allowing them to tell whether or not they meet expectations, or are expected to fall below expectations.

May 30th to June 2nd is when parent notifications will go out. The retest opens on June 30th. Schwinn gives little clarification on what retesting will look like, but conversations with superintendents indicate that it will be TCAP administered online, without the writing portion, in order to provide a rapid turnaround of scores. The parent appeals process will also open on May 30th.

Color me a bit skeptical of the feasibility that all of this transpires as advertised. For those unfamiliar, raw scores have always been available early, but are of limited use to districts, as they only indicate the number of questions a student got right. There is still more work required in order to translate those scores, including the setting of cut scores, which vary from year to year. Purportedly, the tables being supplied by the department will allow for translation, though it’s unclear how cut scores will be handled.

The caveat here is that the pre-equating and post-equating scale scores match. The setting of the pre-equating is an estimate based on field tests and other operational tests of how many questions kids will get right. That may or may not match after the test results from the current year are analyzed. Sometimes they do…and sometimes they don’t. No explanation was offered for what would occur if they didn’t match.

I do find the irony in the argument that prior to Schwinn’s arrival testing was challenged. Earlier in the hearing, former Mississippi Commissioner and Chiefs of Change member, not to mention Schwinn’s bestie, testified to the great work being done by their assessment vendor – Questar. In case you forgot, Questar was Tennessee’s vendor prior to Schwinn’s arrival.

Schwinn goes on to tout the many exceptions included in the third-grade retention law that allow students the ability to advance even without an adequate proficiency score. Summer school is among those options, as long as students maintain a 90% attendance rate. However, Schwinn indicates that there is a provision for students to make up missed dates later in the year if they fail to meet that threshold. A provision that is not included in either the legislation or the governing rules crafted by the State Board of Education.

Furthermore, an article in ChalkbeatTN includes the following passage:

Parents also can appeal a retention decision if their child performed at the 40th percentile on a different test that allows for comparisons with national benchmarks, or if the child experienced an event that reasonably impacted the child’s performance on the TCAP test.

I can’t find any reference to this in either the rules or the legislation. Far be it from me to cast aspirations, but it feels like somebody is writing their own rules as we go along.

In relooking at the rules, I did find this in reference to avoiding retention through tutoring:

The student is assigned a tutor through the Tennessee Accelerating Literacy and Learning Corps (TN ALL Corps) to provide the student with tutoring services for the entirety of the upcoming school year based on tutoring requirements established by the department.

TN All Corps is the creation of the TN Department of Education. Membership is dependent on districts dedicating a portion of their ESSER money to TDOE initiatives. Currently, only 87 of Tennessee’s districts are members, Which represents roughly 200K of the state’s 1 million students. Does anybody else see a problem here?

Discussions with legislators reveal that most are unaware of this stipulation.

While it was good to see the Commissioner, once again, she leaves us scratching our heads and scrambling for answers.

Word on the Street

Remember back when TISA, Tennessee’s new school funding formula, washing discussed and critics raised questions about the ability to identify students who showed “characteristics of Dyslexia”? Schwinn and the company downplayed the issue. Well here we are and we need an actual accurate number for funding calculations. Now the TDOE is recognizing the issue and is reportedly telling districts that for the next two years, each district will have 5% of their students recognized as showing characteristics of dyslexia, while the department works on a plan for procuring accurate numbers in the future. This ain’t a problem for some districts, but for others, like Nashville and Memphis, it could create an additional financial burden.

I can’t help but wonder how dyslexia advocates, who were essential to the bill’s passage, feel about this supposed turn of events. Always remember, the devil is in the detail.

Speaking of suppositions and hypotheticals, here’s one for ya. Suppose the TDOE ran the funding numbers for next year and found out that they were…say…$350 million short in funding? How would they rectify that? I guess you could have the Governor announce a one-time historical investment of $350 million in education with his next budget. Nah, he’d never do that. Well, I guess we’ll find out when actual TISA numbers are released later next month. You’d think that an additional $350 million would raise the base number, right? Maybe the base number will go up…or maybe it won’t.

The State Board of Education has released its evaluation of Tennessee’s Charter School authorizers. Bet you won’t be shocked to discover that the state’s Achievement School District scored a 1.5 on the rubric. Is there anything the ASD is good at?

Nashville neighbor, Sumner County Schools, has a vacancy on its school board and it won’t be filled by voters. That job falls to the county commissioners. This has some folks thinking it’ll be filled by an ultra-conservative, despite the runner-up in the last election, Democrat Roxie Kelsey, still wanting the gig. Kelsey says, ““Even with beauty contests, they have a first runner-up. In this case, I was the first runner-up. I’ve shown that I work hard, that I’ll continue with it,” she said. “I’m honest. I’m dependable. What else are you looking for?”

Sumner County has been home to some of the fiercest education policy battles over the last couple of years. Candidate Josh Graham was a third-place finisher and endorsed by Constitutional Republicans. Parent Hillary Lounder says this school board appointment reminds her of last year, when a Democrat and a Constitutional Republican tied in a race to represent part of Gallatin. Rather than send it to a runoff, commissioners chose who would fill the seat. And they waited until the new, more conservative, commission was sworn in.

Today’s episode is short and sweet, but hopefully, you found it useful.

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If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier, but equally informative.

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“I have got a daughter, whose life is already separate from mine, whose will already follows its own directions, and who has quickly corrected my woolly preconceptions of her by being something remorselessly different. She is the child of herself and will be what she is. I am merely the keeper of her temporary helplessness.”
― Laurie Lee, The Firstborn

Another week, another road trip for Tennessee’s beleaguered Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn. This week, it was an appearance in Washington D.C. as the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) launched 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.

While back home in Tennessee, districts were still struggling with the implementation of TISA, looking for guidance on the appeals process for school library books, strategizing around the third-grade retention law, and discussing the role of School Resource Officers, Schwinn was hanging with some pals dreaming up new ideas based, per their release, on expanding 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.

So let me see if I get this, while the State House Speaker, and heir apparent to the Governor’s mansion, Cameron Sexton, is proposing that Tennessee cut federal education funding, the Commissioner is out spending taxpayer money to increase federal funding. Do these people even talk to each other?

While lawmakers begin to grapple with the undue influence exerted over education policy by non-profits – SCORE, EducationTrust, ExcelinEd, Instructional Partners – Schwinn is seeing if she can’t get them more comfortable seats at the table. Lets look at who she is on stage with.

Education Trust has its seat, represented by Denise Forte. Forte is a former staff member of the House of Representatives, where she served for 16 years. This qualified her to hang out as a shingle as an education consultant. She takes over as EdTrust’s CEO for John King, the former US Secretary of Education. Not sure if she inherits his half-million dollar salary as well. King’s tale is too delicious not to retell.

The former Education Secretary was pulling in 550K as Executive Director of Education when he decided to take a run at being Governor of Maryland. He took a leave of absence for that pursuit, while still drawing his obscene salary. To say he got his clock cleaned in that race, would be an insult to clocks. It was a crowded field and he was back of the pack. He returned to EDTrust, cashed a few checks, and then promptly left to become chancellor of the State University of New York, taking over the largest public university system in the nation. And they say there is no money for education work.

Joining Schwinn and Forte on the panel is Joshua Edelman. Most of you probably aren’t familiar with Edelman, but you should be. Edelman spent almost 13 years working for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. During the last year and a half, he served as the Senior Advisor to the President of the United States. He describes his work as, “Supporting division-wide DEI work to enhance expected investment outcomes, creating a new Program Officer development program for the division and bolstering strategy development with our Economic Mobility and Opportunity and US Charter portfolios.”

Prior to that role, he “Led foundation efforts to prepare students for college and career success in Tennessee and Florida. Oversaw the 7-year, 90M investment in teacher effectiveness in the Memphis City/Shelby County Schools. Led learning cohort about principal leadership for 11 districts/CMOs.” Hmmm…but like King, he’s got an interesting backstory.

Edelman has a brother, Jonathan Edelman. Jonathan is the founder of that lil ol lobbyist group Stand for Children. Way back in the stone age, 2011 to be exact, John got himself in a little bit of hot water when his organization came out hard in support of a proposed Illinois state law that would have stripped tenure from teachers. He felt so good about it that he took to the stage boasting that Stand “hired eleven lobbyists, including four of the absolute best insiders and seven of the best minority lobbyists, preventing the unions from hiring them.”

That’s who your queen is out hanging with and whose ideas she’s promoting. This week she told this gathering, what things have looked like in Tennessee. “Without evidence-based solutions driven by R&D, we won’t have strong outcomes for kids. We are utilizing education R&D with the goal of improving student outcomes, supporting educators, and building a better education system for all learners.”

I guess she probably didn’t mention that during her tenure the accountability department at the TDOE has been completely gutted and currently employs nobody with more than a year of experience in running accountability models. Her last hire, Rachael Maves split the gig after a year on the job. Inviting Penny Schwinn to talk about research and development is like calling Kanye West in to talk about Jewish-American relationships.

But fear not, Schwinn won’t be unpacking her overnight bag any time soon. She’s already got more trips planned.

In 2 weeks she’ll be in Austin for SXSW, and then in April, it is off to sunny San Diego to present at the ASU summit. Meanwhile poor former state rep Bill Dunn, who was appointed by Governor Lee as an education advisor, is stuck traveling back and forth on I40 to Knoxville and talking with legislators. Luckily taxpayers are paying him a six-figure salary, so gas expenditures shouldn’t be an issue.

Last Fall, the Commissioner was all over the country. A look at her travel expenses reveals that if you were a resident of Austin, Arlington, Boston, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, or Washington D.C.. you had better odds of seeing her than if you lived in Tennessee. This led to frequent speculation about her future plans. Plans that still remain unclear, and reminiscent of a Clash song.

If the General Assembly is legitimately looking to reject federal money in the near future, and there is growing trepidation around the influence of non-profits, what are these trips promoting?

It is Governor Lee’s potential future run for President?

Schwinn’s availability for a new gig?

Maybe a couple legislators could fly to D.C. and ask her. or to San Diego. Or to Austin. Maybe Philadelphia? Or New Orleans. Or …yea I know, it’s exhausting.

Metro Nashville School Board Blues

The MNPS School Board convened on Tuesday of last week, and the district’s Chief Academic Officer Mason Bellemy provided a presentation on the district’s benchmark testing.

You can watch it for yourself, but the supposed good news is that MNPS is tracking in the right direction. Except, there is no real way to know, since the evidence is based on results generated by Fastbridge testing, and therefore, it is unclear whether the data is a clear indicator, or not.

Fastbridge is a benchmark assessment produced by Illuminate Education and designed to guide instruction. It replaced MAP testing which the district utilized for roughly 5 years. Whether Fastbridge is a better test or not, is debatable, and you can find arguments both for and against it. What is undebatable is that with MAP, the district had an established database that could be referenced to identify trends.

That is no longer available, and since Fastbridge has only been administered twice, we are still in the process of establishing a new baseline. The common wisdom is that kids do worse on the first administration of a new test due to unfamiliarity, but do better as they become familiar. Is the data presented by Bellemy an example of that, or is it a product of district innovation? Or a mixture of both?

That’s probably something that Bellemy should have shared, but he chose to focus on nuggets without context. My favorite is that in Grade 7

• Students struggled to explain the importance of griots in the transmission of West African history and culture.

• Students excelled in identifying the Niger River as a strategic hub for trade and exchange in the Mali Empire.

That’ll come in handy if the internet ever goes down.

During the presentation, East Magnet School was given tremendous accolades. School Board member Frida Player gushed over Principal Bruce Jackson like a blushing fan girl at a K-Pop concert. She threatened to steal him away for advocacy work based on his presentation. A presentation that shows interesting programs that are still in their infancy. I hope all of it works, and next time Jackson is presenting substance instead of style. By all accounts, he’s a talented leader. But context does matter.

East Magnet is not a zoned school. It is a school that all students choose to attend. Not taking away anything way from their work, just making sure we are comparing apples to apples.

The answer to the question that everybody wants to know – is MNPS performing well – continues to be a case of who you ask and what you define as well. Unfortunately, too many folks are continuing to decide in a manner that leads to exploring other options.

A recent article by the Tennessee Lookout shares that “Tennessee public schools have lost more than 14,000 students since the start of the pandemic — with most switching to private schools and a lesser number newly homeschooled, a new report from the Urban Institute has found.”

According to the report,

In Tennessee, there were 981,321 public school students enrolled in 2019; by the Fall of 2021, that number had decreased to 967,278, according to the report.

Tennessee had among the largest new enrollments in private schools, with 18,862 new private school enrollees — or about a 24% increase in private enrollment overall. By the Fall of 2021, there were 98,452 students enrolled in Tennessee private schools.

Homeschooling increased by more than 2,240 students to 13,600 — a 20% increase in enrollment.

Another 2,678 student shifts in education remain unexplained.

I can’t help but think that presentations like this one are aiding and abetting the flight.

The Challenge of Unintended Consequences

Over at the Nashville Scene, where Kelsey Beyeler watches MNPS School Board meetings so you don’t have to, is a story about some unforeseen issues with recently enacted charter legislation:

The second director’s report considered a matter that district officials described as an “emergency” and “unprecedented” situation regarding LEAD Neely’s Bend Middle School — a charter school — in Madison. The school is currently under the purview of the state-run Achievement School District, which was created to turn around the lowest-performing schools in the state. (Its efforts have been largely unsuccessful.) In November, the school’s leaders submitted an application to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission — because it was an ASD school, it did not have to submit an application to MNPS — and the commission approved the application in January. As a result, the school will move from a zoned school to a “choice-only charter school,” which will affect sixth- through eighth-graders in the Hunter’s Lane cluster who are currently zoned for Neely’s Bend middle school, including students from Amqui Elementary and Neely’s Bend Elementary.

She goes on to describe the MNPS response:

MNPS staff scrambled to figure out how to make space for those students and is “proposing that Amqui and Neely’s Bend Elementary Schools be converted to PK-8 grade structure to provide the most seamless transition for the students,” according to the report. This process would start by adding sixth grade to the schools during the next school year and adding the two additional grades in each subsequent year. In the meantime, seventh- and eighth-graders would be zoned to Madison Middle School, though sixth-graders could attend and receive transportation to Madison Middle if desired. There will be a community meeting to discuss the matter on Feb. 23 at the Madison Branch of the Nashville Public Library at 6:30 p.m.

So MNPS will now have some kids in k-6 models, 5-8 models, and k-8 models. Now that speaks to some equity.

Quick Hits

Got a little piece in The Tennessee Star this week about a new bill incorporating “data science” into graduation requirements for high school students. Bill, probably ain’t going anywhere, anytime soon, but it doesn’t open some interesting questions about standards and how they might need to evolve. But wait…we’re extending the review process from 6 years to 8 years…well at least the test makers won’t have to spend any money updating assessments.

WPLN claims to have a draft of a document that was legally supposed to be codified in December of 2022 by the state Textbook Commission – the appeal process for local decisions on library books. There is nothing new in the draft and it’s still being reviewed by the State Attorney General’s office. There are no plans to vote on a document at the next meeting in March. The April meeting was canceled.

The Nashville Mayoral race just got a little more exciting. State Senator Jeff Yarboro is throwing his hat in the ring. Why he’d want to be mayor when he’s got a pretty secure gig as a State Senator is a mystery but, what the hell. Full disclosure, I’ve helped Jeff campaign in the past and I like the man. I agree with him when he says, per The Tennesseean:

“It’s time for us to invest in ourselves,” Yarbro said in a statement. “This has to be a city where you can not just make a living but build a life. Our city’s future can’t be set by investors from all over the country or legislators from all over the state. We — the people of Nashville — have to decide our own future.”

– – –

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier, but equally informative.

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“It’s an odd thing but when you tell someone the true facts of a mythical tale they are indignant not with the teller but with you. They don’t want to have their ideas upset. It rouses some vague uneasiness in them, I think, and they resent it. So they reject it and refuse to think about it. If they were merely indifferent it would be natural and understandable. But it is much stronger than that, much more positive. They are annoyed.

Very odd, isn’t it.”
― Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time

It’s been an interesting one this week. Earlier in the week I toured Hume-Fogg with my daughter as an option for her high school years. For those who don’t know, Hume-Fogg is the academic magnet option for Nashville students. It is routinely ranked at the top of the list for Tennessee’s high schools. Critics, often point to it as being a beneficiary of academic segregation. Though that argument doesn’t hold much sway with me, as admission is dependent upon a lottery system for which a student qualifies by maintaining an 80 GPA. Qualifications that I feel should be the expectation for all students, and too low for an academic magnet.

My daughter, and her friend who accompanied her, have an intense desire to attend Hume-Fogg. Both have a GPA in the high 90’s. There are roughly 125 seats available through the lottery. Because entry is based on a combination of lottery and a guaranteed pathway, neither may get in. So much for the work hard and you’ll reap what you sow motifs.

I’m routinely told of the shortcomings of the academic magnet school, and how a child can achieve just as much, and have the same opportunities, at a zoned school as they can at a magnet. It didn’t take but 10 minutes of standing in the office at Hume-Fogg for me to think, we really have to stop lying to people.

I’ve been in enough schools that I can tell a difference. As my daughter said to me while walking the hallways, it would be nice to attend a school where the majority of students want to be there, instead of the opposite.

Her comment sparked a realization in me, Hume-Fogg is different because it’s a school governed by policies aimed at supporting students who want to be there. Whereas the majority of zoned schools are governed by policies aimed at supporting students who don’t want to be there. I understand that necessity, but in order to better serve all students, there needs to be a little more of the former and less of the latter.

Is Hume-Fogg a better school than others? For some students it is. I don’t understand why recognizing that is an affront to every other school. For some, the zoned school is the best option. For others, it may be a local charter school. For others, it may be a private school.

Full disclosure, for my son, I’m beginning to undertake the search for a private school option. He’ll likely attend his local zoned school, but I want to make sure that is the best option.

He’s an athlete, and I don’t know how far his skills will take him, but I want to make sure that the opportunities are available for him to reach his full potential. In other words, when his athletic pursuits come to an end, I want it to be his choice and not because his development was limited by his options. No different than what I wish academically for my daughter. Or what every other parent wishes for their child.

That brings me to the other part of my internal discussion – how do we define success?

There is an endless conversation about the pursuit of student success? Educational non-profits pay CEOs six-figure salaries to influence local districts in adopting policies that will purportedly increase student success. Politicians run campaigns rooted in a promise to promote student success. Teachers are retrained because they are teaching in a manner that supposedly limits student success. But what does that mean?

Does it mean being able to secure a high-paying job? I don’t know about you but in my adult life, I’ve had both high-paying and low-paying jobs. Sometimes it was the high-paying one that made me feel bad about myself, while the low-paying option brought more self-fulfillment.

Does success mean a mythical happy life? Because I’m here to tell you that throughout my life, I’ve experienced both the highs and the lows, and the highs were higher because I was able to compare and contrast. Surviving life’s challenges brings an immeasurable level of accomplishment to one’s self-evaluation.

Is success the ability to pass a test on a certain day? A test that shows no alignment to future success. I raised the question this week with a Tennessee lawmaker, how do we talk about preparing students for life and career, and then measure them with a test that is unlike any they’ll face during their adult life?

Every assessment taken in adulthood is centered on mastery. Whether it’s your bar exam or your hairdresser license, the only consideration is whether you mastered the requirements or not? Nobody cares if you are in the top 90, 80, or even 60 percent of those who take the test. You either hit the threshold or you don’t, and you are always given multiple opportunities.

So when I get a benchmark assessment that says my daughter is in the top 96% in 8th grade ELA, other than giving me something to brag to friends about, what is its real significance. (And yes, I am aware that I am bragging right now)

Now I will say that when the same assessment shows that she is in the top 90% districtwide for phonetic awareness but in the lower 60% nationally, we might want to rethink the effectiveness of our phonetics instruction district-wide. But that’s another subject for another day.

Anecdotally we hear stories about struggling students who went on to achieve great success, and about those who never overcame the shortcomings in their childhood schooling. But even in those stories, the definition of success is varied.

Is serving 20 years in the military a successful life? Is starting your own business considered successful? How about being married for 20 years and raising a family? If it’s financial security that serves as the yardstick, then we are all shit out of luck, because few of us will achieve and maintain that status throughout the course of our lives.

When you consider the variation in the definition of success, it becomes ludicrous to consider that there is only one pathway to its achievement.

Peter Greene, is one of my favorite writers, he’s also an adamant opponent of school choice. As much as I admire him, I think his latest serves as a key illustration of the misconception held by combatants in the school choice war. They see school choice as an “us” vs “them” proposition. Those looking for choice are viewed as destroyers, racists, and other individuals with intentions fueled by ill intent. In short, they see school choice as a cultural war.

I wish I could say that I still believe that, but I can’t. Sure there are malicious elements on both sides, but for every one of them, there is a parent whose child is not being served. A parent who is just looking to get their child what they perceive they need. In his analysis Greene offers:

“The culture warriors are not interested in choice or freedom; they are the embodiment of Wilhoit’s definition of conservatism— Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”

I think it’s an adage that can be applied to both sides of the coin. In that case, the battle is over who is considered the “in-group” and who falls into “out-group” consideration.

Is the argument really about what’s best for kids, or rather is it about what aligns with adult ideology? Asking for a friend.

Reading Between the Lines

I’m chuckling over news coverage of State Senator Gardenhire’s bill to expand vouchers to Chattanooga passing out of committee this week. Reports like to bring up past battles and try to compare the progress of this bill as if it is moving in a similar fashion. It’s not. It’s meeting very little resistance.

Sure, Democrats are offering a modicum of opposition. Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) was one of the few committee members to offer any comment on the committee floor this week.

“Our pilot program has already been put in place. I don’t think there’s been enough time to even see if it will be successful,” said Akbari, who also opposed the program’s establishment in Davidson and Shelby counties. Committee members shrugged and voted to pass the bill out of committee with a 6-2 vote. Akbari was joined by Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) in casting a nay vote. Senator Rusty Crowe R-Johnson City) abstained.

I didn’t time it, but the whole process took less time than me running out to my mailbox and back. Somewhere right now former House Speaker Glen Casada is leaving his lawyers office, reading a news account, and thinking, “Damn! Why couldn’t it have been this easy for me?”

More Third-Grade Hijinks

WPLN has a story about parents flooding a public meeting on the 3rd-grade retention law. Now I may be splitting hairs, but the accompanying photo looks like a well-attended meeting, but far from a flood. I maintain it is a little in the game to be expecting changes to the bill.

For what it is worth, here’s my take. There will be lots of conversation around amendments, coupled with little action. In the House, there may be a bill passed, but remember Mark White (R-Memphis) still heads the House Education Committee. White carried this bill originally, and it wasn’t an easy task. White is on record saying that he’s open to amendments to making the bill better, but returning control to the locals is a non-sequitur. They had their chance they botched it.

White is an amicable fellow, but he’s also the guy who’ll tell you, “I’m very open to hearing what you have to say, but can you call me next week so we can give dates to my secretary so she can back to us with a date next month that works for us?” In other words, he’s very good at running out the clock.

In the Senate, most education legislators I talk to are unhappy with how the bill is presented by critics. They don’t feel that they are painting an accurate picture and that due to off-ramps they’ve embedded into the bill, there won’t be nearly as many students retained as opponents claim. Their displeasure is of such a level, that I doubt they’ll approve significant changes without a near of data.

At some point, we’ll realize the value of hyperbole isn’t near what we think and that vilifying people ain’t exactly the best strategy either. But that won’t be this year.

Quick Hits

Last Friday, the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) released its version of the annual Tennessee Educators Survey. In their accompanying press release, they touted that just over 39K educators had participated. I don’t know if that is worth bragging about when you consider that last year’s version had over 40K participants, or that prior to the pandemic nearly 45K participated. In fact, by scanning the survey results it becomes apparent that teacher dissatisfaction continues to grow in Tennessee.

It appears that tales of TDOE’s Charlie Bufalino’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Despite several sources telling me that he was leaving, he’s still holding court. I’m not sure what the hold-up is, maybe he’s waiting for Mom to make an appearance so he can turn in his key.

I’d give you an update on the TDOE 360 Reading Summit, but Chief Academic Officer Lisa Coons has me blocked on Twitter – is that even legal – and I doubt she’d return a call, so you’ll just have to take to social media yourself.

Metro Nashville Public School’s board meets on Valentine’s Day. A perusal of the agenda shows little opportunity to talk about charter schools, so I suspect it will be a short meeting.

My feelings on Teacher of the Year awards are well documented. Blogger Nancy Flanagan, a career educator, has her own take on the awards. It’s a worthy read, and I agree with her take that, ‘Teachers in America get so little in the way of acknowledgment and perks that every single teacher honored for their excellent work richly deserves the spotlight and whatever rewards come with it.”

– – –A new year doesn’t equate to greater financial stability. Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be appreciated.A huge shout-out to all of you who’ve already lent your financial support. I am eternally grateful for your generosity. It allows me to keep doing what I do and without you, I would have been forced to quit long ago. It is truly appreciated and keeps the bill collectors happy. Now more than ever your continued support is vital.

If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier, but equally informative.

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“Ideas are interesting, but people are vastly more so.”
― Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails

This has been another one of those weeks where we grapple with humanity. The fallout from the tragic events in Memphis has left us a little more jaded, and a lot less optimistic. We struggle to understand how those dedicated to protecting and serving can do the opposite. Where do we go from here?

The death of Tyre Nichols should never have happened. But the path forward in preventing another such incident from happening is not as clear as we would desire. In moving forward, we have to consider the unintended consequence of our very public conversation. A conversation that is not dissimilar from that currently taking place in education policy circles.

Growing up, being a police officer was an honorable profession. As was being a nurse, a priest, or a teacher. Families took pride in producing generations of offspring who pursued the profession as their life’s work. It was with a sense of pride that a young person proclaimed themselves third-generation police or a 4th generation teacher. Unfortunately, not everyone who donned the blue, or entered the classroom brought honor to the profession.

There is an old saying in the press that if it bleeds it leads. Over the years, the misdeeds of those who brought dishonor to the profession moved to the forefront, while the vast majority of those who honored their vows of service fell to the back row. It needs to be said repeatedly, that those who bring shame to the profession are the aberrations, not the standard. Those who perform these dishonorable deeds are not representatives of their profession, but rather they are criminals. And in some cases, sociopaths.

An argument could be made that the profession has the propensity to attract those with sociopathic tendencies. Maybe, but that is a supposition because I am unaware of statistics that track the number of roofers, plumbers, hedge fund managers, or insurance salesmen who behave in an abhorrent manner. It seems that only in the service professions are the bad actors deemed representative of the entire profession.

As a result, we spend 90% of our time talking about the behavior of 10% of those who take up the challenge of serving humanity. In doing so, we either intentionally or unintentionally, communicate how much value we place on the profession.

I promise you this, peruse the lists of the wealthiest members in a community and you won’t find many cops, teachers, or first responders on it. Over the past decade, there has been an attempt to draw attention to salaries, and efforts have been made to increase them. But you’ll never see those salaries raise to a level on par with those in non-service-driven professions. As long as salaries are derived from public monies, there will never be enough money to pay them what they are worth.

People entering the profession have always known that, but felt drawn by a sense of duty and tradition, but something has shifted. Long considered pillars of the community, we now view them as people who couldn’t make it in the private sector, or in even more unflattering terms. In today’s environment, why would anybody, but a martyr, pursue police, teaching, or other similar jobs as a life calling?

I seriously don’t know the answer. But luckily, there are those who still do. But there are just as many leaving as there are coming. That’s a problem.

Whether it be policing, or teaching, experience is a valuable commodity. A commodity that is becoming rarer and rarer every year, to society’s detriment. Look at the experience levels of the police involved in the murder of Tyre Nichols. Per The Tennessean:

While a full roster of the unit has not been released, the five officers charged with killing Nichols all had less than six years on the job. Two of them had been police officers for less than two and a half years.

That’s troubling, and yet it’s an all too common thread. Equally disturbing is the lack of adequate staffing. The city of Memphis reportedly is 500 officers short of its goal of 2,500 officers. Think about that for a minute. You have a depleted workforce, populated by the inexperienced, stretched to capacity in an effort to meet an untenable goal. It’s a recipe for disaster, one to which teachers can surely relate.

In a predictable fashion, a major component in the proposed reformation of policing is the idea of turning more responsibilities over to mental health professionals, and not pursuing enforcement of certain crimes that are considered low-level offenses.

Ask teachers how that concept of not policing low-level offenses has worked out? Discipline issues in schools are certainly not on a downward trend, and as a result, even more, experienced teachers are leaving the profession. The challenge of staffing tutors is every bit like that of staffing teachers.

As far as shifting police responsibilities go, where are these supposed mental health exerts going to come from? We can’t offer necessary services to those who currently need them, let alone contend with extending responsibilities. Try finding a mental expert that is currently taking patients, I dare you.

Your company may offer a mental health hotline that you can call when you need help, but good luck getting through. What makes us believe that finding mental health specialists willing to respond to domestic violence and assorted other events, willing to accept sub-par pay, is going to be any easier than attracting quality applicants to the police academy?

Whether we like it or not, whether it’s a mental health expert or the police, the threat of violence is still present. Talk to any EMT and let them tell you how often they are threatened with violence.

We like to pretend that man has evolved to a state where violence is always a last resort and only employed by those suffering from trauma or a lack of opportunity to make better decisions. Maybe, but even so, the outcomes are the same and the needs of the perpetrator shouldn’t come at the expense of those who routinely follow laws and don’t employ violence as a solution.

Yet we do it in the classroom all the time. We demand that students who fail to follow discipline policies even at the expense of the other students in the classrooms. Students who come from equally impoverished homes, and face equal learning challenges to the perpetrator.

The way we portray all police officers has served to rob the profession of respect. Every potential interaction with a police officer is now viewed through the lens of a potential conflict. Officers are on edge. Citizens are on edge. One small match serves to ignite a powder keg of tragedy. It should be scary to all of us.

I grew up blasting NWA’s Fuck the Police, little did I realize that my little act of rebellion would someday become a prevalent theme of society.

Here’s a controversial one for you. I don’t think there should be fewer police in schools, I think there needs to be more. Now I don’t think they need to be packing, but a uniformed officer in schools interacting with students in a routine manner serves to humanize both the officers and the people they will be serving. Despite its proven success. the age of the beat cop, who knows everybody in the neighborhood, and can avert actions before they happen, has become a relic of the past. It needs to be revisited.

We repeatedly argue that we want the best and brightest to be police and teachers, yet we continually portray the professions as housing anything but the best and brightest.

Police work needs reformation, but it also needs preservation. Unintended consequences deserve equal consideration to the intended consequences.

Those who choose to become policemen, firemen, clergy, first responders, teachers, and other assorted caregivers, serve a vital function to our societal health. Any conversation needs to start with recognition of that fact.

There is a quote by James Baldwin that gives us guidance, “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced”

Facing an issue means applying rigorous honesty. We didn’t get here alone, and we won’t get out of here alone.

Still Missing

Nobody was a bigger cheerleader for Tennessee’s new public school funding formula – TISA – than Commissioner Penny Schwinn. If you watched her throughout last year’s legislative session, you’d have thought she was bringing tablets down from the mountain – yes, that’s a biblical reference. So naturally, you’d think she’d be at the Joint Government Operations meeting where the rules that would govern the new formula would be approved. Not so fast shawty.

Instead of Schwinn, or even her fellow Chief for Change Eve Carney, the presentation duties were designated to short-timer Charlie Bufalino. Apparently, the one-time media darling has suddenly turned modern-day Greta Garbo, and she is rarely seen in public these days.

Sure Schwinn popped up with an equally publicity-shy husband Paul at Governor Lee’s inauguration, but not long enough to pose with the man who made her queen. Usually. the good Governor loves to pose with her.

She’s kept up with her social media PR shots. But in areas of substance, she remains mysteriously MIA.

On a side note, no word as of late on who employs her husband Paul. I only bring this up because in the past he’s shown a propensity to work for employers who are overseen by his wife’s employer. Previously holding positions at a Nashville Charter School and TNTP.

If he’s still looking, perhaps former state rep Bill Dunn needs an assistant in his advisory role to the TDOE, or maybe former HR dude David Donaldson could use him over at his newly crafted education non-profit dedicated to growing Grow Your Own programs. I would think Paul would be a perfect candidate for either.

Equally interesting, was that the TDOE Chief Academic Officer, Lisa Coons, did get to go to the Government Ops meeting. She didn’t get to sit at the big kid’s table with Charlie, and nobody gave her an opportunity to talk, but she was there. It’s almost like somebody tossed her a bone because Chiefs for Change chose Carney over her.

A Gathering of Secret Squirrels

You might have heard that U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten came to town last week. Much was made of her visit to McMurray MS to tour their Peace Center. She was also here to visit Valor Academy.

During her visit to Valor, there was a secret squirrel meeting. How do I know it was a secret squirrel meeting? Because attendees were instructed from the podium not to publicly talk about what was discussed. Of course, once they said that…I received three phone calls.

Among the secret squirrels were former Tennessee commissioners of education Kevin Huffman and Candice McQueen. There was Chris Barbic and Tess Stoval. TEA was in the house, as were representatives of SCORE and EduTrust. The Gates Foundation, Charter School Resource Center, and the rest of the alphabet soup were attendees. There were representatives of the State Board of Education as well. Even newly minted Future Chief Sonia Stewart made it up from Chattanooga, where she serves as Hamilton County’s Deputy Commissioner, to attend.

Do you know who wasn’t in attendance? The current State Superintendent of Education Penny Schwinn or anybody else from the TDOE. Very curious. I guess they are not included in efforts to Raise the Bar in education.

It’s been put forth that the USDOE probably met beforehand with the TDOE, but that still doesn’t explain why there wasn’t a representative at the event pressing the flesh with the other secret squirrels.

Per the USDOE press release, the primary focus of the Valor visit was to “learn about Valor’s “Compass” model, which focuses on comprehensive human development to support academics and improve learning conditions, and “Circle,” a core part of the Compass model. “Circle” is a weekly practice that brings students and educators together to advance personal growth to allow students to thrive in their academics and lives. Valor also will share learnings from its newer wraparound services model, “Compass Care,” which is supported, in part, by the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. The program is designed to combat chronic absenteeism and mental and emotional health challenges.”

That seems like a prime opportunity for the Commissioner to soak up some undeserved credit like she has with Tennessee’s Grow Your Own Initiative. But alas it wasn’t to be.

Maybe she’ll put in an appearance with the General Assembly once the discussion on amendments to the third-grade retention law begins. Reportedly the TDOE is taking a position of opposition to any proposed amendments.

Quick Hits

Nobody likes a field trip like Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS). This June, they’ve got one planned for principals. They are heading to Louisville. Billed by district officials as “an opportunity for tier-based and cluster-based planning and professional learning that also allows for peer bonding.” According to MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted “Principals with Academies programs will stay two nights, and one night for remaining principals.” He noted, “Group transportation will be provided by the district, and we are anticipating approximately 180 staff altogether. Transportation and meals are provided for MNPS personnel, but spouses are allowed to join and stay in the hotel if they so choose.”

Things in Nashville are about to get really interesting, now that Mayor Cooper has announced that he is not pursuing re-election. Virtually everybody is considering throwing their hat in the ring. The Nashville Scene takes a look at where the current crop of candidates is drawing their funding,

State House Member Scott Cepicky along with State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson made an appearance on 99.7 WTN this week. It is worth taking a listen to in order to better understand what to expect in this legislative session.

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If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier, but equally informative.

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“Which do you think is more patient, an idea or a hope?”
― Max Porter, Lanny

The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce released its 30th Annual Education Report on Tuesday. That’s thirty years, of the chamber releasing a report offering its opinions and recommendations for Metro Nashville Public School System (MNPS). Every year the recommendations fall on a few more deaf ears, and they become less relevant to the city’s education conversation.

The Chamber’s report is delivered at a special event held at the Downtown Nashville Library. It’s full of pomp and circumstance, attended by all the important people – just ask them.

Mayor Cooper showed up, along with several Metro Government officials. MNPS Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle breezes in. Members of the city’s school board work the room. The central office staff are provided with one more excuse to not enter an actual working school building. The event’s 10 a.m. start time, conflicts with the hours of operation for Nashville Schools, ensuring that there are a minimal number of teachers in attendance.

I’ve been attending this annual function for about a decade now. Every year, I swear I’m not going to let it get under my skin. I promise I’m nothing to say anything that makes people uncomfortable. I promise myself that I won’t provide evidence that I am the ass many consider me. No farting in church this year. But, every year I prove myself a liar. I fail to remember just how offensive and distasteful I find this event.

There is so much talk that transpires. Talk about sacrifice and hard work. You hear it at the coffee and donut bar. You hear it from the stage. You hear it in the halls outside the auditorium. All of it is done by people who are doing little of the actual sacrifice and hard work. Because those people are at that very minute in front of students in one of the city’s classrooms.

Think of it this way, you know how whenever a sports team wins a championship they invite the team to the White House to meet the president? What if instead of the players attending, the team sent only the sponsors and support staff – the ticket sales guys, the nutritionists, and the GM? What if they scheduled the White House visit to coincide with a game? The phones would blow up at sports talk radio nation. But, that’s what we do every year with the Chamber of Commerce Education Committee Report.

We grade, we celebrate, and we recommend, while we don’t include the people who provide those assembled with fodder to do so. I’ll go one step forward, without the thousands of teachers and administrators diligently serving the city’s kids, three-quarters of the people gathered in this conclave would be earning significantly less money, and most would be pursuing other interests. Let that sink in for a minute. In politics, they call this “wagging the dog.”

This year’s event was the first held since the Chamber found itself at odds with city and school officials over their support of a legislative effort to give county mayors the power to take over school boards with too many underperforming schools. Last August, Metro Council voted 23-1 to pass a resolution, chastising the chamber’s “efforts to subvert democracy and eliminate the people’s voice in determining who serves on the Metropolitan Nashville Board of Public Education”

I think it’s safe to say, that adventure left a mark. leaving the Chamber with little desire to poke MNPS again. They need to make sure this year’s report was a little more benign than in previous years.

For its 2022 report, the chamber chose to focus on work-based learning and how to increase participation opportunities for interested students. MNPS began its program during the 2021-2022 school year and expanded it to all MNPS high schools in the 2022-2023 school year. Over that time period, they hired and trained new staff, ramped up the program, and opened a support hub for continued expansion. oh and they spent several million dollars to do so.

Work-based learning programs provide students with an opportunity to earn academic credits while working paid jobs. It’s an initiative rooted in vocational training programs established in 1917. The goal is to expose students to many career opportunities while giving them hands-on experience. Job shadowing, internships, cooperative education, service-based learning, and more are incorporated in an effort to better prepare students for future careers.

The chamber’s education report, created by a volunteer committee chaired by Madeline Adams of the Japan-American Society of Tennesse and Carrie Maxwell of EY, consulted with a wide variety of experts to craft a list of observations and recommendations. Those recommendations include adding transportation options, expanding eligibility, and creating ways to include undocumented students.

Nice recommendations, but it is worth noting, there ain’t a teacher on the committee. The parents on the committee all have cool jobs like Metro Council Member or Juvenile Court Judge, or they work for cool people like Pinnacle Financial Partners. Yea…a real cross-section.

During the 2021 – 2022 school year, 131 students participated in MNPS’s work-based learning program, as did 15 business partners; students worked over 5,000 hours and received upwards of $70,000 in wages in year 1. The graduation rate of those students who participated in year 1 was 97 percent.

You read that right, this whole party on the patio was about 131 kids doing 125 weeks of work, collectively, and earning about $14 an hour. Screams inspiration doesn’t it?

Meh…maybe for the business community, who are always on the prowl for cheap labor. I know, that’s a cheap shot, but in this case…

Personally, I tell my kids, don’t be in such a rush to get to work and start earning money. You got a whole lifetime of that ahead of you, and trust me, there won’t be any time in the future when you’ll be wishing you got started sooner.

I started working when I was 13, and every year I wish I would have waited a little longer. Travel, explore hobbies, learn an instrument, spend time with friends, sleep in late, or read a book…in the future, you’ll have considerably fewer opportunities than you do now to pursue any of these interests, or others.

I get it, there are kids that come from impoverished homes, and waiting to go to work isn’t an option. That’s a bigger problem though, and a partial failure of society. Empowering a 15-year-old kid to become the primary breadwinner of a household might be a necessary sin, but it is not one to celebrate.

Per the Chamber’s report, certain student populations are excluded from work-based learning based on eligibility requirements. Three of the requirements stood out to committee members:

Students must maintain a “C” average,
Students must maintain an average attendance rate of 90%
Students must maintain positive behavior including, but not limited to, no 300-400-level offenses and no more than two 200-level offenses during the current school year.

To address these concerns, committee members encourage the district to work with employers to understand the minimum requirements and assurances needed for students to participate. Some employers may be willing to accept students who do not meet all of MNPS’s current eligibility requirements. The Committee further encourages, MNPS and the Metro government to develop ways to provide work-based learning experiences for students who may require more support or flexibility than their peers.

To participate in the work-based training program, students must provide their own transportation. Thus creating a barrier for some. Public transportation is time-consuming, and ride-share programs are often unreliable. Participation by more businesses that offer hybrid or remote work could serve to mitigate some of the transportation challenges.

Funding for work-based learning comes from one of two sources. Either it comes directly from employers or the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). WIOA is a federal grant program that requires students to have a Social Security Number, and thus, illegal immigrant students are ineligible to receive payment.

MNPS, like many Tennessee school districts, serves a large contingent of immigrant and refugee students, both those considered documented and those who are undocumented. The Supreme Court ruled in Plyler v. Doe (1982) that all children residing in the United States, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, have a guaranteed right to free public K-12 education.

The committee noted other districts, in an effort to meet this challenge, have offered travel vouchers or scholarships to students without documentation. While acknowledging the additional fundraising and planning that this would require, they believe all options must be considered to include every student who seeks a work-based learning experience.

While the primary focus remains on MNPS, the chamber’s education committee report repeatedly states that this can not be solely a school district initiative. The burden of successful implementation rests with the entire community. Those attending yesterday’s event were encouraged to listen and ask themselves, “What can we do?”

Included in the 2022 Nashville Chamber Education Report is data showing demographics, enrollment, attendance, and performance numbers over the last eight years. Those numbers are the ones that reveal MNPS as a shrinking district with a shifting demographic makeup. White and Black students make up a smaller percentage, while the share of Hispanic students has grown. The high school and middle school populations may be on the rise, but middle and elementary school numbers continue to decline.

This year I lasted about 40 minutes at the ball and managed to alienate only about a dozen people before I split. Just long enough to ruin the rest of my day, as the feelings of disgust lingered long after my departure.

Here’s my recommendation for the Chamber if they want to become relevant. Replace half the education committee with actual educators, and make a teacher co-chair. Additionally, schedule the event at a time when the room can be filled with educators, who are actually making sacrifices and doing the heavy lifting, not just talking about it.

And most importantly, stop talking and listen.

Remember the words of Abraham Lincoln, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt – It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid.”

The Unfolding of An Interesting Conundrum

One of the first bills filled this year, as Tennessee’s General Assembly begins its annual session, is one that would abolish the law establishing class sizes for k-12 classrooms. The bill carries a little extra weight because its sponsor is the Chairman of the State Senates Education Committee, Senator John Lundberg (R-Bristol).

I’m sure you can imagine the fireworks this one has kicked off. Many interpret Lunberg’s bill as a move to increase class size, something he adamantly denies.

Among those critics is Jill Weitz, director of communications for UnifiEd, a local education advocacy organization. She tells The Times Free Press that the bill is misguided, “I would assume that this is an attempt to address the teacher retention issue that we have,” Weitz said in a phone call. “And while that is something that is absolutely essential, we do not feel that this is the correct way to go about addressing that issue.”

After several conversations with Lundberg, I don’t believe that is a correct assumption. In my opinion, he is sincere when he says this is an idea born out of conversations with educators, and a belief in local control. Living in Tennessee, where you have a conservative governor who seldom practices conservative principles, it is easy to forget, local control is a core conservative principle. Lundberg is a conservative.

But what about third-grade retention, you might ask? Here comes the conundrum, for both sides.

The way I see it, you either support local control, or you don’t. You don’t get to pick and choose at whim. And Senator Lundy, and I talked extensively about the dichotomy of supporting local control in one instance and taking it in another. His arguments are thoughtful – one is about ensuring consistent outcomes for all Tennessee students, while one is about allowing the locals to serve students as they see best – though I remain respectfully unconvinced.

In one instance, supporters believe that given the opportunity, locals will do what’s best, while critics believe the opposite. On the next subject, the roles are flip-flopped. It doesn’t really work that way, you either believe and trust that decisions are best made at the local level or you don’t.

Here’s where it gets even more interesting. In discussing the proposed legislation with an educator friend, their response was, “Oh no, we can’t have that pass!. We are already having enough issues trying to get the district to adhere to the law. They are constantly in violation of class size laws.”

So we can’t lift an ineffective law because people are already ignoring it? That’s a head-scratcher.

I’ve come to the conclusion that there are three different levels of control in education – federal, state, and local – because we like to treat school governance in a manner similar to a schoolyard brawl. Hear me out.

Two kids initially square off, and one beats the other. Instead of accepting defeat, the loser trucks off to enlist the aid of their older and bigger brother. That brother comes back and attempts to right the loss.

When he gets his butt kicked, he just goes with the younger brother and enlists the aid of the eldest brother, who brings their considerable heft to the fight. When the dust clears, all the combatants stand around, regardless of who wins, and say, “We could have just settled this between us.”

For the record, Lundberg is a supporter of smaller class sizes and recognizes the benefits they bring. He’s not looking to mimic college lecture halls. His bill, if made law, would require the TDOE to still produce recommended class sizes. Basically, the same thing they are doing now.

It’s going to be interesting how this all unfolds and spills over into other areas. Ultimately, decisions will have to be made on whether principals guide us, or self-interest.

Quick Hits

If you are an MNPS family, look for a school marketing plan to be directed your way in the near future. MNPS is attempting to stem enrollment declines by giving individual schools 1, 5, or 10K, to promote their school to the local community. They use the money on stipends for family engagement efforts, fliers, media buys, or assorted other tools. Whatever puts more butts in the seat, and less in the city’s charter schools. But wait a minute you say…aren’t the majority of charter schools, MNPS schools? Didn’t the district approve and previously promote those schools? So in essence isn’t MNPS actually spending money to compete against…itself? Schematics my friend, just put me down for a coffee mug and a t-shirt – size extra-large.

In case you were wondering, charter school expansion remains very much alive and kicking in Tennessee. Education may not be a priority for the Governor during his second term, but it is certainly on the to-do list for Tennessee House Leader Cameron Sexton (R- Crossville). In a recent speech, he introduced a new element, Charter Boarding Schools.

Per the Tennessee Lookout, he proposed the idea during a recent speech. He supported the idea by telling the gathered crowd, “We know that there are kids in certain parts of our state who are in high-crime areas, and we’re okay with funding them when they go to prison, we’re okay with funding them with DCS (Department of Children’s Services) to DHS (Department of Human Services).”

So…let me…get this straight…all right I better not.

One last thing about charter schools. Public or I should say, traditional school advocates, are going to have to at some point change their messaging. Charter schools have been around long enough to produce a litany of mixed results, but a generation of graduates. Those graduates now making educational decisions for their own children. They. like most of us, will apply the weight of our experiences in making those decisions. Regaling them with tales of charter school malfeasance is likely to prove ineffective in convincing them of the value of a public school. They are more likely to shrug and say, “yea, I went through a charter school and I’m okay”, while they enroll their children in a charter option. Just saying.

Congratulations to Mercedes Schneider on hitting the 10-year mark with her blog. If you don’t read her, you should.

I’m going to leave you with this one. You may have heard about the case in Memphis involving 5 police officers beating Tyre Nichols, a young black motorist, to death. All the officers involved are Black, so the race aspect is not as prevalent as in other cases, but, we are presented with yet another example of police overstepping their bounds and behaving in an abhorrent manner.

The video of the incident is to be released this evening, delayed by an effort to allow people who work in government buildings ample opportunity to get home. The expectation is that the video will spark riots and endanger those that had nothing to do with the tragic events. I question the expectation of violence.

Yes, too many people have lost their lives due to the actions of police officers who fail to live up to the standards of the profession. But for every one of these criminals with a badge, there are tens of thousands of officers who serve with distinction. We must not allow the actions of a few bad actors to negate those honorable officers’ service. Just as their exemplary service does not negate, or excuse, the actions of those who fail to live up to standards.

Police work is difficult work. It requires putting your own life at risk. None of that excuses allowing a low-level traffic stop to turn into a senseless beating.

Memphis officials have already taken action to hold those responsible accountable. The five officers will now answer to the very justice system that they once vowed to serve. It is right to be angered. It is right to mourn. It is right to demand change. It is not right to give in to the same impulses that led to these officers to commit the horrific actions they allegedly committed.

Stay golden Memphis. Don’t tragedy on top of tragedy.

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“The fool’s crime is the crime that is found out and the wise man’s crime is the crime that is not found out.”
― Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White

The silly season is upon us. Coming out of the holiday rush, we’ve run smack dab into a rush of self-serving initiatives. Let me explain.

On MLK day, the boy’s middle school basketball team was invited to participate in a holiday exhibition. It was held at Montgomery Bell Academy(MLK). I don’t know if you’ve ever been to the MBA campus, but trust me when I tell you, it’s jaw-dropping.

The basketball arena was comparable to one at a small division 1 college, equipped at each corner with 4 high-definition scoreboards. There is an indoor lacrosse field, 3 basketball practice gyms, handball courts, and a weight room that eclipses anything at the local YMCA. That’s just the stuff I observed.

I stood in the middle of it all with my mother-in-law, who taught in public schools for 35 needs, and said, “I dare any public school advocate to come and stand with me and tell me that a public school experience is equatable to this.”

It’s not, by any measure. But that argument gets made regularly in order to keep people enrolled in and satisfied with the public school system. We do it with a root argument of concern for kids. I’ll flip the argument and put forth, that if any of this was really about kids, we’d be doing everything we can to give kids a similar experience, with little regard for who’s running it.

The most dominant argument put forth in defense of traditional schools is that they are underfunded. It’s an argument that wears thin with me because we never define what adequate funding looks like. If the goal was to make every school look like a version of an MBA, well then now I’m interested.

But that’s not what we do, Instead, we find fault with any other options and try to convince the public that doing anything but enrolling your child in their local school is a threat to democracy. Something that only racists and elitists would consider. Who do we think we are fooling?

On the 23rd of January, the window for Metro Nashville Public Schools(MNPS) families to explore optional schools for 2023 opens. You wouldn’t know it, because the district is doing everything it possibly can to keep it on the down low. Sure it’s listed on the website, but virtually nowhere else.

In fact, the district is doing everything it can to ensure that students choose their zoned schools without considering charter schools or magnets. Despite these schools being MNPS schools. Yesterday it was announced at the district principal meeting that schools will get a minimum of $1000 each and some as much as $10000 for the sole purpose of marketing. purportedly the money is drawn from ESSER funds.

A couple months ago I was shocked to hear an ad for a local middle school arts magnet on the radio. That’s kind of weird I thought, but now I understand. Can we expect other schools to quickly follow? Can I expect my social media feed to be clogged with testimony to the greatness of local schools? Maybe we can get some kids down at intersections spinning signs like politicians do during campaign season.

One of the most coveted spots in the local school choice lottery is with 1 of the 2 academic magnet schools. But don’t think being coveted protects you from the slings and arrows. For years I’ve heard local critics accuse magnet schools, and their supporters, of utilizing mechanisms that segregate out poor kids through grades. All I can do is shake my head.

In order to qualify for a seat at either Hume-Foge or Meigs, two schools regularly recognized as being among the top schools in the state, a student simply needs to maintain a GPA of 80 or above, and score “”on-track” on TCAP. That’s it. Shouldn’t that be the expectation for every student that enters a schoolhouse? Are you arguing that a student that comes from an impoverished family is incapable of scoring better than a “C”?

I agree that social elements have as large an impact on student outcomes, as what happens inside a school, but to act as if the bar required to qualify for the academic lottery is some out-of-reach number, unattainable by anyone but the wealthy, raises some heavy skepticism. But it gets even more egregious.

A student may have the academic credentials to qualify for a seat at a magnet, but that doesn’t mean they’ll get in. The only thing they are guaranteed is an entry in the lottery. From there it is all luck of the draw. We don’t even weigh the lottery in a way that rewards those who’ve performed at a higher level. Nope, everybody is considered the same. But they’re not.

A child who maintains a GPA of 95 has different needs than one with an 85. It’s likely that they’ve also worked harder and put emphasis on their studies than the student with a lower GPA. Shouldn’t that mean something? By just throwing everyone into a straight lottery, we are inadvertently sending a message that work and perseverance don’t matter, in the end, it is all ruled by chance.

Critics of magnets will put forth an argument that even if they don’t get to attend the academic magnet, students will still have incredible comparable opportunities at their local zoned school. We’ll sell the idea that those options are just as good as what’s available at the magnet school, just like we’ll try and sell an equitable comparison between private and public schools.

Now tell me again, whose needs are we putting first?

Who’s in Charge

The Tennessee Department of Education(TDOE) continues to operate like a rudderless ship. One of the worst-guarded secrets in the state is that Commissioner Schwinn is ready to shed the orange and white, and head for greener pastures. Unfortunately, there don’t seem to be any takers for her services. For someone regularly championed as a savior in the national press, there doesn’t seem much interest from others in bringing the architect on board to replicate her advertised successes in Tennessee.

Meanwhile, it seems her handlers, Chiefs for Change, are itching for a change themselves. Last week, the Chiefs announced a new cohort of “Future Chiefs”, with two Tennesseans – TDOE’s Eve Carney and Hamilton County’s Sonia Stewart – among the ranks. This is significant because it’s been well over a decade since Tennessee had a Commissioner of Education who wasn’t a member of Chiefs for Change.

In that time, Chiefs have turned Tennessee into their own personal education laboratory. The Literacy Bill, TISA, and charter school proliferation – all riddled with their fingerprints. Hard to imagine them letting that kind of opportunity go.

This week, social media was ablaze with a shiny graphic touting the accomplishments of Eve Carney, now a deputy superintendent at TDOE. Who knew, right? Apparently not most of the folks at TDOE.

Eve, for the most part, is a competent administrator, but reading through her accompanying list of accomplishments might make you almost forget that until recently the state was out of compliance with the USDOE, and at risk of losing millions in federal dollars. Ms. Carney was involved and oversaw many of those areas of non-compliance, so I’m not sure that bragging about developing “a comprehensive, results-based monitoring protocol for federal K-12 grant programs that emphasizes compliance and positive student outcomes is a credible move. And I sure as hell wouldn’t let my name be connected with the Tennessee Achievement School District.

But that’s the thing about these national education non-profits, they just say shit assuming that you’ll take it as gospel. The truth is a secondary consideration.

I would argue that Chief for Change’s recent promotion of Carney is a sure sign that Schwinn is looking to Schwinn out the door. Why else would a woman who has never demonstrated the ability to share credit, nor be slow to claim credit for others’ work, suddenly be cool with sharing the spotlight?

As far as the Chiefs go, it’s like this, why would you need Tom Brady if you’ve got Brock Purdy sitting on the bench?

To complicate matters further, word on the street today is that the TDOE’s Assistant Commissioner of Policy and Legislative Affairs, Charlie Bufalino, is out the door. The timing is weird on this one because the legislative season has just kicked in and Charlie has been the department’s primary liaison with the General Assembly since 2020. He’s among a plethora of former employees from TennesseeCAN – an education advocacy chapter of a group formed by Michelle Rhee – that joined Governor Lee’s staff at the beginning of his first term.

Speculation is that former Representative Bill Dunn(R – Knoxville) could, in a pinch, fill any void left by Bufalino. Dunn previously led the House Education Committee, so he’s well-versed in education issues.

Governor Lee’s inauguration for his second term is this weekend, and thoughts will soon turn to his state of the state address. Maybe we’ll get some clarity about Commissioner Schwinn’s future by then. Whatever happens, it’s going to be interesting.

Quick Hits

Listening to the new HARDY record, and the line, “What’s one less .30-06 to a redneck?” spills from my speakers. I’d dismiss but the lyric comes from a man who’s had 15 number one’s in 5 years which equates to one in 10 of the songs that have hit the top of the country chart. He reveals his secret in a recent song:

“It’s gotta be a truck, there’s gotta be a girl, she’s gotta be hot and you gotta rhyme the s**t with ‘world.’ It can’t be too fake, but it can’t be too real; gotta make them tap their feet, or I’ll lose my record deal,”

Curiously this record sounds like Creed and Nickleback gone country, and Hardy looks like Sheldon Cooper’s younger brother. But he’s got the hits.

The Nashville Public Education Foundation is out warning folks about the dire consequences presented by Tennessee’s new 3rd-grade retention law. You might want to pay attention.

Next Tuesday is another opportunity for Nashvillians to show up and tell the MNPS School board what they want to hear. Changes in policy interpretation mean more opportunities to talk more and say less. Public participation happens at every meeting, but participants are limited to subjects on the agenda. A glance at the agenda this week reveals that once again there will be plenty of discussion around the board’s favorite subject – charter schools. Weigh in if you must,

Here’s a juicy one for you. I overheard a conversation about a recent gathering of leaders where Will Pinkston presented the economic costs of charter school proliferation, which has become Pinkston’s area of expertise. Recently elected Representative Justin Jones was in attendance, apparently, like many, Pinkston has rubbed him wrong. Jones reportedly stormed out after dropping several “mother fuckers” and calling Pinkston a racist, Again, I don’t know many details, but I can’t help but chuckle at the irony. It was Pinkston who resigned his seat on the MNPS School Board because everybody else was racist. Can’t make this stuff up.

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“Tell people there’s an invisible man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure.”—George CarlinI got a confession to make. The older I get the more I struggle to find a place for myself in a world that has undergone a rapid metamorphic change. The morals and beliefs I grew up with seem to become more and more irrelevant each day. It’s no longer enough to be kind, honest, and hard-working. These days you have to be the right kind of honest and kind to the right kind of people.Last night, as I fell asleep, I listened to a comedian on Netflix do a bit on how we used to mind our own business. That’s how far we’ve come, the simple act of respecting each other’s privacy is now viewed as archaic and fodder for a comedic bit. Yea…I’m that old guy silently screaming get off my lawn. And if you understand that reference, you are probably right there with me.Nothing makes me more acutely aware of my slide in relevance than parenting. I’m an older parent, raising children in a world that is no longer aligned with the one I came of age in. Some of that is good, kids today are more attuned and self-aware than we ever were, or in some cases, are. They’ve been forced to deal with and adapt to situations that would have never come across my plate as a child, and do it with aplomb. Despite being constantly bombarded by social media and the promotion of instant gratification, turning things like privacy and context into relics of a past age.An argument could be made that kids today are smarter than past generations, but I would argue that we are conflating smartness with wisdom, and that is a mistake. You can be very intelligent at a young age, but wisdom only comes with experience and there are no shortcuts to its acquisition. Experience provides context to knowledge, without that context, knowledge exists only in theory. Treating kids as if the two are interchangeable does everyone a disservice.Since the day my children were born, I’ve struggled with the inherent hypocrisy embedded in parenthood. All of us are imperfect creatures, yet we feel completely justified in imposing standards on children that we can’t live up to ourselves. In pursuit of these standards, we often address children in a manner that if anybody ever talked to us like that, we’d pop them in the mouth. Yet, when they rebel, we seem mystified by their disrespectful and insolent behavior.Nowhere is that hypocrisy more apparent than in the ways we treat our young men. My daughter is celebrated for her outspokenness and ability to advocate for herself. Whereas in my son, the same traits are viewed as disrespectful and disruptive.She is encouraged to speak her mind and her feelings are regularly validated. He on the other hand is encouraged to shut his mouth and follow orders.How as a parent do I reconcile these two opposing views?I don’t have an answer. The other night a fellow parent told me, “Sometimes they just have to learn to shut their mouth. It’s a hard lesson, but an important one.”While I don’t disagree with that sentiment, would I deliver the same message to my daughter?.These kinds of issues often leave me feeling unmoored and ill-equipped to raise children in this day and age. Maybe younger parents have a better handle on it. Sometimes they seem to, but then I’m reminded of an old AA saying, “Don’t judge your insides by someone else’s outsides.”Something that might be worth considering though, is how much my feelings are also reflected in the growing parental movement. Here’s another confession for you, I rarely feel welcome at my kid’s school, and seldom feel as if my thoughts are taken into account. When I raise questions or concerns, I am often treated as an uninformed interloper, despite over a decade of studying and following education policy.Maybe that’s intentional. Maybe slowly sliding the parent out of the equation is to create self-reliance. Maybe schools just don’t have time to be inclusive to those who don’t attend classes.I am not leveling accusations, just making observations. I freely acknowledge that it could be just me. Maybe I make myself unwelcome, not out of the realm of possibility.Whether it’s an intention or non-intentional doesn’t change the outcome. Whatever the reason, if I feel like this, think about how those who have never had a peek behind the curtain feel. Maybe instead of acting out of ill intentions, parents are acting out of fear and discomfort.The longer I observe public education policies, the more it feels like they are designed to protect those at the top of the hierarchy and the system itself, often at the expense of teachers, students, and families.Let’s be honest, teachers themselves often remain unseen and unrecognized by the system. So how is it that those who are themselves unseen, are expected to see others?I’m sure that district leaders will leap to defend themselves by pointing to surveys, callouts, opportunities to volunteer, and PTOs, as evidence to the contrary. But are any of those rooted in authentic partnerships? That’s the fallacy trap many fall into, just because you are talking doesn’t mean you are communicating.It is easier to create bogeymen, and vilify them, than it is to try to understand people and make them feel as if they are part of the process. One can be done in a couple minutes, but the latter takes extensive work.Several years ago when Social Emotional Learning first established a toehold, I asked every educator I could, “How do you handle it when the SEL lessons taught at school conflict with those at home?”No one could provide an answer except for Matthew Portel who was a principal in MNPS at the time. His answer was, “With lots of communication.”Call me when we start that communication.The Schwinning BluesAs previously noted, over the last 3 months, Tennessee resident Penny Schwinn has been largely absent from the state. Prior to her withdrawal from view, she was a fixture on social media, her presence feeling almost ubiquitous. Not so much anymore.After a little research, it’s become safe to say, if it felt like Commissioner Schwinn wasn’t around, it was because she wasn’t around. A look at her travel expenses reveals that if you were a resident of Austin, Arlington, Boston, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, or Washington D.C.. you had better odds of seeing her than if you lived in Tennessee.I know, there were the odd sightings of her driving around Green Hills mid-day, or in attendance at a cocktail party this past week, but for the most part, she’s been MIA.This past week, the Governor came to visit the Tennessee Department of Education. Pictures posted to social media show nothing but the back of Dr. Schwinn’s head and a cast of TDOE employees who are unfamiliar to me.It seems a visit from the Governor would be a prime opportunity to post a picture of the Governor and the Commissioner of Education addressing the troops side by side. Maybe even include a picture of the newly elevated Deputy Commissioner Eve Carney.What? You didn’t know there was a new Deputy Commissioner? Clearly, you don’t read the Chiefs for Change press releases, because it is right there in the newest missive announcing Carney and Hamilton County’s Deputy Superintendent Sonia Stewart as newly minted Future Chiefs. Which in itself is a big deal, since the last 3 Tennessee Education Commissions have been Chiefs for Change members.But I digress,If this picture comes from a gathering of literacy experts, like captioned, where is Chief of Academics Lisa Coons? I bet that there is more than one district superintendent capable of answering that questions. After all, in the midst of a math materials adoption period, someone has to be out there twisting arms and…I mean offering adoption guidance to district leaders.All of this is fueling further speculation on the future employment of Penny Schwinn. Word on the street is that she is actively beating the bushes seeking a new gig. Literally spinning the Rolodex in search of someone willing to help with the search. The problem is, there are few takers and time is running out. It might be time to switch to plan B.Plan B entails Governor Lee announcing that she is leaving in the coming months and expressing the state’s eternal debt and gratitude for her services. That would officially put the word out and may spark some interest. Or, she may have to resign herself to going back to Cali – cue the LL Cool J – and resuming a leadership role at her charter school.Now, this week Governor Lee announced that In-and-Out Burgers are coming to Tennessee. As a native Californian already living here, Schwinn might be a great regional manager. Just an idea. Or maybe that was the deal made with In-and-Out to get her here – we’ll give you one education disruptor in exchange for a sack of burgers, fries, and a 6-pack of shakes.Here’s another facet of this, when you become a Future Chief, the organization appoints you a mentor. That mentor guides you into making the right decisions while serving as a gatekeeper for access. Access that comes at a cost to those wishing to meet with the Future Chief. So the question becomes, now that I’ve bought a 2023 Porsche, do I really need to keep the 2017 model in the garage?With Carney and Stewart on the payroll, do they really need Schwinn and former HCS head Bryan Johnson?I do think it’s worth noting the tremendous amount of success that Sonia Stewart has experienced since leaving MNPS. After spending the last year of her tenure in Nashville stuck in Dr. Battle’s dog house, she’s since eclipsed her former boss in just a couple years. I may not be a fan of the Chiefs for Change, but Stewart obviously has some skills that were underappreciated and underutilized by MNPS. I have little doubt that she’ll be taking up the mantle of leadership with a school district very soon.School Board BluesMNPS had a board meeting this past week and with it came a new interpretation of public participation rules. As shared by the Nashville Scene, “Board Chair Rachael Elrod hasn’t changed the policy itself, she is enforcing it differently than the last chair and will allow folks to speak only about agenda items — though they will be able to comment at both of each month’s two meetings, unlike before.”Considering that over the last 2 years, most board business has been shuffled to committee meetings and only brought back to the floor for a vote of approval, this is a pretty big deal.The interpretation puts further restrictions on those wishing to avail themselves of the option for public commentary. The agenda for an upcoming board meeting is released the Friday before the upcoming meeting. Those willing to participate must peruse the agenda waiting for an opportunity to voice their concern. Meetings only take place twice a month, so they face an extended wait.Once they verify that their concern is on the agenda, they only have 4 days to resolve potential work, childcare, or other scheduling conflicts in order to speak. For an entity that likes to spend a whole lot of time talking about barriers, they seem to have no problem erecting a few of their own.As pointed out by commenter, Jeremiah Wooten, “I think when you restrict people’s public comments at meetings to only items on the agenda and direct them to email you instead, you’re really limiting the ‘public’ part of public participation.”Public participation is one of the few ways in which constituents can hold public officials accountable. Preserving it should be a non-sequitur.This move once again makes me think of the old adage, this would be a great place to work f it wasn’t for the customers.Quick HitsThis week MNPS unanimously passed a resolution in opposition to Tennessee’s third-grade retention law. I’m told by legislators that the two most discussed topics in the early going of 2023’s General Assembly is the third-grade retention law and toll roads. Expect both to continue to be the center of the conversation.Now that session has started, lawmakers are lining up to file bills that will amend or repeal the retention law. Representative David Hawk (R-Greenville) has filed a bill (HB0093) that would make a student’s local education agency (LEA) – commonly known as public school districts – the responsible entity for decisions on retention. Ron Travis (R-Dayton) has introduced a bill (HB0107) that offers even more modification to the law. Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) has indicated that she is preparing repeal legislation and is currently working on the final language of her bill. The deadline to file is January 31.

On January 30th the Tennessee State Board of Education will hold a rule making hearing on the transition from BEP to TISA. One of the proposed rules about Education Savings Accounts read as follows:

The maximum annual amount to which a participating student is entitled under the Program shall be equal to the amount representing the per-pupil state and local funds generated and required through the state’s K-12 education funding formula Basic Education Program (“BEP”) for the LEA in which the participating student resides, or the statewide per pupil average of required state and local funds as determined through the state’s K-12 education funding formula BEP funds, whichever amount is less.

That to me sounds like the value of ESAs is about to increase. If so, lawmakers are going to need to add some more money to the ESA pot. I wonder who saw this one coming, and how it’ll affect State Senator Gardenheir’s (R – Chattanooga) efforts to bring Hamilton County into the game.Critical Race Theory is out, and “Implicit Bias” is in. State Sen. Todd Gardenhire of Chattanooga, who is co-sponsoring the bill with fellow Republican Rep. Jason Zachary of Knoxville, that would prohibit districts and universities from mandating training focusing on “implicit bias”. This should lead to some fun-filled conversations, especially since Brother Jones now sits on the House Education Committee.Tennessee State Senator Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) is fast becoming the Bruce Springsteen of Tennessee politics.There are few things less popular than the Tennessee Achievement School District (ASD). Long recognized as an unmitigated failure that has cost Tennessee taxpayers roughly a billion dollars, it has inexplicably avoided being shuttered. Maybe this year will be different, Representative Tom Leatherwood (R-Arlington) has submitted a bill, HB0179, that may finally put everybody out of their misery.A new year doesn’t equate to greater financial stability. Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be appreciated.A huge shout-out to all of you who’ve already lent your financial support. I am eternally grateful for your generosity. It allows me to keep doing what I do and without you, I would have been forced to quit long ago. It is truly appreciated and keeps the bill collectors happy. Now more than ever your continued support is vital.

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“She stared at the television. “Why is it that after all the bullets have bounced off Superman’s chest, he then ducks when the villain throws the empty gun at him?”
― Percival Everett, I Am Not Sidney Poitier

The holiday season is about all over but the crying. This week saw kids across the state heading back to the classroom, ready to start the second half of the school year. In Nashville, teachers spent the week engaged in professional development in anticipation of Monday’s arrival of students.

Students aren’t the only ones looking to return, Tennessee’s state legislators are back at it next week as well. So far it appears that neither Governor Lee nor the Tennessee Department of Education will be pushing any major initiatives in education policy this year. Legislators, for their part, seem focused on amending existing laws, as opposed to creating new ones. Look for amendments on 3rd-grade retention, ESAs, and TISA to all be put forth.

Interesting rumblings I heard this morning in regard to TISA, apparently, some charter school operators have been putting some pen to paper and reached a conclusion that the new funding formula is going to hurt them. The base rate they receive per student under the Governor’s TISA plan is considerably lower than their previous per-pupil funding. Now some students will qualify for some additional weights, but considering that charters traditionally serve fewer English Learners or students with disabilities, will it be enough? From what I’m told the answer is, no.

It’d be ironic if an unintended consequence of the Governor’s signature legislation is financial insolvency for some of the state’s charter school operators. As attractive as that idea may be, we mustn’t lose sight that charter school insolvency affects real people who can ill afford a further disruption in their lives. These are people that have done nothing wrong other than pursue better educational outcomes for their children. It’ll be interesting to see if children are put at the forefront of this sure-to-be-coming conversation.

Third-grade retention seems to be the topic of du jour. I guess it is better late than never.

As much as I tried to draw attention two years ago to the provision retaining 3rd-graders who are not on track per TCAP while legislation was being proposed, it seems like people are just now waking up to the fact it’s real, and it’ll be happening. If you look at last year’s TCAP results, roughly 63% of all 3rd graders will have to either sign up for a tutoring program, go to summer school, or face retention. That’s going to take a whole lot more forethought and planning than what’s been applied of late.

One popular thought making the rounds is that schools should use the literacy benchmarks that are mandated 3 times a year and incorporate them into the retention formula. This is a great idea, as long as you forget that benchmarks are not designed to be high-stakes tests. They are designed to identify deficiencies and guide instruction. So if you want to use a wrench for a problem that requires a screwdriver, by all means, proceed.

Yes, a one-time-only assessment is not the proper way to test whether or not a child needs remediation is not the proper strategy. But substituting another improper tool does not improve the process. The decision needs to reside in the hands of locals and be an ongoing discussion involving both the student and their families. Unfortunately, this is not a belief shared by House Education Chair Representative Mark White (R-Memphis).

White recently told The Tennessee Lookout, “I don’t think the answer is leaving it totally to the locals, and it’s not entirely with what the state wants to do,” White said. “We might need to find some type of compromise.” He’s expressed fear that if left to their own devices, the locals will promote too many kids.

“If we leave it all to localities, no one is going to be held back,” he said. “But more importantly, the pressure that we’re putting, hopefully, on these schools and teachers to improve first through third grade shouldn’t be replaced.”

I always find the arrogance in such a statement disturbing. White and other legislators seem to believe that without their input, it’d be Bon Bon’s and spa days for everybody. That educators in Cannon or Rutherford counties only consider fully educating the county’s children at the impetus of state lawmakers. Ironically these are conservative lawmakers who physically balk at the mere suggestion that the state, or national government, is better at something as minuscule as say…changing a tire.

Early indications on 3rd-grade retention are that the House may consider changing the law, whereas the Senate is not so inclined. Time will tell if that holds true.

When it comes to education, Republicans seem just as willing as Democrats to bring the heavy hand of the state down on the locals. Neither seems to believe the locals are up to the task without them.

It never ceases to amaze me how much we talk out of one side of our mouth about “supporting teachers”, but out of the other, we advocate for soft-on-discipline approaches to behavior modification. Behavior that is increasingly making a teacher’s job more difficult. Behavior that also impacts the ability of other students in the classroom to learn.

Legislators have been open to making changes, but it remains to be seen to what extent.

“I think we have passed some good legislation in the past couple of years in regard to classroom discipline, but we are always listening to the feedback we are getting from our teachers as these laws are being practically applied in our LEAs,” House Education Committee member Representative Kirk Haston tell us via email, “I think the existing discipline laws on the books are a good foundation on which to continue to build a better discipline structure for our teachers to work within.”

Despite Nashville and Memphis announcing their intent to appeal a recent decision by the courts dismissing filed ESA complaints, expansion is definitely on the table for this year’s legislative session. In a classic case of he-was-against-it-before-he was-for-it, State Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) has put forth legislation that would lower the threshold for ESA eligibility by including students in districts with at least five of the state’s lowest-performing schools, as identified in the last three “priority school” cycles since 2015. Currently, to be eligible, a district must have 10 of the state’s lowest-performing schools.

If the proposed amendment is successful. Chattanooga and Knoxville may become eligible for participation in the state’s ESA program. Both would have been included initially if Gardenhire hadn’t traded his vote for the provision that both districts were removed from the legislation. In other words, in this session, the Senator is trying to undo his actions from a previous session.

Another area that warrants revisiting is the law that made the State Textbook Commission responsible for crafting an appeal process for parents whose complaints about objectionable materials in school libraries are denied. It seems that when this bill was passed nobody realized that the Commission lacked the resources, including legal counsel, required to meet the challenge of what was being asked.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that the December deadline came and went without a policy in place. Technically, the commission is now not in compliance with the law. How to get them in compliance is a task for this year’s Tennessee General Assembly. Representative John Reagan (R-Oak Ridge) tells us in an email, “There are currently efforts under study to add staff and resource availability to the Textbook Commission. The primary impediment to such an effort is a source of funding for such. When that problem is solved, there will likely be additional resources for the Textbook Commission.”

One promising bill that has already been filed by Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) is one that increases, from $200 to $500, the amount each LEA and public charter school is required to pay each teacher in kindergarten through grade 12 for the purchase of instructional supplies for the 2023-2024 school year. Let’s hope this one passes unencumbered.

While there may not be any grand initiatives, I will say, there appears plenty of opportunity for fireworks to ignite.

MNPS BLUES

Everybody who plans to attend MNPS’s first board meeting of the year probably ought to consider packing a lunch. A glance at the agenda leads me to believe it’ll be a talkfest.

First up, is public participation. Then you got a new policy around new Charter School applications that must be approved. There is a memorandum in regard to the 3rd-grade retention law that requires passage. Despite it being non-binding, and nobody is likely to read the whole thing, everybody will want to take the opportunity to publicly rend their garments. Then there is an item that caught my eye.

Dr. Battle is asking the board to certify charges against a tenured Art Teacher that warrant dismissal. Admittedly, I know little about the case other than what’s included in the agenda packet, but at face value, it feels curious.

Per the letter provide by Battle to the teacher, this seems to be the crux of the case.

Last November, said teacher came to school and requested a meeting with her principal. During that meeting, he noticed unusual hand tremors, a “wide-eyed” appearance, and slow speech. Out of concern for her health – I know, bear with me – he asked the AP to meet with the teacher, which led to Employee Relations being contacted.

A drug test was administered and the teacher was placed on administrative leave while everyone waited for the results. On November 10, 2022, the results came back positive for marijuana. Now here we are, moving for dismissal less than two months after the infraction. If only the district could move as rapidly in other areas… but I digress.

I’m not trying to downplay the seriousness of the charges, but if MNPS plans to start dismissing every teacher who tests positive for marijuana, this teacher shortage is about to get real. we live in a time where vape pens, edibles, and other forms of marijuana are readily available and in some states legal.

I’ve made no secret about my past dalliances with illegal substances, but I don’t ever recall shaky hands being associated with marijuana usage. My question would be, what other substances, legal and illegal, showed up in the drug test? I’d also question the level of THC found in her bloodstream. Marijuana is one of those substances that linger in the body for a while. Maybe this is a case of weekend usage, and something else was at the root of her shaky hands at outward appearance.

The reality is that teaching has become an increasingly strenuous and anxiety-creating occupation. I’m not sure in the current age that a zero-tolerance policy serves us well. Nor do I feel that the safety factor is a compelling argument. In all my years around substance abuse, I’ve often feared for my safety around those using alcohol or stimulants, never around pot-heads. Perhaps, helping this woman get the help she needs, would set a better precedent than drumming her out of the profession.

This is a funny argument coming from me because nobody aggravates me like a stoner. Furthermore, as a recovering addict, Recognizes marijuana as a gateway drug. That said, not everyone is as intolerant as I am and perhaps our policies should be more representative of the times we live in. We preach compassion regularly, yet seldom do we actually practice it.

Again, I don’t know many details, but on the surface, this appears to be…interesting. Hopefully, this will garner as much conversation as the new charter school application policy.

QUICK HITS

The Tennessee Department of Education released a new RFP this week. This one is looking for help in addressing chronically absent students. Per the RFP, “The State is seeking one contractor to provide an optional service for LEAs and public charter schools to use as they seek to engage and reengage with students who are truant, are at risk of becoming truant, or are otherwise struggling to attend school.” The maximum liability on this one is set at $3 million. So let me get this right, the state is now willing to pay a vendor for what teachers have been expected to do for the last two years as part of their required responsibilities? That sounds about right.

Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn may be absent from the public stage these days, but fear not, her minions are still trying to drum up new career opportunities for her. This week, it’s Sumner County’s Scott Langford beating the drum in a new piece for Curriculum Matters. in his piece he touts the Tennessee Foundational Skills Curriculum Supplement. Calling them free, excellent materials developed by the state. Lankford forgets, they had a little help.

In case you are unfamiliar, the Libens were architects of Common Core. Governor Lee has openly bragged about eradicating Tennessee from the scourge of Common Core. Let me summarize, Langford believes that Tennessee should be considered a leader in literacy because they implemented materials outlawed by their governor. Makes sense to me.

Quietly, Governor Lee has made three appointments to the State’sCharter School Commission. You know, the one that has the power to overturn local districts’ decisions on charter school expansion. Lee has reappointed Alan Levine to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. Along with Levine, Michael Carter of Davidson County and Chris Tutor of Shelby County have been submitted for approval as members.

For those keeping scores at home – pun intended – Levine is a health policy expert who sits on the governing board for SCORE. Carter is the managing partner for Pinnacle Builders. While Carter is the former Chair of the Shelby County GOP. Perfect choices, right?

A new year doesn’t equate to greater financial stability. Putting this blog together requires a great deal of time and resources, If you think it’s valuable, your support would be appreciated.

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“The whole history of the world is summed up in the fact that when nations are strong they are not always just, and when they wish to be just they are often no longer strong,”
― Andrew Roberts, Churchill: Walking with Destiny

Christmas weekend was bitterly cold this year. Temperatures ran in the single digits, serving to keep people holed up in their homes. Not a bad place to be when you had a copy of the new Chuck Berry biography and a warm fire.

The kids were engrossed in their new record player, and my wife began the dive into a Murakami book that she’s been gifted by our daughter. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

I open the door to find my old friend Slatski standing there with a plate of cookies and a bottle of sparkling cider.

“Why you looking so surprised?”, he asked, “You know I always drop by on Christmas afternoon.”

“Yea, but it’s never been 2 degrees before on Christmas Day”, I replied, “Get in here and get warm.”

I placed his gifts on the counter. As he pulled a chair up in front of the fire I asked, “Cup of coffee? I just brewed it.”

“Sounds good.”

I brought the steaming cups from the kitchen and found him sitting in one of two chairs in front of the fire. He’d thrown another log on, and the flames were leaping higher than before. Handing him his cup and settling into my chair, I watched him place his cup on the floor while he extracted a small flask from his pocket. He dumped a healthy dose of its contents into his mug. Returning the small container to his pocket, he picked up his cup, took a sip, and leaned back with a smile. The scent of peppermint and alcohol wafted in the air.

“Peppermint schnapps? Really? You are caring a private stash of peppermint schnapps in your pocket?”

He just shrugged, and with a grin answered, “Hey it’s Christmas time.”

I returned his smile, and settled back into my chair, gazing into the crackling fire.

“How’s your Christmas been?”, I asked.

“A big pain in the ass”, he answered and then rushed to clarify, “Well I shouldn’t say all of it, the family has been great and I enjoyed getting to settle in with them for a bit. They all loved their gifts and we laughed a lot these last couple of days, but man getting those gifts…navigating the stores…that gets old quick.”

“Ah…the age-old lament”, I reply.

“No, no no. Yes, it’s always been a bit of a pain in the ass, but it’s gotten infinitely worse.”

“How so?”, I ask.

“Well, to begin with, you used to be able to select your stuff from the shelf, take it to the register, and have them ring it up. They’d give you a total and you’d give them some money. transaction complete”, he said with some emphasis before continuing, “Now, maybe your stuff is on the shelf or maybe it needs to be back-ordered. Once you get it to the register, you have to provide all kinds of information before they’ll even begin to ring you up.”

“Yea, I’m not a fan of that email collection thing.”

“Not a fan? It’s more than that, it’s a means to collect data on you. Data that they use for god knows what”, he says, “Think about this, corporations have more data on us than at any time in history. They know our shopping trends, how much money we spend, where we spend it, what we spend it on, and how has it benefited us? Customer service is worse than ever.”

“It’s certainly becoming a lost art.”

Slatski wasn’t done yet though, “Yet, they all expect a tip. These days everybody has a tip jar out or an option to add gratuity when you pay with a card. I was at a buffet place and they had the option to add a gratuity. I was baffled, and couldn’t understand why I was tipping someone when I was getting my own food and drink and bussing my own table.”

He took a sip of his coffee before continuing, “You and I worked as bartenders when we were young, and both of us have taken plenty of server jobs over the years. Tips are supposed to be earned for providing exceptional service, otherwise, it’s just a wage supplement. I don’t mind tipping, but I’m not down with supplementing wages.”

“I still work one shift a week as a bartender”, I said, “People are more inclined to tip than ever before. If you are willing to do the work, their generosity will surprise you. I maintain that if you are working a service job and making a minimum wage, that’s on you. Kids don’t like to hear that, but it’s the truth. I believe that all these expectations of a tip, are going to end up killing it as a practice.”

“You are probably not wrong”, he replied, “Shame, because man we used to make some bank. The work was hard, but the rewards were great. it was the only job I ever had where I actually had some control over the money I earned.”

“No doubt”, I said as I sipped my coffee, “I gotta admit, I’m about over these self-checkout machines. The kids think they are the best, but I wonder why I’m now expected to do stuff that they used to pay people to do, and again, there is no trade-off in an improved customer experience. Shouldn’t I get something more than just the privilege to spend my money with them?”

“Preach on brother. I was in a store this past week where the clerk told me that they were getting rid of registers and that they wanted me to download their app and pay through it. You can imagine how that went over.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

We sat in reflection for a few minutes. Before Slatski broke the silence, “You know what we sound like?”

“A couple old men” I responded with a smile.

“A couple old men”, he echoed, “But we are not wrong.”

“No, we are not wrong.”

We sat for a bit, sipping our coffee. Eventually, I got up and threw another log on the fire, sending sparks spiraling up the chiming.

“You following all this Science of Reading Stuff?”, I asked.

“How can you not? It’s everywhere Now it’s even spreading to high schools.”

“Look nobody is saying that phonics isn’t important’, I said, “but that’s just not how adult readers read. We are not sitting there sounding out every word. hell. I don’t even read every word. I’ve read enough that my mind fills in gaps and predicts patterns to quickly discern meanings. Can’t even imagine how long it would take to read a novel if I sat there and sounded out every word.”

Slatski had some things to say, “What drives me nuts is all of this being driven by the argument that kids can’t read. That’s not what we are actually arguing about. For the most part, kids can read, now there is definitely room for improvement around punctuation, spelling, comprehension, and other associated literacy skills, but the real question is whether they can pass a test or not. A test that may or may not be reflective of their ability.”

“I have seen some legislators start to actually raise those questions”, I interjected, “I heard Cepicky, who’s on the House Education Committee, talk about if we have too many standards and if they are the right standards. Last week he was talking about TCAP literacy scores being basically flat for a decade. More phonics and decoding aren’t going to change that. We need to have a very deliberate conversation around the standards and testing itself.”

Picking up where I left off, Slatski continued, “Yea but let’s leave that bullshit idea of using these literacy screeners as an accountability measurement out of the conversation. That’s not what screeners are designed for. Their purpose is to guide instruction. That may be a small distinction to some, but it’s an important one for all.”

Silence fell between us for a moment before I picked up the thread, “Last night I talked with a guy who played professional soccer for many years, and is now coaching. He bemoaned the focus on winning games, at the expense of developing players. He told me players aren’t getting fundamentals because coaches are more dedicated to racking up wins. Coaches aren’t looking out for the best interests of players, they are focused on themselves moving up. Same thing in education. Everybody looking for a six-figure job. Teaching is viewed more and more like a pathway upward. Like major league baseball and the minor leagues. The less time spent, the better off you are.”

Slats nodded in agreement, and then added, “You know the pendulum is eventually going to swing back to math.”

Sitting up, I said, “Can’t believe I didn’t tell you this story. So you know back when I was in my twenties I worked for that guy that would get so upset because all the cashiers used calculators and couldn’t add anything in their heads. I thought he was being ridiculous, remember?”

“I remember.”

“Well I’ve changed my tune”, I said, “About a month ago, was doing tips paperwork with a young bartender. I think we were subtracting 150.15 from 249.18 and the bartender before had written the result as 99.12. I told him we’d have to check that number. He was puzzled, so I explained that in no world does 8 minus 5 equal 2. His response was to reach into his pocket grab his phone and use the calculator feature to check me. He then proceeded to dismiss the error because it was only a penny off. I argued that whether it was a penny or a hundred dollars, it was still wrong.”

“How’d he respond to that?”

“By telling me that numbers weren’t his thing and he tried to stay as far away from them as possible.”

“Does he not realize that he’s in a numbers business?”

“I tried to explain that”, I said, “But I don’t think he got it.”

Once again we fell silent before Slats spoke, “Old men.”

“Old men.”

Slatski spoke, “I wish I could it is just one political party that was responsible for this stupidity, but after reading Cardona’s Tweet…”

“The one where he said all students deserve an education aligned to industry standards? Yea, that was stupid.”

“What makes these people say such tone-deaf things?”

Neither of us had an answer, so we sat in silence sipping our rapidly cooling coffee. Finally, I asked, “You heard anything about Schwinn?”

“Other than that she’s never in the office and often out of the state?”, he said, “Not a peep.”

“When is Governor Lee supposed to announce his cabinet for his next term?”, I asked.

“I don’t know. Soon I assume. Guess he’s waiting to see if she lands another job before he commits to her?”

I thought for a minute, “I do believe that if she could find another gig, she’d be out of here. You can’t convince me that a California girl who’s been as transient as she, has suddenly fallen in love with Tennessee and is willing to stay put for another 4 years. No, the right offer sends her packing, but apparently, despite the endless stream of PR all Fall, there are no offers forthcoming. And so we are stuck with her.”

“I agree with that. The governor may be blind to the empress having no clothes, but unfortunately for her, the rest of the country is not and they don’t want any part of what she’s selling.”

“Tru dat.’

“You mentioned Cepicky earlier”, said Slats, “You see he’s proposing new legislation that kids have to be 7 or pass an assessment in order to be eligible for first grade?”

“I saw that. Not sure how I feel about it. Probably going to wait until I see the bill before deciding.”

“I agree”, he said, “On one hand I get the concept, on the other…gives me the queesies. What I didn’t realize was that two-thirds of states require students to take an assessment before entering kindergarten.”

“I do like the other bill he’s filed. The one that ups the amount given to teachers for supplies to $500. The current $200 just disappears too quickly.”

Slats used the lull in the conversation to pull out his flask and add another healthy dose to his cup. Prompting me to ask, “Do you even have anything left in that mug.”

He didn’t respond, just gave me a disparaging look as he took a sip from his mug.

After a bit, I asked, “Did you see the Nashville Scene named André Prince Jeffries as its Nashvillian of the Year?”

“I did”, he replied, “Long overdue if you ask me. And a pox on any of those who stand in line for Hattie B’s instead of going to Prince’s.”

“I had no idea that the Princes are a family of educators. makes me love them even more. Remember when they were out on Dickerson road?”

Chuckling he responded, “In that tiny place where the parking lot was jumping at 1 AM? I remember once taking a glance through the little window at the cooking area and seeing the grease-coated walls. Can’t say I was shocked when the place burned down. But damn they had some good chicken. The new place on Nolensville rd is good, but not quite the same.”

“No, it’s not. But I love having it here.”

Setting his cup on the floor, he rose with a sigh, “Well I better be going. The wife’s mother is hypothetically flying in tonight. Her flight lands in an hour and I’m sure the airport will be a mess.”

“Thanks for coming by”, I say as I walk him to the door, “See you soon at the gym?”

Once again he didn’t say anything, just cast me a disparaging look as he made his way down the stairs. I chuckled and shut the door behind him.

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“That’s all I’ve ever dreamed of, Mr. Bones. To make the world a better place. To bring some beauty to the drab humdrum corners of the soul. You can do it with a toaster, you can do it with a poem, you can do it by reaching out your hand to a stranger. It doesn’t matter what form it takes. To leave the world a little better than you found it. That’s the best a man can ever do.”
― Paul Auster, Timbuktu

If you are anything like me, you’ve looked up to suddenly find Christmas bearing down on you, and you are nowhere near prepared. I guess you can take some solace in knowing that by this time next week, it will be all over but the crying. Trees will be taken down, ornaments put away, and wrapping filed trash cans will stand ready for the weekly trash pick up. In their place, fresh calendars with be created, exercise and diet resolutions made, along with promises to do better. Reflection and celebration are replaced by anticipation and commitment.

That’s kind of the nature of the holiday season. It comes in like a sugar rush and then leaves you with a crash that lasts through the long cold months of winter.

But let’s not rush things ahead. Instead, let’s enjoy the last fleeting days of the holiday season before we rush back to our important business of rushing around doing important things. Let us take some time for reflection before letting the anticipation take hold.

In an effort to recharge some depleted batteries, I’ve spent the last few days enjoying my recliner – catching up on missed television and books that have been set aside in hopes I would find the time to read. Unfortunately, this precious time has been interrupted on several instances by the forced viewing of a promo for the new reality show, “The Parent Test”.

According to a blurb on the ABC website:

ABC will debut its brand-new unscripted series “The Parent Test,” a provocative look at parenting, with a special premiere following the highly anticipated debut of “Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration” on THURSDAY, DEC. 15 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EST), and the next day on Hulu. Based on a hit Australian television format, “The Parent Test” will explore the many distinctively different parenting styles. From helicopter to child-led parents, 12 families are put under the microscope in the ultimate parenting stress test and will share learnings about emotional hot-button topics that compare the multiple styles of parenting. The families are put through various situations to foster conversations about how each unit operates. Host Ali Wentworth and parenting expert Dr. Adolph Brown moderate these impassioned conversations amongst parents who may have conflicting opinions on how to raise their families, but they all share the common goal of raising happy, healthy children.

So many triggers, and so little time. How long until we create a similar show for teachers? It seems ready-made for a spin-off featuring professional educators. I get a feeling watching this show will be similar to watching an education committee meeting at Legislative Plaza this coming session.

“Raising happy, healthy children” may be a shared goal of the featured families, but I doubt that there is a shared definition. I can’t help but wonder how one earns the title of “parenting expert”. Thirteen years into my practice and I feel more like a novice today than I did the day we brought the eldest home. Every day is a new challenge. Somedays we hit home runs, on others we strike out, but for the most part, we hit a lot of singles. I’m ok with that because the key is to never miss a turn at bat.

I wonder if for the “The Parent Test” participants will be permitted to bring their supporting cast. If this journey has taught me anything, it’s that the strength of a parent is reflected in the strength of their supporting cast. We as a family have been blessed by the support of coaches, band directors, teachers, and fellow parents, along with relatives. While I often feel like my shortcomings translate to the kids being raised by wolves, I’m confident in the pack they are surrounded with, and for that, I’m eternally grateful.

Anybody who thinks that a parent can be the sole voice and dominant influence on a child’s upbringing is either a fool or doesn’t have children. It’s no different for teaching. Show me a teacher of the year recipient, and I’ll show you a school with a quality administrator, a supportive front office, and an engaged staff that supports each other.

Yet we continue to think we can create policy by drafting legislation that can bypass all of that, and unscrew kids’ heads so knowledge can just be dumped in. After a decade of delving into policy and watching people fight over charter schools, curriculum, Wit and Wisdom, Teach for America, testing, and countless other subjects that do little but suck up all of the air in the room, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s all just noise. A noise that serves to distract us from the one proven commodity.

Ultimately, what happens inside a school building comes down to one thing – the relationship between a student and a teacher. There are factors outside a classroom that impact a child’s chances of success – yes, Virginia poverty matters – but the only thing that can mitigate those factors is the student/teacher relationship. If the policy you are supporting doesn’t work to facilitate that relationship, you are just adding to the noise.

A strong teacher/student relationship translates to more engaged students, fewer attendance problems, and a reduction in discipline issues. If a student has a strong relationship with a teacher, they want to go to school and pay attention. Think about your own self, you are less likely to make a bad decision if you realize it’ll have a negative impact on someone who cares about you. But everybody wants to be the hero and portend that they have the magic bullet. Everybody wants to be Ben Affleck, but few want to be his brother Casey. The world needs more supporting actors and fewer stars.

Some of you are probably shaking your head right now and thinking, “Damn fool, you put way too much thought into a silly television show.”

Maybe, but maybe we should pay more attention to how the media props up dangerous propositions. In our hubris, we like to believe that it all comes down to parents and their input. Parents are a factor, as are peers, economic conditions, and other adults. Obviously, parents should have a primary seat at the table, but we set upon a dangerous pathway when we disregard all other factors.

Parenting is a lot like being in a band. You can be the greatest guitar player in the world, but without a drummer who can keep consistent time, a solid base player, and a singer who stays on the pitch, you can’t really bring a song fully to life. The magic of music lies in the song and not just the notes. The same holds true for raising children.

Let’s not lose the beauty of the song in the pursuit of the solo.

A Growing Chasm

Yahoo news reveals a new study that shows Americans are deeply divided about public education and the future direction of the country. While this isn’t surprising news, the depth of division should be cause for concern. Per the poll:

“… a mere 31% of them (Republicans) rate current K-12 education positively — a full 50 percentage points lower than the number who say the same about their own education. And just 35% give a good or excellent rating to “the opportunities that will be available to U.S. students today” — about half the number who describe the opportunities that were available to them in those terms.

In contrast, majorities of Democrats give positive ratings to today’s education (54%) and opportunities (54%). Less than four in 10 — 39% and 34%, respectively — rate them negatively.”

It seems like much of the division is a result of the perception of what is being taught in schools, along with the role of parents,

“For instance, two-thirds of Republicans (66%) identify “parents not having enough say over what is taught” as a “major problem”; just 26% of Democrats concur. Roughly the same number of Republicans are convinced that “the political viewpoint of what U.S. students are being taught in school today” is liberal (64%) rather than conservative (9%); Democrats, on the other hand, have no clear-cut view on the subject, with 19% saying it’s liberal, 22% saying it’s conservative, 29% saying it’s neither and 30% saying they’re unsure.”

No matter which side you are on, these results don’t bode well for either side. If we don’t figure out a way to breach the divide, our country’s education system will continue to fracture. It’s only a public school system if it serves the public – all of the public, not just the folks that align with our views.

QUICK HITS

My children were blessed to attend Tusculum Elementary School. Under the leadership of Alison McMahan, the school has long fostered a tight-knit community while embracing its diversity. My kids have been gone for a few years, but as an article in the Tennessean demonstrates, that commitment to community remains intact. Teacher Laura Timbario-Quering organized a secret Santa giveaway for 150 first-graders, complete with an appearance from St. Nick himself and a special surprise for the 19 children in her class. It was a whirlwind of organizing for Timbario-Quering, who lost her father in September and decided around Thanksgiving that she was going to host the giveaway this year.

She ended up with about 900 gifts, almost six per student. There were Legos, Barbies, Hot Wheels, Roblox, skateboards, Play-Doh and so many more. It took less than 10 minutes for all 900 gifts to be opened. After presents were opened and other classes left the gym, her second graders remained, along with one final surprise. Pulling aside a curtain, she revealed new bikes for everyone in her class. Yep…the Tusculum way lives on.

Over at Main Street Nashville Vivian Williams has an illuminating piece on what Tennesseans may expect this coming legislative session. Politicians on both sides of the aisle continue to publicly commit to making adjustments in regard to the third-grade retention law. Rep Scott Cepicky R – Culleoka told Main Street Nashville, “We need to make sure that we’re getting to the point that if a student fails the third grade TCAP test, we’re shocked because we probably missed a learning disability,” Cepicky also expresses interest in revisiting the minimum age to begin kindergarten.

According to William’s piece, House Speaker Cameron Sexton R – Crossville says the legislature may expand measures of third-grade proficiency to include benchmark tests administered throughout the year and not just the TCAP test. I’d like to pass a law that states lawmakers must understand what benchmark testing is and how it should be appropriately used before making policy. A benchmark test is designed to guide instruction, not serve as an accountability tool.

Last week, local districts received word that their federal funds were being adjusted, This is a routine process, but in the past has happened during the first few weeks of school. Changes now, leave districts scrambling to make adjustments as they are about to enter the second semester. It’s kind of like when you pay your mortgage and the bank waits a while before taking the money out of your account. You forget the funds already spent, and two weeks later when they withdraw it, you are overdrawn. You should have known the money was gone, but they should have taken it in a timely fashion. Either way, it’s a case of the TDOE doing things too late, and communicating too little.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Over the weekend, US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona tweeted out what I’m sure he thought would be received as an uplifting message, Unfortunately, that phrase “aligns with industry demands” didn’t sit well with many. His thoughts shouldn’t surprise anybody thought, the focus of schools long ago shifted from producing educated citizens to being a glorified trade school.

Over at the TNed Report, Andy Spear tells how Kentucky is killing voucher legislation even as Tennessee is looking to expand an existing program. Merry Christmas.

Interesting feedback was provided this week from a reader about Commissioner Schwinn. They read last week’s piece about Schwinn being MIA and report seeing the commissioner at least once a week driving around Green Hills, usually mid-day. For the record offices for the Tennessee Department of Education are located downtown, not in Green Hills. But at least shes back from DC.

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“A common view of knowledge, going back to Plato, is that knowledge is justified, true belief. To know something, you have to think it’s true (that’s belief), you have to be right about it (that’s truth), and you have to have good reasons for believing it (that’s justification).”
― David J. Chalmers, Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy

Today marks the end of the first half of the school year for Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS). For two and a half weeks, students and teachers will try to enjoy the holidays, recharge their batteries, and prepare for the academic year’s back half.

Invariably there will be talk of who’s coming back after the break and who is not. A decade ago these conversations never took place, it was the expectation that if you started the year you’d finish it – barring major illness or pregnancy. Those rules don’t apply in our new reality.

A reality that I don’t see changing due to the continual focus on recruitment over retention. As part of that increased recruitment effort states are relaxing requirements amid cries that it’s too difficult to become a teacher.

School leaders defend their decisions with increased frequency:

“I’ve seen what happens when you don’t have teachers in the classroom. I’ve seen the struggle,” Dallas schools trustee Maxie Johnson said just before the school board approved expanding that district’s reliance on uncertified teachers. He added, “I’d rather have someone that my principal has vetted, that my principal believes in, that can get the job done.”

Teachers have become akin to new cars. Once you drive it off the lot, a new car’s value drops exponentially. In the case of teachers, the value drops by half once they walk into the classroom.

Its been long debated whether teaching is a calling or “just a job”. The “just a job” argument seems to be winning, and when you don’t have a deeper connection to a profession, there is little inclination to stick around when things get difficult. And trust me they get difficult. On top of serving children, feeding the ambitions of career bureaucrats is a full-time job.

In the past, it was common for people to have careers that spanned lifetimes, but slowly that eroded, and loyalties shifted. With the shift in loyalty came a greater willingness to leave a position at whim. Teaching is just the latest profession to be hit by the shift.

For teachers, the shift comes with an increase in expectations. The public may not trust teachers to teach their children, but they recognize them as adequate babysitters, emotional support givers, counselors, disciplinarians, and executors of assorted other responsibilities that have been heaved onto their shoulders in recent years.

Teaching isn’t the only occupation suffering from a spiritual crisis. As we continue to fuel the narrative that public service jobs are the realm of the naive and/or foolish, it becomes harder to fill positions for nurses, police, clergy, and first responders. Someday there will be a reckoning and it won’t be pretty. These individuals serve an essential role in society, and their contributions are overlooked at our own peril.

Ramifications are already apparent. With increasing frequency educators, of all ranks are leaving mid-stream. A mid-year departure robs kids of continuity and stability. Two elements that are often lacking in children’s lives. Teaching, like most professions, is contingent on relationships. It is hard to form authentic relationships under the threat of one party potentially prematurely departing.

Just this week, MNPS announced two principal changes.

Dr. Casey Campbell, previously the AP will take over as interim principal for the current acting principal Dr. Carlos Comer. Comer has served as an administrator in MNPS at multiple locations for over 2 decades. with mixed results. Apparently, this stint isn’t ending well.

Earlier in the month, Crieve Hall Elementary Principal Nate Miley announced his departure in order to take a principal job at a private school. In an odd move, Hank Staggs, currently a Director at the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET), has been named as Miley’s replacement.

Staggs was last a principal in 2012, before leaving the school building to pursue opportunities with TDOE, Vanderbilt, and eventually NIET.His focus over the last decade seems to be on leadership and coaching leaders. Hopefully, his new job is more than just an opportunity to test those theories developed with little input from kids.

Like Mike Tyson always says, “Everybody has a plan until they get smacked in the face.”

Hopefully, changes are minimal this holiday season and more people return for the second half.

Rest up, charge up, and know that you are valued by the families you serve.

An Irish Goodbye

As schools across Tennessee break for the holidays, it becomes more and more apparent that Commissioner Schwinn kicked her holiday season off weeks ago. While her deputies openly speculate on her whereabouts, those of us who reside outside of D.C. have seen little of her.

Since much of the TDOE is still working remotely, there is no reason for her to report to the office. Perhaps she’s busy packing boxes and engineering her move to a new house after selling her in November.

Some speculate that she’s out beating the bushes looking for a new gig, as Governor Lee has yet to announce his cabinet postings for next year.

She sits on the board of Capitol Collegiate, a charter school in Sacramento that she founded. They had a board meeting earlier this week, but since they are slow to update their board minutes, it’s hard to know if she attended that gathering or not.

Her absence is problematic because several state initiatives are in the developmental stage and could benefit from a little leadership. The textbook commission is wrestling with increased responsibilities placed on them by legislators. Despite repeated requests, they have gone largely ignored, and are functioning in a legal sphere with no guidance.

Per ChalkbeatTN, “We have gotten zero guidance from any attorneys — zero. And we’re just out here as volunteers doing this,” said commission member John Combs, a school superintendent from Tipton County.

Local superintendents are trying to craft policy in response to third-grade retention laws, and are getting few clear answers to their inquiries. A recently updated FAQ sparks more questions than answers.

Districts are also attempting to navigate a transition from the BEP to the TISA school funding formula. Like everything else scheduled to be delivered by the TDOE, projections are late coming, and districts are left waiting.

Calls to the department offer little relief, as they either go unanswered or if answered, provide little clarity. The level of frustration is growing about district superintendents, and more are talking to their legislators.

It’s odd that a woman who embarked on multiple heavily hyped bus tours of local districts would suddenly pull a Garbo, and recede from the public. But all indications are that she has.

To paraphrase Schwinn’s Chief Academic Officer Lisa Coons, “If you see her, let her know we are looking for her.”

Maybe she’ll resurface once the General Assembly reconvenes. Or maybe she’ll remain as elusive as good pizza in the south.

Assessment Blues

Students throughout Tennessee recently completed their second round of benchmark testing. State law requires that students be tested 3 times a year. While the data produced is helpful, parents need to be wary of the results.

In many cases, due to increased offerings by the state, districts are employing a new assessment suite. What this means is that the benchmarks don’t have benchmarks. In the case of MNPS, which this year switched from MAP to Fastbridge. it means that there is no longer comparison data available.

With MAP, there were 5 years of collected data available, which provided a more reliable means to track trends. Despite efforts to portray the two measures as interchangeable, or even aligned, they are not.

Fastbridege has only been administered twice. Expectations, based on research, would be that students do better on the second administration due to increased familiarity. This means that looking at results and discerning actual growth, in addition, separating causation and correlation, is speculative at best. Benchmarking testing is useful for guiding instruction, but we should be cautious in assigning them too much weight.

Unfortunately, MNPS seems determined to use benchmarks in a manner they were not designed to be used. That includes using them to determine eligibility for students applying to academic magnets. Upon inquiry for clarification, one administrator wrote me the following in response, “Benchmark testing is not the only factor, but they will look at the data points for growth. If they are growing and meeting expectations, they should be in contention.”

What?!? Why is growth a consideration for eligibility in an academic magnet? Forget that it is more difficult for higher achieving kids to show growth, you can either do the increased level of work or you can not, and growth shouldn’t be a factor.

While we are on the subject of academic magnets, let me interject. Looking at requirements to be eligible for the lottery for Hume-Fogg, a long-standing MNPS magnet that has consistently produced high student outcomes, I found this, “80 GPA or higher (Quarter 3, Quarter 4, and Quarter 1)” That is lower than this year’s requirement of an “85 GPA or higher (Q3, Q4, & Q1”.

I’m a believer in a school that collectively serves those who are considered academically high achieving. Their needs are different than the average student, and by centrally locating them you can focus resources on their needs. I’d argue that each school in the district only has a handful of students that fall into this category. However, if you lower the bar to 80, then I am sure every school has a substantial number, but let’s not think that the needs of the students scoring low 80s are identical to those scoring in the mid-90s.

Meeting the qualifications only gets you into the pool. Admission is based on a lottery and therefore random. Hypothetically, you could end up with more kids that fall into the 80’s range than those who score much higher. This would serve to alter programming, potentially leaving true high achievers in the same predicament they’d be in at their zoned school. Do district administrators really believe that parents won’t recognize the conundrum, and explore other options?

It would seem that this policy works against the interests of MNPS. Maybe, unless you take into account that high achievers will never show the growth rate of lower achieving kids. Seeing as the Tennessee accountability model favor growth over achievement, it’s unlikely that those high achievers will ultimately benefit the district. So if they explore other options, that might not be a bad thing, and if they go back to their zoned schools…meh, they may pull up the achievement scores.

Remember, none of this is about kids and almost always about ambitious adults.

MNPS parents have yet to see results from the first administration of benchmark testing, and there has been little education or explanation provided in interpreting results should they be released.

I am sure that in the coming weeks we’ll see a press release touting how well MNPS kids are growing, based on benchmark results. Likely that means more dancing by the school board. Nobody dances around the issues like the MNPS school board.

The challenge is ON!! Bring it Metro Council, @metroschools and School Boards!! Bringing a lil happiness to end the year! #cuffitchallenge #happyholidays #notpayingattention #offbeat #Ihaverhythm #Ipromise pic.twitter.com/uIYPo3P2qk

— Dr. Berthena Nabaa-McKinney (@drberthena4edu) December 14, 2022

Quick Hits

The TDOE has quietly released ACT district and school results for the graduating class of 2022. Results for states were released back in October. The takeaway locally is that scores are flat and are lower than in previous years, maybe that’s why they waited til the holiday season to release them.

Professional Educators of Tennessee’s Executive Director J.C. Bowman has some thoughts as legislators prepare to head back to session after the first of the year. in an editorial printed in the Murfreesboroboro Voice, he writes, “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.” That they do. That they do.

Over at The Nashville Scene, Kelsey Beyeler continues to watch MNPS board activity so you don’t have to. This week she reports on board chairman Rachael Elrod’s intention to adhere closer to existing board policy limiting public participation to only items on the agenda. “My goal, of course, is not to limit people talking to us about any of the concerns that they have,” said Elrod. “I take the role of us making sure that we are streamlining all of our practices, and making sure that we’re as efficient as possible, really quite seriously.”

Since nothing of substance ever makes it to the agenda, unless the public feels like talking about charter schools or sub-contractor contracts, they might consider just emailing their concerns. Or, for all the good it will do, just going into the backyard and screaming it into the wind.

Here’s a little Christmas cheer for you. Thanks to Coach, priority school principals got a chance to shop for some luxury goods, presumably in appreciation for their efforts. No word on what principals who worked their asses off to keep their schools off the priority list received.

Riddle me this, is it ever appropriate to reward expensive luxury items to employees of a district that serves as many impoverished children as MNPS? I’ll leave that one up to you, but clearly, the message wasn’t received well by everyone. Unfortunately, the public will not be permitted to ask questions about this at the January board meeting, since it is not likely to be on the agenda.

I wonder if The Tennessean education writer has been hanging out with Commissioner Schwinn since both remain as elusive as Nessie.

Speaking of The Tennessean, and if you are looking for a humorless chuckle, check out the opinion piece from Ryan Holt of Nashville who has served on Tennessee’s State Board of Education since February 2022. He practices law at Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison. In another life, he was a Math teacher. Holt offers guidance on Tennessee’s 3rd-grade retention law that goes into effect this Fall.

In an “if you understand why I’m punching you in the mouth it won’t hurt as much” moment, he writes, “It is my hope as a parent and State Board of Education member that clarity around this law will reduce parents’ anxieties and highlight some of the resources recently introduced to support their students.” He goes on to call the new plan, “an opportunity for Tennessee to re-envision how we support students in the earliest and arguably most-critical stages of their education.” If you must, read the whole thing, but I can tell you, it never gets better.

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“Darwinism is dynamic. It is about change, not stasis; about process, not pattern; about tales, not tableaux; about becoming, not being.”
― Henry Gee, In Search of Deep Time

The other night I was driving home, it was fast approaching midnight, and I flipped on to the Ben Shapiro show. For those who are unfamiliar, Shapiro is a conservative talk show host. I don’t always agree with what he says, but he makes me think. On my car radio, the conservative talk station is programmed right next to the Nashville Public Radio station, Both of which bring `equal levels of aggravation, but that’s another story for another day.

On this particular night, Shapiro was talking about Kanye West and his recent ban from Twitter after he posted anti-Semitic statements. Shapiro is a free speech advocate, but also Jewish, I was intrigued by what his take would be. Not surprisingly, Shapiro didn’t support banning West, as in his mind West’s statements s[poke more into his mental state, than his racism. The latter perhaps being a byproduct of the former. The talk show host was of the opinion that West was clearly suffering from a mental illness, but society was much more willing to focus on racism as opposed to mental health, thus preventing West from getting the help he needed.

I don’t disagree with Shapiro’s take, in my eyes, the talented rapper has struggled with mental health for quite some time. My armchair quarterback take is that the death of West’s mother sent him into a tailspin and he is yet to recover. Ironically, his mother was a college professor who chaired the English department at Chicago State University.

Shapiro closed his talk on mental health treatment in America by saying something along the lines of, “If you want to treat mental health as a serious issue, you have to get serious about mental health issues.”

Over the last week, I’ve turned that thought over and over in my head, and it is perfect in its simplicity. The thing is, it doesn’t just apply to mental issues, you can also apply it to educator attrition as well.

Word has begun began to leak out that Crieve Hall principal Nate Miley is leaving MNPS to pursue other opportunities. He’s just the latest in a long line of talent who has chosen to apply their skills elsewhere.

Miley arrived in Nashville from Indiana at the beginning of previous director Shawn Joseph’s tenure, though the two were unconnected. He was part of a class of 30-something new principals taking over district schools that year.

I remember sitting at the board meeting where he was introduced, and him speaking briefly. He talked about listening and being responsive, as opposed to bringing a pre-disposed plan. His words were both humble and positive, two elements you don’t often hear in combination. In my estimation at the time, he didn’t stand a chance. The parents at Crieve Hall would eat him alive,

I don’t mind saying it, but seven years later, the Indiana transplant has proven me wrong.

He’s turned into a treasure, and the school and community are better because of his service. And I do mean service.

Miley gets it, he’s a true servant leader. He takes care of his people and his charges with equal aplomb. Under his tutelage, the school has thrived, despite difficult circumstances acerbated by COVID. Now the district is faced with the task of replacing a talented leader, in a world where their number is limited.

We talk often about the attrition rate of teachers, but seldom about the dearth of quality school leadership. MNPS can ill-afford to bleed talent at either the teacher or principal level. However, their only response seems to be to hold a job fair. There is one scheduled for next month, as well as February. I can promise you this, neither Miley nor anyone of his caliber will be at either fair.

Someone sent me a fancy graphic about teacher attrition in Tennessee. It was pretty, but as I responded to them, “They can publish all the fancy graphs they want, create all the databases, make all the reasons they want to justify, the bottom line is that we’re hemorrhaging teachers, and we’re doing nothing to hold onto them.”

I stand by that testament, and if you doubt me, let’s tour any school together. Just because a school employs a teacher, doesn’t mean that teacher is in the classroom. That’s not a negative indictment of teachers, that’s the reality, due to expectations growing past capacity. Expectations continue to grow, even as teachers and principals leave with increased frequency, But we don’t talk about it, we just quote numbers, create graphs, and whistle past the graveyard, quickly transitioning into Grow Your Own and recruitment celebrations.

All of these Grow Your Own programs are wonderful, but what happens if you grow 10K new teachers, or even 100k, and you don’t address current working conditions? You just have 10K new people leaving in 2 years.

Sure the pathway to accreditation needs modifying, but again, by not addressing current working conditions, your just adding to an ever-increasing exit stream.

It’s not just young teachers that are leaving either. It’s talented veterans. veterans with proven track records who we let slip out the door with nary a goodbye wave.

This week Titan’s GM, John Robinson, lost his job. It’s widely recognized that his trading of superstar wide receiver A.J. Brown while drafting a talented rookie out of Arkansas, Treylan Burke, contributed to his early departure.

At the time, trading a proven commodity for a speculative payoff was viewed as an imprudent move. This season, Brown has helped lead his new team to a potential Super Bowl title. Burke shows flashes of capability, but has struggled to remain on the field and consistently contribute. Thus far the critics are being proven correct. Fortunes may reverse themselves, but the potential payoff may be years in the future, if at all.

We can recognize the fallacy of this strategy in the sporting arena, but it eludes us in the schoolhouse. Why?

The only answer is because we choose to. It’s easier to get upset about the rambling of the leader of a boutique charter school than it is to actually live voiced supposed morals. Luckily, Hillsdale is back in action in Tennessee, providing a distraction – allowing people to jump to defend people they’ll shove to the side when no one is looking.

Recently, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving to be exact, MNPS help a parade to celebrate the district’s non-charter schools. It was sparsely attended and no one but the district’s executive cabinet thought it was a good use of time. Maybe next year, the district could collect all the first and second-year teachers, along with enrollees in local teacher prep programs, and have them march in the parade, holding a banner and maybe riding a float.

The sad part is that over at Bransford Avenue, somebody just read that last paragraph, stroked their chin, and thought, “Not a bad idea. Maybe include high school students as well.”

Yea…if you want to get serious about teacher attrition, you gotta get serious about teacher attrition.

Has anybody Seen My Penny?

At a recent gathering of Tennessee Superintendents, TDOE Chief Academic Officer Lisa Coons responded to an inquiry about the whereabouts of Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn with a flippant joke about not seeing the commissioner recently, and if you see her let me know. Everybody chuckled a bit, but the reality is that Schwinn has been strangely absent as of late. She’s never exactly been the hardest working woman in show biz, but this feels different.

First, it was the state Principal of the year awards, and then it was the SCORE event, neither of which she graced with her presence. Nor was an explanation for her absence offered. At the Principal of the Year ceremony, it was Meghan McLeroy holding things down for the MIA commissioner.

Governor Lee, fresh off of re-election, has not announced appointments to his next term cabinet. While he has given no indication that Commissioner Schwinn will not be a part of his team going forth, still tongues are wagging.

Some speculation has centered around, a certain council where she has friends in high places. That organization recently announced they were looking to fill some leadership positions. Those listings are no longer posted, fueling speculation. Might be a good fit for the California native. Only pays about 190K, but offers an opportunity to work remotely.

Just saying.

Quick Hits

Tennessee’s new third-grade retention law is fixing to kick in next year. Come June, there may be a whole bunch of third graders looking at another year of third grade due to results from their TCAP test. That reality is proving a bit uncomfortable for lawmakers, who are starting to think about making revisions. many of these lawmakers voiced their reservations about the law that removes local leaders from the decision-making process. Stay tuned…this conversation is far from over.

The point of a pilot program is to run it in a controlled environment for a limited number of years and then assess if it’s worth expanding. Hamilton County’s State Sen. Todd Gardenhire seems to not grasp that principle and is pushing for Chattanooga students to become eligible for vouchers. According to the Tennessee Lookout:

“Gardenhire, a Chattanooga Republican, acknowledged Thursday he was not requested by Hamilton County Schools to sponsor the legislation but noted it is designed for the district’s students. Under the current program, only low-income students in Shelby County and Metro Nashville school districts are allowed to apply for the program, which enables them to use about $8,000 in state dollars to enroll in private schools.”

I’m sure this one will end well.

Next Tuesday MNPS will hold its bi-monthly meeting, A glance at the agenda shows that no charter school discussions are scheduled, so I suspect the meeting will be a brief one. There is a proposed budget amendment that proposes 8 new HR positions. Hopefully, none of those are in recruiting roles. That’s a case of if I hire 8 more snipe hunters, am I going to find more snipes? to be fair there are a number of administrative areas around leave and such that are understaffed at this juncture. But, if you….never mind.

Remember back a few years when district leaders held a Christmas party for the central office and gave away TVs and other luxury items? Good times right? Well, this year, the holiday’s come with a new twist https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/mnps-holiday-party-sparks-twitter-controversy(S4 and Coach Save the Date Flyer} Thanks to a partnership with Coach, principals will have the opportunity to stop by Bransford and pick up a gift. Not saying principals aren’t worth it…but…HO!HO!HO!

Saw this photo this morning and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it made me more than a little sad. Many of us spent our glorious misspent youth on the Rock Block, You can’t stop progress, and a gathering place for misfits doesn’t fit the future as envisioned by Amazon and such. Every day, a little bit more of the city’s soul dies.

I’m going to close with a little more evidence of that diminishing of the city’s soul. Midweek saw the death of the long-time writer, musician, and baseball zealot Peter Cooper. While Cooper and I ran in the same circles, I must admit I did not know him well, still, I can testify to his impact on Nashville. . He was a talented man that left a mark on the heart of all he interacted with. He’s another one that got it.

Cooper wrote in his 2017 book “Johnny’s Cash & Charley’s Pride.”“Objectivity is the mortal enemy.”Now, for sure, you need a good bull**** detector, and you shouldn’t rant, and you shouldn’t cheerlead, but objectivity is dispassionate. And we’re in the passion business. We’re trying to make people feel something different than what they felt before they read our words.”

Godspeed to you sir,

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to either the Baker Cooper fund to support Peter’s son’s education, or the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, supporting their cultural organization’s educational mission.

Send donations to: Baker Cooper c/o Wells Fargo Bank

1712 West End Avenue

Nashville, TN 37203

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Dad Gone Wild » Education: Recent Episodes

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