Charter school denials have implications for state-run district
Hello and welcome back to School Zone, folks! This is Laura Testino in Memphis.
Meghan Mangrum recently departed her post at The Tennessean and will continue covering education at the Dallas Morning News.
Fret not! We've still got you covered for education news.
This week's edition of School Zone will continue to bring you education news from around Tennessee with perhaps just a bit of a bias toward Memphis, where I've been the education reporter at The Commercial Appeal for three years.
Charter application denials could include ASD school closure
Memphis-Shelby County Schools has recommended its board deny four applications for new charter schools during its board meeting Tuesday evening.
One of those schools is Westside Middle School, whose charter with the Achievement School District is near expiration.
The school was taken over from Memphis City Schools in 2012 by the state. It since became a charter school under Frayser Community Schools.
Without an authorizer, the school could close. The move would leave implications for the future of ASD charter schools, many of which have not made significant academic gains since state takeover.
If the board votes with the recommendation to deny, the school can follow an appeals process with the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission.
So far, three ASD schools have closed at the end of their charter contracts, and three made successful applications to the state commission. Four others, which were run directly by the state, will return as three schools to the MSCS district this fall.
The ASD does not have a leader and lost half its staff for the upcoming school year. State leaders have indicated they will pursue an ASD 2.0, which will leave a "smaller footprint."
School boards across the state are hearing charter applications this summer:
After previously denying three charter applications, the Metro Nashville Public Schools board voted 5-4 to deny a fourth application by Tennessee Nature Academy in a special called meeting Monday.
The Williamson County Schools board has denied Founders Classical Academy's second application to operate in the county.
Investigation of Memphis superintendent hot topic as elections underway
Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Joris Ray has been placed on paid administrative leave from his post during an external investigation led by Edward L. Stanton III.
The investigation will review alleged abuse of power and violations of policy, according to the board's chair.
Since the investigation began, The Commercial Appeal has reported Ray supervised a woman who is said to have signed a non-disclosure agreement about their affair. The woman is currently a school principal.
Stanton has not indicated a timeline for the investigation, and the board has not said when the investigation will wrap up. But it is possible the investigation will conclude under a new board after the Aug. 4 election.
At least two of the board members are leaving their posts, and three other incumbents are running in contested elections.
At a forum hosted last week by Chalkbeat Tennessee, many candidates indicated they would support stronger policies for district leaders, the outlet reported.
“This is something that is bigger than any one individual, and certainly not about any individual board member,” said Michelle McKissack, board chair, who is running for reelection. “This is about our district and our community as a whole and moving forward... no matter who may be in that role as superintendent.”
Here's who is running for school board office in Memphis and Shelby County, where races remain nonpartisan.
Here's who is running for school board office for Metro Nashville Public Schools, which has partisan school board elections now.
Williamson County also has partisan school board elections now. Here's who is on the ballot.
Partisan school board races are also underway in Knoxville. Here's who is running.
Opponents to vouchers hope to pause the program — again
Nashville and Shelby County hope to stop the rollout of the contentious Tennessee Education Savings Account Pilot Program before school starts in August, statehouse reporter Melissa Brown and courts reporter Mariah Timms write.
On Friday, they filed a motion for a temporary injunction that would halt the implementation and asked the court for an expedited hearing before the school year starts early next month.
They say the rushed rollout by supporters of the program is violating the law that created it by using an unauthorized format for diverting the funding.
The ESA, or school voucher program, would allow eligible families in the two counties to use public money to pay for private schools.
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You can reach me at Laura.Testino@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @LDTestino
Check out some of our other education and children's issues reporters across the state by following Anika Exum for The Tennessean in Williamson County and Becca Wright for The Knoxville News Sentinel.
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Extra credit
► Members of the public are invited to respond to the Tennessee Department of Education's proposed rules for the state's new school funding formula, the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA), at a hearing later this month. Last month, the department released proposed rules — the next step in the process of enacting the new law.
The hearing will take place Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Ellington Agricultural Center at 416 Hogan Road in Nashville. For more information about the hearing and the proposed rules, visit www.tn.gov.
► The number of future teachers completing training programs has been dropping for a decade. As of 2021, it's down nearly 40% since 2011, Meghan Mangrum reports. And though some are celebrating the strides the state is making to get teachers into classrooms, others say the current rhetoric around public education is likely to make the situation worse.
► A Memphis family is alleging Memphis-Shelby County Schools violated federal disability law and did not adequately provide school services to their 9-year-old for the last two years, according to documents in a new federal court filing and interviews with the family. The federal court filing appeals the decision made by a Tennessee administrative judge earlier this spring.
► Of the five medical schools in Tennessee, four have OB-GYN residency programs. Since clinics are suspending abortion services following Tennessee's six-week ban, medical students and residents seeking training could have to travel across state lines to get it, Becca Wright reports for Knox News.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Charter school denials have implications for state-run district
