Is The Silence Receding?
“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.
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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.
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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.
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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 Collegeand 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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