A Peek Below the Surface
“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 around the fact that I have a high schooler living in the house.
It's been fun watching her adjust to her new environment. With the excitement comes, doubts and exposed insecurities. all to be equally navigated.
Things are vastly different in high school. Even the supposed minuscule can work to sow confusion.
After the first day, she got in the car, "Dada, sorry I'm late. I kept waiting for them to dismiss class but that's not how it works. They ring the bell and everyone just leaves. I sat there so confused for a minute."
I laughed, "It is all different, even as much of it is still the same."
And that provides a good segue into our next topic.
Tennessee's Education Commissioner Lizette Reynolds continues to impress advocates and elected officials alike. Both share the impression that she is transparent and attentive. There seems to be a growing alignment and trust between lawmakers and the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) that hasn't been present for years.
Education advocates tell a similar tale.
Me? I remain cautiously optimistic. The transition from Kevin Huffman to Candice McQueen is still fresh in my memory.
McQueen came in like a breath of fresh air. She was local, an experienced educator, and much more open than her predecessor. Unfortunately, three years later we discovered that it was all a smoke screen and that underneath that likable veneer, was a wolf as dangerous as Huffman. The policies and practices were only marginally different, and the outcomes were predictable.
Reynolds portrays herself as a policy wonk, and this is born out through her interviews. She speaks more fondly of policy than she does of students.
In an interview with The Tennessean, she shares that she, "attended Southwestern University, a small liberal arts college outside of Austin, with a plan to study accounting. But a political science professor changed her trajectory. She described him as “more of a socialist" who talked about Marxism and the need to "share everything." She changed her major to political science."
Reynolds adds, "“I became infatuated with the idea of using government to actually help people, I never turned back.”
You gotta love Governor Lee. He is a hypothetical conservative in a state with a Republican supermajority, yet his first appointment to education commissioner got her start working in California with liberal democrats, and his second appointment was inspired to pursue her life work by a self-described socialist. You can't make this stuff up.
Reynolds went to work for the Texas state government. Eventually, she found herself working for former Florida Governor Jeb Bush as his vice president of policy for his school choice advocacy group the Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcellinED). Bush is viewed by many "as the intellectual architect of policies to support vouchers and charter schools, improved and more aggressive testing, and school grading systems, which the hopes to replicate."
This is all important because the last three state commissioners of education came from the ranks of Chiefs for Change, another education advocacy group founded by Jeb Bush. Both groups were founded in order to advocate for policies he crafted while governor.
During the recent adoption of Tennessee's new school funding model, questions were raised about the amount of influence wielded by outside education non-profits.
in her interview with the Tennessean, Reynolds acknowledges her former company's involvement but provides few details, “We came in on a needed basis,” Reynolds said. “Everything from policy to ... the advocacy side.”
What she doesn't say is that they came in sans a contract or even a scope of work. In other words, devoid of any accountability to Tennessee residents.
According to Memphis reporter Ian Round:
“Chiefs for Change contracted with a PR company to develop the FundingforStudentSuccess.org website and associated resources, which was service provided in-kind to the agency,” TDOE spokesman Brian Blackley stated in an email, but he didn’t name Woodberry Associates.
Searching multiple databases, The Daily Memphian could find no public information about the copyright holder listed on the site, how it’s funded, and whether or how much TDOE is paying. The Daily Memphian checked two websites that offer information on who owns the URLs; each said that information is private.
There’s no contact info on the site, either. The privacy policy states:
“If you have questions concerning this Privacy Policy and/or the Website, please contact:
Funding for Student Success
1234 Main St, City, State
email@domain.com”Leila Walsh, Chiefs for Change’s chief external affairs officer, declined to say whom it paid to design the website, nor how much that work was worth.
I still find that disturbing and would love to know whatever happened to the database generated by that website. People entered their information under the likely assumption that they were interacting with a government entity, not a private entity. Since the website was created by a non-government entity, there are few restrictions on how that data is used.
Roy Hadley, an Atlanta-based cybersecurity attorney at Adams and Reese, LLP, voiced similar concerns:
This kind of opacity is not a coincidence, according to Roy Hadley, an Atlanta-based cybersecurity attorney at Adams and Reese, LLP.
Hadley said this allows companies to obscure the sources of funding and, therefore, the interests of the funders. Most websites, including the TISA website, have privacy policies that allow the site to collect a wide range of personal data.
Then they use the data to target ads and influence search results, and the top results often reflect positively on whatever the subject is — whether it’s a school funding proposal or a fashion retailer.
Seeing as these private side deals are apparently an accepted practice at Chiefs for Change, and by extension, ExcellinEd, and Reynolds was a long-time senior employee at the latter, doesn't it stand to reason that we can expect more of the same in her new capacity?
I sure hope somebody is asking some questions.
Reynolds herself could offer to detail her organization's involvement and reveal what that data was used for. It also wouldn't hurt if she told us whether we can still expect education advocacy groups to engage in uncontracted work in the name of Tennessee citizens.
We always tell kids that they are defined by the company they keep. Arguably, Reynolds hasn't been keeping very good company.
One last thought on the Tennessean interview before we move on.
Let me give you the money quote from Reynolds. She's talking about thoughts in the aftermath of her interview with Governor Lee, “When I left that interview, I told myself, 'I really want to work for this man,'" she said. “He has a great vision and commitment to education."
WTF?!? Unless you spent most of the morning drinking, how do you come away with that impression of Governor Lee? Hell, I bet I couldn't find 10 members in the Republican caucus to make that statement on the record.
What people say matters, just offering blind platitudes shouldn't be excused. It's equally important to actually hear what they say. Too often we listen and then interpret through our personal lens. Obviously, I'm as guilty of that as anyone, but that doesn't make it right.
“I see my role as implementation,” Reynolds told The Tennessean. “You can pass all the bills and all the laws you want, but if it just remains an initiative, then that’s all it is. It’s just a thing that sits on the shelf."
Too often we try to excuse bad ideas as poorly executed ones. A well-executed bad policy produces the same results as a poorly-executed good policy. Some things probably ought to sit on the shelf. The trick remains in balancing good policy with good execution.
Let's hope that the commissioner manages to strike a balance between the two.
- - -
So back in May, the TDOE signed a contract with a management company to oversee the administration of the state's education savings account program. Five companies submitted proposals in response to the RFP -ClassWallet, Students First Technologies, Merit International, Odyssey, and LiftForward Inc. ClassWallet, despite their last venture into Tennessee being a train wreck, won the competitive bidding process.
According to a report in ChalkbeatTN, “On a 100-point scale, ClassWallet scored more than 20 points higher than Student First."
When negotiations between the state and ClassWallet failed to produce a contract, the state turned to Students First Technologies to serve as administrator, signing the company to a $3.675 million, five-year contract. That's when the eyebrows went up.
Tennessee is SFT’s first foray into a state-run scholarship program. While they operate in 15 states, they primarily assist private non-profits in administering tax-credit scholarships and micro-grants. To their credit, over the last five years, the company has helped secure over $300 million annually for families and their education needs.
Documents submitted with its bid show that between December 1, 2022, and February 28, 2023, the company had a total income of just over $230,000, with a net of $69,000. The company lists three full-time employees and nine others listed as freelancers, in addition to the two founders.
Founder Mark Duran, who is incredibly approachable, doesn't see this as an issue. But maybe he should have read the contract a little deeper.
According to Duran, STF is solely responsible for providing technology and training in their capacity as administrators. All operational responsibilities and staffing in response to those responsibilities fall on the shoulders of the TDOE. But then there is this in the contract:
A.19. Customer Service: The Contractor shall provide high-quality customer service for all Stakeholders. Customer service shall include:
Customer service centers and representatives shall be located in the United States.
Ability to reach a customer service representative who is English-Spanish bilingual from 8a.m. – 5 p.m. (Central Time), Monday – Friday, via email, chat, and phone.
Measurable parent support service level agreement (“SLA”) to be: 90% of inbound calls answered within a target of sixty (60) seconds or less. The Contractor’s live chat response shall be real-time during business hours, and the Contractor’s email response shall be within 24 hours.
When asked about that provision, Duran brushed the question off and reiterated that Students First were only the technology provider.
You gotta wonder, who vetted this contract for the state? Remember the TDOE has long been understaffed, so did they defer to someone in general services who was unfamiliar with what they were looking at?
Duran maintains that everything is on track as prescribed and that expectations were always that the department would begin utilization of his technology next year.
Until then, those interested in applying for an ESA must either mail in their application or hand it to a representative at a live in-person event.
Should this be considered evidence of Lee's "great vision"? In 2023, a year after implementation, families are using carrier pigeons and the pony express to apply for his signature initiative. Meanwhile, customers at the local Mapco can checkout by stepping in front of a kiosk and paying without individually scanning each item.
The fall 2023 ESA application deadline was August 1, 2023. Applications received and/or postmarked between August 2, 2023, and January 5, 2024, will be reviewed for January 2024 enrollment at one-half the total ESA awarded amount. Those students must enroll by January 15th.
The department has received 2,961 applications for the program, of which 2,145 are approved.
- - -
I gotta ask, how long will the Tennessee Education Association continue to take bad advice from chief lobbyist Jim Wrye?
This year was a banner year for him. First, he failed to mount a forcible defense against legislation that stripped the ability to deduct union dues from teacher pay, while increasing teacher salaries. I loved the part where he told legislators how he was proud to work in a right-to-work state.
Wrye then presumably doubled down, as the union sued the state over the pending legislation.
Not sure he realized that the bill did not have a severability clause. Win the suit, and you lose the proposed salary increases.
Well this week, that exercise in futility came to its predictable conclusion - the withdrawal of the suit by the TEA.
Unfortunately, that withdrawal comes with financial penalties.
Penalties that will presumably come out of teacher dues.
- - -
Congratulations to Nolensville Little League for making its third consecutive trip to the Little League World Series. Living adjacent to Nolensville has made it possible for me to witness up close the communities incredible support of this team. it's pretty impressive, and hopefully, they will continue to advance forward.
The team's success has provided a unique opportunity to think deeper about the unintended consequences of equity advocacy efforts.
Nolensville's team is affectionately known as "Stella and the Fellas", Stella being the team's female player and one of their stars.
Watching the first game, my 12-year-old says to me, "Is she any good? Does she play?"
"She's very good." I replied, "I believe she starts and is one of their aces as well."
"You know when you put a girl on the team, you gotta play her."
I started to object but then thought about what he was saying. He's not wrong.
If you've ever been around a little league team or any youth sports team, you are aware that there are a mixture of players - those who play a lot and those who sit a lot. Not everybody gets equal playing time.
I'd argue that if a coach selects a female for the team, he's not going to be able to relegate her to the bench. Even if that's what her skill level dictates, he'll have to play her regularly or face charges of discrimination. So in essence we are raising the bar for the inclusion of young women.
If you are a boy you just have to be good enough to make the team. If you are a girl, you have to be good enough to start. How many young women who meet the qualifications for the former, but not the latter, never get the opportunity to participate? That's a loss for everybody.
Expand that outward into the rest of society, and you probably can see where progress has been slowed.
In the NFL, if you hire a minority coach and he doesn't work out, as most new coaches don't, firing them becomes difficult.
I'm sure that went into calculations when evaluating Kaepernick for a quarterback position.
The same holds true for corporations.
Sometimes our best intentions backfire.
We have to provide safe passages for failure, just as we fight for passages of success. If not we are inadvertently limiting equity efforts.
Just something to consider.
Now, Stella and the Fellas, go get them while knowing that one of the best communities in the country has your back.
- - -
Time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.
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