Isn't It Ironic?
“It’s better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot.”
― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle
'You really gotta stop picking on the Commissioner of Education", is something I hear regularly.
My reply is always the same, "I would save for the fact that she and her supporters make it virtually impossible to do so."
Like her predecessor, Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds continues to defy the laws of competency. At every turn, evidence suggests that her current position, may not be for her.
While her supporters quickly leap to her defense, that defense often only makes matters worse.
The latest instance came Friday from none other than head bumbler Democrat Governor Bill Lee. I know, he writes an "R" behind his name, but at this juncture, is there anyone who believes that's an accurate descriptor?
On Friday, in the wake of revelations that Reynolds does not meet all the criteria to hold her position, Channel 5 News asked Lee if he was familiar with the law requiring the commissioner of education to be a licensed educator, he replied, "Of, course."
“There was a full vetting process for the commissioner of education and she meets those qualifications,” Lee said. “I have every faith in her.”
First of all, the idea that there was any vetting process by the Governor borders on the absurd. Here's how that process likely unfolded,
"Hi Bill, this is Jeb's minion over at ExcellinEd. Thinking it's time to replace the commissioner of education over there. She's about come to the end of her usefulness."
"Really?", Bill replies, "I kinda like the one we got. When I'm giving my press conferences and everybody is mad at me, I just find her face with a big smile and awe in her eyes. It makes everything better. Can't we keep her? Just a little longer?"
"You want your signature policy passed? Want to be able to say you dramatically increased school choice? You got big things in your future if you play the cards right. Get this right and there'll be plenty of eye-batting in your future."
"Okay"
"This time we are sending over the number 3 at ExcellinED", JM replies, "People have kinda caught on to the Chief's for Change pipeline, they don't know ExcellinEd is basically the same thing. You are going to love her, a barrel of laughs. She'll get everybody lined up and rowing in the same direction. It'll be fun and you'll look like a hero."
There might have been a few more wrinkles, but I'm pretty sure that's how it all went down.
Tennessee hasn't had a Commissioner of Education from outside the Jeb Bush food chain since 2010, do you really believe an organization with that level of access is going to leave the next boss to chance? Come on. That's about as likely as the NFL entertaining the idea of a Super Bowl without Taylor Swift.
Here is the part I love, you have a Governor, who hypothetically is drawn from the party that is known for being sticklers when it comes to the rules, admitting that he knew the law, but just decided to break it. How does that work?
Try that defense next time you get pulled over for speeding, "Yeah officer, I know the limit was 75, but I just decided to go 90 mph."
Or if you shoplift from a store. "Yeah I knew it was against the law, I just really needed that Hello Kitty t-shirt, so I decided to take it."
If you get caught with a bag of dope, just say, "I know, drugs are illegal, but I felt the need to get high, and I have complete faith this dope is harmless. My friends at the Cannabis Instate told me so."
You can raise all the hell you want about activist judges, but Tennessee appears to have an activist Governor. That should bother everyone.
Here's some irony, the Governor's response was given the same day that Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton was in Memphis giving a speech about cracking down on lawbreakers. Might need to start that one at home.
The best part of all it comes from ChalkbeatTN. Reynolds gets paid $255,000 a year, up $20k from her predecessor, who was paid $236,000. The average salary of a licensed Tennessee teacher is around $60K.
You can't make this stuff up.
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This is the week that details on Governor Lee's voucher plan are expected to emerge. The Tennessean has obtained an advance copy. We'll talk more on the subject towards the end of the week. As we proceed through this process I would urge people to take all of it with a grain of salt.
Like House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, told reporters last week, changes are likely as the legislature considers Lee's proposal.
"We'll file something that gets kind of the skeletal structure out there, and then we'll build upon that foundation as we go through the committee process," Lamberth said. "I don't anticipate what we will be filing will by any means be the final product. It will continue to be at work as we go through the committee process."
We are in the very early stages of this process, but fortunately, we are nearing a phase where the conversation can shift from a philosophical one to a policy one.
A lot of turns in the road for this one.
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All the talk about the Commissioner and Governor Lee's Educational Freedom accounts has distracted us from talking about our favorite subject - charter schools.
Lot's to talk about on that front.
First up, on Friday the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission voted to overturn Metro Nashville Public Schools'(MNPS) decision to not renew the agreement for Rocketship Nashville Northeast Elementary.
MNPS's school board voted to deny the charter school despite a recommendation by its own charter review committee. Board members pointed to a lack of academic growth for justification. I know, more irony.
By overruling the district, the commission takes over the responsibility of oversight for the next 10 years.
But have no fear, there is a whole other group of charter school operators ready to jump into the ring.
According to The Tennessee Firefly, the following have indicated their intent to submit applications to MNPS:
Encompass Community School
LEAD Cameron Elementary
LEAD Southeast Elementary School
Nashville Collegiate Prep High School
Nashville School of Excellence
Nurses Middle College Nashville
Teach Right Traditional School, Nashville
Catch the name of the last one?
Teach Right Traditional Schools is an organization connected with the Charter Institute at Erskine. Erskine is a Christian college founded in 1839 by the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. Their institute claims to operate 27 schools in South Carolina serving 30,000 students.
Teach Right’s website describes their educational model as being one that stresses A.M.E.R.I.C.A.N. (accountability, mindfulness, excellence, respect, integrity, courage, action, and noble-mindedness) virtues and related core beliefs.
“Belief that our Western traditions and institutions created the greatest freedom and flourishing in human history and therefore must be preserved,” wrote Teach Right.
Where have I heard similar lofty platitudes before?
Teach Right has submitted letters of intent in Hamilton, Knox, and Davidson County but does not expect to file applications in all three this year. If approved, they plan to start with grades K-6.
And you thought all was quiet on the Western Front.
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Let's stick with MNPS for a bit.
Last week, at the board meeting, the subject of breaking up Martin Luther King Academic Magnet High School was discussed. Dr. Battle has apparently dug her heels in and is determined to proceed with removing 7th and 8th grade from the successful magnet school, despite parental objection.
Battle and MNPS repeatedly talk about the importance of parental voice, and listening to the public, but I guess that only applies when parents do as they are told.
If MNPS continues to proceed with this action they will be essentially phasing out more than 40% of the academic middle school magnet seats in MNPS. This erases the opportunity to access advanced academics in middle school at MLK for current 4th-grade students and younger.
Dr Battle frequently talks about equity and following best practices, yet I can't find the idea of breaking up a successful school in any book.
More irony for you, in May of 2013, former 1st Lady Michelle Obama chose to speak at MLK’s graduation. Mrs. Obama said that she selected MLK because it reminded her of her own 7-12 academic magnet school, Whitney Young in Chicago. I guess she was subjected to school leaders that didn't recognize "best practices", or maybe they failed to understand equity. Either way, the model resonated with Mrs. Obama.
This isn't the first time this idea of breaking up MLK has been tried.
In September of 2013, then-Superintendent Dr. Jessee Register proposed phasing out 7th & 8th grade. At the time, the building had a capacity of 1200 students and was bursting at the seams. The MLK community opposed the plan and rallied together. This resulted in an addition/renovation that brought the building capacity to 1500 students, and middle school students were allowed to remain housed in the same building.
Instead of limiting access for middle schoolers, MNPS created access for more students.
The enrollment at MLK has hovered around 1200 students in recent years - 80% capacity. The school has 9 empty classrooms. MLK could easily add 125 6th-grade students in the 25-26 school year (utilizing 5 of these empty classrooms) and increase academic magnet middle school seats available to 6th graders.
According to the MNPS Open Data Portal, the current 6th-grade enrollment in MNPS is 5,446 students. However, this cohort of students had an enrollment of 6,005 when they were in 4th grade.
It has long been argued that the district loses the most students between elementary and middle school.
There are currently 6,037 4th graders enrolled across MNPS schools. These 4th graders would be the first class of 6th graders if MLK were to add 125 6th grade seats in the 25-26 school year which equates to just 2.07% of available 6th grade seats in the district. This is an objectively small amount of impact on MNPS middle schools in general but would provide an attractive option for families looking to enroll in an academic middle magnet school. Perhaps instead of losing more than 500 students between elementary and middle school in MNPS each year, we could open up 125 additional seats in 6th grade and increase district student retention.
MNPS leadership is claiming that this move is being made to increase diversity in the district's magnet schools and to help support under-resourced schools, yet they have failed to provide any supporting evidence.
This move is also being made at a time when Nashville parents are underrepresented on the school board. In the wake of Christiane Bugg's recent resignation, district 5 remains without a representative. Plans to rectify that before the next school board election in August remain unclear.
One parent, who lives in District 2 but has a child who attends MLK, approached her rep Rachel Elrod with her concerns. Elrod responded via email, "I'll add the details about MLK for 1/11, but my focus will be on District 2 schools that D2 residents are zoned to attend (like Croft)."
I guess she forgot about McMurray Middle School, which serves primarily diverse and impoverished students. But that is all right, it's a fairly common occurrence in MNPS circles.
Elrod also seemly forgot, as has most of the MNPS School Board, that the board exists to serve people - students and teachers - not schools.
I've long proposed that the current board expand to include one at-large member from each quadrant. That would go a long way to ensure that everyone hs representation.
Supposedly this is a settled issue, but is it correctly settled?
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Here's an interesting one. Vape sensors are coming to Sumner County Schools. The district hopes the sensors will allow them to curb a growing vape phenomenon among students.
“At the end of the day, if we can eliminate eight hours of the activity, we’ve got a shot at eliminating it completely,” Sumner County Schools Director Scott Langford said in a school board meeting this week.
“If you are having to go two or three times during the day to hit a vape for either nicotine or THC, that’s a problem for any kid, but it’s definitely a problem for a kid under 18, and the quicker we can get them help, the better off they’ll be,” he said.
Not sure what other kids there are other than kids under 18, but I share Langford's concern.
Sumner County School Board members voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the purchase of vape sensors. The plan is to install them in middle and high school bathrooms across the district.
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There was a time when quitting during the school year was viewed by professional educators as a cardinal sin. Sure there were instances of illness, or pregnancy, that necessitated quitting, but for the most part, educators honored their commitment by staying the whole school year.
Most states have laws on the books that say a teacher's license can be suspended if they fail to give adequate notice before terminating employment. Apparently the same doesn't hold true when it comes to administrators.
A few years ago there was a central office fellow who so detested his boss, that he applied for a principal job. Despite almost everybody recognizing that he wouldn't be a great principal, he got the gig.
In February of that year, it sunk in that the gig required interacting with teachers and talking to the parents, and out the door he went to pursue other opportunities in Florida.
Think that professionally hurt him?
Nah, a year later, with the old boss gone, he was brought back to the central office with a raise and a promotion, where he still remains.
The latest is a principal who was active on social media, preaching about trauma-informed education. He had a little school, with roughly 250 students that he often cited as evidence of his philosophy. He regularly received national accolades for his incredible dedication and success.
Curiously, in February of that year, with the impending transition of 5th graders back to his school, he up and accepted a position with a national non-profit. Out the door he went, trauma was something other people did to kids, and his students, who trusted him, would get over it, right?
Guess who's back?
No not as a principal, but rather as a principal mentor with Central Office.
That seems about right? Maybe he can mentor his future proteges to stick around till the end of the year.
I purposely didn't mention name, because I wanted to focus on the practice, as opposed to the individual.
If you are a teacher, principal, or anyone who touches the lives of kids, you need to honor your contract.
It's hard enough losing a favorite teacher and mentor over the summer, without them packing up in the middle of the year. Make all the excuses you want, I'll match you, but teaching is not an ordinary profession and the people who practice it, don't make ordinary commitments.
In an era where everything seems to be subject to change, that needs to remain consistent.
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Time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.
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