Keeping the Dumpster Fires Burning
“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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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