Nothing is Permanent
“That’s why people become racists, and sexists and terrorists. Because we don’t talk, we don’t listen, because we don’t know, we live only in our own heads.”
― Deon Meyer, Blood Safari
Last week was a lesson in the adage that life comes at you fast and it can turn on a dime.
On a seemingly innocuous morning, my wife, a teacher, was leaving for school, loaded down with the three omnipresent bags she uses to transport school supplies. Distracted, she hit the first step wrong and lost her balance. The bag's weight further destabilized and she fell 13 steps, face first. It was terrifying.
Luckily the bags broke some of the fall but she still fractured her jaw in three separate places.
After a week in the hospital, a four-hour surgery, and considerable pain, she is now home with a wired shut jaw. She's expected to fully heal, but it's going to take some time and probably a little more pain.
As tragic as her accident was, it could have been a whole lot worse. A whole lot.
Despite our protestations, we often take life, and our health for granted, as if each day is guaranteed. We get caught up in fights that don't matter while holding grudges that serve nobody well.
it's a cliche, that each day is not promised, but it holds true, Hug that loved one a little tighter, and choose your words with a little more care, because you never know.
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Ours is not the only family who experienced a sudden change in fate this past week.
Longtime Tennessee State Education Committee research analyst Michael Maren passed away last weekend at the age of 37.
A fellow research analyst discovered Maren's body in his home. The two had planned a policy meeting. The medical examiner has yet to issue a formal cause of death, but indications are that it was a heart attack that killed the analyst.
Maren's passing marks the loss of a valued and respected advisor to the Tennessee General Assembly and a quiet but dedicated advocate for the children and families of Tennessee.
We spend so much time talking about politicians, and superintendents, but we forget there is a whole layer of dedicated folks quietly working to craft policy that benefits all. they seldom garner the spotlight they deserve, and unless you listen closely, you might never know their names. Maren was one of them.
Talk to anyone he interacted with and you'll come away with a picture of a committed dedicated professional.
For over a decade, Senate Education Committee chairs heavily relied on his expertise when pursuing changes to Tennessee education policy.
He first served State Senator Delores Gresham during her tenure as committee chair. When Gresham retired, Maren continued with her successor, State Senator Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol). Lundberg placed considerable value on Maren's policy IQ.
"There are those who hold the title and often get the credit, and there are those who know education policy inside and out," Senator Lundberg said, "Michael was the latter."
Lundberg added that legislators' work would become much more difficult with the passing of the respected advisor.
Nathan James, deputy executive director of Legislative and External Affairs for the Tennessee State Board of Education, said, "People have no idea what excellent work he has done. He was bound and determined to do everything he could do to remind every adult in the process that this process exists to advance students and their chances to be self-sufficient-thinking people worthy of this republic. That may sound like mom and apple pie but it’s true."
James first met Maren when the latter showed up in the state and local government class he taught at Volunteer State Community College. Fresh out of the Navy. Maren was searching for the next endeavor without a clue of what he wanted to do in life.
Eventually, James worked on a few political campaigns and briefly with the Tennessee House. When James left to go to Louisiana and work for Governor Bobby Jindal, Maren took his place as the research analyst with the Senate Standing Committee on Education.
In the ensuing years, the former submariner established a reputation for being a reliable source of information on education policy. Several colleagues spoke of Maren's commitment to getting it right for educators, students, and families. He had a reputation for asking the "hard questions" when formulating policy.
“Michael Maren made a significant impact on education policy in Tennessee, despite not being widely recognized," Professional Educators of Tennessee's executive director, JC Bowman said. "His ability to communicate with lawmakers and advocate for student-centric policies was valuable for education reform efforts in the state."
Bowman added, "I was proud to call him a friend, and his presence will be sorely missed at the Tennessee General Assembly. His legacy will live on.”
James, who considered the former submariner a dear friend, grappled with the suddenness of the tragedy, "He had so much going on, between work and outside interests, he led a full life. He and a neighbor were planning to go to a show and he had a lunch planned for the next day. Now all that has changed. It reminds you how quickly life can change."
Tragic, and just another reminder that life comes at you fast and turns on a dime.
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Tennessee schools are required to do 20-day attendance counts on students. These are the numbers that determine the funding for public schools. Under the state's new funding formula, Tennessee Investing in Student Achievement(TISA), they are more important than ever.
For those not familiar with TISA, it assigns a base rate of funding to each student and then adds weights for certain learning challenges.
Since the pandemic, schools have been losing students at an alarming rate. Potentially, despite a 4 year hold harmless provision in the legislation, schools could lose funding due to a drop in enrollment.
So far, for Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), early numbers show them holding relatively steady on enrollment (MNPS_Enrollment_Day20-2023).
However, both charter schools and traditional enrollment are down slightly. Last year at this time traditional school enrollment was at 67,185, this year it is 66,790.
Charter school enrollment was 13,088, and is now at 12988.
Most of the decline appears to come at the High School level, where there is a 500-student drop. Elementary school and middle school enrollment is up slightly. Though with MNPS shifting 5th graders back to elementary schools, it is hard to discern if that represents growth or is a product of reclassification.
Something that may bear watching is the increase in schools run by the state board of education. A couple years ago, Tennessee created a state charter review board that granted the state the power to override local charter school decisions. If a decision is overridden, the local district has the choice of overseeing the school are needing power to the state board of education.
In 2022, 1883 students attended a SBA governed school. This year that number has jumped to 2511. A look at the pattern over the last 5 years shows that growing by about 500 students every year. That's a not insubstantial number.
MNPS's Sean Braisted does offer this caveat, "We generally use the 40-day October count for our official enrollment stats of the year."
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Freddie O'Connell is now the Mayor of Nashville. Among his first voice priorities is a call to move MNPS high school start times back.
"7 a.m. is too early and bad for both student performance and mental health," O'Connell said in a statement to The Tennessean. "As mayor, I will partner with MNPS to solve transportation issues and other obstacles to move back those start times, so students get a better learning environment."
Roughly 20 years ago, Nashville changed the high school start times to 7 a.m. Magnet schools and specialty schools start at 8.
As the parent of a 9th grader, I can testify that 7 is early and kids don't necessarily like to get up. But the subject is not a simple one.
Many kids play sports and hold part-time jobs out of necessity. Getting out of school at 2, allows them to do both. Move it back to three and some hard decisions will be made.
In other families, older siblings are drafted into the role of part-time parents. Ending the school day at 2 ensures that they are home when younger siblings are released from school. I know, Freddie has promised enhanced after-school child care for students, but some parents may not want that and is that really a job for the city government?
O'Connell says research shows moving start times back even one hour can boost math scores by 8% of a standard deviation for a student, which is equal to about three months of learning.
Yeah, I'm not sure how you remove all variables from the equation that allows you to draw a direct line between student performance and start times, It's our old friend, causation, or correlation.
I'm not convinced, based on my own household, that changing start times will guarantee more sleep time. What's the say that provided the additional cushion in the morning, students won't just stay up later at night?
Here's the ironic twist, one of the main knocks against Freddie's opponent, Alice Rolli, was that she was in favor of a mayoral takeover of the schools. Nashville's city charter draws a strong delineation between the powers of the mayor and those of the school board. In other words, the former has none, and the latter has all.
Here we are with O'Connell not even sworn in and he already is trying to exert influence over the governance of Nashville schools.
Remember, there are a lot of ways to take over a school system.
For now, MNPS is still in charge and they are still weighing options.
"The district has been studying this topic in recent years and does intend to further review this issue through the Metro Schools ReimaginED initiative in the future," Sean Braisted, MNPS Chief of Communications, told The Tennessean in an email. "But the focus right now has been on the successful implementation of the fifth-grade transition from middle school to elementary school, which is slated to be completed in the 2024-25 school year."
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Time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.
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