“The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.”
― Wole Soyinka
Over the last several months, as a family, we've been on an interesting journey. My son has about completed his middle school years, and it's time to make plans for high school.
As part of that process, we've begun to explore private school options, for many reasons, most of which I don't feel inclined to share at this point. Suffice it to say, we've got our reasons.
Interestingly enough, this pursuit is playing out with the argument over state universal vouchers playing in the background. This provides me with a unique perspective.
There are a lot of dissenting opinions being voiced about Governor Lee's proposed Education Freedom Accounts. Some hold more water than others.
A primary argument against universal vouchers made by Peter Greene, among others, is that providing vouchers to kids already enrolled in private schools would only drive costs to an unsustainable level.
"The universal vouchers for students already in school creates a taxpayer problem, because it increases the number of students that the taxpayers pay for. Taxpayers are paying for 100 students at the public school. 10 leave for a private school. 25 already at the private school get a voucher (and why wouldn't they? what sense does it make to turn down free money?) But now taxpayers are paying for 125 students. If that money comes from the school of origin, that school can either cut programs or raise taxes. Universal voucher programs get really expensive, really fast. "
A fair argument, and rooted in truth, but it also opens the door for some additional truth - we don't want every student enrolled in a public school.
Lord, if that happens, think about the cost.
What we want is for those who can "afford it", to go on over to their private institutions and foot the bill themselves, we'll take care of everybody else. I should say, we'll take everybody else as long as you leave that MAGA bullshit at the door. Ain't nobody got time for that. But I digress.
It's kind of like this, we are going to feed everyone, but we are to feed you peas. If you don't like peas, then you are free to go buy steak elsewhere, but we've got peas for everybody.
Peas are a good food, and most of you will thrive on a diet of peas, just look at the folks over in that town down the road. They are kicking ass on a peas diet. The argument works as long as you ignore that those townspeople are buying a little hamburger on the side because they can afford it. Or that certain towns get a higher quality pea than those in other towns.
Unfortunately for public school advocates, there are more and more folks searching for dietary supplements. The question becomes, who should control access to those peas?
When people proclaim themselves proud supporters of public schools, I have to ask, "OK, which public schools?" Because the peas ain't all the same.
Would that be the public school system in say Williamson County, a wealthier suburb of Nashville, or the ones in Madison, a not as wealthy suburb of Nashville?
Maybe it's the ones in Jackson, a growing community west of Nashville, or the one in Cleveland TN, a more rural community east of Chattanooga. Because they are not all the same.
We recently traveled to Liberty Creek High School, in Sumner County, for a state basketball tournament. That high school campus would impress me if I was looking for a college for my kid.
One visit and I'm looking at the real estate listings. Props to those folks.
Personally. I've come to believe that charter schools would be much more welcomed if they just went private, with a slightly lower tuition rate. That might alleviate some cost issues right and garner some love.
This cost thing is a big deal.
The Center Square recently reported that the state of Tennessee spent 43% of the state sales tax on education last fiscal year and 56 cents of every dollar of state and local sales tax went to education in that same span.
That is not an insignificant amount.
Keep in mind that sales tax is not just collected from families attending public schools. So, those parents who are already paying private education tuition, are also contributing to the tuition of those attending public education.
That's a little inconvenient truth.
Please don't consider my raising of the subject as an endorsement of Governor Lee's proposed universal voucher legislation, but it should be part of the conversation.
But then again, a lot of things should be part of the conversation.
Arguably, private schools are doing more in the name of equity and diversity through their concentrated efforts to provide more steak to students would couldn't have imagined it in the past.
Meanwhile, I don't see public schools promoting the value of peas to rich kids.
Might be an idea.
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This week, in what is being misclassified as a leak, we got a look at a few more of the details in the proposed legislation being pushed by the Governor's puppet masters.
Some of you may bristle at that descriptor, but if you think Governor Lee is acting the shots on his own, I invite you to take a look at the recently proposed legislation in Arkansas, Arizona, Ohio, North Carolina, Texas, New Hampshire, and others. The branding and the marketing all seem to bear an uncanny resemblance.
All of which magically appeared simultaneously and bear a close resemblance to ExCelinEd initiatives.
Hell, they give you a whole handbook for implementing policy, including 10 Essential steps.
Number 10, is of course, "defending the program". It includes this nugget:
It might seem strange to say that “defending” a school choice program is part of implementing one. Unfortunately, these programs are often challenging to enact because they upend longstanding systems and buck the powers-that-be. Advocates know that defenders of the status quo rarely back down. Many new programs in school choice face immediate legal challenges, which often are unsuccessful but nonetheless slow down implementation.
If you are wondering how Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds feels about increased school choice, you just have to read her blog entry on the ExCellinEd website.
Reynolds writes, "In states across the country, too many parents and guardians of too many kids do not have educational options. They may be zoned into failing schools or schools that do not adequately meet the needs of their children. They may struggle to demand that the schools meet their needs because they are disenfranchised or intimidated by barriers of language, income, or education. In the end, their choices for their children are not valued—or choices don’t exist at all."
Now let's get back to the hypothetical leak, anybody who has paid any attention to Tennessee's State Senate will tell you they tend to be a little less dramatic, tending to stick more to business as opposed to theatrics. Every once in a while there is an exemption, but for the most part, this holds true.
Last week Education Committee Chair, Senator Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol) told committee members of the expectation that a bill would be filed on Monday. Lo and behold, the bill was filed on Monday, but House members were unprepared.
The two bills must initially mirror each other, and as many of you know, House members, along with the Governor, are out trying to fulfill wish lists designed to garner support. As a result, their bill wasn't ready, and the other needed to be quickly withdrawn.
While the Governor's office characterized the Senate bill as a "draft", that definition needs to be put in context.
When the final bill is introduced, likely as part of the over 20 consent bills filed earlier in the week, you should consider it a "draft".
The expectation is that any voucher bill will be amended as it moves through committees in both governing bodies. Primary hang-ups are bound to be, accountability and affordability.
Several Republicans have indicated they have questions about both based on what's currently been provided.
I'd be shocked if Senate Finance Ways and Means Committee Chairman Senator Bo Watson (R-Hixson) and his counterpart in the House, Representative Patsy Hazlewood (R-Hixson), don't have a few thoughts on the bill as it proceeds.
This one is anything but a done deal.
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While we are on the subject of private schools, let's talk about testing.
Last weekend, my son took the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE). The ISEE is a standardized test used by private schools for entry and placement purposes. It's three hours long and covers almost everything covered by the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP), which is the state's measurement tool for student achievement. That's where the similarities end.
Once we scheduled the ISEE, we were provided a link to practice exams with questions and formatting representative of the actual exam. After taking a timed session, students were provided a breakdown of what they got right and what they got wrong.
For the questions they got wrong, there was an explanation of the question, and in some cases even a video explaining the correct answers.
What?!?
I thought those questions were top-secret proprietary information. What's going on here?
Ready for another shocker?
I got the results back in 4 business days. Those scores came with both results, what questions he got wrong and right, and through explanations of the test elements. In other words, results didn't come 6 months after the fact clouded in mystery. The test was actually useful.
Got me thinking, why can't TCAP mirror ISEE practices?
I asked several educators, and none could give me an adequate reason.
One principal did tell me, "Because, TCAP is designed to illuminate student failure, and apparently ISEE is the opposite."
Hmmm...you know what Sherlock Holmes said, right?
"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
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An interesting story emerged this week regarding Brin Elliot, the now-former head of the state's Achievement School District (ASD). You'll remember I wrote about the former MNPS administrator back in September.
At the time, I thought she was an interesting hire due to her long history of working in the DEI space. A history that didn't seem to align with the political winds of Tennessee.
Much has been made of Elliot's accomplishments in the D.C. School district, where she most recently served. However, none of those accomplishments were in the area of academic achievement.
At the time, I wrote, "I am confused about why state legislators pass a law against the teaching of “divisive concepts” only to have the state department of education turn around and hire a leading proponent of the teaching of “divisive concepts”.
Complicating matter, was the recent publication of Elliot's book, "The Antiracist Roadmap to Education Equity" Not likely to be found on the bedside table of state representatives, though when I brought up the book, most legislators shrugged, and downplayed any apparent conflict.
It didn't make a lot of sense.
Making even less sense is the fact that in the wake of her departure, news outlets are making no mention of her DEI achievements, not her affiliation, with ExcelinEd's sister organization, Chiefs for Change.
Kinda important elements of the story don't you think?
The former DC administrator was hired just a few weeks after the arrival of Commissioner Reynolds. In private circles, Schwinn has been coy in offering support for Reynolds. Some get the impression that she feels a failure by Reynolds would only serve to make her time in Tennessee more attractive. In that light, it's been speculated that the hiring of Elliot was a "poison bill" left behind for the new commissioner.
Either way, there is a whole lot more to this story, and in the end, once again kids are put at risk by the lack of leadership.
As a side note, North Carolina is currently considering the renewal of their Achievement School District, which was closely modeled on Tennessee's. In the evaluation presented to North Carolina State Board of Education members, there is a rosy picture painted of Tennessee's ASD. Rest assured that is not an accurate portrayal.
State Rep. Antonio Parkinson(D-Memphis) says it best:
“The state has failed miserably in running schools and the state should not be in the business of being a school district, period,” Parkinson said. “The Achievement School District came in and aggressively divided these communities and took over these schools, and then they performed worse than the schools they actually took over.”
If anybody had the courage, the TN ASD would have been dissolved years ago. There is more than enough evidence to support such a move.
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If you are keeping tabs on the Albuquerque School District and its search for a new leader, and you are an MNPS educator, I've got potentially disappointing news for you.
Mason Bellamy, the District's Chief Academic Officer, has elected to remove himself from consideration.
Bellamy had made it to the final 3, before deciding to recuse himself. Bellamy cited “personal circumstances” as his reason for withdrawing, per APS. APS intends to announce its decision on February 5.
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I keep hearing rumbles from Nashville parents, that even as MNPS makes changes to MLK Academic Magnet High School, they are also making it more difficult for parents to learn about the opportunities at both MLK and Hume-Fogg. There is a new process and a new link required for submitting an application. It's almost like someone is ashamed of the achievements of the two nationally-ranked high schools. If only they could win a state football championship, maybe that would change things.
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If you are local, to Nashville, and looking to learn more about the school board candidates in District 4 for the upcoming election, there is a spaghetti supper on Thursday, February 8th. The meeting is at Jere Baxter Middle School and starts at 6pm.
Good news for Nashville's Glencliff HS. They've got a new football coach.
Alumnus Carl Scott, Jr. (CJ) has been selected as the new Glencliff High School head football coach. No stranger to the school, Scott most recently served as the STARS coordinator at Glencliff and will transition to the classroom as a teacher.
“Once a Colt, always a Colt,” said Scott. “Playing sports at Glencliff had a positive impact on me. Having the opportunity to return to my alma mater to coach and offer that same positive experience that I received is a great feeling. I also plan to implement an overall positive team culture, including team building, character development, and strong leadership.”
A legend within the Colts program, Scott won the Class 5A Mr. Football Award in 1999, leading the team to the state championship game. He also played on the collegiate level at The University of Tulsa and played professionally in the Arena Football League. He has served as an assistant football coach at Donelson Christian Academy and Glencliff
“The Glencliff High School community is proud to announce the homecoming of CJ as he returns to his alma mater not just as a head coach, but as the embodiment of his roots reaching deep into the very soil where his journey began,” said Clint Wilson, executive principal. “As he prepares to lead the Colts with passion and purpose, he stands as a testament to the power of nurturing one's roots to rise to new heights, inspiring a legacy that echoes through the corridors of Glencliff—a homecoming written in the language of touchdowns and triumphs and a legacy that will only continue to grow.”
No word yet on who will be the new Football coach at Antioch HS.
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Time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.
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When I was in junior-high/high school (grades 7-12 ending in 1969) there were 5 districts in the county, one Catholic High School, and one "country day school". Almost everyone attended the public schools which shared a Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES a.k.a. VoTech). The public schools did good work and the students got good preparation for the next stage in their life. (For some it was a trip to Viet Nam courtesy of the United States Army.) My daughter graduated from a public school in Harris County, TX, and her brother graduated from the local high school where he was allowed to attend classes in computer technology courtesy of the county's version of VoTech. My conclusion is that there is nothing wrong with a public school system as long as the parents are paying attention.