Just two years ago, chronic absenteeism was a crisis at Compass Berclair school in Memphis. During the 2021-22 school year, more than half of its students — 55.5 percent —missed at least 10 percent of school days, threatening their academic progress and overall well-being.

Under the new law, charter operators that want to replicate an existing academic model, or public colleges and universities that want to establish charters, now have the option of applying directly to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission for approval.

Under her instruction, 74 percent of students were reading on grade level. By comparison, 2024 state testing data shows that 33 percent of elementary school students in Metro Nashville Public Schools achieved proficiency.

Legislation that supporters say will help ensure public charter schools are approved timely and without political bias advanced from the House Education Committee Tuesday, but not without multiple misleading statements by Knoxville-based opponents.

The 9 members of the Tennessee State Board of Education unanimously approved new rules that govern expectations for future opportunity charter schools.

Eric Dailey has been named the new executive director of Rocketship Public Schools in Tennessee, according to a Monday announcement from the charter operator.  

On Monday LEAD Public Schools filed a lawsuit challenging a rezoning plan for LEAD Cameron as a violation of its charter with the district.  LEAD is asking a Davidson County Chancellor to stop the rezoning from going into effect and potentially force the Tennessee school district to pay financial damages.

The Tennessee Department of Education announced the 377 schools across the state that have received the designation as Reward Schools for the 2023/2024 school year.

Public charter schools led the way in the state’s largest school district, accounting for nearly a third of Memphis-Shelby County Schools’ 34 Reward Schools.

In the coming weeks, leaders of more than a dozen public charter schools will make the case for why their school’s charter should be renewed for another ten-year term. Charter schools are free public schools operated by an independent contract or “charter” with an authorizing agency like a school district or the state.

This year, five authorizing agencies including school board members with Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), Memphis-Shelby County Schools, Hamilton County Schools, Knox County Schools, along with members of the state-run Tennessee Public Charter School Commission will make those decisions for thirteen charter schools.

A new study from the Progressive Policy Institute indicates that low-income students in both public charter schools and traditional public schools in 10 major cities are catching up to statewide performance levels.

Leaders of LEAD Public Schools have decided to drop their appeal for the proposed LEAD Cameron Elementary, and instead focus on the appeal for proposed LEAD Southeast Elementary. Learn more about how the proposed Tennessee charter school would serve Nashville families.

Celeste Hanson says she was devastated to learn her son had fallen through the cracks in the school system and was struggling with reading. Last week she was among the supporters arguing children like hers need Encompass Community School to be approved for North Nashville.

SouthEast Bank announced a three-year investment of $154,500 into Chattanooga public charter schools Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy and the Montessori Elementary at Highland Park to help hire new teaching assistants and fund a new scholarship.

Read more about how these Tennessee charter schools are serving students.

Following the Rutherford County Schools Board of Education’s recent decision to deny Novus SMART Academy’s application to become the fourth charter school in the district, supporters and educators from the charter school have taken their appeal to the state.

Elizabeth Fiveash Rush was recently appointed CEO of the Tennessee Charter School Center.

IOTA Community Schools, formerly Green Dot Public Schools, has partnered with Reading Horizons to boost literacy instruction in four Memphis middle and high schools. The partnership brings the Reading Horizons Elevate program, which focuses on foundational reading skills for older learners, to schools like Hillcrest High, Kirby Middle, Wooddale Middle, and Bluff City High. IOTA's Chief Academic Officer, Christina Austin, emphasized the program's goal of better preparing students for college and careers through enhanced reading instruction.

The public charter school operator Prep Public Schools is looking to replicate the success of Chattanooga Preparatory School with another all-boys charter school that just opened its doors for its first school year last Thursday.

Members of the Memphis-Shelby County Board of Education voted to approve amended charter applications for both the Memphis Grizzlies Preparatory STEAM School for Girls and Journey Northeast Academy at Tuesday’s board meeting.

State education officials say the schools overseen by the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission are faring well when compared to the school districts that rejected them.

While recent results from the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) exam indicate that students across the state achieved “record-high” proficiency rates in English Language Arts (ELA) and made some notable progress in math, analysts from the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) say more work is needed to address performance gaps affecting non-white and economically disadvantaged students.