Tennessee’s Senate Education Committee voted down legislation 6 to 3 Wednesday that would add more partisanship to public schools by allowing elections for school superintendents.Some counties held elected superintendents prior to 1992 when Tennessee removed that option to align with nationally recognized practices of appointing a director of schools.

Tennessee lawmakers advanced a bill to expand the state’s ESA program to Hamilton County, allowing more students to use funds for private education.

Legislators on the Tennessee House K-12 Subcommittee surprisingly approved a major proposal impacting both home school students and public charter schools with no discussion or questions Tuesday night.House Speaker Cameron Sexton’s legislation would create a charter system for home school students to take part in part-time and allow existing public charter schools the ability to create boarding schools to serve at risk students.

Tennessee State Senators gave their support Monday evening to legislation designed to help provide at-risk students with more accessibility to public charter schools.House Bill 1086/Senate Bill 0980 passed the full senate on a 26 to 5 vote.

Tennessee’s teachers now have the opportunity to tell education leaders what's needed to improve their schools.The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) launched its annual Tennessee Educator Survey in partnership Monday with Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA) at Vanderbilt University.

House Bill 1086/Senate Bill 0980 faces key votes in the full Senate today and in the House Education Administration Committee on Wednesday.

Wednesday members of the House Education Administration Committee received help making that decision from an unlikely neighboring state to the south. Former Mississippi Superintendent Dr. Carey Wright spoke before the committee on how her state has approached the topic of literacy and compared it to Tennessee’s intervention acts, including the Third-Grade Retention Law.

Many Memphis youths are already struggling to overcome emotional and psychological trauma inflicted or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.But the specter of being held back in third grade if they can’t pass the state’s reading test will pile onto that trauma, Memphis and Shelby County child and education advocates said during a town hall Wednesday.

Legislation to expand access to career and technical education may have accomplished its sponsor’s goals without a single vote for passage.State Representative Tim Hicks of Gray, Tennessee says he decided to take House Bill 0117 off the House Education K-12 Subcommittee calendar Tuesday evening after receiving commitments from the Tennessee Department of Education to expand the availability of career and technical education and industry credentialing programs.

One of major selling points in last year’s passage of the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act was that it would provide money for teacher pay raises.Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn says that money will provide an average increase of $1,250 for each teacher in the state, but not everyone will see that much and some will receive more.

Culleoka Representative Scott Cepicky drew cheers from public school teachers when he proposed legislation this year to provide them with $500 for classroom supplies.Tuesday Cepicky walked that number back in the House K-12 Subcommittee, by amending his bill to offer less assistance.

The Tennessee Senate approved a bill to include Hamilton County in the state’s ESA voucher program. The bill now moves to the House for discussion.

The Tennessee Department of Education is now offering Tennessee Teacher Apprenticeship candidates free access to “Keys to the Classroom.” The suite of prep materials is designed to help aspiring teachers pass Tennessee’s licensure tests.These resources are available through the Tennessee Grow Your Own Center in partnership with Study.com.

Lee stated he will propose an additional investment of $350 million into TISA which would include $125 million for teacher pay raises.