As some members in the audience hold protest signs, leaders from four public school districts field questions Tuesday from a special legislative panel looking into the feasibility of Tennessee rejecting federal education funding. If Tennessee makes that decision, GOP leaders say, the state would fill the gap with its own funding. Marta W. Aldrich / Chalkbeat A state committee studying whether Tennessee should reject federal education dollars heard a unified plea from public school leaders not to do that — and to instead invest the state’s excess revenues in K-12 students, teachers, and sc ..read more

Students at Whitehaven High School in Memphis attended an assembly with the authors of “His Name Is George Floyd,” but restrictions associated with Tennessee law prevented them from hearing excerpts of the book. Courtesy of Memphis Shelby County Schools Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy. Students at Memphis’ Whitehaven High School got a chance last month to hear from journalists Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, authors of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book on George Floyd — his life, his b ..read more

Trezevant High School is one of six schools that students at MLK College Preparatory High School can choose to attend next school year, as construction on a new high school in Frayser begins on the site. Laura Faith Kebede / Chalkbeat Students at MLK College Preparatory High School in Frayser will get to choose from among six schools to attend beginning next school year, as Memphis-Shelby County Schools begins construction of a new high school on the same site. MLK College Prep is closing as it returns to MSCS control after 10 years in the Achievement School District, a failed state effor ..read more

Tennessee Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds has unveiled a new calculation for giving A-F letter grades to the state’s 1,700 public schools. The overhaul is her first major initiative since coming to the job in July under Gov. Bill Lee’s administration. Courtesy of Tennessee Department of Education After months of asking Tennesseans how the state should judge its public schools when giving them their first A-F letter grades, Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds mostly ignored the feedback. In her first major initiative since taking the helm of the state education department in ..read more

Director of Schools David Snowden greets a student at Johnson Elementary School in Franklin, Tennessee. Snowden is in his 23rd year at the helm of Franklin Special School District and was recently named Tennessee Superintendent of the Year for 2024. Courtesy of Franklin Special School District If his school community had to choose between himself and its nine therapy dogs, David Snowden jokes that “the director of schools would have to go.” Now in his 23rd year as leader of Franklin Special School District, south of Nashville, Snowden has championed the canine program since Mattie Grace b ..read more

In November, the Tennessee Department of Education is scheduled to give each of its public schools an A-F letter grade. Klaus Tiedge / Getty Images Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with statewide education news and Memphis-Shelby County Schools. It was supposed to make things simpler. A 2016 Tennessee law required the state to assign each public school a letter grade, A to F, based mostly on student test results. The intent was to give parents and communities an easy way to assess the quality of education at each school. Nothing about it has been sim ..read more

Tondra Loder-Jackson, author of “Schoolhouse Activists: African-American Educators and the Long Birmingham Civil Rights Movement,” was inspired by the Civil Rights movement, especially the 1963 walkout known as the Children’s Crusade. Tondra Loder-Jackson As a Birmingham, Alabama, native, Tondra Loder-Jackson was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. She was especially inspired by the 1,000-plus Black children who walked out of school in Birmingham on May 2, 1963, to protest Jim Crow segregation in what would be known as the Children’s Crusade. Still, one quest ..read more

Draft plans from Memphis-Shelby County Schools include proposals to close, consolidate, and redevelop school buildings. Administrative offices, like the campus at 160 S. Hollywood St., could be affected by consolidation plans, too. Laura Testino / Chalkbeat Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy. Draft plans from Memphis-Shelby County Schools for overhauling its aging facilities include proposals to save the district more than $200 million by repurposing 20 academic buildings and consolidating ad ..read more

Memphis-Shelby County Schools officials extended the closure of Peabody Elementary School through the rest of the school year. Google Maps Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy. Peabody Elementary School is closed until next fall due to issues with mold and to allow time for other building upgrades, Memphis-Shelby County Schools officials told families Friday. School officials first located mold in the Midtown building in September, initially prompting a dayslong closure. When that wasn’t long e ..read more

Paul Young, leader of the Downtown Memphis Commission, will be Memphis’ mayor. His proposals include capital investments for Memphis-Shelby County Schools that could revive the relationship between the city and the school district. Courtesy of Paul Young Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and statewide education policy. Downtown Memphis Commission leader Paul Young will be Memphis’ next mayor, a position that gives him no formal authority over Memphis-Shelby County Schools, but could allow him to revive the relationship be ..read more