Just to warn you, this post is more about the legislative side of education.
With a new legislature in place, there will inevitably be shifts in multiple areas...education is no exception.
First and foremost, new committee assignments for the TN House and the Senate. Note that a new House Education Committee has been appointed by Speaker Harwell.
http://www.tnreport.com/2011/01/house-committee-assignments-for-the-107th-tennessee-general-assembly/
Rep. Montgomery from Sevierville is now the chair of the education committee in the House.
http://www.tnreport.com/2011/01/senate-committee-assignments/
In an e-mail update from Rep. Harry Brooks, he indicates that a new committee on education finance was appointed. Here's a part of his e-mail:
"A new joint committee between the Senate and House was appointed by the Speaker dealing with Educational Finance. I was also asked to chair this committee. This will be the most challenging task I have this session as it initially deals with three specific educational issues which are BEP funding for K-12, post secondary capital (building construction) expenditures, and maximizing the use of dual enrollment and dual credit in high school and the financial implications of such. I also will serve on the full Education and full Finance committees. Serving as chair of a standing committee automatically places me on the House Calendar and Rules Committee also. In addition to these House committees, I continue to serve on the Teacher Evaluation Advisory Council and SCORE (Sen. Frist’s educational reform initiative). It will be another busy session requiring much of my time to be spent in Nashville."
This e-mail isn't secret, by the way. You can e-mail rep.harry.brooks@capitol.tn.gov and request to get his updates.
On top of this, Metro Pulse did an article (by Frank Cagle) indicating that several things could be on the horizon...from charter school expansion to the publishing of teacher value-added scores online to opening the age-old elected vs appointed superintendent debate. See the article here: http://www.metropulse.com/news/2011/jan/12/real-state-education-reform/
TN's House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick (R-Chattanooga) anticipates that tenure reform will be on the table. See the article here: http://www.metropulse.com/news/2011/jan/12/real-state-education-reform/
Things continue to change at a lightening-fast pace. Now that lawmakers are back in Nashville, education will be at the top of their priorities, mainly because education and economic development are increasingly becoming linked.
Let's just keep in mind that all these conversations should be motivated by making things better for children.... Let's try to keep in mind that these conversations shouldn't be taken as a war against education and all teachers. From the United Way perspective, it's a great chance for us to sit at the same table, talk solutions, compromise here and there, and move forward to make education better for all the children in the state of TN.
As a humorous side-note, last night's Golden Globe awards for TV were dominated by the hit show "Glee." When it won for best TV show, one of the producers took the chance to say on national TV (and I quote):
"I just want to say thank you to public school teachers. You don't get paid like it, but you're doing the most important work in America."Amen to that!
Happy MLK Day to you all!
IN THE NEWS:
- Bristol's Director of Schools learns from Chinease education.
- Knoxville's new STEM school (a RTTT effort) earns support of the Knoxville News Sentinel.
- Article showing discussions in Lenoir City / Loudon County about the ability to deny out-of-county students.
- 4 districts in TN receive grants to support alternative pay schedules for teachers.
- Should Austin East High School be a community school?
- Maryville sings praises for education in their community.
- Cleveland Schools folks take a chance to learn more about Race to the Top.
- Since the new report card has been released, you can learn about what we're looking like in different communities across the state here.
- Charter schools in Knoxville and across the state are getting more attention.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Start the New Year "In The Loop"
Happy New Year, everyone! Hopefully your winter breaks all served you well with a time to reflect on the successes of 2010 and opportunities for improvement for 2011.
One resolution I'm making is related to STAYING INFORMED ABOUT EDUCATION REFORM IN TN.
OK, this might have something to do with the fact that I'm a nerd, but it seems like a lot of citizens agree that education is important in our communities, but it's also really important to the vitality of our state.
How do I plan to do this?
- SCORE Daily Updates: You can do that HERE. They do a great daily news clipping service for FREE that captures statewide information, and major stories from around the nation.
- TN First to the Top Updates: The State Dept of Education does a weekly e-mail to update people about the progress of the "Race to the Top" money. Sign up HERE. The Dept's website for FTTT is HERE.
- Attending at least 1 school board meeting per month: Find out where your school board meets, and you can just sit in for the first hour on the way home.
- Subscribe to Google Alerts: If you have Gmail (and no, this is no endorsement of one company over another), it's fairly simple to set up Google Alerts. Once you log into Gmail, click "My Account" then look for the "Alerts" link. I like the [education Knoxville] and [education Tennessee] Alerts most, but you can think of others. Any suggestions for me? More information can be found HERE.
- Stepping foot in a school AT LEAST once per week: For me, I'm volunteering at Austin East HS and Pond Gap Elementary once per week. Hopefully other schools will invite me in to discuss what they need from communities to be supported and keep the discussion going. This way, I can help to support teachers as they try to become the most effective teachers as possible! WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH A LOCAL SCHOOL OF YOUR CHOICE?
- Talk to my legislator ONCE PER MONTH about education: Tell them what you want to see happen to improve education. From promoting effective teachers in schools to accountability of RTTT funds, just speak what's on your mind. Find out more HERE. If you have a new legislator, make sure they know how much you care about education!
Whew, that's quite a list. My work is cut out for me. But the children in school are counting on it. That's motivation enough for me. Good luck starting your New Year "In The Loop."
IN THE NEWS:
- United Way discusses what it has done to raise community support for effective teachers. We also have a part of our website dedicated to this work HERE.
- School report card data released TODAY.
KNOX COUNTY FOLKS: Here are the changes in the school Adequate Yearly Progress.
STATE OF TN HIGH PRIORITY SCHOOLS: Check them out here.
- Teach for America teachers seem to have higher value-added scores than teachers coming out of traditional teacher prep. programs.
- East TN lawmakers sit down to talk with the TEA teachers about education in the coming year.
- Teacher and principal residency program is expanded, and Hamilton County talks about how it'll be put to use.
- Anderson County Schools takes a look back and a look forward to the challenges ahead.
- Career / Technical Education tracks take off in Knox County. This is on the heels of a previous blog post I did about CTE.
- Local Oak Ridge businesses stepped up for the holidays.
- Bill Gates and National Teacher Union president sit down and talk about how to fix education. It's about supporting those effective teachers!
- Stay on top of those RTTT dollars here. Look for the "Scopes of Work" that outline how districts plan to spend $$$ to fix schools.
- Even in West TN, this group has education as topping its priorities.
- Parental engagement links from the TN Dept. of Education.
- Website helps puts $$$ in East TN schools.
The list could go on, but that's a snapshot...
One resolution I'm making is related to STAYING INFORMED ABOUT EDUCATION REFORM IN TN.
OK, this might have something to do with the fact that I'm a nerd, but it seems like a lot of citizens agree that education is important in our communities, but it's also really important to the vitality of our state.
How do I plan to do this?
- SCORE Daily Updates: You can do that HERE. They do a great daily news clipping service for FREE that captures statewide information, and major stories from around the nation.
- TN First to the Top Updates: The State Dept of Education does a weekly e-mail to update people about the progress of the "Race to the Top" money. Sign up HERE. The Dept's website for FTTT is HERE.
- Attending at least 1 school board meeting per month: Find out where your school board meets, and you can just sit in for the first hour on the way home.
- Subscribe to Google Alerts: If you have Gmail (and no, this is no endorsement of one company over another), it's fairly simple to set up Google Alerts. Once you log into Gmail, click "My Account" then look for the "Alerts" link. I like the [education Knoxville] and [education Tennessee] Alerts most, but you can think of others. Any suggestions for me? More information can be found HERE.
- Stepping foot in a school AT LEAST once per week: For me, I'm volunteering at Austin East HS and Pond Gap Elementary once per week. Hopefully other schools will invite me in to discuss what they need from communities to be supported and keep the discussion going. This way, I can help to support teachers as they try to become the most effective teachers as possible! WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH A LOCAL SCHOOL OF YOUR CHOICE?
- Talk to my legislator ONCE PER MONTH about education: Tell them what you want to see happen to improve education. From promoting effective teachers in schools to accountability of RTTT funds, just speak what's on your mind. Find out more HERE. If you have a new legislator, make sure they know how much you care about education!
Whew, that's quite a list. My work is cut out for me. But the children in school are counting on it. That's motivation enough for me. Good luck starting your New Year "In The Loop."
IN THE NEWS:
- United Way discusses what it has done to raise community support for effective teachers. We also have a part of our website dedicated to this work HERE.
- School report card data released TODAY.
KNOX COUNTY FOLKS: Here are the changes in the school Adequate Yearly Progress.
STATE OF TN HIGH PRIORITY SCHOOLS: Check them out here.
- Teach for America teachers seem to have higher value-added scores than teachers coming out of traditional teacher prep. programs.
- East TN lawmakers sit down to talk with the TEA teachers about education in the coming year.
- Teacher and principal residency program is expanded, and Hamilton County talks about how it'll be put to use.
- Anderson County Schools takes a look back and a look forward to the challenges ahead.
- Career / Technical Education tracks take off in Knox County. This is on the heels of a previous blog post I did about CTE.
- Local Oak Ridge businesses stepped up for the holidays.
- Bill Gates and National Teacher Union president sit down and talk about how to fix education. It's about supporting those effective teachers!
- Stay on top of those RTTT dollars here. Look for the "Scopes of Work" that outline how districts plan to spend $$$ to fix schools.
- Even in West TN, this group has education as topping its priorities.
- Parental engagement links from the TN Dept. of Education.
- Website helps puts $$$ in East TN schools.
The list could go on, but that's a snapshot...
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