State of Schools Address ignores declining enrollment, pretends there is not a problem.

If you want to skip the introductory speeches and the entertainment and the event and instead just read the text of Dr. Joseph's address you can find it at this link.

The annual State of Schools address follows some bad news and a week of discontent from School Board member, teachers, staff, and parents. The proposed budget for the coming years cuts 38 positions mostly in the area of social workers and truant officers. Some of the programs that attract parents of higher performing students are being cut, so-called "legacy" positions such as World language, Suzuki Strings, STEM (Science, technology, engineering and math), advanced academics, and International Baccalaureate. Some students who now get free lunch will have to start paying for lunch. MNPS will get $7 million less from the State this year because there were 1,500 fewer students enrolled in the district than last year. 

With Nashville's population growing and yet school attendance shrinking, I think a theme of the State of Schools address should be to ask, "Why are we failing to attract students?" It would be good to have some data in order to know how bad the problem really is. Is Metro school enrollment shrinking while surrounding counties school enrollments are growing?  Is Metro school enrollment shrinking while private school enrollment is growing?  Is enrollment shrinking because there are fewer school age children in the metro Nashville area or because parents avoid putting their children in Metro schools? What are the numbers? What is the plan to make Metro School attractive to parents or is Metro Schools to be a dumping ground for those with no other options. The State of School address pretends there is not a problem.

This years proposed budget of $942 million is actually a 5.1 percent increase over the current budget. With 5.1 percent more money and 1500 fewer students, one might think Metro Schools would be in a good position but that is not the way the school board and many others see it. Teachers were asking for a 5% wage increase instead of the 2% they are being given. More than half of the new money in the proposed budget will be spend on employees.

In his address,  Dr. Joseph praises achievements in the 2017-18 school year and says the math and reading scores show that Metro schools showed improvement across the board at a rate of improvement higher than the national average. He discusses the schools  support of literacy efforts, college readiness, social emotional learning, equity and diversity, and employee compensation.

Top Stories

Metro Schools to eliminate 38 positions

Metro Schools to eliminate 38 positions 

Positions being eliminated include 7 social workers, 12 family involvement specialists and 16 truancy specialists.

Top Stories

David Fox says he won't run for mayor of Nashville in August election, Bill Freeman out, Erica Gilmore running

David Fox says he won't run for mayor of Nashville in August election

Councilwoman Erica Gilmore launches run for Nashville mayor

  

Bill Freeman says he won't run for mayor of Nashville this year

Top Stories

Nashville Schools proposed budget of $924 million proposes teacher pay raises and layoffs

The proposed Metro Public Schools budget is for $924 million which is a 5.1% increase over last year, but since it is less than projected this is called a "cut."  Due to enrollment remaining relatively flat instead of growing as anticipated, Metro Schools will received $7.5 million less from the State than expected.

The budget calls for a 2% increase in teacher's salaries, a reorganization of student services department and a shifting of Title 1 monies to the worst performing schools. Title 1 money is money received from the Federal Government to support schools with large number of low income students. Cuts to student services cuts things like truancy officers and social workers.

Other cuts are to those services favored by middle class parents and parents of better than average students, such as cuts to the arts and advanced placement classes and International Baccalaureate.

Check back for more on the Metro School budget.

Top Stories

School Board budget Public Hearing shows discontent

by Rod Williams - The School Board pubic hearing on the proposed budget is only 30 minutes long.  Those wishing to speak had to sign up in advance and were limited to two minutes. Speakers call for cuts at central office rather than in the classrooms, denounce Dr. Joseph for lack of transparency, denounce being put in a position of  "of fighting over crumbs," and ask the school board to propose a larger budget and to fight for it.  

Erick E. Huth, president of the Metropolitan Nashville Education Association, the teacher's union, ​ says the school budget is full of false choices and that if Metro can afford a massive new expensive transit system that involves drilling through limestone then it can afford more for schools. He is especially disappointed that the proposed budget calls for seven fewer  social workers and says the system needs more social workers, not fewer. He calls for a "realistic" budget and says Metro cannot continue to balance its budget on the back of its kids.

The third speaker a parent of a metro school student, denounces Dr. Joseph, President Trump, pitting one school against the other, and white supremacy.

The proposed budget calls for a 2% salary increase for teachers, some says it is not enough and needs to be 5%. Several school social workers speak explaining what they do and the importance of their job.

I am surprised that no one calls for more school nurses. That was an issue last year when the approved School budget did not include all of the nurses the school board asked for. I can see a need and would have expected those who advocated for school nurses last year to resume their advocacy. Perhaps with the position of seven social workers being on the chopping block, those advocates for more school nurses concluded it would be a futile effort this year.

At almost any public hearing one hears from unhappy people, not happy people, so one should keep that in mind. Those who speak at public hearing are not representative of the public and are individual expressing their own point of view. Also, only about a dozen people spoke, so that is a small sample of those effected by the school budget. Nevertheless, from this public hearing and other sources I get the distinct impression that people are upset at school budget cuts and the way Dr. Joseph has handled the budget.

Top Stories

Mayor Briley adds union operative to legislative team

The Tennessean: Mayor Briley adds union operative to legislative team

Top Stories

The Federalist Society: The Electoral College: Outdated relic or vital institution?

Event to be held at the following time, date, and location:Wednesday, April 4, 2018 from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM (CDT)
Bass Berry & Sims PLC.  150 3rd Avenue South
28th Floor,  Nashville, TN 37201, View Map
Follow this link to purchase tickets.

Join the Nashville Federalist Society Chapter on Wednesday, April 4 at 12:00PM for a luncheon on the electoral college with lawyer and writer Tara Ross.

In the wake of the 2016 election, the Electoral College has again come under scrutiny. Why has the winner of the national popular vote been denied the White House twice in a 16-year period? Critics contend that the system is antiquated, an institution created to protect the institution of slavery.  Isn’t it time that we got rid of a system with such problematic roots? This session will explore the true history of the Electoral College.  What were the delegates to the Constitutional Convention trying to accomplish? Were they concerned about 18th-century travel and communication difficulties or did they have other considerations in mind? What other alternatives did they consider?  What (if anything) did they really say about the institution of slavery during their debates about presidential selection? Did the Founders expect electors to vote in accordance with the states’ popular votes? What surprising expectation did they have about the back-up presidential election procedure in the House of Representatives? Tara will address all these questions—and more.

The fee for the event is $15.00. You can pay online by credit card or bring cash or check (made out to The Federalist Society) to the event. If you would like to pay by check or cash, please send an email to grant@grantstarrett.com to RSVP. Lunch and refreshments are included. Paid parking is available in the building's lot for $8. CLE credit is available.

Space is limited so please RSVP by Monday, April 2.

Tara Ross is the author of The Indispensable Electoral College: How the Founders’ Plan Saves Our Tara RossCountry from Mob Rule (2017), We Elect A President: The Story of our Electoral College (2016), and Enlightened Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College (2d ed. 2012). She is also a co-author of Under God: George Washington and the Question of Church and State (2008) (with Joseph C. Smith, Jr.).
As a lawyer and writer, Tara focuses on the intersection among law, public policy, and constitutional history. She often appears as a guest on a variety of talk shows nationwide to discuss these matters and regularly addresses civic, university, and legal audiences. Her work has been published in several law reviews and newspapers, including the National Law Journal, USA Today, the American Enterprise Online, National Review Online, WeeklyStandard.com, FoxNews.com, HumanEvents.com, The Washington Times, and the Texas Review of Law & Politics.

Top Stories

State bill will strenthen sanctuary city prohibitions and stop Nashville from adopting sanctuary policies

Reposted from Tennessee Eagle Forum newsletter - Fifty-eight Tennessee House Republicans are named co-sponsors on the anti-sanctuary city bill HB2315.

Adding the bill's chief sponsor, State Rep. Jay Reedy (R-Erin), means that 80 percent of the House Republicans support strengthening and closing the loopholes in Tennessee's existing anti-sanctuary city statute. (Seventy-four of the 99 members of the Tennessee House of Representatives this session are Republicans, while 25 are Democrats.)

Tennessee's anti-sanctuary city law passed in 2009, only addresses written policies that prohibit local governments, officials and employees from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. This narrower definition of "sanctuary city" would likely not have applied to at least one of the sanctuary city ordinances proposed by the Metro Nashville Council last June.

The two ordinances proposed by the Metro Nashville Council would have made Nashville the most liberal sanctuary city in the country. One of the bills included a "don't ask so you don't have to know or tell" practice prohibiting Davidson County and Nashville employees, including law enforcement, from providing pertinent information to ICE regarding criminal aliens.

Reedy's bill expands the definition of sanctuary city to include practices that obstruct cooperation with federal immigration authorities and help shield illegal aliens who have also committed crimes. North Carolina and Georgia have included the expanded definition in their anti-sanctuary city laws.
The Metro ordinances, drafted with the assistance of the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition, were withdrawn due to overwhelming grassroots opposition and pressure from state legislators.

State Sen. Mark Green's (R-Clarksville) Senate companion bill, HB2332, passed the Senate State and Local Government Committee last week on a 7 - 1 vote and is ready to be scheduled for a Senate floor vote.

Reedy's bill is scheduled to be heard in the House State Government Subcommittee on Wednesday.  With 59 House members already co-sponsoring the bill, if it makes it to the House floor, it already has enough votes to pass.

In a February ad released by a PAC called Tennesseans for Good State Government, GOP gubernatorial candidate Speaker Beth Harwell takes credit for "outlaw[ing] sanctuary cities," most likely a reference to the narrow 2009 law which the Metro Nashville Council's ordinances would have bypassed and which Rep. Reedy's bill will fix.

Harwell is not yet listed as a co-sponsor of Reedy's bill.

Here is the list of 58 Republican co-sponsors of the bill, listed in alphabetical order:



Tennessee Eagle Forum is an organization I support. Their newsletter is a good source of information on what is happening at the state level. To join the TN Eagle Forum mailing list follow this link. Rod Williams

Top Stories