First Tuesday Guest Speaker Metro Nashville Police Chief STEVE ANDERSON !

From Tim Skow:

1ST TUESDAY Members and friends,

Let me apologize for being tardy getting to you this late, but a scheduling conflict has brought about a need for a change of Guest Speaker for our DEC 2nd meeting.... Given the most timely issue of the day.... and with what is dominating the news across the county... I feel proud [and VERY thankful ] to announce that our Guest Speaker on Tuesday will be none other than Metro Nashville Police Chief STEVE ANDERSON !

 NO question.... our city has been experiencing a great of growth....and great Press lately... But with so much good news also coming some serious GROWING PAINS.... Chief Anderson and the rest of "Nashville's Finest" face that side of our city every day..... and every night.

 THEN.... with what's on TV [seemingly endlessly ...].... is Nashville prepared for something like this?

2015 RACES for Mayor, Vice Mayor and 40 Metro Council members are a mere 9 months away.... Here's a chance for you to a get a 1ST-HAND look behind the curtains and learn what you will want to ask candidates about !!

As usual...join us at WALLER LAW... 511 Union Street -- 27th floor for this highly informative event!

 Doors open at 11AM for Coffee and Social time. Several candidates for Metro Council in 2015 will be join us. Lunch is at 11:30 and the program will start promptly at Noon. Chief Anderson is testifying that morning, but will be staying after our Q&A ends at 1PM to meet more of us and answer questions that you may not have had a chance to ask.

 Lunch is $20 for Members and $25 for Guests. Visit our 1ST TUESDAY website, click on the Shopping Cart - and secure seats for you and your guests !!

REMEMBER.... the Nashville Republican Women...and the TOY DRIVE !!! Those who bring a check for $50 or more will have their 2015 DUES waived !!!

See you on TUESDAY !
Tim Skow
Host of 1ST TUESDAY

 PS --- some GREAT NEWS for 1ST TUESDAY will be announced ! YOU are gonna love it !

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Mayor Karl Dean on President Barack Obama's executive order on immigration

Press Release, NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Mayor Karl Dean today released this statement following President Barack Obama's executive order on immigration.

"I am proud that Nashville is a welcoming place that recognizes the many contributions of the New Americans who have chosen to make our city their home. Immigrants and refugees make Nashville stronger and more vibrant. Congress needs to pass comprehensive immigration reform, but until they do, the President's action will allow some families in Nashville to participate more fully in our community.

From a local perspective, our Mayor's Office of New Americans will work with our nonprofit partners to help immigrants access the information they need. In the coming months, we will have resources available at New Americans Corners that are located at Metro branch libraries and community centers throughout Davidson County."

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The Weekly Standard examines Common Core

I knew about Tennessee's Race to the Top education reform effort before I knew it was part of the implementation of Common Core. As a close observer of current events I have known that education has being reformed as long as I can remember. I remember Governor Alexander's reform effort called "Teacher's Career latter" or something like that, that encouraged teachers to go back to school and get more education. I remember when phonics was dropped and the prevailing wisdom was that students should learn to read before they learned the alphabet. I remember an experiment with open class rooms where students from different grades and classrooms were in one very big room without walls dividing the class rooms. I thought that was one of the dumbest ideas of which I ever heard. And, of course, we all know about George W. Bush's "No Child Left Behind." Despite constant education reform, American education has continued to decline. While at one time America was near the top as one of the countries with the most educated population, our educational ranking in the world has continued to drop. 

When Common Core came alone I was all on board early.  Maybe it is because of my own experience as a child. In my first five years of school, I was in five different schools.  On my first day of school in the fourth grade, the teacher handed out a math work sheet.  This is easy, I thought. I completed it but did not know that it was multiplication instead of addition.  In this south Knoxville school, they had learned multiplication in the third grade; in the school I had attended in the third grade we had not been exposed to multiplication. It was a humiliating and a scary experience for a nine year old boy.

We are a very mobile society.  It seems to make sense to me that their should be some standard that says, in this grade you should learn this. Also, the standard should be high so that America's place in the world does not continue to slip. We need an educated work force. Our standards are too low and many do not graduate ready for a career or college. Common Core seem to me to beef up the standards and requires a uniform minimum standard so that a student in Alabama is learning pretty much the same thing that a child in Massachusetts is leaning in a specific grade.  The standards also require critical thinking.  I also liked that the standard was voluntary and that it originated with the states and not the federal government.

When the political campaign against Common Core started, at first it seemed that it was being led by the populist conspiracy-theory-prone right wing fringe and I did not take the criticism seriously.  After the Heritage Foundation and other more mainstream conservative groups began campaigning against Common Core however, I took a second look.  I have read the criticisms bit still do not find a legitimate reason to oppose common core. So much of the criticism of Common Core appears misplaced. An inappropriate reading selection or a teaching method is discovered and opponents of Common Core point to that and offer it as an example of what is wrong with Common Core. Often it has nothing to do with Common Core.

The populist right united with teachers unions appear to be gaining ground in defeating Common Core and Tennessee seems to be on the verge of abandoning Common Core as have several other states.  While most on the populist right are waging the war on Common Core, the mainstream conservatives are, for the most part, acquiescing, and not defending it.

I was pleased to find this article by Andrew Ferguson who is a senior editor at the Weakly Standard that defends Common Core and explains the battle against it.  The Weekly Standard is a major conservative publication. Below are excerpts. I encourage you to follow the link and read the full article.

The Common Core Commotion 

Most of the criticism of the Standards has come from the populist right, and the revolt of conservative parents against the pet project of a national educationist elite is genuine, spontaneous, and probably inevitable. But if you move beyond the clouds of jargon, and the compulsory gestures toward “critical thinking” and “metacognitive skills,” you will begin to spy something more interesting. There’s much in the Standards to reassure an educational traditionalist—a vein of subversion. At several points, Common Core is clearly intended as a stay against the runaway enthusiasms of educationist dogma.

The Standards insist schools’ (unspecified) curriculums be “content-rich”—meaning that they should teach something rather than nothing. They even go so far as to require students to read Shakespeare, the Preamble and First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and works of Greek mythology. Phonics is the chief means of teaching reading in Common Core, rejecting the notorious “whole language” method first taken up in the 1970s and—research shows!—a likely culprit in the decline in reading scores. The Standards discourage the use of calculators, particularly in early grades where it has become a popular substitute for acquiring basic math. The Standards require memorization of multiplication tables as an important step in learning arithmetic, striking a blow against “fuzzy math.” Faddish notions like “visual literacy” are nowhere to be found.

Perhaps most impressively, at least in language arts, the Standards require students to read and write ever larger amounts of nonfiction as they move toward their high school diploma. Anyone familiar with the soupy “young adult” novels fed to middle- and high-school students should be delighted. Writing assignments, in tandem with more rigorous reading, move away from mere self-expression—commonly the focus of writing all the way through high school—to the accumulation of evidence and detail in the service of arguments. The architect of the Language Arts Standards, an educationist called David Coleman, explained this shift in a speech in 2011. He lamented that the most common form of writing in high school these days is “personal writing.”

......The populist campaign against the Standards has been scattershot: Sometimes they are criticized for being unrealistically demanding, at other times for being too soft. Even Common Core’s insistence on making the Constitution part of any sound curriculum has been attacked as insidious. Recall that students will be required to read only the Preamble and the First Amendment. That is, they will stop reading before they reach the Second Amendment and the guarantee of gun rights.

Coincidence? Many activists think not.

The conservative case, as seen in videos and blogs posted on countless websites, relies heavily on misinformation—tall tales and urban legends advanced by people who should know better. Revulsion at the educationist project predates Common Core by many decades. It is grounded in countless genuine examples of faddish textbooks and politicized curriculums. For the last few years, however, Common Core has been blamed for all of them. Textbook marketers and lesson-plan designers are happy to help. Their market, after all, isn’t parents but fellow educationists on state and local school boards that control purchasing budgets. Once Common Core was established as the future (for now) of education, the marketers knew the phrase was catnip. Every educational product imaginable now bears the label “common core,” whether it’s inspired by the Standards or not. A search of books for sale on Amazon.com shows more than 12,000 bearing the words “common core” in their titles. Many were produced long before the Standards were even a twinkle in an educationist’s eye.

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Davidson County Young Republicans meet Tuesday Nov. 25th.

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Reps. Diane Black and Ted Poe and Respond to President's Amnesty Plan, Introduce the Separation of Powers Act

Rep. Diane Black

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Congressman Diane Black (TN-06) and Congressman  Ted Poe (TX-02) introduced the Separation of Powers Act.  This legislation would prohibit the use of funds for granting deferred action or other immigration relief to aliens not lawfully present in the United States.

“President Obama will regret this decision,” said Congressman Black. “The American public has loudly voiced their objections to the President circumventing Congress like this, and now President Obama has ignored the will of the people and set a terrible precedent for future Administrations. In doing so he has also reversed his own previous position on the limits of his power, further degrading his credibility and disgracing his Administration. My colleagues and I will explore our options to stop this overreach and restore the proper Constitutional balance to our government – this legislation is an important start.”

“Time and again this lawless administration has defied Congress in order to unilaterally implement its own agenda,” said Rep. Poe. “The President’s latest edict announcing that he will disregard immigration law, rewrite the rules and grant amnesty and work permits to millions of foreign nationals is just the latest illegal act. These actions are motivated by politics, not people. This legislation will allow Congress to exercise its 'check' on an out-of-control White House that treats the Constitution as a mere suggestion, not the law of the land.”

The Separation of Powers Act:
1.      Prohibits any funds from being appropriated or otherwise made available to grant parole or deferred action to any alien other than for reasons permitted under current law; and
2.      Prohibits any funds from being appropriated or otherwise made available to provide work permits or green cards to aliens who are currently unlawfully in the U.S.

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Congratulations Councilman Ludye Wallace on your election as President of the Nashville NAACP. Keep Ludye on Duty!

From left to right: VP Brenda Gilmore, President Ludye Wallace,
secretary Sheryl Allen.  Vernon Winfrey with Rev Enoch  Fuzz

Former Councilman Ludye Wallace was elected President of the Nashville NAACP this week. 

When I served in the Metro Council in the 1980's, I served with Ludye Wallace. While I occasionally disagreed with Ludye on issues of preferential treatment for minority contractors and such, those type issue actually seldom arose. Ludye was one of the best Council members with whom I served. He was often an opponent of higher taxes and cronyism.  While an advocate for the Black community, Ludye was not a firebrand. He was reasonable, and if you disagreed with him and could not support him on an issue, he never took it personally and you might be allies on the next issue.  Councilman Wallace was a master at parliamentary procedure and I learned a lot from him.  Use of parliamentary procedure is often like playing chess and Wallace knew how to do it. Ludye Wallace was also one of my best friends on the Council and when I was going through some personal stuff, he was very supportive and encouraging.

Congratulations Councilman Ludye Wallace on your election as President of the Nashville NAACP.  Keep Ludye on Duty!

Officers of the local charters of the NAACP serve without pay. Other elected member of the Nashville NAACP include Brenda Gilmore who serves both in the Metro Council and as a member of the State Legislature, Secretary Sheryl Allen,  and Vernon Winfrey with whom I also served in the Metro Council and who is the father of Oprah Winfrey.

Pictured in the photo with the new board members of the NAACP is Reverent Enoch Fuss pastor of Corinthian Missionary Baptist a large and influential African-American church here in Nashville.

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Legislators request Haslam to file lawsuit against Obama's illegal amnesty

State Rep. Andy Holt, (R- Dresden)

State Sen. Mae Beavers,  (R- Mt. Juliet)

Press Release, NASHVILLE,  November 21, 2014-- On Friday, in response to President Obama's plan to take executive action on illegal immigration reform, two Tennessee legislators are filing a Joint Resolution requesting Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam (R) file a lawsuit against the Obama Administration on behalf of the state.

"Article II of the United States Constitution is explicitly clear on the powers vested within the Executive Branch. President Obama lacks the authority to execute even the slightest change in policy. The Constitution delegates President Obama the power to make suggestions concerning policy and nothing more," said State Representative Andy Holt (R- Dresden) Thursday night after President Obama delivered a prime-time speech announcing his plan of action. "Anything beyond making suggestions is an illegal usurpation of undelegated power, and we simply cannot allow it to go unchecked."

The two legislators are citing the commandeering of state resources, which would be required to execute the President's Executive Order, and the lack of enforcement of deportation statutes as warrant for legal recourse.

"President Obama's moves are a dangerous and insidious display of blatant abuse of power. Tennesseans will not stand for it, and I am here to demand the integrity of our Constitution and our state is protected," said State Senator Mae Beavers (R- Mt. Juliet). "As state legislators, we have a constitutional responsibility to ensure our state is not illegally commandeered by the federal government."

Holt and Beavers cite 180 years of Supreme Court precedent protecting state governments from the federal commandeering of resources.

"Illegally assigning millions of illegal immigrants what equates to pseudo de jure citizenship will cost Tennessee incalculable tax-payer dollars," said Beavers. "Not even Congress has the power place this undue burden on Tennessee tax-payers, so it's unclear why President Obama, acting alone, believes he has the authority to do so. Let me be clear-- he doesn't."

"The United States Supreme Court has been very clear concerning the commandeering of state resources by means of federal legislation and initiatives through coercion," said Holt. "For more than 180 years the Court has explicitly repudiated such acts of commandeering in Prigg v. Pennsylvania, New York v. United States, Printz v. United States, and most recently in NFIB v. Sebelius."

Both legislators believe the need for reform exists, but that it must be delivered by legal means.

"Our immigration system is wrecked, and I doubt anyone denies that. However, we are a nation of laws, not men, and we must work together to resolve these issues while maintaining the integrity of our Republic," said Holt.

Holt will draft and sponsor the House Resolution, and Beavers will carry it in the Senate.


                           

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Don't compare Reagan and Bush executive action on immigration to the dictatorial actions of President Obama. There is a major difference.

Your liberal friends or family may post to Facebook a graphic like this one, such as my liberal sister-in-law did, that says Obama's Executive Order on amnesty is no different than the executive amnesty granted by Reagan or Bush.  This is going to be the primary line of defense to charges that Obama was acting more like a King than a president. I expect to hear this repeated often.

Don't believe it.  Obama's amnesty really was unprecedented and unconstitutional.  Obama's amnesty was going against the will of the Congress.  Reagan and Bush's executive orders on immigration were to fulfill the desire of Congress. They made administrative corrections designed to carry out congressional intent. For a more detailed examination of the differences between executive action of Reagan and Bush on immigration and the dictatorial actions of President Obama, read this article: Obama’s Unilateral Amnesty Really Will Be Unprecedented—and Unconstitutional.

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Tennessee Lawmakers respond to Obama's Executive Order on Amnesty.

Lamar Alexander

Senator Lamar Alexander:    Our founders did not want a king, and the American people don't want a president who acts like one. Our immigration system is broken, and our border is a mess. The president should be working with Congress to secure the border and create a system of legal immigration not disregarding the rule of law and the will of the American people.

Bob Corker

Senator Bob Corker:     The president is not acting in strength, he is acting in weakness.
This decision makes it clear that the president doesn't have the ability and willingness to lead by rolling up his sleeves and doing the hard work to reach a consensus that is in the best interest of our country.
The president is blatantly ignoring the rule of law and Congress' constitutional role, and I could not be more disappointed. Congress has to respond, but the response should be prudent and we should not lose sight of the fact that our job over the next two years is to enact policies that will make our nation stronger.

Jim Cooper

Rep. Jim Cooper, 5th District Democrat: President Obama is doing exactly what he said he would do if Congress did not act. Comprehensive immigration reform already cleared the Senate with 14 Republicans, including both of Tennessee's senators. Speaker Boehner should allow the House to vote on the bill. There's still time before the end of the year.


Rep. Marsha Blackburn, 7th District Republican:  After months of

Marsha Blackburn

crafting comprehensive immigration reform behind closed doors and delaying it to shield Democrats up for re-election, the self-proclaimed most transparent administration in history is finally announcing the scope of its lawless amnesty. The president's decision to nullify the immigration laws of this country through executive action will hurt our economy, lead to more unemployed American citizens and make us less secure. It signals that America is an "open borders" society with no rules governing entrance except those announced through royal decree.

Diane Black

Rep. Diane Black, 6th District Republican:  Once again, President Obama is prioritizing election-year politics and illegal immigrants ahead of the rule of law and the American people.  His policy change amounts to back-door amnesty that will be funded on the backs of hard-working, law-abiding Americans. When unemployment remains above 8 percent, for some reason the President thinks it's a good idea to add hundreds of thousands of new people to the job market to compete with Americans for jobs. That's insulting to the millions of unemployed Americans. I have sent a letter to the President calling on him to reverse his decision. As long as the decision stands, I will pursue all means necessary whether that’s through legislation or the court system to fight this outrageous power-grab by the President.

John Duncan

Rep. John Duncan, 2nd District Republican: There is a right way to do things, and there is a wrong way to do things. This is the wrong way. President Obama has said on several occasions in the past that executive orders are the wrong way to fix immigration and that he isn't a king, but now this is exactly what he is trying to do.
With unemployment and underemployment rates still high and so many millions of people who have given up looking for work, it is not a good move to bring in millions more people from other countries.
Rest assured, there will be a strong and coordinated response from the Congress to stop this unconstitutional overreach of power.

Scott DesJarlais

 Rep. Scott DesJarlais, 4th District Republican:  President Obama's decision to act unilaterally on immigration shows a blatant disregard for the constitutional checks and balances upon which our government was founded and sets a troubling precedent for the use of executive power. Congress has the sole authority to create and amend laws, with the president's duty being to faithfully execute those laws. Although he might wish otherwise, the Constitution does not give President Obama the authority to circumvent Congress simply because existing immigration laws conflict with his particular ideology. My colleagues and I will be reviewing all available options afforded to Congress to prevent this usurpation of power and preserve our rule of law.

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Governor Bill Haslam Elected Chairman of the Republican Governors Association

TNGOP Chairman: Because of Haslam's success, he's a "natural choice for this position."

NASHVILLE, Tenn, Press Release --The Republican Governors Association (RGA) is known as one of the most successful political organizations in the country. It will now be led by a Tennessean who is also known for his political success.

Governor Bill Haslam today was chosen by his peers to be the new Chairman of the RGA, succeeding the outgoing chairman Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey.

Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney remarked, "I congratulate Governor Haslam for being elected the new Chairman of the RGA. With his leadership skills, fundraising prowess, and track record of success, he's a natural choice for this position. It's proof that on a national scale, more and more people are taking note of what he's doing in Tennessee."

The RGA's primary mission is to help elect Republicans to governorships throughout the nation, but the group is also dedicated to providing Republican governors with the resources to help them govern effectively.
Background 

• With his re-election, Gov. Haslam set the Tennessee record for percentage of the vote for a governor’s re-election in modern Tennessee history (70.3%). 
• Additionally, Haslam won by the greatest margin of victory of any governor in the country (47.5%). 
• With the RGA's leadership, the Republican Party will now have 31 governors leading states across the country.

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What happened at the Nov 18th Counicil meeting? The limit-pawnshops-meeting. (Updated)

Councilman Peter Westerholm's memorializing resolution endorsing President Obama's plan to force coal-fired power plants to close was pulled off of the consent agenda and deferred. Westerholm failed to appear before  the Rules Committee so the vote was deferred "by rule." The plan to force Pedal Pubs to get a certificate of necessity was deferred one meeting.

Council meetings are not quite as boring if you know what the Council is voting on. To get your on copy of the agenda, the staff analysis and my commentary, follow this link. I normally notate the timestamps of the portions of the meeting worth watching, but there is nothing noteworthy worth watching in this meeting.



Here is the items worth mentioning:

RESOLUTION NO. RS2014-1269 extends the term of the Study and Formulating Committee to March 31st, 2015. Every five years the mayor has to appoint such a committee to study and make recommendations on employee benefits. The work of the committee is not finished and the staff analysis says this extension is needed. Without an extension the work of the committee will have to be completed by November 19, 2014. This resolution was deferred last meeting. Any recommendation of the Study and Formulating Committee would have to come back before the Council.  Any recommendation would not change benefits of current employees but only future employees. I wish the employee retirement plan would be changed to a Metro defined contribution plan rather than a defined benefit plan, but I don't think that will happen anytime soon. Most private sector plans, if there is any retirement plan, is a defined contribution plan rather than defined benefit. A defined contribution plan is less risky to the employer. A defined contribution plan specifies the employer make contributions on a regular basis and within a set range of options, the employee decides how his contributions will be invested. A defined benefit plan specifies how much retirement income the retiree will receive. This resolution to extend the term of the committee fails by a vote of 16 aye's and 17 no's.

RESOLUTION NO. RS2014-1289  is the bill to offer incentives to Bridgestone to get them to stay in Nashville.  Actually, if I were in the Council, I would vote for this but I wish that was not the way business was done, but if we don't bribe them to stay, some other city will pay them to relocate so we have to play the game. They will bring 1700 jobs to downtown and build a new 30-story tower in SoBro. They already have about 1100 employees in Nashville but the lease on their location near the airport is expiring and they were looking at relocating.  The metro incentive is about $50 million, mostly in a exemption on paying taxes for some years on the new building they will build downtown. In addition to the Metro incentive the State is also offering an incentive. You can read The Tennessean's story about this deal at this link. It is deferred one meeting to "track" with the bill on first reading which addresses the same issue.

Three bills on First Reading sponsored by Councilman Westerholm are pulled from consideration as  bundled with all other bills on First reading and he them moves to have them passed and deferred to the public hearing in February.  As I had it explained to me, Westerholm had put bills on the agenda to rezone property and the owners of the property did not request the rezoning. They were not even aware of the rezoning proposal before they were introduced. This is almost unheard of. Councilman Robert Duvall explains this and speaks against the bills and says they should be defeated. Council member Megan Barry speaks against defeating of the bills. The bills do pass on first reading. I heard several "no's".  I wish the "no's" would have requested a machine vote. If Westerholm would like to explain how this happened, I would be pleased to post his explanation.

BILL NO. BL2014-925 on second reading would regulate pedicabs and pedal pubs. Pedicabs are the three wheeled non-motorized vehicles that travel in the 2nd Ave and lower Broad area. Pedal pubs are those traveling taverns powered by the customers, about eight on each side. These regulations would require a certain amount of insurance and certain safety requirements. I am OK with that. What I don't like is that Metro would allow them only after they prove a necessity for the vehicles.  Metro can say "we have enough" and not allow new providers to get in the market. I don't think any business should have to show a need to enter the market.  Let whoever wants to try to make a go at it, have a shot. No one should be protected from failure or competition.  What if one had to show a need before one could open a new restaurant? We would not have the great restaurants we have today, but we would have some really mediocre restaurants. There is probably never a "need" for a pedal pub.  One pedal pub may succeed because of the type of beer they sale or the price of the beer or the bartender tells good jokes or the barmaid is cute and shows cleavage. Let them compete and let the market determine which ones survive.   If I were in the Council, I would vote against this bill.   The bills is deferred one meeting. As I had it explained to me, it would not be lawful to require a certificate of necessity for Pedal Pubs.

BILL NO. BL2014-926 on second reading subsidizes the cost of a rain barrel purchased form a company Metro will contract with to provide them. The justification for this program is that it will help with storm water management.  It sounds like a waste of money to me. I would have voted against it. It passes.

BILL NO. BL2014-896 on third reading rezones 238 acres in east Nashville to allow accessory dwelling units on properties in the rezoned area. I think rezoning like this is a positive development, we need to promote affordable housing but not use the heavy hand of government to mandate it. Accessory dwelling units on a lot can provide more affordable units of housing and increase density which is necessary to have successful mass transit and it combats urban sprawl. This is deferred two meetings.

BILL NO. BL2014-902 on third reading is a zoning bill disapproved by the Planning Commission and there is some discussion of the bill but it really doesn't interest me very much. The contentious issue is the bill allows an LED sign. It passes. I would have been persuaded to vote for it if I were in the Council. If anyone is interested, see the timestamp at about 46:00.

BILL NO. BL2014-908  imposes proximity limits on what are often called predatory lenders, places like check cashing businesses, title loan businesses and payday lenders and pawn shops. These  businesses, except for pawn shops, could not be located within 1/4 a mile of each other and pawnshops could not be located within 1/4 mile of another pawn shop. I think this is a misguided effort and if I were in the council, I would have opposed it. To see my commentary on this, follow this link. When the bill was on public hearing, I was surprised that no one showed up in opposition.  Those in support did not speak and there was no discussion and the bill passed unanimously by voice vote.  I oppose this bill but it passes and there is little discussion.

Here is the Tennessean's report on the meeting: Limits on way for Nashville pawnshops, payday loan stores.
Here is the Nashville Business Journal's report: Bridgestone incentives clear first council hurdle.
This is the WSMV report: Ride-sharing regulations pass first Metro Council reading.

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Diane Ravitch Cheered By Anti Education Reform Crowd In Nashville

In case you missed it, Diane Ravitch Cheered By Anti Education Reform Crowd In Nashville.     There is a certain element that does not want tough standards or excellence in education. They would prefer the one-size-fits-all model of education.  They think that what we have is good enough.  If if means bad teachers never get fired and many students never get educated, they would prefer that to meaningful reform.

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