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Tennessee school leaders prepare for new literacy law amid teacher shortages and a tight timeline
As Jacob Sorrells winds down his seventh year as director of Marshall County Schools, located south of Nashville, he is doing his best to plan for a new Tennessee law focused on third grade literacy. The test used to measure reading levels will be given this spring, with results released as the school year ends […]
The NASCAR race next door
On days when the racetrack is in use at the Fairgrounds Nashville, Nicole Trammel braces for the ongoing, loud hum of the circling race cars. And, when Nashville Soccer Club fans flock to the new Geodis Park just a block from her house for game nights, gridlocked traffic can add 30 minutes to her drive […]
Historic Beechwood Hall stirs preservation activism in rural Williamson
On an expansive pasture in Franklin, Tenn., at the end of a lengthy driveway, prominently stands a tall, two-story, columned house that dates back to the 1850s. Known as Beechwood Hall, the home has long served as a connection to Williamson County’s storied past to those driving along the area’s rural roads. “It is the […]
In Tennessee, need for immigration legal help far outweighs supply
On Super Bowl Sunday in 2017, Fuad Suleman, his wife and three children were greeted in the Nashville International Airport by a crowd of hundreds who welcomed them to their new city after an exhausting journey from Iraq. The family had been caught in what was known as the Trump administration’s “Muslim ban” and had […]
How to pay for a football team
(Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated the condition of a sales tax related to sales outside the stadium.) To economists, a $2 billion deal for a new Titans stadium is another egregious example of subsidizing privately-owned teams at taxpayer expense. But to Nashville officials, it’s the way out of an eye-popping renovation bill […]
‘Chilling effect’: Doctors face new legal quandaries under Tennessee’s abortion ban
Knoxville obstetrics and gynecology doctor Nikki Zite has treated two ectopic pregnancies since Roe v. Wade was overturned June 24. Now that the Tennessee abortion ban is in effect, the pregnancy complication, which presents life-threatening risks to mothers, prompts new worries for her. “I hope that I am brave enough to move past that worry […]
$200M TNInvestco program winds down, serving as a cautionary tale for some Tennessee lawmakers
Steve Berneman began working on a gaming startup in Austin, Texas. In 2012, he moved to Nashville, where he could access investment capital for the company through a new $200 million program funded by the state of Tennessee called TNInvestco. His company, Overdog, grew to about 15 employees before it was acquired by a New […]
Controversial New Markets tax credit program proposed in Tennessee
In 2017, two University of Tennessee economists were hired by Alabama’s Department of Revenue to evaluate a tax credit program underway in Alabama that was meant to support economic growth in low-income areas. Five years after Alabama’s “New Markets Development Program” was approved and after $234 million in state tax credits were awarded, the economists […]
As COVID-19 weakens Tennessee job market, young adults face new career hurdles
In March 2020, music graduate student Grady Hayden was planning to audition for the Nashville Opera’s chorus. He hoped to perform with an opera after graduation and eventually become a voice professor. When COVID-19 halted the entertainment industry, Hayden, 24, chose to extend his studies at Belmont University and work towards a doctorate. He also […]
U.S. mishandling of Covid response costs tens of thousands of lives, Hildreth says
Dr. James Hildreth, CEO of Meharry Medical College and a member of the new U.S. COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, offered a pointed assessment of the nation’s early response to the COVID-19 pandemic, criticizing a lack of coordination among its 50 states and missed opportunities to protect the country’s most vulnerable populations that led to […]
A stronger job market emerges in Tennessee, along with economic scars from COVID-19
In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sevier County’s public libraries transformed into unemployment insurance centers to help with the deluge of new claimants who lacked Internet access. The county that typically welcomes millions to Dollywood and Gatlinburg each year was experiencing a stunning 29% unemployment rate. The county’s libraries implemented an appointment system […]
After a law for pregnant workers quietly passed in 2020, advocates turn to education
An opportunity to sit. A water bottle and snack. A limit on heavy lifting. A schedule that allows for doctor’s visits. These are among the accommodations pregnant women in Tennessee can request and receive without fearing repercussions under a new Tennessee law that went into effect in October. Many pregnant workers are unaware of these […]