Education
Stockard on the Stump: Ogles draws warnings from Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission is threatening U.S. Rep.-elect Andy Ogles with an audit or other enforcement if he fails to fix discrepancies in his campaign finance report. The agency sent Ogles’ treasurer, Thomas Datwyler, letters Dec. 6 listing a litany of problems within the campaign’s report. Those include incorrect totals and information that deflates his […]
Chattanooga senator wants private school vouchers expanded to Hamilton County
State Sen. Todd Gardenhire, assured that the state’s education savings account program cleared legal hurdles, has filed legislation to expand private school vouchers to the Hamilton County school district. Senate Bill 12 would enable the state program to include qualifying students in districts with at least five schools in the bottom 10% of the state […]
University of Tennessee Health Science Center expands options for pharmacy students
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center plans to expand options for first year pharmacy students on its Nashville and Knoxville campuses beginning in Fall 2023. Presently, all pharmacy students must spend their first semester on the flagship Memphis campus and have the option of transferring to either the Nashville or Knoxville campuses. Courses will […]
U.S. Supreme Court to review Biden student debt relief plan in February
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court said Thursday it will hear oral arguments in February over a legal challenge by six Republican-led states to the Biden administration student borrower relief plan. Until the arguments are heard and the court issues a ruling, the $400 billion Biden plan is on hold due to a nationwide injunction […]
Loudon County Schools sued over alleged sexual harassment of 8th grade student
On Dec. 3, a Loudon County public school student attempted to take his life after school staff failed to take reports of sexual harrassment seriously, a lawsuit alleges. The male student, identified as “John Doe,” was unsuccessful in his suicide attempt and his parents have filed a lawsuit against the Loudon County Board of Education. […]
Congress knows how to slash child poverty. It just needs to do it.
If you could prevent millions of children from falling back into poverty, would you? Most of us, I imagine, would answer “yes” without hesitation. But not Congress. For nearly a year, lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have dithered as the policy directly responsible for a dramatic decline in poverty last year lapsed. It’s time for Congress […]
Student loan repayment pause extended by White House amid legal battles over relief plan
WASHINGTON — The Department of Education announced on Tuesday it is extending the pandemic-era pause on federal student loan repayments until June 30 while legal challenges to the administration’s student debt relief program are fought over in the courts. The agency said if the student debt relief program has not been put in place by […]
Stockard on the Stump: Outrage over TSU was outrageous
Call it a historic attack on a historically Black institution — or at least its management. Tennessee State University officials hoped for a sympathetic ear and help in expediting the use of state funds to provide new housing for overflow enrollment when they went before a Senate committee this week. Instead, they received a shellacking […]
Six GOP-led states win national injunction against Biden student debt relief plan
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Monday issued a nationwide injunction indefinitely blocking the Biden administration’s student debt relief program in response to a challenge by six GOP-led states. The unanimous ruling by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis came after the six states — Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and […]
Biden student debt relief plan thrown out by Texas judge; new applications halted
WASHINGTON — Late Thursday a federal judge in Texas struck down the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan, ruling that the program is unlawful, in a blow to 16 million student debt borrowers already approved for relief. The U.S. Department of Education now is no longer accepting applications for the program, according to the student […]
Stockard on the Stump: Book challenges becoming the rage in Tennessee schools
Book banning is in vogue, and I’m not talking about Madonna. Anyway, the Sumner County School Board is set to consider a request to remove an elementary school book, “A Place Inside Of Me: A Poem to Heal The Heart,” because of references to Black Lives Matter and a portrayal of police handling a riot, […]
Stockard on the Stump: Release inmates with more than just 30 days of meds
State lawmakers serving on a new committee studying Tennessee’s prison release policy are running into a harsh reality: Rehabilitating violent prisoners isn’t easy or cheap. Cleotha Abston Henderson, who is charged with raping and murdering Memphis kindergarten teacher Eliza Fletcher, committed his first major crime when he was 16, kidnapping and robbing attorney Kemper Durand. […]