Education
Appeals court revives girls’ videoed sexual abuse lawsuits against Nashville schools
A divided federal appellate court on Thursday resurrected a lawsuit filed against Metro Nashville Public Schools by the parents of two students who were sexually assaulted and videos of their attacks posted online in two different incidents at two different high schools. A two-judge panel of the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals struck down […]
State Supreme Court overturns lower courts, approves governor’s education savings account program
The Tennessee Supreme Court overturned lower court rulings and paved the way for Gov. Bill Lee’s education savings account program to provide state funds for students to enroll in private schools. In a ruling released Wednesday, the high court found Lee’s voucher program, which will provide funds to low-income students in Davidson and Shelby County […]
Vanderbilt University lawsuit alleges unequal treatment of female “spousal hires”
An assistant professor of art history has filed a $2 million suit against Vanderbilt University, claiming she was denied tenure as a result of the school’s unequal treatment of female “spousal hires,” who are offered a job as part of an employment deal extended to their partners. Mireille Lee filed suit in Davidson County Chancery […]
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Tennessee State University graduation
On a rainy spring morning, Vice President Kamala Harris stood before Tennessee State University’s class of 2022, reviewing the past and a future unknown to the graduating students. Before her played a montage of the country’s history of Black Americans, of Emmitt Till’s murder, the Civil Rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr., all of […]
Stockard on the Stump: So long, farewell
Despite great grinding and gnashing of teeth, the Legislature adopted an ethics reform bill on the final day of the 112th session, one designed to shed more light on so-called dark money. Nonprofit groups that have been raising Cain about the bill, claiming it will require them to file reports for something as innocuous as […]
Commentary: Legislators are mini-Pharaohs treating the state’s servants shamefully
As a special education advocate and former high school teacher, the mother of two sons who have attended public school, private school, and homeschool, and the wife of a high school teacher, I am a strong defender of our public school libraries. Unfortunately, it seems Speaker of the Tennessee House Cameron Sexton and his Republican […]
Knox County Schools declines questions about officer assault of middle schooler
A Knoxville Police Department officer slammed the face of a handcuffed middle school student onto a table—causing a gash on the boy’s chin—in a search for marijuana that didn’t exist, court records and video obtained by the Tennessee Lookout show. “I had no choice,” KPD School Resource Officer David Lee told the restrained, slightly-built Northwest […]
Representative says he would burn books deemed inappropriate by state
State Rep. Jerry Sexton said Wednesday he would “burn” books found obscene by an expanded state textbook commission charged with policing school library selections. In debate with Sexton over legislation requiring school districts to submit lists of library books to the commission, state Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, asked what the state would do with […]
Germantown schools takeover advances in Tennessee House
On Tuesday, a controversial bill allowing Germantown to take over Shelby County schools in their district was amended to include tighter restrictions if both parties were unable to reach an agreement by next year. On April 4, HB2430 passed despite outcries from Memphis Democrats that forcing Shelby County schools to cede four properties to Germantown […]
Truth-in-sentencing, K-12 funding, Titans stadium part of talks in $52.8B state budget plan
A truth-in-sentencing bill pushed by the House and Senate speakers, along with a K-12 funding plan and $500 million in state bonds for a new Titans stadium are the focal points of negotiations as the two chambers prepare to consider different $52.8 billion budget plans Thursday. The House and Senate are expected to take up […]
Judge shoots down Knox County gum-chewing lawsuit
Parents of a Knox County high school freshman with a rare hearing disorder are seeking an emergency appeal after a federal judge refused to force the Board of Education to ban eating and gum chewing in classrooms, court records show. U.S. District Judge Katherine Crytzer on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the parents of […]