This Moment Demands Our Best: A Call to Build What Our Students Deserve
With the passage of House Bill 662 / Senate Bill 714, the State of Tennessee has established a path for a nine-member educational oversight board that may assume significant authority over districts in the State that have significant academic and operational challenges.
In this update, we lay out our vision for moving forward.
Early Voting Begins
A conference committee was appointed to hash out the differences between the House and Senate versions of a bill that would appoint a board of managers to oversee Memphis-Shelby County Schools.
Additionally, early voting has begun! For a list of polling locations and times, please see this link. You can vote at any early voting location on the list, even if it is not your regular polling location or in your part of town. You can find more information on the candidates or offices on the ballot on the Shelby County Election Commission’s website.
How Do We Solve Population Decline?
Last month, Mayor Paul Young broke with the tradition observed by recent mayors of Memphis by acknowledging the fact that the city’s population is in steady decline. Now, a new state law could change the way sales tax revenue is allocated to municipalities based on what proportion of Tennesseans live there.
Population loss affects more than sales tax revenue: it also means less revenue in property taxes and fewer patrons for local businesses. So what do we do about this?
Why a Statewide Coalition Matters
This week, we at Seeding Success had the privilege of talking with legislators from across Tennessee about our mission to build opportunity for children and families.
We spent a day on the Hill in Nashville articulating a cradle-to-career vision and meeting with dozens of members of the General Assembly. Our message—familiar to anyone who regularly reads this newsletter—was simple:
If Tennessee is to become the best place to raise a family and achieve prosperity, we need everyone pulling in the same direction.
Big Shifts in Federal Education Policy
This week, the U.S. Department of Education announced interagency agreements to move several offices currently under the purview of the Department of Education to other federal agencies. This unilateral executive effort follows President Trump’s campaign promise to shut down the Department of Education, though only Congress has the authority to officially shutter the agency.
Such a large change comes with risks and concerns, especially for students of color, disabled students, Native students, and female students. Yet a coordinated, strategic response could present an opportunity for states to innovate and change the landscape of education to meet the needs of their population. We discuss these considerations further in the full update