ServiceMaster employees fanned out to four area schools Thursday to help beautify the campuses as part of Spring Clean '19.

Tennessee education leaders can now track glitches with the revamped TNReady testing system in real time. But the state education commissioner says she still must decide whether to throw the switch or wait another year to resume online achievement tests.

Amid concerns over declining enrollment and aging campuses, the changes are the first step in former superintendent Dorsey Hopson’s facilities footprint plan that could consolidate 28 old facilities into 10 new ones.

School board members in Shelby County have consistently opposed using state funds for private school tuition, and the latest proposal, which expands eligible expenses to tutoring and online courses, is no different, they said.

Nashville is the latest city to copy pieces of the Memphis Lift model. Memphis Lift leader Sarah Carpenter said she’s also been meeting with parents in Oakland and Atlanta to help get their programs started.

Even though the Shelby County Schools board is about to hire a national search firm to look for a new superintendent, Joris Ray has not been shy about pushing through initiatives that he believes will improve academic performance in Memphis schools.

Shelby County Schools will honor five notable alumni for their contributions to the community at the 2019 Alumni Hall of Fame Gala Saturday.

Gov. Bill Lee's proposed voucher program could provide an average of $7,300 annually to families that make double the annual income under federal eligibility requirements for receiving free and reduced-price lunches.

The biggest difference – and most costly for parents – is that traditional vouchers would have covered all tuition costs. Education savings accounts would not necessarily cover all of a student’s private-school tuition.

In a presentation to Memphis parents this week, Griffin said: “The life of the ASD is at stake. We either fix it and show improvement or it’s not going to exist….”

Black Memphians make up a large portion of the people who will qualify for the governor’s proposal, but they are hesitant to trust predominately white private schools.

Some Tennesseans say the income threshold makes vouchers appealing to families for which private school is within reach, compared to students from low-income families who may be looking to escape low-performing schools.

Plans to house a University of Memphis-operated middle school at St. Anne Catholic Church have fallen through, but the university says it still hopes to open the school this fall.

The Republican governor plans to pay for the program’s first year by stockpiling $25 million annually in discretionary funds for the next three years — but he’s not specifying where the money would come after that.

The coalition, called TN Teachers United, launched last week after meeting with two teachers who helped organize statewide walkouts last year in Arizona and West Virginia.

Kirby Middle's principal, Marian Williams, credits the reflection room and an incentives program for students’ good behavior as aids to a more empathetic approach to discipline this year.

Gov. Bill Lee said his proposed education savings accounts would not siphon money from public schools: “For every dollar that goes with a child that leaves a school or a district, that district will receive a fill-in-the-gap amount of equal amount.”

The Memphis mayor’s authority over public schools is limited, since the city school board voted in 2010 to dissolve the city district, which led to a merger of the city and county school systems. But the city mayor isn’t without power to steer conversation and dictate spending. 

Supporters and opponents of Lee's proposal for education savings accounts are mobilizing for likely the biggest battle of the legislative session.

University of Memphis students can gain protection from tuition increases if they graduate within four years under a Guaranteed Tuition Rate plan approved by trustees Wednesday.

A proposed policy would require Shelby County Schools' 8,700 second-graders to meet eight of 12 points the district tracks to be promoted to third grade. 

The state set an April 11 deadline for vendors' bids to administer the TNReady program. The final contract is to be signed by June 13.

Charter schools were the only education topic addressed when the governor’s office released advance excerpts of Lee’s State of the State address.

Lee’s spending plan will provide Tennesseans with their first detailed look at the first-year policies and priorities of the new governor. He offered few specifics on the campaign trail as he promised education improvements, better jobs, and safer neighborhoods.

The new University of Memphis Middle School would stretch the concept of learning for younger public school students, if the Shelby County Schools board approves the plan Tuesday.