Author: Melissa Brown

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Some Tennessee private school teachers without a college degree would be eligible to teach in public schools under a new bill advanced by the Senate Education Committee this week. Senate Bill 2019 would allow private school teachers without a college degree to obtain a temporary public school teaching waiver, a move one national teacher quality organization said could lead to unprepared teachers. The bill received a unanimous vote from the education committee with bipartisan support after Sen. Dawn White amended the bill to…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Tennessee House Republican leaders will push forward a plan in 2026 to install a Memphis-Shelby County schools oversight panel that would seize significant decision-making authority from the locally elected school board.House Speaker Cameron Sexton and education committee Chairman Mark White confirmed this month they are committed to working with the Senate to pass a form of takeover legislation in the 2026 legislative session. Republicans in the two chambers failed to find a compromise after passing differing versions of the bill earlier this year…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.The Memphis-Shelby County school board passed the $1.9 billion 2025-26 district budget Wednesday that will fund the return of fall and spring break academies, staffing incentives, and a new preventative maintenance team to address longstanding building issues. The school board scaled back $30 million of proposed school fire safety and HVAC upgrades from the budget after not receiving full funding from the Shelby County Commission for a $35 million investment toward deferred maintenance issues. The district will instead direct $5 million to pressing…