Memphis Local, Sports, Business & Food News | Daily Memphian | Melissa Brown

Tennessee educators ask lawmakers to dial back or amend state testing

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 19:24:07 -0500

Dr. Kevin Schaaf, a Metro Nashville Public Schools reading specialist, said students are often fatigued and disengaged in class, stressed by the emphasis on test performance.

Tennessee won’t say how many students are enrolled in new voucher program

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 20:29:00 -0500

Months after Tennessee launched its first statewide voucher program, the Tennessee Department of Education won’t say how many students are using it to attend private school.

Students with disabilities can more quickly be removed from class under a new Tennessee rule

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 17:32:00 -0500

Tennessee schools had interpreted a 2022 rule to mean students could not be removed before a formal behavioral assessment was completed. Now, schools can make removal decisions during the assessment or even before it has started.

Is Tennessee about to remove its world language graduation requirement?

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Mon, 4 Aug 2025 21:50:40 -0500

When Tennessee State Board of Education Chairman Bob Eby mentioned at a May board meeting that he wanted to launch a study of the state’s language graduation requirement, he kicked off a firestorm of public response.

Gov. Bill Lee downplays transparency concerns about Tennessee school voucher program

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Wed, 2 Jul 2025 08:44:26 -0500

Students’ prior enrollment is a frequently asked question in other state voucher programs and was a required question on the application for Tennessee’s first voucher initiative.

Here’s where Shelby County families can find free meals and snacks this summer

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 04:00:14 -0500

For the first time in five years, many Shelby County families are missing out on supplemental grocery cash this summer after Tennessee stopped participating in a federal program that served the entire state.

Tennessee schools could remove students with disabilities from classroom before assessment under proposed rule change

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 19:36:36 -0500

Tennessee may soon make it easier for schools to temporarily remove some students with disabilities from their classrooms.

Tennessee launches its summer food benefits this week. Most students in the state will miss out.

mbrown@chalkbeat.org (Melissa Brown) — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 18:20:04 -0500

The program is a significant rollback of Tennessee’s previous summer food benefits initiative.