Tennessee

News, analysis, and opinion about K-12 education in Tennessee
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JANUARY 14: Debra McAdams, Executive Director, Department of Exceptional Education at Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools visits Isaiah T. Creswell Middle School Of The Arts in Nashville.
Debra McAdams, executive director of the department of exceptional education at Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, visits Isaiah T. Creswell Middle School of the Arts in Nashville, Tenn., on Jan. 14, 2026.
Brett Carlsen for Education Week
Special Education Leader To Learn From How Nashville Dismantled Segregated Classrooms for Students With Disabilities
Nashville overhauled special education to prioritize inclusion, and changed school culture.
Evie Blad, February 9, 2026
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8 min read
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JANUARY 14: Debra McAdams, Executive Director, Department of Exceptional Education at Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools visits Isaiah T. Creswell Middle School Of The Arts in Nashville.
Debra McAdams, executive director of the department of exceptional education at Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, visits Isaiah T. Creswell Middle School of the Arts in Nashville, Tenn., on Jan. 14, 2026.
Brett Carlsen for Education Week
Special Education Q&A Why Inclusive Classrooms Benefit Every Student, Not Just Those With Disabilities
Inclusive practices improve outcomes for all students and require deep system change.
Evie Blad, February 9, 2026
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5 min read
Executive Director of Talent Acquisition for Knox County Schools, Alex Moseman, leads a staffing committee meeting with principals and district leaders at Cedar Bluff Elementary in Knoxville, TN on Jan. 12, 2026.
Alex Moseman, executive director of talent acquisition for Knox County Schools, leads a staffing committee meeting with principals and district leaders at Cedar Bluff Elementary School in Knoxville, Tenn., on Jan. 12, 2026.
Shawn Poynter for Education Week
Recruitment & Retention Q&A This District Cracked the Nut on Fully Staffed Schools. Here’s How
Knox County streamlined hiring and empowered principals to beat teacher shortages.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, February 9, 2026
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5 min read
Executive Director of Talent Acquisition for Knox County Schools, Alex Moseman, checks in with some students in Angela Childers’ special education class after a staffing committee meeting at Cedar Bluff Elementary in Knoxville, TN, on Jan. 12, 2026.
Alex Moseman, executive director of talent acquisition for Knox County Schools, checks in with students in Angela Childers’ special education class after a staffing committee meeting at Cedar Bluff Elementary School in Knoxville, Tenn., on Jan. 12, 2026.
Shawn Poynter for Education Week
Recruitment & Retention Leader To Learn From The ‘Off-Season’ That Helps This HR Director Fully Staff Schools
Knox County reimagined teacher hiring and is starting each year fully staffed.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, February 9, 2026
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7 min read
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington.
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. Religious charter advocates are betting a full Supreme Court will side with their efforts to establish religious charter schools.
Rahmat Gul/AP
Law & Courts Religious Charter Schools Push New Cases Toward Supreme Court
Advocates seeking to establish publicly funded religious schools in three states.
Mark Walsh, February 6, 2026
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9 min read
Demonstrators hold up signs protesting an immigration bill as it is discussed in the Senate chamber at the state Capitol Thursday in Nashville, Tenn. The bill would allow public school systems in Tennessee to require K-12 students without legal status in the country to pay tuition or face denial of enrollment, which is a challenge to the federal law requiring all children be provided a free public education regardless of legal immigration status.
Demonstrators hold up signs protesting an immigration bill as it was discussed in the Senate chamber at the state Capitol in Nashville, Tenn., on April 10, 2025. The bill, which legislators paused, would have allowed schools in the state to require undocumented students to pay tuition. It was one of six efforts taken by states in 2025 to limit undocumented students' access to free, public education.
John Amis/AP
States Undocumented Students Still Have a Right to Education. Will That Change in 2026?
State-level challenges to a landmark 1982 Supreme Court ruling are on the rise.
Ileana Najarro, December 29, 2025
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5 min read
Nashville DD BS THUMB
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Student Achievement Video One District’s Secret to Boosting Reading and Math Scores
For Metro Nashville Public Schools, high dosage tutoring implemented by staff and volunteers led to marked improvements in reading and math.
Kaylee Domzalski, July 16, 2025
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2:25
Nate, 14, left, and Bird, 9, right, whose parents asked not to use their last names, hold signs and transgender pride flags as supporters of transgender rights rally by the Supreme Court on Dec. 4, 2024, in Washington.
Nate, 14, left, and Bird, 9, right, whose parents asked not to use their last names, hold signs and transgender pride flags as supporters of transgender rights rally by the Supreme Court on Dec. 4, 2024, in Washington. The high court on June 18, 2025, upheld a Tennessee law banning certain gender-transition treatments for minors.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Ruling May Redefine Transgender Rights in Schools
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case about puberty blockers and hormone treatments that holds implications for transgender students.
Mark Walsh, June 18, 2025
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6 min read
Dan Yarnick inspects produce at Yarnick's Farm in Indiana, Pa., on June 4, 2025. The farm is one of a number of local providers who partnered with Pittsburgh Public Schools to provide students with fresh fruits and veggies.
Dan Yarnick inspects produce at Yarnick's Farm in Indiana, Pa., on June 4, 2025. The farm is one of a number of local providers who partnered with Pittsburgh Public Schools to provide students with fresh fruits and vegetables. These types of partnerships are in jeopardy with the cancellation of the Local Food for Schools program.
Nate Smallwood for Education Week
School & District Management No More Fresh Fruits and Veggies: Schools Grapple With Loss of Federal Funding
The Local Food to Schools program, which was canceled by the Trump administration, helped schools get fresh, local produce.
Olina Banerji, June 5, 2025
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7 min read
Stockyard BS
Student Well-Being & Movement Video How a School Has Changed Its Menu After Losing USDA Funds for Local Food
The loss of a USDA local food grant has forced menu changes at this rural Tennessee school district, and local farmers have lost business.
Lauren Santucci & Olina Banerji, May 29, 2025
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2:15
Teacher tutoring a young student while sitting in a classroom.
Yuri Arcurs/E+
Student Achievement Tutoring Programs Are in Limbo After the Expiration of COVID Relief Aid
Some districts have had to terminate tutoring programs or scramble to find alternate sources of funding.
Olina Banerji, April 25, 2025
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9 min read
Rev. Eric Mayle, center, yells at lawmakers as a bill that would deny illegal immigrants access to education is passed in a House Education Committee hearing in Nashville, Tenn., March 26, 2025.
Rev. Eric Mayle, center, yells at lawmakers as a bill that would deny illegal immigrants access to education is passed in a House Education Committee hearing in Nashville, Tenn., March 26, 2025. The bill in question is now pending until the legislature returns to session in January 2026.
George Walker IV/AP
States What States Can Learn from Tennessee’s Fight Over Undocumented Students
Legislative action challenging undocumented students' right to a free, public education hit a snag in Tennessee.
Ileana Najarro, April 25, 2025
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3 min read
Image of a boy with a blue backpack standing in front of the entrance to school.
bodnarchuk/iStock/Getty
States Tracker Which States Are Challenging Undocumented Students’ Right to Free Education?
States are reviving efforts to challenge the 1982 Plyler v. Doe ruling that guarantees undocumented students a free, public education.
Ileana Najarro & Daniela Franco Brown, March 17, 2025
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2 min read
Transgenders rights supporters rally outside of the Supreme Court, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Washington.
Transgender rights supporters rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 4 as the court weighed a Tennessee law that restricts certain medical treatments for transgender minors.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Case on Medical Care for Trans Youth Could Impact School Sports
The justices weigh a Tennessee law that bars certain medical treatments for transgender minors, with school issues bubbling around the case.
Mark Walsh, December 4, 2024
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8 min read
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