A college-going crisis
Hello and welcome to School Zone. This is education reporter Meghan Mangrum, coming at you from today's special-called Metro Nashville school board meeting where board members are slated to vote on its fiscal year 2023 budget request.
But first, on to some of the latest education news:
Half of Tennessee's high school graduates aren't going to college
College and university administrators are raising the alarm as a new report out this week finds that only 52.8% of high school graduates from the class of 2021 enrolled in college after they graduated.
That's the lowest rate in the past 10 years.
Tennessee's college-going rate is down 4 percentage points from the previous year, according to the report from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
It comes despite Tennessee's substantial financial aid investments like Tennessee Promise and the Tennessee Hope Scholarship.
And the declines are not distributed equally — Black and Latino students are even less likely than their peers to enroll in a post-secondary training program after high school.
A similar report from the Nashville Public Education Foundation last month found that only about 44% of Metro Nashville Public Schools' class of 2021 graduates enrolled at a community college or four-year university after high school, mirroring the state's rate.
Knoxville News Sentinel reporter Becca Wright has more on THEC's report.
A win for the Lee administration
Politicians, school leaders and parents are talking after a decision by the Tennessee Supreme Court last week handed a major win to Gov. Bill Lee.
The court struck down arguments that Lee's controversial school voucher program violated the state constitution by only applying to districts in Davidson and Shelby counties.
This argument, that the law violates the "home rule" provision of the state constitution, was the most central to the two counties' fight against the program.
The law, passed in 2019, creates an education savings account program that would allow parents to use public funds to pay for private school tuition for their children.
The program has been on hold thanks to a court injunction, but the Tennessee Attorney General's Office said last week this decision lifts that injunction.
When will the program be up and running? What other legal challenges does it face? And could Tennessee's new K-12 school funding formula affect how much a voucher is worth?
The Tennessean has the answers to these questions and more — click here to keep reading.
Delayed test scores, missed special education services, a budget shortfall?
Metro Nashville Public Schools has been in the headlines this week for myriad reasons. Here are some of the highlights:
At least 270 students missed out on exceptional education services required by federal law this school year due primarily to staffing shortages. Now the district is hoping families will opt for their students to make up these services over the summer. Check out the full story.
Despite a $92 million investment in new funding from Mayor John Cooper, the district could be facing a $22.9 million shortfall in state funding thanks to enrollment drops and a change in what the state considers Davidson County's "fiscal capacity to be." The district could be posed to ask the city for additional funding, with some even hinting at the hope the additional funding won't impact the hard-won staff pay increases included in the district's proposed budget request. Read more about the district's proposed staff pay increases and follow me and Cassandra Stephenson for updates out of school board budget meetings this week.
State test scores won't be included in MNPS students' final grades this spring. The district claims it didn't receive scores in time from the state to calculate them into final grades, as required by state law. But the Tennessee Department of Education said districts should have received test results earlier this month. Keep reading here.
Middle school students who attend charter schools might not have the opportunity to participate in district sports leagues next school year, according to Dwayne Tucker, CEO of charter network LEAD Public Schools in Nashville. In an email sent to The Tennessean, Tucker said charter schools were only recently notified of this decision and are scrambling to set up their own programs ahead of next school year. Stay tuned for more on this developing story.
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Extra credit
► More higher ed news: Tennessee college students can let out a sigh of relief: Universities and technical schools in the state won't increase tuition this upcoming academic year for all undergraduates.
It's the first time the Tennessee Higher Education Commission has required colleges to keep tuition flat across the state. My colleague, Becca Wright, tells you more.
► Metro Nashville Public Schools and Tennessee State University are forging a new partnership, and a pathway for MNPS graduates to "trailblaze" at TSU. Through a new program, "Trailblazing to TSU," the university will award 100 Metro Schools graduates full academic scholarships to attend Tennessee State after they graduate from a local high school. Find out more.
► Nashville nonprofits are working to solve one of the city's most significant problems: improving access to high-quality child care. Equipped with $7.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds, the United Way of Greater Nashville and the Raphah Institute are investing in 12 centers serving minority and low-income families throughout the city, and between 30 to 50 home-based providers. Tennessean reporter Cassandra Stephenson has the full story.
► Registration for credit recovery for Nashville high school students this summer is now open. Credit recovery is offered from June 2-30. High school students should check with their high school counselor for credit recovery and other deadlines. Students will have the option to attend in-person or enroll in virtual credit recovery classes. For more information, visit: www.mnps.org/students-families/services/before-and-after-care/summer_programs.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: A college-going crisis
