annemarshall

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano says recovery won’t come quickly to flood damaged areas of Tennessee and pledged long-term assistance. Napolitano walked through the badly hit Bordeaux neighborhood Saturday morning.

The head of the Federal Emergency Management agency was back in Tennessee for the second time this week assessing the flood disaster.

Five disaster assistance centers are now open and helping flood victims in Nashville. The centers are one-stop shops for those affected by this disaster.

Floodwaters from the swollen Cumberland River are receding in Nashville. Several businesses are damaged in the historic downtown known for its honky-tonk live music bars, but even those that aren’t badly flooded won’t be up and running for awhile.

For the first time state achievement tests aren’t one size fits all. This year Tennessee is rolling out alternate versions for students facing certain hurdles in the classroom.

Across the state right now, students’ academic skills are being put to the test. This time, Tennessee’s end-the year-of-year assessments, typically known as TCAP, are new and more rigorous than ever.

Elementary to high school students will be sitting, or squirming, in their seats, as they endure state tests this April. These timed, multiple-choice tests, known as TCAP in middle schools, are a lot tougher this year. Tennessee boosted its standards after a U.S. Chamber of Commerce report gave the state an “F” for how low it set the bar for students. As WPLN’s Anne Marshall reports now that the bar is higher, scores are expected to tumble.

A program that recruits lawyers, accountants, and other professionals into teaching is heading into its second year in Metro Nashville schools, and interest in it has grown.

Academic standards are being raised significantly this year in Tennessee and districts across the state, including Metro Nashville, are bracing for many schools to fail. In his state of the schools address Schools Director Jesse Register acknowledged the new standards would be a dramatic challenge.

Dozens of custodians pled with members of the Metro Council Monday night. They asked council members to reject a proposed school budget that will outsource their 600 positions.