annemarshall

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.

In order to save five million dollars in this tight budget year, Metro Nashville Schools is proposing cutting their more than 600 janitors and maintenance workers, and outsourcing all that work. The district did this same cost-cutting move unsuccessfully in the early 1990s, so they are trying to go about it a different way.

The Metro Nashville School District wants to start a virtual high school where kids can take classes online. That’s one of two new programs that have made it into next school year’s tight budget.

Metro Schools may cut 665 jobs to help offset a $35 million budget gap next school year. This morning district officials released their first draft of a budget that totals $633 million.

The candidates running to be Tennessee’s next governor appear to be on the same page when it comes to helping Tennessee farmers and ranchers. All six say they think preserving the family farm is important. As is protecting state dollars earmarked for improving farmland.

Chances are most middle schoolers aren’t thinking about acing their SAT’s. But, for the roughly 700 students in Nashville’s charter middle schools, kids aren’t just thinking about college, they’re visiting campuses. That’s just one way life as a charter student differs from their peers in traditional schools. As our week-long series on charter schools continues, WPLN’s Anne Marshall reports.