Bryson Makes Charter Schools a Priority

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Bryson wants charter schools to be the cornerstone of an effort to improve graduation rates in Tennessee.

Bryson’s unveiling of a program dubbed “Graduate Tennessee” comes exactly two weeks after Governor Phil Bredesen announced his own plan to fix graduation rates. Bredesen wants free community college tuition for anyone who makes a 19 or better on the ACT and at least one truancy officer in every high school.

Bryson says attacking graduation rates at the high school level may be too late, but also suggests the governor’s plan isn’t flexible enough to work in the state’s most difficult districts.

 

“I don’t think putting a truancy officer in every high school is necessarily going to solve our graduation rates. We need to be able to support the local schools and I don’t think just having a one-size-fits-all philosophy is going to work.”

To create a backdrop for his new plan, Bryson took a tour of the Smithson-Craighead charter school in North Nashville (today/yesterday). Charter schools enroll students from failing schools and usually have a lower student-teacher ratio.

Current state law allows for 50 charter schools around the state, and so far 12 have been established in Memphis and Nashville. Bryson wants to get rid of that limit and offer 100-million dollars over four years for starting more charter schools or other programs that would enhance graduation rates.