'It's not fair': Lower TN report card grades raises questions following voucher proposal
Two Rutherford County school officials question if low state report card grades seek to justify expansion of private school vouchers.
"I don’t think this is indicative of our students knowledge or education," said Tammy Sharp, an elected Republican member of the Rutherford County Board of Education who opposes vouchers. "I do think it is an effort to enforce the need for vouchers to make the schools look like their failing."
Frequent testing is causing stress and anxiety for the children and teachers, Sharp said.
Fellow Republican school board member Claire Maxwell has the same concerns about new report card measurements that gave four Rutherford County schools D grades. The low grades came out recently after Gov. Bill Lee proposed in November that the Tennessee General Assembly expand state-funded vouchers that provide $7,075 per child to help families pay for private school tuition and fees.
"I do believe that this is tied to the vouchers," said Maxwell, who's the vice chairwoman of the school board. "It's not fair. By changing the parameters and not measuring academic growth as much and concentrating on proficiency, it has really hurt some of our schools that would have performed better under the older system."
More: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to propose expanding school choice to 20,000 students statewide
The Tennessee General Assembly has authorized vouchers through Education Freedom Scholarships to help families pay for private school tuition in Davidson (Nashville), Shelby (Memphis) and Hamilton (Chattanooga) counties.
'I'm very, very excited': Rutherford school board chooses Shelia Bratton as new chairwoman and Claire Maxwell as vice chairwoman
Report card grades count half for student achievement
The recent report card letter grades from the Tennessee Department of Education are based on the standardized test results for students the previous school year. In addition to the four schools with D grades, Rutherford County had 20 As, 15 Bs and nine Cs. None of the district's 48 schools eligible for a report card grade received an F from the state.
For elementary and middle schools, each grade counts 50% for student achievement, 40% for student academic growth and 10% for academic growth for highest need students.
For the high school level, each grade counts 50% for student achievement, 30% for student academic growth, 10% for academic growth for highest need students and 10% for college and career readiness.
Maxwell contends the report card grades should count more for the academic growth of students. She also questions if the low report card grades factor changes in student populations. Riverdale High where she and her children attended, for example, earned a D grade after being impacted by rezoning decisions, Maxwell said.
The rezoning included sending Riverdale students in 2019 from a the campus that opened in 1972 to the new Rockvale High. The board adjusted the boundaries in 2022 to return more neighborhoods to Riverdale but allowed rezoned Rockvale High students to stay at the overcrowded newer campus through a grandfather policy.
"Riverdale is a good legacy school with a honors college, popular CTE (Career and Technical Education) offerings, as well as rich sports history," Maxwell said. "The wonderful administration and faculty do a great job, and there is pride in being a Warrior among the students. Everyone is looking forward to the new and improved Riverdale when the additions and renovations are complete."
Families impacted by school rezoning: 'This is not just about changing schools'
Governor's press secretary denies 'political push'
School letter grades received broad bipartisan support in the Tennessee General Assembly, and the measure was signed into law by former Republican Gov. Bill Haslam in 2016, said Elizabeth Lane Johnson, the press secretary for the current governor.
"It's factually incorrect to claim that letter grades are a political push of any kind," Johnson said. "They exist to provide parents and teachers with a snapshot of how each school is performing in meeting the state's expectations for learning, student achievement and college and career readiness."
Gov. Lee has met with education stakeholders to clearly communicate the structure and intent of Education Freedom Scholarships that would provide $7,075 per child for 20,000 Tennessee students to attend their families' choices of private schools. He's also discussed how the state can continue to support public schools, Johnson said.
"Not a single dollar currently funding public schools via TISA (Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement) will be used to fund Education Freedom Scholarships," said Johnson, adding that the money for the proposed Education Freedom Scholarships would be allocated from the state's general fund.
"Since taking office in 2019, Gov. Lee has been passionate about expanding choices for parents regarding their child's education, while also making historic investments in Tennessee's public schools," Johnson said. "The Lee administration has increased funding for public schools by more than $1.6 billion since (fiscal year 2019)."
In 2022, the Lee administration worked in partnership with the General Assembly to pass the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) Act, Johnson said. The act transitions Tennessee's K-12 public schools to a student-based funding approach and invests an estimated $9 billion in state and local funds into education funding for Tennessee, which included an additional recurring state investment of $1 billion annually, Johnson said.
In 2023, Gov. Lee signed the Teacher Paycheck Protection Act, a landmark bill giving teachers the largest pay raise in state history. As a result, Tennessee is currently on track to become a top ten state for starting teacher pay by 2026, Johnson said.
School choice issue: America Classical Academy charter school application wins approval by Rutherford County school board
Rutherford County touts existing choice schools
School board vice chairwoman Maxwell contends the governor's proposal to expand school choice through vouchers is unnecessary in Rutherford when her district offers families options beyond zoned schools, including at Central Magnet, Holloway High and the Rutherford County Virtual School.
"We don’t need them (vouchers) in Rutherford County," Maxwell said.
Rutherford also has two of three previously approved public charter schools that operate independent from the board and district's oversight scheduled to open by August to serve children throughout the county:
Rutherford Collegiate Prep, which won an appeal to open by the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission, plans to open on Manson Pike in west Murfreesboro by neighboring Blackman United Methodist Church;
and Springs Empower Academy, which won approval from the Rutherford County Board of Education, plans to open on Enon Springs Road West in Smyrna.
American Classical Academy, which also won approval from the county school board, is still working on plans to acquire property to open the third charter school, said Sharp, who supports charter schools.
School choice: Two Charter schools plan to open in Rutherford County by August 2024
County schools director concerned by late release of report card
Rutherford County Schools Director James "Jimmy" Sullivan mentioned different concerns about the state report cards than the voucher issue. His press release comments initially expressed appreciation for the state recognizing the district's schools attaining high levels of performance.
“However, we object to the way the system was rolled out without transparency and communication to local school districts," Sullivan said. "The department did not provide cut scores until after the final results were released to districts a few days ago on Dec. 12.”
Sullivan explained in the press release that it would be like playing a football game without knowing the rules and then not finding out whether you won until a year later.
“As director of schools, it is my intention to always provide timely and transparent performance data to our employees and our parents," Sullivan said. "We expect the same level of transparency from the state level, so we can ensure we are serving our students and their needs."
Improving pay: Rutherford County Board of Education boosts salary for new director at over $200K
School board member worries that vouchers lead to fraud
Rutherford County Board of Education member Coy Young also complained about the state's late release of report cards for the schools.
"It’s quite frustrating from a system standpoint to help manage that and be proactive and develop a plan to keep these letter grades where you'd like them to be," Young said.
What are the report card grades? TN issues report card grades for 61 schools in Rutherford County
Young also opposes state-funded vouchers for private schools and public charter schools.
"The state has been setting up public education for years to fail," said Young, a past school board chairman and vice chairman who views charter schools and vouchers going hand in hand. "It’s not going to make our school system any better. I don’t see how anybody can argue for one but not the other."
Although Sharp and Maxwell have supported public charter schools, both fellow school board members oppose the governor's proposed vouchers.
Sharp noted that voucher proponents for years have been touting the private school funding proposal as a way to help the under privileged.
"A ($7,075) voucher will not touch tuition and not include free and reduced lunch or money for after school activities," said Sharp, who foresees children feeling left out if their parents are unable to afford the extra costs not covered by state tax dollars.
Sharp also questions why the state would provide more than $1,000 of tax dollars per voucher than per student attending Rutherford County Schools.
The private schools that reject vouchers may end up raising tuition to prevent from accepting them, Sharp said.
Sharp also fears that vouchers could lead to fraud without more state audited oversight that public charter schools must accept.
$156.3 million plan to add school seats: Commission funds expansions for overcrowded Riverdale, Oakland and Smyrna high schools
Murfreesboro school officials respond to state Report Cards
Murfreesboro City School Board Chairman Butch Campbell had similar concerns about the changes to the state report cards. His district, which serves pre-K through sixth-grade children at 13 elementary schools, had two As, seven Bs, two Cs and two Ds.
"Some of the schools dropped a letter grade compared from last year to this year," said Campbell, adding that the new report card measurements are out of proportion to the previous report card. "It’s like comparing apples and oranges because they’re not the same. But that’s what we have to live with."
Murfreesboro City Schools Director Trey Duke suggested in a statement emailed to The Daily News Journal that instructional efforts go beyond what's reported in state report card grades.
“As we celebrate that 70% of our schools achieved an A or a B letter grade on this newly created system, MCS also understands that a single letter grade cannot adequately capture all that is occurring in a school to advance the achievement of students," Duke said.
“Our staff and students have much to celebrate," Duke said. "As part of our five-year strategic plan, we have focused on providing support to address extra areas of need so that we can ensure every child has a pathway to succeed. We will continue to refine our current work to include the new guidelines recently released by the state.”
School district leadership: Murfreesboro City Schools board extends contract of Director Trey Duke
Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. Follow his tweets on the X social media platform @ScottBroden. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Lower report card grades in Rutherford raises questions after voucher proposal
