“We are all very anxious to be understood, and it is very hard not to be. But there is one thing much more necessary.’
What is that, grandmother?’
To understand other people.’
Yes, grandmother. I must be fair – for if I’m not fair to other people, I’m not worth being understood myself. I see.”
― George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin

A couple quick observations before we dive into the meat of the matter.

It’s election season, so people are getting offended around every corner. It could be the opening ceremonies in Paris or the Cat Ladies of America. Either way, there is enough umbrage available for everyone.

I used to get offended all the time when I was a younger man, till I realized that nobody really cared. Sure, there were the six or seven people who would cheer me on in my expression of outrage, but the people who were the subject of my ire paid scant attention.

The person who was affected by my state of offense was myself. I’d walk around muttering to myself, trying to persuade strangers to my side, wrapping myself in my cloak of offense. It was never a very comfortable place to be, and it made me a less effective advocate. Over the years, I’ve found reason and temperance to be much more effective, and I can still enjoy life while fighting the good fight.

That said, I feel compelled to point out that one thing that never – and I mean never – defused my state of offense was someone trying to explain away my anger and dismiss it as unwarranted. Attempting to show me why my taking offense was stupid without acknowledging my feelings, was an even bigger offense. Yet, it is common practice on social media.

Do you really believe that writing a Facebook missive about how the opening performance of the Olympics was about Ancient Greece and not the Last Supper while indicating that anyone thinking otherwise is lacking in education is going to lead to a sudden awakening?

As if the offended party will suddenly say, “Oh thank you for the enlightenment. I see that I misinterpreted this outstanding performance and I commend you for sharing your superior insight with me”?

Try that in person sometime, and let me know how it works out for you.

It’s always my preference to employ solutions that unite instead of divide.

Furthermore, for me, it’s always about the solution as opposed to who’s right.

Last note, this whole introduction of labeling everything Republicans do as “weird” is a little weird.

It smacks of that time my wife and some of her friends were determined to bring back the phrase “word”. They were dropping it into every sentence to generate repetition. It was all a little jarring and at times a little cringy. They never did make “word” prevalent again, but at least they had a little fun. I suspect the “weird” effort will suffer a similar fate.

But these are definitely weird times.

– – –

Tennessee had an election yesterday, and the results were eye-opening. These were primaries and local elections, but seeing Tennessee is dark red, they should be taken with a sense of prediction.

Several prominent Republicans lost their gig, including Senator Jon Lundberg, along with Representatives John Ragan and Patsy Hazlewood.

Ragan was considered a combatant for the Right, but Lundberg and Hazlewood were more centrist. More than that, they were competent.

Lundberg was always willing to take a phone call, and I’ll miss my conversations with him. Much like former Representative Teri Lynn Weaver, he would engage regardless if you agreed with him. He was refreshingly transparent.

Some painted Lundberg as a voucher proponent. That might be a little broad. In talking with him I was never convinced that he was all in on the Governor’s plan. For him, the details mattered, and he certainly had doubts about the policy details around the Governor’s plan. I suspect the new guy will be much more indescriminate in his support.

I am going to have to be nicer to Governor Lee, as apparently he still wields some influence. Several of the candidates he endorsed were victorious, the most notable was that of Lee Reeves. Reeves, a transplant to the Williamson County area, narrowly defeated Brian Beatherd. Beatherd was a voucher skeptic, while Reeves is a supporter. Before the election, many thought Reeves would finish third in a three-candidate race.

He didn’t.

Yesterday’s vote was also good for President Trump. Several of his endorsed candidates won, including U.S. Representative Andy Ogles. The incumbent eeked out a victory over challenger Courtney Johnson. No doubt aided by the multiple text messages sent out by Trump on Election Day. I received three.

It was Trump who provided the largest degree of satisfaction in the aftermath.

It’s long been acknowledged that Governor Lee harbored a desire to be part of the Trump team. This morning the former President put a spike in those ambitions.

“I went 10 for 10 on endorsements tonight in the Great State of Tennessee, including Bobby Harshbarger, running against a strong, long-term incumbent supported by RINO Governor Bill Lee. A Great Day for Tennessee — now on to a Complete and Total Victory in November. MAGA 2024,” Trump posted on Truth Social following the election.

I know, I promised to be nicer to Lee, but I couldn’t resist. Maybe it’s time to go back to being a Democrat.

Leading up to the election, attention was drawn to the large amount of outside money spent on candidates. Complain all you want, it worked.

This morning, Americans For Prosperity is celebrating victory in 12 of the 15 races they campaigned in. As much as I am not a fan, you have to tip a hat to them for a successful campaign season. Many have taken offense to their aggressive social media presence, but the election results show them as not being paper tigers. Not good news for opponents of universal school vouchers.

TEA-sponsored candidates did not fare as well. None surpassed 30% of the vote in any of their races.

There was one race that AFP could not afford to lose, and they didn’t. Maury County’s Scott Cepicky, as chair of the House Instruction Subcommittee, was the sponsor of this year’s school voucher bill. Picking him off would have been a sign of the unpopularity of vouchers with Tennesseans. Despite Tennesseeans for Students Success throwing a ton of money into the race to unseat Cepicky, the incumbent survived and won handily.

In their efforts to defeat the Representative, TSS sent out 10 mailers, numerous texts, and released a hit piece written by Sky Arnold. In the end, it wasn’t sufficient.

Word on the street is that both SCORE and TEA contributed to the TSS PAC. At present, I can’t confirm that but should those rumors prove true, I can’t imagine it’ll be a good upcoming session for either group.

Expect a shake-up in the EducationCommittees in the General Assembly this next session. Lundberg’s loss leaves a vacancy on the Senate side. Rumored suitors are Hensley, Powers, or Lowe. Lowe as Representative Adam Lowe (R-Calhoun) has indicated that he wants the position.

On the House side, it’s all open season. Expect Cepicky to take a larger role, while Mark White (R-Memphis) might find himself serving in a lesser capacity. White was ineffective in arguing for vouchers during the last session and has long been a darling of SCORE.

Representative Kevin Raper (R-Cleveland) should also be in line for a larger role after easily winning his primary. Before Election Day, Raper was considered a potential loser, a potential that went unrealized.

Also of note is the number of local school board seats in Middle Tennessee that went to Republicans. Williamson, Wilson, and the Sumner County school boards all took on a deeper hue of red.

I’m pleased to announce that in Davidson County, Robert Taylor won his race. Taylor’s was the only competitive MNPS board race. He is a fierce champion for students and is seldom blinded by the bullshit. Hopefully, he’ll be able to reverse the MNPS board’s march to obscurity.

In Thursday’s primaries, both incumbent Marsha Blackburn and challenger Gloria Johnson handily won. The two will now square off in November’s general election. The Tennessean is framing it as a battle of Titans. I’d put some brakes on that portrayal.

Gloria Johnson won her race with 143,904 votes out of a total of just under 205K votes cast.

Blackburn received 365,711 votes out of roughly 411K cast in the Republican primary.

That’s a 2-1 margin, and Johnson is going to have to peel off some Republicans and court some independents if she hopes to be competitive.

Sure, the Tennessee Three is a popular brand for securing the base and visits to national talk shows, but now she has to broaden her appeal. In three months we will know if that’s possible.

In the aftermath of yesterday’s elections, it’s pretty clear that we will be talking vouchers come Spring. Though I’m not sure how much talking will be transpiring, and wouldn’t be surprised if legislation is simply pushed through.

– – –

Adding fuel to the voucher fire, recently released data makes an argument for the effectiveness of ESAs.

I’ve long argued that it’s way too early to start making comparisons, but voucher opponents insisted on inserting that data into last year’s conversation. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

At first blush, it is revealed that two years into the program ESA students are still performing at a lower rate than those in public schools. But look closer.

ESA students showed gains of 5.4% in ELA and 7.1 in math. Their public school counterparts produced much smaller gains – .9% in ELA and 6% in math.

It is even more concerning when broken down by district.

Davidson County schools grew by 3.1% in ELA, while their ESA counterparts produced growth of 4.8% in ELA.

It’s interesting that MNPS throws parties for their growth and argues that it shows they “know what they are doing”, while ESA results are labeled by local media as “modest gains” and dismissed.

In Shelby County, the ESA students actually outperformed the district students. Growth wise, the ESA schools procuded 2.6% growth compared to the distruct student’s 1.9%.

Now, the sample size is admittedly much smaller for ESA students than for districts. That comes with both plusses and minuses.

The data does make it more difficult to argue against the effectiveness of ESA’s based on student growth. If the trajectories continue, ESA students will match district students in just a couple years. Now remember, it is easier to show growth in the first three years of a new program, but then rates settle into their normal level. So again, lets not get too excited one way or the other.

That doesn’t stop Commissioner Reynold from releasing a statement in conjunction with the results:

“As ESA students continue making steady academic gains, they are in sync with their peers and thriving, as demonstrated by the 99 percent parent satisfaction rate,” Reynolds said in her statement. “ESAs are delivering on their intended purpose by providing low-income families an opportunity to choose the best education option for their child based on their individual needs.”

Arguably, it doesn’t hurt the Commissioner to tout the results prematurely, seeing as she’ll be back in Texas by the time a correction is warranted.

As of July 26, more than 5,600 students had applied to the ESA program for the upcoming 2024-25 school year, and 4,060 were approved to participate according to the department.

– – –

This week brought a prime example of the dangers of unintended consequences.

Last year, Senator Ferrell Hale (R-Gallatin) faced charges from Republican parents of being soft on transgender issues. To counter those criticisms, the State Senator sponsored legislation intended to ensure parents have a say in their children’s healthcare. Unfortunately, that bill worked to tie the hands of school nurses.

Nurses interpreted the law as an edict to not provide any service without acquiring parental approval. Nobody is looking to risk their license, and so there were little to no services they were willing to provide without parental permission. That includes things as mundane as taking a temperature of a sick child or providing a band-aid..

Not a good thing. Tennessee lawmakers invest millions of dollars in ensuring that schools hire school nurses and then pass a law that prevents them from doing their jobs. Not really the definition of fiscally responsible, nor what’s best for kids.

Districts responded by producing blanket waiver statements granting parental permission and including those in back-to-school packets distributed to parents.

MNPS was slower to respond, but this week distributed those forms to principals for distribution after Metro legal conducted a careful review,

I’d strongly urge parents to sign those forms before school begins.

– – –

Today marks the start of High School Football season. Overton squares off against Maplewood, in a scrimmage today. My son will see his very first action as a high school QB. He’s the backup QB but is expected to see considerable playing time today. I can’t tell you how excited and nervous I am. Off to another adventure.

– – –

Time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.

If you could help a brother out…and you think this blog has value …your support would be greatly appreciated. This time of year money gets real tight, while the blogging workload increases exponentially.

To those who’ve thrown some coins in the basket, I am eternally grateful for your generosity. It allows me to keep doing what I do and without you, I would have been forced to quit long ago. It is truly appreciated and keeps the bill collectors semi-happy. Now more than ever your continued support is vital.

If you are interested, I’m sharing posts via email through Substack. This has proven to be an effective way to increase coverage. Readers have the option of either free or paid subscriptions. Paid subscriptions will potentially receive additional materials as they become available. Your support would be greatly appreciated.

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If you’d like less opinion and more news, check out my writing for The Tennessee Star. It’s a bit drier but equally informative.

Categories: Education