10 minutes after the vigil outside Governor Lee’s office, he had the memorial for #Uvalde & #Buffalo victims removed, along with a letter signed by dozens of clergy. Unconscionable.
WATCH: “IS THIS MEMORIAL FOR DEAD CHILDREN GOING IN THE GARBAGE?”
10 minutes after the vigil outside @GovBillLee’s office he had the memorial for #Uvalde & #Buffalo victims removed, along with a letter signed by dozens of clergy.
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) June 1, 2022
https://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-02-at-6.38.09-AM.png290240Justin Kanewhttps://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/TN-Hollerv5-300x172.pngJustin Kanew2022-06-02 05:48:532022-06-02 05:48:53“IS THIS MEMORIAL FOR DEAD CHILDREN GOING IN THE GARBAGE?”
We spent 12 minutes talking to Rep. Leatherwood, whose bill to give a special marriage license to straight people went globally viral because it also might have legalized child marriage if it hadn’t died.
We may not have made much progress, but it was an honest frank discussion and we thank him for talking to us.
https://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-18-at-9.29.53-AM.png286252Justin Kanewhttps://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/TN-Hollerv5-300x172.pngJustin Kanew2022-04-18 08:34:142022-04-18 08:34:1412 MINUTES WITH REP. LEATHERWOOD, SPECIAL STRAIGHT PEOPLE MARRIAGE LICENSE SPONSOR
https://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-16-at-9.22.10-AM.png442398Justin Kanewhttps://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/TN-Hollerv5-300x172.pngJustin Kanew2022-04-16 08:24:012022-04-16 08:24:01FREEMAN'S VICTIM-ADVOCATE PROTECTION BILL KILLED BY GRIFFEY & THE GOP
We spoke with Rep. Mark White for 10 minutes about charter schools and Governor Lee’s potentially poisonous ed funding overhaul.
https://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-13-at-9.28.20-AM.png326332Justin Kanewhttps://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/TN-Hollerv5-300x172.pngJustin Kanew2022-04-13 09:05:102022-04-13 09:05:10INTERVIEW: ED FUNDING OVERHAUL BILL SPONSOR REP. MARK WHITE
https://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-12-at-10.11.50-AM.png366462Justin Kanewhttps://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/TN-Hollerv5-300x172.pngJustin Kanew2022-04-12 09:14:172022-04-12 09:14:17TN STUDENTS HELP KILL BOOK BAN & LIBRARIAN CRIMINALIZATION BILL
WATCH: “If Dems did any of these things, like that TN bill, the right would LOSE ITS COLLECTIVE MIND.”@chrislhayes mentions the @TNGOP child marriage bill😳with ACTUAL/alleged GOP child sex abusers (Hastert, Moore, Gaetz, etc)— rips the “BAD FAITH” framing of Dems as “groomers” pic.twitter.com/6Dm7ssBPG1
WATCH: “Hey Jason, what do you think about Mason filing suit?”
We asked Comptroller @JasonMumpower about majority Black MASON, TN suing them for trying to take over their finances (and erase them entirely) right as @Ford moves in.
https://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screen-Shot-2022-03-10-at-2.54.43-PM.png314322Justin Kanewhttps://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/TN-Hollerv5-300x172.pngJustin Kanew2022-03-10 14:56:152022-03-10 14:56:15TN Republicans (Cepicky, Ragan) Go To Bat For Hitting Kids 😳
After a press conference to introduce the new plan to overhaul how public education is funded in Tennessee, Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn sat down with us for 5 minutes to talk to us about the concerns many are having that Lee’s true intentions are to privatize the public education system by flooding Tennessee with charter schools and allowing public dollars to flow to the private entities that run them.
Here’s Holler editor Justin Kanew’s op-ed in the Tennessean about that “Hillsdale Heist” this week.
Our question was simple: Can Governor Lee promise that the funding overhaul paired with the state charter approval board overriding local school board decisions about charter schools will not lead to LESS funding for traditional public schools in the long run?
US: “Can you promise traditional public schools they won’t get less💰through this formula as you flood TN with charter schools?” @GovBillLee: “Charter schools are public schools.”
They very clearly are making no guarantees about this. Governor Lee abruptly left the press conference when we asked, instead repeating their line that “charter schools are public schools”, which they are not. Charter schools are only public in that they receive public dollars, but just because something receives public dollars doesn’t make it a public entity – just ask every single defense department contractor.
This is an issue that will keep coming up as Governor Lee continues to use it as an excuse to funnel public dollars to the private, ideologically-driven (and yes religiously-driven) entities he is inviting to bring HUNDREDS of charters to Tennessee.
We have been trying to get Lee and Schwinn to talk to us about this. To her credit, Schwinn finally did sit down with us. Below is that conversation in its entirety – but the basic gist is Schwinn is insistent the new funding formula is separate from the charter school influx, and the Lee administration is adamant that charter schools are public schools, and therefore they do not intend to put a cap on how much funding can flow to them, or how many students can leave public schools to go there (with the “student based funding formula” helping the money follow them).
Many advocates feel it all amounts to a death knell for Tennessee public schools, which are already towards the bottom of the country both in terms of performance and funding.
If you agree that the privatization/voucherization of our public education system is not in the best interest of ALL of our kids, the time to speak up against this is now.
Here’s our full conversation with TN Ed Dept Commissioner Penny Schwinn:
https://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Screen-Shot-2022-02-25-at-9.48.37-AM.png248306Justin Kanewhttps://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/TN-Hollerv5-300x172.pngJustin Kanew2022-02-25 09:52:152022-02-25 10:04:06INTERVIEW: TN Ed Commish Penny Schwinn on the Charter Schools Flood & Funding Formula