When Gov. Bill Lee was elected virtually 4 yrs ago, he passionately spoke about bettering schooling in Tennessee. 4 several years afterwards, he’s completed extra than any governor I can remember to undermine it.
When he pledged to increase education and learning, I assumed he intended raising funding for public educational institutions, supporting teachers and helping each and every child acquire the education they should have. But Lee has finished the opposite. He’s aimed to undermine public educational institutions by funneling taxpayer revenue away from them. His tenure started with a voucher system directing money from our community faculties to personal kinds. Now he’s sending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer bucks to an out-of-point out charter university plan. Lee looks dedicated to weakening our public educational institutions and generating the lives of lecturers more durable.
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As the mother or father of two small children in Metro Nashville Community Universities, I witness how hard community faculty lecturers work to fulfill the demands of our students. Lots of of them go above and past their work description to support young children mature and prosper in the classroom. Lecturers, at every single stage, are a very important part of our communities and are entitled to our guidance. They place their hearts into perform many of us refuse to do.
Lately, it was infuriating to listen to Larry Arnn, president of Hillsdale Higher education, insult public college instructors whilst Lee sat across from him on stage, refusing to problem his remarks. Arnn offended me as a mum or dad. I can not imagine how hurtful his opinions ended up to teachers. Instead of speaking with reporters, Lee went on a converse radio method and didn’t bother to force back again on Arnn’s feedback, nor did he apologize for his deficiency of response on stage. He doubled down on his guidance for Arnn’s sights and attacked the supposed “left-wing agenda.”
Offered the option to show management and unite Tennesseans close to community instruction, he selected to pander to his political base. Tennesseans deserve far better we ought to have a governor who wholeheartedly supports public instruction.
In his conversation on communicate radio, the governor expended substantially of his time attacking “the still left-wing agenda” in general public educational institutions and making unfounded statements about significant race idea. As a native Tennessean who knows our point out is overwhelmingly conservative politically and socially, I come across these promises preposterous and an act of fearmongering. If Lee has evidence of these statements as he proposed in his interview, he must reveal it. Otherwise, he needs to end injecting fear into conversations about education.
Whilst attacking the still left wing, Lee failed to point out he’s pushing a suitable-wing agenda in our general public schools by funneling millions of taxpayer dollars into Arnn’s charter school plan and its extreme sights about education. Tennesseans need to have to familiarize themselves with Arnn and Hillsdale’s philosophy in advance of they established up constitution educational facilities throughout our condition. Do Tennesseans want an extremist from an additional point out meddling in our communities?
If Lee desires to improve public educational facilities, I’d suggest he stop on the lookout outside our point out and convert his interest inward to the lack of funding delivered to our public college students. The governor likes to communicate about the incremental improvements he’s built to community schooling above the previous four yrs, but the fact is our point out spends much much less for each university student than other states. In Tennessee, the government spends only $9,868 for each pupil, in accordance to the Yearly Survey of University System Finances launched by the U.S. Census Bureau. We keep on being at the base nationally in funding for every pupil.
As a guardian of community school students, I want a governor who is aware the benefit of community educators and does not sit quietly as a single of his advisers tears them down. I want a governor who is much more fascinated in increasing the encounter of college students in classrooms than pandering to his political foundation. I want a governor who appears at my young children the way I do and sees a extended line of lecturers who have formed them for the far better.
Billy Kilgore is a resident of Southeast Nashville and happy mum or dad of two sons in Metro Nashville Community Educational institutions.