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Early Withdrawal: In Tennessee, Hillsdale Pulls Out Ahead of Climactic Meeting

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Early Withdrawal: In Tennessee, Hillsdale Pulls Out Ahead of Climactic Meeting

Plus, news on snakes and some shocking revelations about Gov. Bill Lee

Andy Spears
Sep 30, 2022
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Early Withdrawal: In Tennessee, Hillsdale Pulls Out Ahead of Climactic Meeting

theeducationreport.substack.com

Hillsdale College has been working to expand its Christian nationalist vision to Tennessee ever since Gov. Bill Lee called for evangelical exceptionalism in his January State of the State address.

The Education Report
When the Circus Comes to Town
What happens when a private, Christian college from Michigan wants to get its hands on Tennessee tax dollars by way of operating charter schools? In the case of Hillsdale College, it means an unrelenting push for potentially hundreds of millions of public dollars to operate a network of schools dedicated to a vision of history that simply fails to align…
Read more
6 months ago · 1 like · 2 comments · Andy Spears

Three charter schools affiliated with Hillsdale were rejected in Madison, Rutherford, and Montgomery counties. Hillsdale’s American Classical Academy submitted appeals for all three to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission - an unelected board whose members have been handpicked by Lee.

There were public hearings in all three districts - and Hillsdale worked to ensure that pro-Hillsdale speakers dominated the agenda.

Hillsdale has also engaged in a massive PR campaign - with President Larry Arnn writing OpEds and texts and direct mail going out to households across the state.

By all accounts, then, Hillsdale was pretty serious about getting its hands on Tennessee tax dollars. The withdrawal of the appeals, of course, doesn’t mean Hillsdale is no longer interested in Tennessee. It simply doesn’t make sense to conduct such an aggressive campaign and just walk away.

Here’s what NewsChannel5’s Phil Williams reported on the premature exit:

"We made this decision because of the limited time to resolve the concerns raised by the commission staff and our concerns that the meeting structure and timing on Oct. 5 will not allow commissioners to hear directly from the community members whose interests lie at the heart of the commission’s work," board chair Dolores Gresham wrote in a letter delivered Thursday to the commission.

Gresham, it’s worth noting, is a former Chair of the Senate Education Committee and a legislator with a long history of supporting efforts to shift public money to private schools.

As Williams notes in his story, Hillsdale had asked for a delay in the vote - that is, they had still hoped to appeal and to win those appeals.

This seems to indicate the schools will continue their PR offensive and hope to shift public opinion in order to secure public funds for their Christian nationalist vision.

An earlier analysis of the Hillsdale proposal - where Gov. Lee would help Hillsdale develop at least 50 charter schools in the state - suggests the Hillsdale charters stand to rake in nearly $500 million in Tennessee taxpayer cash if they operate at full capacity.

It seems unlikely that Larry Arnn and his Hillsdale acolytes would just walk away from nearly a half billion dollars.

In short, they will be back.

The Education Report
Hijacked: Hillsdale College Takes Over Social Studies in South Dakota
Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn is trying his best to become the next Jerry Falwell - an evangelical kingmaker in the Republican Party. He already has acolytes in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. Hillsdale’s antics in South Dakota further expose the school’s aggressive agenda and broad reach…
Read more
6 months ago · Andy Spears
brown snake on brown soil
Photo by Meg Jerrard on Unsplash

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Tennessee Legislative Happenings

Legislative hearings at the Tennessee General Assembly this week yielded some pretty interesting information.

First, it seems some lawmakers are concerned about a potential plague of snakes that will keep rural schools from functioning:

Twitter avatar for @NC5PhilWilliams
Phil Williams @NC5PhilWilliams
Yes, this happened in the Tennessee legislature this week! Rep. @78RepLittleton (R-Dickson) and Sen. @janicebowlingtn (R-Tullahoma) asked about the “growing crisis” of furries being allowed to use litter boxes in the classroom. (Spoiler: there’s zero evidence that it’s true!)
9:55 PM ∙ Sep 28, 2022
1,008Likes315Retweets

Next, it seems there are lawmakers who voted for bills and are now disappointed that those bills do exactly what the plain language of the bills says:

Twitter avatar for @TheTNHoller
The Tennessee Holler @TheTNHoller
🤦🏻‍♂️WATCH: “You have authority over my local school district??” REPUBLICANS Sen. Crowe & Rep. Calfee are SHOCKED @GovBillLee’s handpicked state commission are overruling local rejections of charter schools — yet NEITHER OF THEM VOTED AGAINST CREATING IT. They were warned.
2:06 PM ∙ Sep 29, 2022
1,301Likes501Retweets

MORE EDUCATION NEWS

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The Impact of TN’s 3rd Grade Retention Law

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Early Withdrawal: In Tennessee, Hillsdale Pulls Out Ahead of Climactic Meeting

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