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A key instigator in the fights over the teaching of race in classrooms is now promoting the idea of "curriculum transparency," an innocuous-sounding premise that's become the latest battleground in education culture wars.

The Williamson County Schools Board of Education Policy Committee discussed altering Policy 4.043, "Reconsideration of Instructional Materials and Textbooks," at a meeting Monday night.

At the end of last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new guidance on wearing masks, significantly easing recommendations for most of the country, including in schools. In response to the CDC’s new rules, many blue states that still mandated masks in schools announced they would end the requirement, including New York, California, Oregon, and Washington. Now, the only state not planning to end its school mask mandate by mid-march is Hawaii.

NewsChannel5’s Phil Williams has been following the money to find out who is behind efforts to privatize Tennessee’s public schools. It’s no surprise that Lee’s longtime friend Betsy DeVos is among the key backers of privatization.

Last week, the nonprofit College Board, which oversees things like SAT exams and Advanced Placement courses, tentatively waded into the school wars. The board published a new set of principles opposing censorship, supporting academic freedom and, most potently, noting that school bans that affect required subjects for AP courses could result in those classes losing their AP credits. As bans on teaching anything from systemic racism to LGBTQ issues to basic history proliferate around the country, the College Board's statement represents just one way that institutions of higher education are beginning to take a stand.

I’ve got a soft spot for librarians. As a kid, my mom hauled us to the downtown Franklin library every week as far back as I can remember. Even before I could read, I went along as she and my older brother checked out books. After I, too, could read, I got to know all the librarians and I’m still friends with my favorite, who at the time was a college student working part time at the library.

Nashville education blogger TC Weber has a couple of pieces out that break down Gov. Lee’s proposed school funding reform.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — These days on Capitol Hill, the big drama playing out is a push by some to reshape public education here in Tennessee or, in the view of some, to destroy it.

Advocates say that push is coming from families.

A slate of new charter applications in Tennessee's suburban communities are increasingly pointing to a cultural shift in the types of families the schools hope to attract.

Details are limited in Governor Bill Lee’s deal with Hillsdale College, the controversial conservative-leaning school in Michigan. The school has a network of charters and the governor and some in his cabinet are reaching out to them to bring dozens of new charter schools to Tennessee.

One of the many reasons book challenges have grown in the last year is that it creates tremendous paperwork and time investment on the behalf of a school district. This, in turn, allows those who challenge to point to inadequacies in how schools are being run because they’ve invested so much time and money into having a book in the facility they believe should not have been there to begin with. It creates a compelling argument for how tax money is misspent, furthering the belief many of these censors have that they should have the right to receive vouchers (on taxpayer money) to send their children to whatever school they wish.

Tennessee lawmakers advanced a bill targeting "obscene" books in school libraries after multiple hearings featuring testimony from congressional and school board candidates, pastors and even a country music star.