In the News

Tennessee legislators passed a bill Wednesday that would allow the state’s textbook commission to approve or reject books in school libraries.

A version of the legislation passed the state House with a last-minute amendment that would give a state-appointed textbook commission the “final say” on books in public school libraries. The bill also seeks to increase the number of members on the commission and require it to issue guidance to local education agencies when it reviews library collections.

A last-minute amendment to give a politically appointed textbook commission final approval over books in Tennessee school libraries sparked a Capitol protest and heated debate in the General Assembly on Wednesday.

The legislation, HB 2666, passed the Senate earlier this month as a relatively straightforward bill to add members to the state's textbook commission and task the commission with providing guidance for schools when reviewing materials to ensure they are "appropriate for the age and maturity levels" of students.

Those rabble rousers over at the Tennessee Association of School Librarians (TASL) are out with a statement condemning the “gross overreach” of an amendment to HB2666 that would give the State Textbook Commission authority over books in school libraries. That is, the bill would require all books in school libraries to be on an “approved” list provided by the Textbook Commission.

The Tennessee House of Representatives plans to vote on a bill Wednesday regarding the regulation of education materials.

Introduced by House Speaker Cameron Sexton, HB 2666 is set to change what materials will be allowed in schools due to the belief that specific materials should not be available for students due to inappropriate content.

Gov. Bill Lee's new education funding plan is approaching the finish line after clearing finance committees in the House and Senate Tuesday.

The new plan, called Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement, would replace the current funding formula called the Basic Education Program.

A Tennessee house bill that would require more oversight on what goes into school libraries advanced out of two committees on Tuesday.

The amended bill states, "AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to expand the membership of the state textbook and instructional materials quality commission. This amendment requires the commission to expand its review process to include books and other educational materials to be placed in public school libraries."

FRANKLIN, Tenn. — “What happens when a child sounds out the word ‘lesbian’ and turns to their teacher and asks, ‘What is a lesbian?’”

Trisha Lucente, the mom of a local kindergartner, has come before the Williamson County school board to voice her distress over the district’s continued use of Epic, a digital library app containing more than 40,000 children’s books and videos. Ms. Lucente and like-minded parents have complained about several titles that they consider inappropriate. Anything touching on race, gender or sexuality can set off alarms in conservative circles here. (A book on sea horses came under fire recently. The fact that male sea horses get pregnant was seen as promoting the idea of gender fluidity.)

The inspiration for the popular children’s picture book “Everywhere Babies” came to author Susan Meyers more than 25 years ago, after the birth of her first grandchild. It was around Christmas, she recalls, and she kept seeing Nativity scenes everywhere — baby Jesus embraced by his doting mother, surrounded by kindly visitors. Meyers, deeply smitten with her 5-month-old grandson, was struck by the everyday, extraordinary miracle of babies in their earliest months of life, how their development touches the lives of everyone around them. So she decided to write about it.

Last Friday, Florida's Department of Education — which, along with Gov. Ron DeSantis, has been setting the agenda for conservative attacks on education for the last two years — announced that it had rejected 41 percent of the math textbooks proposed by the state's schools. Why? Supposedly the books contained "impermissible" material related to critical race theory (CRT), Common Core and "social emotional learning."

In Williamson County, this election cycle is the first time school board candidates can run with a party label next to their name, signaling they’re a Democrat or Republican. For incumbent Nancy Garrett, the choice was clear: She picked neither.

Enough about “parental rights.” I want to talk about nonparental rights.

I want to talk about the fact that a public school, identified that way for a reason, doesn’t exist as some bespoke service attending to the material wants and political whims of only those Americans with children in the science lab and on the soccer field. It’s an investment, funded by all taxpayers, in the cultivation of citizens who better appreciate our democracy and can participate in it more knowledgeably and productively.

Conservative political action committee Williamson Families has rescinded its endorsement of juvenile judge candidate Connie Reguli following her conviction in a Williamson County court on Wednesday, and are also calling on her to withdraw from the race.

The PAC made the statement in a social media post on Thursday afternoon which can be read in full below.