Tennessee Federation for Children

🚨 MEMPHIS FOLKS! 🚨
Mark your calendars for this exciting school fair event we're planning with Beacon Center of Tennessee and National School Choice Awareness Foundation!

"Last time I checked, winning is winning."

When it comes to K-12 academic outcomes, too many schools and districts in the U.S. treat diplomas like participation certificates.

This stands in stark contrast to America's dominance on the global athletics stage - where we know what it takes to win.

https://tinyurl.com/4wkvz56s

I'm really excited to share Episode 1 of Quality Matters, our new show about how we define "quality" in this new era of educational choice. I'd love for you to check it out and subscribe (which you can do at YouTube, Spotify, Apple).

Quality Matters | Episode 1| Dr. Ashley Berner

Join AFC-TN in thanking the following House and Senate members who last night voted to support educational freedom for families across our state!

📆 MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Join our own Shaka Mitchell and B.E. Academy For Girls on March 21st at 6 PM for a discussion about school choice!

The first hearing on the school choice legislation is at 4:30 PM CT today in the House K-12 Subcommittee. You can watch live right here:

Live Video - Tennessee General Assembly

"The principal of the school told my mother, “If you give us five years, we will have the middle school and the high school turned around.”

"My mother responded with, “In five years, Walter will either be in jail or in a body bag.” When my family discovered the school choice program, it opened a world of possibilities. School choice was more than an alternative; it was a catalyst for change, sparking a transformative journey that continues to shape my life positively."

When I was a student, school choice benefited me and it will help Tennessee children too Education Freedom Scholarships, with their decentralized approach, promotes a more nimble and responsive educational system than public schools.

Adopting Options: How Tennessee Can Expand Educational Choice to Every Student Over the past few years, educational choice programs that allow students to use a portion of their education dollars to attend schools that best fit their needs have experienced sweeping changes. By 2023, dozens of states had educational choice programs and ten states enacted universal or near-unive...

Gov. Bill Lee's State of the State is happening now! WATCH:

2024 State of the State Address 2024 State of the State Address February 5, 2024 Thank you. Lieutenant Governor McNally, Speaker Sexton, Speaker Pro Tem Haile, Speaker Pro Tem Marsh, Members of the 114th General Assembly, Justices of the Supreme Court, Constitutional Officers, Cabinet members, staff members, my friends, my family:...

"This is a serious issue; we are talking about the ways in which we are going to fund and educate the students of Tennessee so they will thrive as adults. Conaway is welcome to shill for the status quo in Memphis and Shelby County, where less than 1 in 5 students is proficient in reading and math. But I’d encourage parents to ignore anyone who mocks the choices you make for the betterment of your children. You deserve better."

Opinion: Look at the facts, not the hysteria, on school choice “I don’t, however, find it impossible to believe that the same school that worked for me ... isn’t the best fit for every other child in my community.”

In time for the 2024 National School Choice Week, I share some thoughts about the likelihood [hope] that parents will pull of the four-peat—advocating for their children and bringing another “Year of School Choice” to fruition. Here’s my latest article from The Washington Times.

Can parents pull off a four-peat in school choice? Every year since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents have had increasing success challenging the educational status quo by demanding a greater number of schooling options for their children.

It's national ! ICYMI: American Federation for Children's Shaka Mitchell spoke to the Daily Memphian about school choice in TN: “It was an unprecedented year in terms of the number and scale of parent choice programs passed by state legislatures...If you're a conservative lawmaker, I think it’s hard to ignore that this is the wave,” Mitchell told The Daily Memphian.

Senate Education Committee Chair Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol: “What we’re trying to do is educate the public, not just fund a building,” Lundberg said. “We’re trying to educate the public. Whether that’s in a quote-unquote ‘community school,’ charter school, home school."

On education, Gov. Lee has gotten everything he’s asked for Gov. Bill Lee has held office as a “conservative education revolution” has swept states controlled by Republicans.