The Tennessee Business Roundtable will hold an education summit on October 16 at the Nashville Downtown Public Library.
Mike Edwards, Knoxville Chamber president and CEO, is this year's chairman of the event. He said that the summit will "provoke some hard questions and answers for all of us."
Marc Tucker, founder and CEO of the National Center on Education and the Economy, and William E. Brock, former U.S. Senator from Tennessee, will present the much-talked-about report, "Tough Choices or Tough Times" at the summit.
For more information, read the release from the Tennessee Business Roundtable.
Tennessee educators will soon be learning new teaching methods and best practices so that they can efficiently adapt to the new education standards that are being implemented for current seventh grade students.
School administrators met this week to hear about the new standards. Further training will begin this summer for all Tennessee teachers.
The Technology Center Directors from the State of Tennessee voted unanimously for all Tennessee Scholars to get free tuition to attend any Technology Center in the state.
This vote is important because this will help Tennessee educate students in areas that will eventually help fill high-skilled, high-demand jobs.
Ruth Woodall, Director of the Tennessee Scholars program for the Tennessee Chamber said that the program will give extra money to students for books if the student requested it and could show need.
There is a local Tennessee Technology Center in Knoxville. For more information on the programs offered, visit the Tennessee Technology Center website here.
Tom Donohue, President of the U,S, Chamber of Commerce, remarks this week that the presidential candidates have been shunning educational issues in favor of discussing the Iraq war, health care and the economy.
Donohue said that what has been noted from the candidates has been a rejection of No Child Left Behind, which he credits with helping raise math and reading skills. The U.S. Chamber favors increasing the No Child Left Behind program and holding the education system more accountable for preparing students for the workforce.
"If we don’t bring urgent change to our K-12 system, how will we compete with India and China? Who will fill the high-tech jobs of the 21st century knowledge economy, especially as baby boomers begin to retire? What will happen to the dreams and potential of our kids?" Donohue wrote.
Donohue praised the Tennessee system and Governor Bredesen's action in education reform.
"Fortunately, the silence of our presidential candidates on education is sharply contrasted by substantial action at the state and local level. Officials like Chancellor of the D.C. Public School System Michelle Rhee and Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen are rejecting a system that fails students, parents, and taxpayers. They are bringing innovation, accountability, and competition to schools with outstanding results."
Tennessee will soon kick off a million-dollar effort to teach educators the new standards that will be implemented as part of the American Diploma Project requirements voted on last month, according to a Tennessean article.
The standards involve additional math, science and foreign language requirements, among others. Conferences with school administrators and supervisors will be the first step in teaching the new curriculum. Then, these educators will share with their colleagues what they have learned so that all teachers are aware of the new policies.
"That's exactly what I want us to be able to provide our teachers: good teaching practices, great examples they can model and any additional knowledge about the content they will teach," said Susan Bunch, assistant commissioner of teaching and learning for the state Department of Education.
A blogger for the U.S. Chamber's ChamberPost blog singled out Tennessee and Governor Bredesen as the leaders in making positive changes in education policies.
Lydia Logan of the U.S. Chamber writes, "While many reformers pay lip service to the idea that ready for college and ready for work are the same thing, Tennessee is walking the talk."
She cites the increased graduation requirements and one-track diploma programs as positive catalysts for change that have been made recently in Tennessee under Bredesen's leaderhip.
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen delivered his State of the State Address Monday night and one of his focuses in both his budget and his speech was education.
From the Tennessean:
"Gov. Phil Bredesen proposed $287 million in new education spending in his budget proposal but warned in his State of the State speech on Monday that prudent fiscal decisions must be made amid economic uncertainty.
"His $27.9 billion budget next fiscal year includes lowering the grade point average for returning college students to keep their lottery scholarships — from 3.0 to 2.75 — and using $200 million in lottery reserves to help low-income students pay college tuition."
See Bredesen's budget and read his State of the State address.
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