NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — "An enormous conflict of interest from top to bottom."
That's what one critic says about what NewsChannel 5 Investigates uncovered about a state board with the power to overrule local school boards.
The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission has the power to order taxpayer money to be spent on those privately-operated schools that some districts say they just don't need.
Among the upcoming votes before the commission:
- This month, it will hear appeals from Founders Classical Academy, a group previously associated with Michigan's controversial Hillsdale College. Founders wants to open schools in Franklin and Hendersonville - over the objection of the local school boards.
- This week, that commission could overrule the Metro Nashville school board and allow the opening of two more privately operated charter schools in the Antioch area, even though the district says it has its own plans to open new schools there.
- And the commission will hear an appeal from a group that wants to open a taxpayer-funded high school for at-risk students in Clarksville, again over the objection of the local school board.
The charter school commission isn't composed of school superintendents, school board members or teachers. It's an unelected group of true-blue believers in charter schools, and even some Republicans are starting to question whether they should have such power.
"As a commission, our charge is to be recognized nationally as a top-tier, quality authorizer in a state where a strong portfolio of public charter schools exists," commission chair Tom Griscom said at the beginning of a recent meeting.
See below for those comments.
Composed of charter school advocates, the Public Charter School Commission — handpicked by the governor and confirmed by the legislature — has the authority to authorize taxpayer funding to go to schools operated by private entities whose applications were rejected at the local level.
"Unfortunately you had some school districts before this that would say no to every charter school because, philosophically, they just don't want a charter school," said Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland.
Republicans created the commission after charter schools ran into opposition in Nashville and Memphis, in counties run by Democrats.
"They have set up the system to circumvent local governments and local control with a handpicked state charter commission," said state Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville.
Clemmons argued that the governor chose people who he expected would carry out his agenda.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked the Nashville Democrat: "When you look at the state charter commission, what do you see?"
"I see an enormous conflict of interest from top to bottom on the state charter commission," he answered.
Conflict of interest forms filed by the nine commissioners shows that every one of them reported no conflicts.
But the commission includes Alan Levine and Chris Richards, two members of the board of the State Collaborative for Reforming Education (SCORE), a pro-charter lobbying group.
It also includes SCORE'S former executive director, Jamie Woodson, who has served as a $200,0000-a-year consultant to the group.
Two other members, Terence Patterson and Derwin Sisnett, work with pro-charter groups that get funding from SCORE.
"SCORE has worked for years and spent a lot of money, millions of dollars, trying to push charter schools," Clemmons said.
Sisnett will be appearing before the commission this month to lobby for approval of a charter school that he wants to start Memphis-Shelby County schools rejected that.
"This commissioner does have a school that he will be the person who is presenting the appeal to us and so we asked him to step aside," commission chair Tom Griscom recently told a legislative committee.
Sisnett's school, Binghamptom Community School, is funded in part by SCORE, Woodson confirmed.
"That's a direct conflict of interest," Clemmons said, "and every Tennessean who values public schools should view this as a complete lack of transparency and a violation of the public trust."
Woodson downplayed the concerns.
"Commission staff and I are regularly reviewing, and I have made it clear I will recuse myself from voting on any charter appeal where SCORE is or has been involved as a funder," she said in an email.
"In addition, SCORE has a firm policy in place not to advocate for or against charter school applications that are before the Commission. That offers an additional safeguard."
In the case of the Binghampton appeal, Woodson said she would not be voting.
"Although I personally have had zero interaction or involvement with Binghampton, and there does not appear to be an actual conflict, I thought it best to recuse myself from that appeal to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest," she said.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates also obtained an email in which he directed commission staff to provide political advice to "our friends" at the Tennessee Charter School Center, another pro-charter lobbying group.
Read select emails below:
Griscom did not respond to NewsChannel 5's inquiry about that comment nor about other commission members' conflicts of interest.
Still, NewsChannel 5 Investigates had obtained the results of a poll commissioned by SCORE that shows that Tennesseans of all political persuasions overwhelmingly believe decisions about charter schools should be made at the local level.
Now, with charter schools making a push into the suburbs, Republicans are suddenly a lot more skeptical about those decisions being made at the state.
When charter school commission officials recently appeared before that legislative committee, some Republicans seemed shocked to learn that the commission they created could overrule their local school agencies (LEAs).
"When it comes to a final say of whether or not there would be a charter school in a LEA's district, is it my local ELA that has that choice or is it you?" asked Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City.
Commission executive director Tess Stovall answered, "In any appeal situation, the decision of the commission is final."
"That's not good, I don't think," Crowe responded.
When Republicans enact a law to stick it to Democratic counties and don’t realize their own counties can get stuck too! pic.twitter.com/irWztlckT2
— Phil Williams (@NC5PhilWilliams) October 3, 2022
Rep. Kent Calfee, R-Kingston, agreed.
"When you can come in and override our elected officials, I don't like it. I'm in total agreement with Senator Crowe."
Lamberth reminded his colleagues, "We created this commission. We, as a legislature, made this determination."
The Sumner County Republican recently appeared before a public hearing of the charter school commission to urge them to uphold his school district's recent rejection of an application from Founders Classical Academy.
"We're looking at each of these applications on their own merits, and the one that applied in Sumner County just didn't rise to the level of quality that we expect," he explained.
Clemmons finds such Republican opposition to be ironic.
"What they are starting to realize or I hope realize is: this agenda is designed to spread charter schools in all 95 counties," he added.
Still, Lamberth wasn't ready to admit that Republicans made a mistake.
"My testimony was not 'no, never' to charter schools in Sumner County; it was no to this particular charter school. Every single one of these should be evaluated on the merits of that application."
He acknowledged that Republicans are now watching the charter school commission to make sure it doesn't become a rubberstamp for the charter school sector.
"The answer shouldn't be always no, but it shouldn't be always yes either," Lamberth insisted.
SPECIAL SECTION: Revealed
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