Update on Tennessee from Chris Barbic

 A Tennessee update from Chris Barbic, founder of YES Prep in Houston (he was a fellow TFA corps member (and roommate?) of Dave Levin and Mike Feinberg in the early 1990s) and currently the Superintendent of Tennessee's Achievement School District:

 

Last week was a big week in Tennessee:  (1) the Governor signed the NCLB waiver replacing the old accountability system with a new one that focuses on growth and eliminating achievement gaps between sub-groups (posted at: http://tn.gov/governor/pdf/051012_NCLB_Bill_summary.pdf), (2) the bill also give us in the Achievement School District the operating flexibility we need to effectively move our bottom 5% schools to the top 25% in five years, and (3) the Charter School Growth Fund announced big investments in two TN-based CMOs – LEAD Public Schools in Nashville and Gestalt Public Schools in Memphis. 

 

Lots left to do but know that we are plugging away…