EDUCATION REFORM - Tennessee

Union protesters in Tennessee arrested.
Protesters stood up during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing today and began chants about what they called "union busting" by the state Legislature. Most left after 30 minutes. Most were identified by WKRN as members of the American Federal of State, County and Municipal Employees. Seven refused to move. The seven were identified as six members of the University of Memphis’ Progressive Students Alliance and Ash-Lee Henderson, an advocate with Chattanooga Organized for Action. (Names here.)
They were protesting a HB 0130, a bill that would abolish teachers' unions ability to negotiate working conditions with local boards of education. They became irate and outspoken when it became apparent the bill wasn't going to be heard.
A Senate passed a companion bill SB0113 by a vote pf 6 to 3.

The full Senate is scheduled to vote on its version of the bill on Thursday.

According to Education Week, as a result of the 2010 elections, Indiana and Tennessee both switched to GOP-dominated legislative and executive branches." Both have bills pending to curb collective bargaining on anything other than wages.

BAD NEWS FOR ONE TEACHER IN TENNESSEE
The Tennessee Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of Pamela Turner who in 2005 pleaded no contest to sexual battery for having sex with a 13-year-old boy. Initially sentenced to 8 years of probation, she violated the conditions of her parole by sending nude photographs of herself to him and contacting him. In 2006, a judge ordered her to serve the eight years in prison. The decision means she is likely to remain in prison for the rest of her sentence. Which means 2014.

Good News for Bad Teachers as their revocations are not easily tracked
For an idea of how many teachers in the state were arrested or charged or sentenced for sex with students, scroll through the list on Bad Bad Teachers website.

It is hard to track teacher misconduct cases because newspapers don't follow the cases. The Department of Education doesn't make it easy to find out about the teacher either. Educator Licensure Search site is useful if you know the teacher's name but the public can not access information about those teachers under review. The Tennessee Board of Education minutes shows teacher suspensions and revocations but not the reasons. There is no database of the disciplinary actions. TRANSPARENCY INDEX = 2 out of 10