Recent editorials from Tennessee newspapers:
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Dec. 23
The Knoxville News Sentinel on the 2015 shooting death of a teenager who died while shielding friends from a hail of gunfire:
In the year since Fulton High School student Zaevion Dobson died while shielding friends from a hail of gunfire, Knoxville has begun coming to terms with the gang-related violence that threatens to rip apart the city’s low-income neighborhoods.
The community cannot allow Zaevion’s legacy to fade.
Zaevion was a 15-year-old student and football player last December when gunfire exploded through Lonsdale in one of four gang-related shootings that night. He and his friends had no gang affiliations, and police say they were targeted by mistake. In August, prosecutors announced indictments, including charges of first-degree murder, against two men in Zaevion’s death.
Zaevion was struck trying to protect two female classmates. His sacrifice touched people through Knoxville and across the country.
President Barack Obama invoked the slain teenager’s name during an impassioned call for the nation to adopt new gun control policies.
His family accepted the prestigious Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY Awards in July. In April, state lawmakers gave final approval to a bill to rename the Heiskell Avenue bridge over Interstate 275 in the teen’s honor.
In May, Fulton High School presented the first check from what is hoped to become an annual scholarship of $2,400 in his honor.
Construction is expected to begin early next year on a memorial park and playground to serve young children in Lonsdale Homes.
More importantly, Zaevion’s heroism has galvanized the community to wrest control of the streets from gangs and offer alternatives to the gang lifestyle for inner-city youth.
Nonprofit organizations such as the Emerald Youth Foundation, the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley and 100 Black Men of Knoxville that serve at-risk youth have redoubled their efforts.
The city of Knoxville is giving these organizations a boost. In the municipal budget approved for this year, Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero tripled funding to youth organizations with $131,000 in grants to 17 groups, including the city’s Save Our Sons initiative. She also committed $500,000 over the next two years toward construction of the Change Center, a $2.9 million youth center set to open in late 2017.
Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch created a gang task force, which in addition to fighting crime is providing opportunities and resources to gang members who want to straighten out their lives.
This type of holistic, public-private initiative is promising.
Zaevion’s mother, Zenobia Dobson, has become a leading anti-violence advocate. During a speech last month at the University of Tennessee College of Law, Dobson issued a call to action and announced a foundation to help her accomplish her vision of safe places for children in the community.
Accolades and advocacy cannot mask Dobson’s pain, however. “Every single day, I miss him, Lord,” she said during a memorial service last Saturday.
Dobson said she wants to be a force for good in Zaevion’s memory. That should serve as a rallying cry for all Knoxvillians. As a community, we cannot forget Zaevion’s sacrifice and must work to eliminate the need for such heroism in the future.
Online:
https://www.knoxnews.com/
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Dec. 28
The Commercial Appeal on Tennessee’s Achievement School District:
Expect calls to extend a moratorium on further expansion of Tennessee’s Achievement School District to grow louder when the General Assembly convenes next month. Some legislators would like to kill the ASD outright.
That is an unlikely outcome, but there should be a rigorous discussion of what plans are in place to correct problems with the ASD that have produced a steady drumbeat of bad news for the district of late.
Using federal funding, the state created the ASD five years ago to turn around the performance of schools - predominantly Memphis schools - where scores on standardized tests placed them in the bottom 5 percent statewide.
It’s been a rough year for the ASD, most of whose schools are managed by charter-school organizations, culminating with the district’s decision to pull out of Klondike Preparatory Academy Elementary, which is expected to become the ASD’s first school closure, and its departure from Humes Preparatory Academy Middle School, where two operators have expressed interest in getting involved.
Add the revelation that less than only 65 percent of ASD teachers last year were considered “highly qualified,” meaning that the others lacked either the credentials or the expertise to teach the classes they were assigned to, and one can’t help wondering about the ASD’s future.
Most public school parents would expect their children’s teachers to meet the “highly qualified” criteria - a bachelor’s degree, a license and a demonstrated ability to teach the subject he or she is teaching.
Still, there is continuing support from state Education Commissioner Candice McQueen, charter school promoters and legislators who believe the ASD still has a role to play.
The ASD’s focus on low-performing schools in high-poverty areas, often with a dwindling school-age population, give it some of the most difficult challenges in public education.
Despite the setbacks, the district clearly is in line to serve as the “rigorous intervention” tool required by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act for the lowest performing schools in the state.
The state’s plan for implementation of the new law, however, also gives schools that for the first time fall into the bottom 5 percent category an automatic three-year grace period before the ASD takes over.
Meaning that districts such as Shelby County Schools, a district that has experienced success with its Innovation Zone network for struggling schools, would have more time to make improvements before a state takeover occurs.
Eventually, a decision will have to be made on the best approach to improve the performance of poorly performing schools. It’s not time to pull the plug on the ASD just yet.
Online:
www.commercialappeal.com
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Dec. 22
The Knoxville News Sentinel on state lawmakers and transparency:
It is a positive sign that the two leaders of the Tennessee Senate have promised to continue holding open caucus meetings in 2017.
The comments from Sens. Randy McNally and Bill Ketron are encouraging for transparency in state government. McNally, R-Oak Ridge, is expected to become lieutenant governor succeeding Blountville’s Ron Ramsey. Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, has served as GOP caucus chairman since 2010.
The vow of openness by McNally and Ketron comes despite a move by their colleagues in the House that could result in the press and the public being blocked out of Republican Party gatherings.
A few days before McNally and Ketron offered their remarks, the House Republican caucus held a closed-door meeting, citing the need to hold a “family” discussion among party members. House GOP Caucus Chairman Ryan Williams of Cookeville said there might be a need for additional closed meetings in the future.
Mary Mancini, Tennessee Democratic Party Chairwoman, criticized the House Republicans but did not comment on her party’s practice of closed-door meetings. Senate Democrats generally have not provided public notice of their caucus meetings.
Openness in government should not even be an issue - and it might not be if a local government was involved. But some in the Legislature never saw a contradiction in the openness they prescribe for local governments through the Open Meetings Act and the limitations on openness they sometimes prefer for themselves.
This is not merely transparency for transparency’s sake. As others have noted, the Republicans hold a veto-proof supermajority in the Senate with 28 Republicans and five Democrats. Thus, the GOP caucus is more than just a gathering of like-minded lawmakers for “family” discussions.
It is a meeting at which important legislation - as well as the nuts and bolts of that legislation - will be debated before it reaches a Senate committee or the Senate floor. Involving the public at this stage fosters trust in both the lawmakers and in state government.
McNally and Ketron agree. McNally told The (Nashville) Tennessean he would oppose any type of closed meetings. Ketron said one of his rules is to always send out a public notice of caucus meetings. With the GOP’s supermajority, he said he doesn’t want “any thoughts or even people saying there’s any impropriety there.”
The National Conference of State Legislatures takes up the issue of openness of legislative party caucuses, mentioning that the issue has generated “controversy across the country.” The case for closing the meetings, the conference said, is to enable party members to freely vent and share ideas, a time when they can speak candidly to one another.
On the side of openness, the conference hit on the overriding reason: “Legislators gather at caucuses to discuss the public’s business,” and the public has a right to be informed about what happens at these meetings. Openness brings sunlight into an area “of public policymaking that should not be kept dark.”
McNally and Ketron are veteran legislators, and both have demonstrated integrity in conducting the state’s business. Open caucus meetings in both parties and in both houses should be a legislative commitment for 2017.
Online:
https://www.knoxnews.com/
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