Tennessee School District Director Named 2021 National Superintendent of the Year Finalist
Friday, December 18, 2020 |
National Finalists
Nashville, TN Today, AASA, the School Superintendents Association, announced Dr. Bryan Johnson, Superintendent of Hamilton County Schools, is a finalist for the 2021 National Superintendent of the Year. Dr. Johnson is one of only four superintendents across the country to be named a finalist.
“We are thrilled Dr. Bryan Johnson has received this national recognition and will represent Tennessee on the national stage,”
said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “Dr. Johnson has exemplified exceptional leadership and created positive school culture and environment during his time leading Hamilton County Schools, especially in the midst of such a challenging year. We congratulate him and Hamilton County on this well-deserved honor.”
Dec. 15, 2020 11:36 am ET
PHOENIX As if the pandemic weren’t disruptive enough, many American schools are facing a growing shortage of teachers.
School districts are recruiting parents as substitute teachers, online class sizes are soaring to 50 children or more and bus drivers are baby-sitting classrooms. Some are considering allowing asymptomatic teachers who were exposed to Covid-19 to continue to show up.
Public-school employment in November was down 8.7% from February, and at its lowest level since 2000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That includes teachers who quit, retired early or took leaves of absence due to the pandemic, and layoffs of support staff such as teachers’ aides and clerical workers. The staffing crunch leaves teachers educating children in person and online simultaneously, deep-cleaning their own classrooms and taking turns as crossing guards.
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12/14/2020 10:00 AM EST
Editor’s Note: Welcome to Weekly Education: Coronavirus special edition. Each week, we will explore how the pandemic is reshaping and upending education as we know it across the country, from pre-K through grad school. We will explore the debates of the day, new challenges and talk to movers and shakers about whether changes ushered in now are here to stay.
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In one of the most frightening winters in recent memory, when coronavirus is killing thousands, and millions of children are barred from their classrooms, struggling for enough internet to learn, Campbell’s Soup made a decision. It would fight, in its cozy way, for kids’ right to take a day off.
But the iconic food company’s “Save the Snow Day” campaign, launched this month, isn’t finding a universally warm-and-fuzzy reception with its intended audiences: parents, and the K-12 leaders who make snow-day decisions.
“Staying home behind a bowl of soup with your kids, the parents in my most struggling schools would think that sounds m’m m’m good. But the reality is, most of our parents are essential workers. They can’t just take the day off,” said Sonya Thomas, the executive director of Nashville PROPEL, a group that teaches parents in low-income neighborhoods how to advocate for better schools.