Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn responds to criticism from legislators
A group of lawmakers grilled Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn tonight during a hearing on schools re-opening, the commissioner caught negative attention for her response to Covid-19, particularly a failed rollout of a child well check program this summer.
Commissioner Schwinn spent almost two hours presenting and answering questions from the House Education Committee. She’s faced harsh criticism on her response to Covid-19, particularly on her communication with the education committee, which resulted in having to backtrack on a plan to spend a million dollars on a child well check program.
One of the biggest critics of hers is Representative Scott Cepicky. He addressed Commissioner Schwinn, making the point that he thinks that she’s got to work to gain trust back with the committee in order to make the best decisions for students.
Schwinn responded in part saying that they have a shared goal and she appreciates the feedback and the ongoing conversations they’ve had and will continue to have.
FOX17 reached out to Governor Lee to get his response on the criticism. A representative for his office sent us this statement:
“Commissioner Schwinn is leading the department through an unprecedented crisis and the most challenging school year in the history of our state. We're glad that Commissioner Schwinn is in this position at such a challenging moment because she is willing and capable to meet it."
The statement continues below:
"I'd challenge you to find a state that has worked as hard to make an in-person option for working families available while also providing critical resources for the health and safety of students and staff. Here's a list of partnerships and resources to support students, educators, and districts under Commissioner Schwinn's direction during the pandemic and into the new school year:
Supports for Districts and Educators
o Over 100 guidance documents between school closures in the spring and reopening toolkits and resources:
- LEA Guide for Reopening Schools – extensive resource produced to provide an overview framework for districts to use as they begin planning for school reopening. It outlines 10+ different pathways that districts may want to take for school reopening, most of which prioritize in-person learning.
- 77+ Coronavirus school closure guidance documents
- 25+ Reopening Toolkits and Templates– a series of topic-specific toolkits that provide checklists, best practices, reflective questions, and more intended to support effective and locally-driven planning for reopening.
o Free professional development for all teachers on digital learning with Trevecca. Over 19,000 teachers have registered.
o Free PD for principals for leading well in the new COVID-19 environment. 550+ principals participated.
o Supporting district recruiting to fill educator vacancies: 1000+ candidates shared with districts through TN Teacher Jobs Connection, TN Substitute Teacher Jobs Connection, TN Education Job Board
o Over $200M in grants thus far to support school reopening and COVID response including:
K-12 Coronavirus Relief Grants: https://www.tn.gov/governor/news/2020/7/7/gov--lee-announces--81-million-in-coronavirus-relief-grants-for-k-12-and-higher-education-institutions.html#:~:text=NASHVILLE%2C%20Tenn.,with%20plans%20for%20safe%20reopening.
LEA Reopening and Programmatic Supports - $11 million: Reopening grants are noncompetitive grants to support cohorts of districts with continuous learning plan implementation throughout the year in amounts ranging from $25,000 - $150,000 each.
District Technology Grant - $50M: These grants support district device strategies as necessary components to implement distance learning. The Tennessee Department of Education has launched a noncompetitive grant program managed through TDOE ePlan that allows for a match program.
$1M Special Education Additional Endorsement Grant: In response to feedback from districts regarding availability of special education certified teachers, the department is releasing the Special Education Additional Endorsement Grant to add a special education endorsement for one current teacher in each Tennessee district at no cost to the teacher or the district. Learn more: https://www.tn.gov/education/news/2020/7/15/tdoe-awards--1m-in-special-education-additional-endorsement-grants.html
$1M 2020-21 IDEA Innovation Grant: The new Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Innovation Grant, making $1 million dollars available to support Tennessee school districts in implementing innovative ways to remediate for the loss of instruction during school closures for students with disabilities. Learn more: https://www.tn.gov/education/news/2020/6/12/tdoe-announces--1-million-idea-innovation-grant-.html
$5 Million in Grants to Districts to Support Students with Disabilities: An additional $5 million dollars will be available for Tennessee school districts to provide compensatory services and support innovative approaches to the remediation of students with disabilities due to extended COVID-19 related school closures. Learn more: https://www.tn.gov/education/news/2020/6/3/tdoe-announces--5-million-in-grants-to-districts-to-support-students-with-disabilities-.html
$1M IDEA Technology Grant: The department announced a new Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Technology Partnership Grant, making $1 million dollars available for Tennessee school districts to better support the educational needs of students with disabilities by addressing technology needs that are a result of COVID-10 school closures. This grant, which uses federal IDEA discretionary funds, will support districts in purchasing additional assistive technology and other tools to increase access to services and instruction for students with disabilities during school closures. Learn more: https://www.tn.gov/education/news/2020/4/27/tdoe-announces--1-million-idea-technology-partnership-grant-.html
$2M Grow Your Own Grant: The Grow Your Own Competitive Grant makes available twenty grants of $100,000 each to form or expand state-recognized Grow Your Own Partnerships to increase access and remove barriers to the teaching profession. The Grow Your Own Competitive Grant will fund partnerships between Educator Preparation Providers (EPPs)and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to provide innovative, no-cost pathways to the teaching profession by increasing EPP enrollment and growing the supply of qualified teachers. Learn more: https://www.tn.gov/education/news/2020/8/3/tdoe-announces--2-million-grow-your-own-grant-for-innovative--no-cost-pathways-to-teaching-profession-.html
$15 million in grant funding to districts to purchase wifi or mifi devices for students
o Additionally, the State is providing no-cost PPE, including face masks for any school stakeholder who wants or needs one, thermometers for every school, and face shields for every staff member. This includes 298,000 cloth reusable masks for teachers, and 27 million disposable masks for students distributed by the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Every classroom teacher will have a full-year classroom disinfecting kit to use so no teacher pays for these materials out of their own pockets. The kits include hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, gloves and masks. School nurses will be provided with surgical masks, gloves, protective gowns, and face shields. This represents more than $77 million in supports to educators.
o When remote instruction is necessary, the department is also tasked with supporting and approving continuous learning plans (CLPs), as outlined in State Board of Education rule and policy. This includes what instruction will look like this year in the case of remote learning but prioritizing in-person instruction (including models that support ideas and alternatives to maximize in-person attendance)
District CLPs:
Fully approved: 87
Conditionally approved: 8
Total approved: 95
Charters:
Fully approved: 81
Conditionally approved: 9
Total: 90
o Regular Calls and Targeted Meetings – the department hosts calls three times per week with all superintendents in addition to weekly 1:1 calls with superintendents. Further, the department has developed concierge support teams to provide districts targeted support.
o Partnership with Department of Health – the departments of education and heath have co-created a series of resources to walk districts through decisions to reopen in person as well as considerations for when to make closure decisions should confirmed positive cases be found in schools during the year.
Supports for Students and Families
o PBS Summer Learning series and PBS Teaching Tennessee: Starting April 6, the six Tennessee PBS stations— WNPT Nashville, East Tennessee PBS, WCTE Upper Cumberland, WKNO Memphis, West TN PBS, and Chattanooga WTCI— delivered two hours of programming with high-quality instructional content each weekday. Tennessee teachers created over 320 videos, which were standards aligned, to air. This partnership is continuing through the fall semester.
o Launched an online academic tool, Best for All Central, which provides a suite of easily searchable, free resources on teaching and learning for families and educators
Tennessee Academic Standards Navigator- with sample assessment items and example of student work
Free professional development resources for educators and district staff
Hundreds of instructional content videos
o Launched an online parent tool in partnership with Trevecca Nazarene University to help families navigate remote learning and better understand the common tools and programs used by educators
o ReadyRosie: The department formed a statewide partnership with the Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation to provide ReadyRosie to Tennessee families for free. Through this partnership, all families with school-aged children in Tennessee had access to ReadyRosie, an early education online platform, to provide Tennessee families with free short videos and resources for simple, engaging learning activities Tennessee families they can do at home. 9K+ families signed up.
o STE(A)M Resource Hub and Summer Resources Hub: The department partnered with the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network (TSIN) to release a STE(A)M Resource Hub with three weekly challenges around design activities, critical thinking, and career exploration that can all be done in the home.
STEAM COVID resource hub- 11K+ unique visitors
o SchoolMealFinder.com: TDOE partnered with Hoonuit to make this resource available and ensure students and families can continue to access critical meal services through.”