NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A state advocacy group for teachers is calling on Governor Bill Lee to sever ties with Hillsdale College and to limit the power of a state charter commission.
The Tennessee Education Association is asking for the governor to "restore local control in public education" and to end plans to partner charter schools in the state with Hillsdale College after its president made critical comments toward the public school system and teachers.
“Make no mistake, charter schools often look to make money for financial backers. When charters fail, it is impossible to close them and local governments are left to untangle the mess,” TEA President Tanya Coats said. “Arnn’s comments not only revealed to us who he is, but also laid bare the tactics of the charter industry. We will be working with the General Assembly to limit the power of the state charter commission and restore local control.”
This comes more than a week after News Channel 5, a CBS affiliate in Nashville, released an investigative report over comments Hillsdale President Larry Arnn made toward teachers in a video from a recent closed-door reception with Governor Bill Lee -- including that "teachers are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country."
When asked for a response about the TEA's statement, Lee's office referred back to comments the governor made more than a week ago during an interview with Nashville radio station SuperTalk 99.7.
The governor has not denounced Arnn's comments. In the interview, he said he felt Arnn's statement comments were about a national conversation about teaching, not Tennessee teachers specifically, claiming they were calling out "left-wing activism" in the public school system.
A spokesperson for the governor said Hillsdale's charter management organization in Tennessee -- American Classical Educuation, Inc. -- is "an entirely separate entity" from the college. According to the Hillsdale Collegian, the CMO was created in 2022 specifically after Lee invited Hillsdale to Tennessee. Arnn said Hillsdale provided the initial capital to start the CMO and nominated a minority of its board membership, according to the paper.
"We have simply welcomed the CMO to undergo the unbiased, independent application process in an effort to introduce another high-quality K-12 public education option for Tennessee students," the governor's office said. "There is no formal partnership with the state, and the CMO is treated the same as any other charter applicant going through the process."
Other lawmakers and organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee had criticized the governor's plan to partner 50 charter schools with Hillsdale College months before Arnn's comments had been made public, citing constitutional concerns and worries about its impact on state schools.
“Outsourcing the operation of our public schools to a private, out-of-state religious college is not in the best interest of Tennessee’s children and is deeply concerning,” said Hedy Weinberg, ACLU of Tennessee executive director. “Governor Lee’s plan raises serious constitutional concerns, and the public deserves full transparency so that they know about any financial arrangement and other details of this agreement, as well as its impact on public education.”
The TEA said state-created charters have been met with mostly failure, saying charters in the Achievement School district have been the lowest-performing in the state.
“Hillsdale’s Larry Arnn said Tennesseans are too dumb to educate their own children, using talking points straight from the charter industry playbook,” Coats said. “We don’t care how he does it up north, and we don’t need to be saved by charter operators from California or Massachusetts. We know what it takes to educate our children.”