Posted on 05/01/2023 7:21:21 PM PDT by lightman
The top education official in Tennessee, Commissioner Penny Schwinn, will leave her position at the end of the school year later this month following four years with the department, Gov. Bill Lee announced on Monday.
In an interview with “The 74,” a news organization that covers America’s education system, Schwinn said she had grown tired of the distracting culture war battles over race and gender in the classroom.
“I see it as extraneous politics and my job is to educate kids,” she told the outlet. “I knew that my charge, first and foremost, was to move our state forward.”
Schwinn led the department through COVID-19 school closures and moves to online learning during that time, leading to criticism from both sides of the aisle for the Republican-appointed commissioner. She also led the department through its implementation of education savings accounts for students in Shelby and Davison Counties, which includes Memphis and Nashville.
“During her years of dedicated service, Penny has played a key role in our administration’s work to ensure educational opportunity for Tennessee students and secure the next generation of teachers, while navigating historic learning challenges,” Lee said in a press release. “I have tremendous gratitude for her leadership and wish her much success in her next chapter.” Schwinn’s Leadership
Schwinn oversaw the education department through some challenging times and also brought some firsts for education in the nation to Tennessee.
This included Tennessee becoming the first U.S. state to make teaching an apprentice-based profession, which makes it free to become a teacher while also being paid to do so.
“The Grow Your Own initiative has significantly increased the number of teachers, special education and ESL (english as a second language) endorsements, aspiring principals and assistant principals, and school leaders of color,” the press release stated.
Schwinn also led the department through Lee’s controversial school funding reform measures, where last year, a law reconfiguring a 30-year-old funding formula came into effect.
This changed education funding from a former funding formula, which used 46 separate resources to calculate funding needs, to a new formula that focuses more on a set amount of per-student spending and student enrollment, with the possibility of additional funding for specific needs such as special education.
This has increased total funding for education, but some districts are concerned they could lose money as others attract additional funding.
Additionally, Tennessee has invested more in vocational and STEM education for high school and middle school students, and increased access to dual enrollment for high school juniors and seniors.
Schwinn led the state’s education system through COVID-19 learning loss by prioritizing literacy and learning loss intervention, and creating the largest permanent summer school program and largest tutoring program in the nation, according to the department.
Reynolds Taking Over
Lee has announced that Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds will succeed Schwinn as commissioner beginning July 1.
“Lizzette’s significant education policy expertise and leadership make her well-suited to continue our work to deliver a high-quality education and expand school choice for Tennessee students,” said Lee in the press release. “I welcome her to Tennessee and appreciate her service to students, families, and teachers across the state.”
She is currently the vice president of policy for ExcelinEd, based in Florida, and previously served as deputy legislative director for then-Gov. George W. Bush, a special assistant and regional representative to the U.S. Secretary of Education, and chief deputy commissioner for the Texas Education Agency.
“Her career reflects a deep commitment to school choice, assessment and accountability, college and career pathways and education policy,” the release stated, pointing to Gov. Lee’s focus on school choice and education savings accounts since taking office.
Schwinn’s Background
Schwinn took over Tennessee’s Department of Education on Feb. 1, 2019, after being chosen one month earlier by Lee shortly after he took office. She came to the department from the Texas Education Agency and replaced former Commissioner Candice McQueen.
Commissioner Schwinn served as the chief deputy commissioner of education at the Texas agency prior to her move to Tennessee. Prior to that, she was the chief accountability and performance officer for the Delaware Department of Education.
She was also an educator with Teach for America in the mid 2000s, working in Los Angeles and Baltimore City public schools. Schwinn is also the founder of a charter school that serves low-income students in South Sacramento.
Sam Pearcy, currently deputy commissioner of operations at the Texas Department of Education, will serve as the department’s interim commissioner until July 1.
The Epoch Times reached out to Schwinn for comment but did not hear back.
Gotta love this colorblind society.
/s
Awe, she ain’t up to the fight.
Was she part of the problem or part of the solution?
Couldn’t stand the heat she cooked up in the kitchen.
She doesn’t want to be involved in the war over child brainwashing & sexual mutilation.
I would say the former. Education wants to move forward but forward always seems to be steering to the left.
When the language contains strange new words or word combinations, one can rest assured that the words were produced by rather low intelligence leftists m*stur**ting on the language to as to pretend that they have an intellectual argument. Sorry, but “extraneous politics” appears to me to be right up there with all the word salad awfulness oozing out of Democrats, our universities, the media, and publik skoolz. They are nothing, but long to be something. The longing is destined to never be fulfilled.
“Forward!” is a communist slogan and has history. It was an Obama thing as well and that was no mistake.
When someone uses that word “forward” in a political context, it always makes me pay close attention, most especially when it comes from the Left, or from Leftist bastions like education or the media.
““I knew that my charge, first and foremost, was to move our state forward.” “
“Our” state. Says the pervert California woman from Berkley, South Los Angeles and Maryland schools. Some dumbass hired her to decide how red state kids should be educated.
It is what it is and education to me is something that you need to take seriously along the lines of General Pinochet and the elected Communist leader of Chile 50 years ago Salvador Allende.
Pinochet took out Allende quickly on September 11, 1973.
Education requires some dramatic and meaningful actions mass replacement of boards and bureaucracies that maintain the status quo in each state and a federal butting out even if it means blue states lose out.
There is a lot of evidence that Allende and his MARXIST party, covertly aided by Castro agents, stole that election.
Once of Chile’s leading universities did a major report on this,largely ignored by the American liberal/leftist media.
Possibly the University of Santiago.
Allende nationalized businesses for sure once he got in that’s for sure.
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