Homeschoolers Up in Arms
🎓 First shots of ESA war · Soros Effect · Metro Arts · Film Rundown · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone.
This morning, the Nashville Banner interviewed a ten year old and two nine year old activists about the Israel-Palestine conflict if you’re looking for clarity on that situation as peace talks gain momentum ahead of Trump assuming office. Speaking of, we’re taking Monday off.
Onward.
Tennessee’s homeschooling network has been panicking over a new bill brought forward by Senator Adam Lowe (R-Calhoun). Temperatures started to rise after Tennessee Stands took a shot at Lowe and his legislation from their X account on Tuesday: “[A] bill has already been filed to begin restricting the rights of homeschool families should they elect to receive state funds through a voucher program.” On Wednesday, Tennessee Conservative News came out with a piece titled, “Tennessee Lawmaker Files Bill To Include Homeschooling Community In Voucher Plan, Whether They Want It Or Not.”
“Of course, anytime there's a crisis, somebody hijacks it,” Lowe joked about the backlash that he feels misconstrues the purpose of his bill. Lowe explained that he introduced the legislation to address the concerns about government overreach raised during school choice discussions last session. Though state voucher benefits for homeschoolers have since been trimmed out of Governor Lee’s bill, there’s always a possibility that the Department of Education or the state legislature can decide to add new regulations at any time—a notion that has spooked Tennessee’s homeschooling network.
According to Lowe, he set out to add a firewall to prevent government interference. “We are here because…those protections are ambiguous in our law,” he explained. “Right now, all…the DOE or somebody would have to do is change the rule. If we put it in law, they'd have to change the law before they could do it.”
In response to concerns, Lowe has been working with the Tennessee Home Education Association to change and clarify some of its language. “It's a good catch,” he said about a suggestion brought forward to clarify that homeschoolers participating in athletic programs shouldn’t qualify as participating in state academic programs. “I mean, that's what the process of getting good legislation out involves, and we'll probably catch a few more things.”
The association is also adjusting the language that references “normed curriculum” in relation to homeschool curriculum, and Lowe hopes to gain the confidences, support, and endorsement of homeschoolers across the state as he continues to refine the bill. “I don't intend to pull the bill because it's a good bill, it's a simple bill, and I think we can pass it,” he said. “I really think we can make this commitment to those homeschool families, but the challenge will be, is there a bigger narrative to have?”
Though Lowe hopes to provide some peace of mind to homeschoolers wary of government regulations with the bulwark set up in his legislation, he said he would consider pulling it if “it becomes counterproductive.” For now, he intends to move forward to ensure that “no state entity, or sub-entity is going to come behind and ask…to test or force curriculum” on homeschoolers that are not getting any state resources. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK
⧖⧗⧖ SHOW YOUR SUPPORT ⧗⧖⧗
If you want to support our work at The Pamphleteer, a recurring donation is the best way. We have a $10/month Grub Street tier and a $50/month Bard tier. Membership gets you access to our comments section and free access to upcoming events.
🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.
🏛️ The Soros Effect “He's Tennessee's only Soros-funded DA,” Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) said of Shelby County’s District Attorney, Steven Mulroy, when we sat down with him on Wednesday. Currently, the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund has tracked upwards of $600,000 in Soros donations made to Mulroy. Back in February, the Shelby County DA denied the accusations: “I reject the label of being a Soros DA,” he told Action News 5.
According to Taylor, Mulroy “is following the Soros-funded DA playbook,” and he plans to do something about it. On Thursday, the Memphis senator announced that his resolution to form a joint investigative committee to remove the Shelby County DA passed its first consideration in the Senate. “I just reached a breaking point with [Mulroy] when he announced that he was going to offer diversion to convicted felons caught in possession of a firearm,” Taylor told us. “His caveat was, as long as the underlying conviction was not violent, then he would offer diversion.”
Taylor calls the policy an “abuse of prosecutorial discretion,” and plans to bring this, and a number of other issues he’s investigated, before the state legislature.
🃏 Shuffling The Deck In Metro Metro’s policy and research director for Human Relations, Ashley Bachelder, will temporarily be stepping in as the Director of Metro Arts following the abrupt resignation of interim Director Paulette Coleman over the weekend. According to the Banner, Bachelder will be hitting the ground running to try and tee up some legislation regarding Metro Arts guidelines and reopening the grant application process in time for next week’s council meeting.
The internal switcheroo among departments highlights the looming staffing problem in Metro. “I hope that we are nearing the end of this,” Executive Director Davie Tucker told the MHRC, reported the Banner who underscored that “the department is without a public information officer, finance manager, public art manager and permanent executive director.”
Back in September, Finance Director Kevin Crumbo also lamented Metro Government’s staffing shortages during an Audit Committee meeting. “In our department, for example, we have more than 100 FTEs in our budget,” he said. “I have more than 15 open positions right now to fill. Not because we're not trying, but because getting the candidate pool and getting them there.”
DEVELOPMENT
- Brentwood office building sells at foreclosure auction at $18.5M loss (NBJ)
- Work starts on intersection update at Belle Meade Publix site (Post)
- Wedgewood-Houston properties sell for $6M (Post)
- 12South building to offer boutique hotel (Post)
✹ WEEKLY FILM RUNDOWN: January 17-23
Sunday is National Popcorn Day, and all major chains have deals ranging from unlimited popcorn to deep discounts.
The Brutalist (Dir. Brady Corbet; Starring Adrian Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce) A Jewish architect (Brody) immigrates to the U.S. in the aftermath of WWII and obsesses over artistic perfected under the patronage of an equally unhinged benefactor (Pearce) in the greatest American epic since There Will Be Blood. Now playing in 35mm at the Belcourt and IMAX at AMC Thoroughbred 20 and Regal Opry Mills 20.
The Room Next Door (Dir. Pedro Almodóvar; Starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton) A war correspondent (Tilda Swinton) succumbing to cancer asks her estranged friend (Moore) to accompany her on a vacation that will end in her suicide in arthouse great Almodóvar’s impressive English debut. Read our review here. Now playing in theaters.
The Wolf Man (Dir. Leigh Whannell; Starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner) Blumhouse reteams with the director of 2020’s hit The Invisible Man for a contemporary take on the Universal Monsters property. Now playing in theaters.
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🎸 Sarah Klang @ The Blue Room, 7p, $25.88, Info
+ Swedish indie pop
🎸 The Deltaz w/ Noah Nash @ The Basement, 7p, $12.85, Info
🎸 Airshow & Three Star Revival @ The Basement East, 8p, $19.27, Info
🪕 The Droptines @ Exit/In, 8p, $21.55, Info
+ alt-country
🎸 Kevin Denney @ Station Inn, 9p, $25, Info
🎻 The War and Treaty with the Nashville Symphony @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $36+, Info
🪕 The Cowpokes @ Acme Feed & Seed, 12p, Free, Info
🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info
🎸 Kelley’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
The Pamphleteer
The Pamphleteer
The Pamphleteer
The Pamphleteer