“Our public schools are under attack,” public education advocate Lance McCold said. “They need defenders, and that’s what we’re trying to do.” Teachers at a gathering hosted by Knox County Public School Strong and the Statewide Organization for Community eMpowerment said decisions made in Nashville are creating uncertainty for students and adding pressure to already-strained school resources. Read the full article from the Knoxville News Sentinel.

“My kids had a great education starting in kindergarten. They all graduated from Knox County public schools,” said [Caroline] Mann. “I believe that every child in Tennessee deserves the same free, excellent public education that my kids have. And threats like this, like the ESA expanding to Knoxville, are endangering that.” See the full story at WATE.

The Tennessee Waste to Jobs Act recognizes that the materials we discard every day present both an environmental challenge and an economic opportunity. Read the piece by Rutherford County SOCM member Candida Layne at The Tennessean's website.

School board hears calls for transparency as district works to comply with state law while maintaining access to historical books. Watch the story on WVLT.

The school board met on Monday to discuss proposed changes to a state law that resulted in the ban of Alex Haley's novel, "Roots." Watch the video from WBIR.

Hundreds of communities across the country have been harmed by coal ash pollution, and each one has a story about its fight for protections from this nasty and harmful industrial waste. Read the full article on Appalachian Voices' Front Porch Blog.

Rachel Milford and Cattywampus Puppet Council transform public spaces into theaters of joy, visibility and collective imagination. Read the full article from Compass.

A coalition of local leaders, labor unions and community members rallied in protest of Elon Musk’s supercomputers on Friday, calling for the removal of xAI from Memphis and urging leaders to put citizens above corporations. See the full story from Action News 5.

On Friday, May 1, members of multiple labor unions and community organizations will gather in Market Square from 5-7PM to host a May Day Rally. Read the article from the Knoxville Daily Sun.

After lackluster test results for the Education Savings Accounts program, Republicans proposed to stop requiring participants to take the TCAP, like every public school student does. Read the full article in The Tennessean.

CALEB (Chattanoogans in Action for Love, Equality & Benevolence), in collaboration with the Public School Strong campaign, has released the 2026 Building Strong Public Schools, Together Voter Guide, a nonpartisan civic education resource designed to equip Hamilton County residents with clear, accessible information to participate confidently in local school board elections. Read the full article from Chattanoogan .

The crowd was standing room only Tuesday as the Blount County chapter of the Public School Strong campaign hosted a candidate forum for contenders in the Blount County school board and mayoral primaries in the Sharon Lawson Room of the Blount County Public Library in Maryville. Read the full article from the Maryville Daily Times .

Outside of that, potential expansion of the Education Freedom Scholarship program was a discussion topic during the meeting. The Tennessee House passed a bill 52-42 Monday night that would up the number of scholarships for the program to 35,000. Members of Public School Strong Tennessee spoke out against the bill during the public comment portion of the meeting. Jenna Wingo, Jaunita Mitchell and Teresa Haywood stepped to the microphone to share their opposition to the legisla

Ed, the Owl, recently visited White Bluff Elementary School (WBES) Cafeteria staff to present a $500 check to cover student lunches that cannot be covered by the end of the year. Read the full article at the Chronicle of Mt. Juliet .

Guests Lindsey Doss (Public School Strong) and Theda Murray (SOCM) discuss public-school advocacy and a contested library collections policy, including removing ALA guidance and banning transgender-related materials. Trey Primrose explains Sumner Advocates for Immigrant Dignity (Sumner AID) immigrant-rights work, ICE activity concerns, petitions to end a 287(g) contract, and HB 793 amendments shifting from tuition/records to counting undocumented students. Listen to the full

Community members pressed the CMCSS board for transparency Tuesday, the first meeting since a teacher admitted showing nude photos of himself to a 17-year-old student. Read the rest of the article on ClarksvilleNow.com .

If lawmakers are serious about serving Tennesseans, the plan is obvious: Close the corporate tax loopholes, and stop letting companies like CoreCivic take money that belongs to our communities. Read the full Opinion piece on The Tennesseean.

Read the write-up from Nashville Scene .

Two bills that could challenge Plyler v. Doe , the landmark Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing every child’s right to a free public education, are advancing in the Tennessee legislature. The Education for All-Tennessee coalition continues to call on legislators to reject these bills. Read the full press release from EdTrust Tennessee.

Watch the video from WSMV in Nashville.