Recent Press Releases
Our Kids are #MoreThanATest: Statewide Response Virtual Listening Session
May 24, 2023
Following the recent release of TCAP scores, parents and educators across Tennessee have expressed anger and frustration at the rollout of the new Third Grade Retention Law, passed by the General Assembly in 2021.
EPA Publishes Draft Rule to Expand Regulation of Toxic Coal Ash
May 17, 2023
As part of a settlement between the agency and public interest groups, represented by Earthjustice, today the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published proposed revisions to the federal safeguards for coal ash.
Knox County Parents, Teachers, and Community Members Host Press Conference to Urge Board of Education to Reject New Charter School Proposal
April 26, 2023
Parents, teachers, community leaders, and concerned community members will gather outside of Knox County Schools’ offices for a press conference prior to the start of the specially-called Knox County Board of Education meeting to urge the Board to reject the deeply flawed application for a proposed charter school for a second time.
Press Conferences Scheduled Prior to School Board Meetings on Charter School in Rutherford and Montgomery Counties
April 24, 2023
Speakers include state legislators, parents, teachers and students who will urge school board members to deny American Classical Academy’s applications to open additional charter schools in Tennessee.
SOCM's lawsuit takes next step in closing major coal ash pollution loophole
February 7, 2023
Members of Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM) are celebrating a major next step in a lawsuit brought to protect communities living near coal ash landfills, as the Biden Administration has announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will consider closing a loophole that exempts over half a billion tons of toxic coal ash in landfills from federal oversight.
Final budget bill includes unprecedented AMLER investment and STREAM Act, but neglects critically needed black lung benefits improvements
December 22, 2022
[Coal Country] - Today, Congress finally passed FY2023 appropriations legislation and secured two major victories for coal-impacted communities. The omnibus appropriations legislation passed today included the STREAM Act and an unprecedented $135 million investment in the AMLER program — but, the Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act was left out despite the urging of advocates from across coal country.
Senate passes amended STREAM Act and sends it back to House
December 16, 2022
[Washington, DC] - Last night, by unanimous consent, the U.S. Senate passed the Safeguarding Treatment for the Restoration of Ecosystems from Abandoned Mines Act that will ensure that billions of dollars in new money for abandoned coal mine cleanup can be used for ongoing acid mine drainage treatment. The STREAM Act, which was amended to also address mine fires and subsidence issues, now goes back to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Appalachian Voices receives EPA grant for community air monitoring project
November 21, 2022
[Norton, VA] - Appalachian Voices has received $118,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to fund the Upper South and Appalachia Citizen Air Monitoring Project. The project will entail deploying roughly 80 fine and coarse particulate matter monitoring devices in communities where fossil fuel infrastructure or other sources of air pollution are present or proposed, and where air quality is believed to be impaired. Eighteen partners will take part in the project, deploying monitors across Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Knox County Parents, Teachers, and Community Members to Hold Press Conference Supporting Board of Education Resolution on Third-Grade Retention Law
November 7, 2022
[Knox County, TN] - On Monday, November 7th at 4:00pm EST, parents, teachers, and concerned community members will gather for a press conference supporting a Board of Education resolution, prepared by Fourth District Board Member Katherine Bike, that calls on the Tennessee General Assembly to allow school districts to make retention decisions for third- and fourth-grade students.