The executive director of Tennessee’s Public Charter Schools Commission has recommended against two new charter schools, after last month battling to stop a charter school from opening in Rutherford County and another from opening in Williamson County.
Tess Stovall reportedly agreed with the Memphis-Shelby County School Boards’ unanimous votes – one in April and another in July – and recommended against the opening of Binghampton Community School and Tennessee Volunteer Military Academy.
The former school would have served about 360 students, while the latter would have served about 800.
The final decision on whether the schools will be opened will be made via a vote by the nine-member state Charter Schools Commission, comprised of appointees by Governor Bill Lee (R), who bills himself as pro-school choice.
But Stovall appears to be opposed to the governor, despite her appointment.
Aside from her recent votes, she has a history of left-wing activism. Democrats do not typically favor school choice.
Before her appointment by Lee, she worked for a left-wing nonprofit and for a Democrat congressman.
According to her LinkedIn profile, she used to work as the deputy director of Economic Programs at Third Way, a Washington, D.C. think tank that describes itself as:
Third Way is a national think tank that champions modern center-left ideas. Our work is grounded in the mainstream American values of opportunity, freedom, and security.
But we identify as center-left, because we see that space in U.S. politics as offering the only real path for advancing those ideals in the century ahead.
Our agenda is ambitious, aspirational, and actionable. It is built on the bedrock belief that for political movements to succeed in our political system, they must relentlessly re-imagine their policies, strategies, and coalitions.
We are fighting for opportunity, so everyone has the chance to earn a good life; progress on social issues, so all have the freedom to live the lives they choose; and security, so we are protected from 21st century global threats.
Before working at Third Way, she worked for Representative Jim Cooper (D-TN-05), according to the notoriously left-wing congressman’s financial disclosures.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Tess Stovall” by Tennessee Public Charter School Commission and “Memphis-Shelby County School Board Meeting” is by Shelby County Schools.
