$100 Million Investment Will Bring Jobs, Opportunity to Hendersonville

 Music City Studios, with a capital investment set at more than $100 million, is fully funded and the planned facilities are more than 60 percent preleased, according to an announcement detailing the project.

Developers say the campus will create more than 800 jobs — either through expansion, relocation, or new directly because of production and facility capacity – within the next five years.

As a comparison, Xtend Healthcare, the city’s largest employer, currently employs around 800 full-time employees. MGM Industries, the city’s largest manufacturer, has around 265 employees.

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Supply Chain Shortages Hit Sumner County Schools

 The Sumner County School system is reporting that global supply chain issues are impacting the meals offered in cafeterias. 

Fox 17 in Nashville has more:

Sumner County Schools posted to Facebook Monday night letting parents know the shortages will be affecting breakfast and lunch menus for students in the district.

"While we will continue to provide a healthy meal for your student, we are no longer able to guarantee the accuracy of the online menu," the district wrote. "Some food or beverage items normally provided to students may not be available or arrive as scheduled."

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For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Gov. Lee Bringing School Funding Dog & Pony Show to Hendersonville

 Gov. Bill Lee will be hosting a Town Hall on the state's funding formula for schools in Hendersonville on October 27th. The event will be held at Merrol Hyde Magnet School at 5:30 PM. 

The Town Hall is part of Lee's effort to pitch his plan to re-work the formula for funding schools while not actually increasing education funding. 

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is an unapologetic champion of school privatization. While the Tennessee Supreme Court has delayed implementation of the voucher scheme Lee succeeded in passing in 2019, Lee has put on a full court press of other measures in order to bring privatization to the Volunteer State.

The latest effort comes by way of Lee attempting to “reform” the state’s school funding formula, known as the BEP. The move includes 18 subcommittees designed to make recommendations for revising the formula — even though Lee has indicated he has no plans to actually increase funding for schools.

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Lee's Administration has come under fire for failing to make a serious attempt at increased school funding in the midst of a giant surplus:

Tennessee ranks 46th in the nation for what we invest per student. It is irresponsible and harmful to Tennessee children to continue the pattern of insufficient state investment in our schools, especially at a time when Tennessee has the largest revenue surpluses in state history. We can and must do better for our students.

 For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Political Action Committee Seeks to Pilfer Public Funds for Private Schools: The Story of Team Kid

 What if there was a political action committee with a relentless focus on what is good for kids? What if that PAC helped advance the education debate by focusing on the most pressing needs in our public schools? That sounds great, right? Well, instead, Tennessee is home to Team Kid PAC — a project of Tennesseans for Student Success. Sure, their Twitter avi is a super hero in a cape. But, their goals and objectives are anything but super. Instead of pushing for improved school funding or focusing on holding Gov. Lee accountable as he revamps the BEP, Team Kid PAC is all aboard the privatization express.

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For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, TN, follow @HvilleNews

Teacher Shortage Crisis Hits Tennessee

 For years, policy advocates and those paying attention have suggested a teacher shortage crisis was imminent. Instead of implementing strategies to attract teachers and keep them in the field, state policymakers have instead foisted more responsibility on already overwhelmed educators. Of course, these new responsibilities didn’t come with significant pay increases. In fact, teachers in Tennessee experience a significant pay gap compared to similarly educated peers in other professions.

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For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Tennessee School Funding Falls Flat

 Tennessee ranks 46th in the nation for what we invest per student. It is irresponsible and harmful to Tennessee children to continue the pattern of insufficient state investment in our schools, especially at a time when Tennessee has the largest revenue surpluses in state history. We can and must do better for our students.

Any review of the BEP funding formula must include more than recommendations on how to change the formula. Until the state makes a significant increase in public education funding to address many challenges plaguing our schools, updating a formula will not get us where we need to be to provide the high-quality public education Tennessee children deserve.

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For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews