Nashville Democrat files ethics complaint against Tennessee education commissioner

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Nashville Democrat has now filed an ethics complaint against the Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds.

Rep. Caleb Hemmer, D-Nashville, claimed in his complaint that Gov. Bill Lee allowed for a "lobbyist" to be at the helm of Tennessee education.

You can read the complaint here.

Democrats raised questions about her credentials back during the legislative session. Reynolds doesn't hold a teaching license, which is a requirement of a state education commissioner. They asked then for Gov. Lee to fire her. At the time, Republicans complained to Reynolds during different committees about the lack of information from her department.

Representative Hemmer wants her out-of-state travel records to determine whether a lobbying group paid for Reynolds' travel expenses to two different conferences.

Back when the complaints first sounded, NewsChannel 5 has looked at her resume credentials posted on the Tennessee Department of Education site and her LinkedIn. Qualifications to teach in schools was not listed nor were any education degrees.

Tennessee law states the commissioner must have:

• scientific and literary requirements
• qualifications to teach in schools
• experience in school administration.

She is currently attending the University of Tennessee-Martin to get some education credentials. A dust-up of how her degree would be paid for came about after The Tennessean first reported she claimed on paperwork she had been a state employee for six months. State employees at that point can have tuition money taken off if they attend state schools.

The Tennessee Ethics Commission will handle the complaint.

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