JACKSON, Tenn. (WTVF) — It wasn't just one, but 73 reasons the Jackson-Madison County School Board denied a charter school application connected to Michigan's Hillsdale College.
The Jackson Sun newspaper reported those reasons included negative financial impact, no safety plans, lack of rigor and an unrealistic budget.
American Classical Education — the group set up to create a network of charter schools affiliated with Hillsdale College across Tennessee — withdrew in 2022 its applications to open schools in Madison, Montgomery and Rutherford counties.
The group came back this spring in Robertson, Rutherford, Maury, Montgomery and Madison counties. JMCB denied them then, along with every district except the Rutherford County School Board. The RCS district will eventually have a charter school connected to Hillsdale in Murfreesboro.
In 2022, NewsChannel 5 Investigates put the spotlight on the Hillsdale College president, Larry Arnn, who said teachers come from the "dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges."
Arnn said this in a private address with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, who at one point said he would like to see the college's affiliated charter schools all around the state. Lee later backed away from that comment, saying it wasn't his vision.
American Classical Education said they were separate from Hillsdale, but NewsChannel 5 Investigates found that to not be true.
In a statement provided to NewsChannel 5, American Classical Education board member Dolores Gresham said she was disappointed.
"(It's) not surprising that the Jackson-Madison school district ignores the voices of parents and instead sides with opponents of school choice who oppose any and all options outside of zoned public schools — regardless of their performance metrics," Gresham wrote in a statement. "Why are they so afraid of giving families options to choose from versus forcing students to attend only one school regardless of how the school is performing or if it’s a good fit for each student? Americans have options in almost every other area of life — but the Jackson-Madison school board is doubling down on preventing families from having any other options when it comes to their children’s education.
