Tennessee's embrace of conservative Michigan college sours

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Tennessee’s embrace of conservative Michigan college sours

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI
July 30, 2022

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The president of Michigan’s Hillsdale College was riding high earlier this year when he announced plans to launch 50 charter schools in Tennessee after Gov. Bill Lee originally asked for 100.

Six months later, that relationship has cooled after Hillsdale’s Larry Arnn made disparaging comments about educators, telling an audience including Lee that teachers “are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges.”

The comments inspired outrage among lawmakers, teachers and other public school advocates already skeptical of the plans. Now the Republican governor — long known as a charter school and voucher advocate — has distanced himself from Arnn, leaving the fate of charters connected to the small, conservative college in doubt.

Since Arnn’s comments, three Hillsdale-affiliated charter school applications in Tennessee have been rejected by school boards in Jackson-Madison, Clarksville-Montgomery and Rutherford counties. A spokesperson for Hillsdale College declined to comment on the rejected applications and did not respond to a request to interview Arnn.

It’s unknown when or if the additional 47 charter schools promised will ever materialize. ...

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/education-michigan-tennessee-school-boards-charter-schools-a2b74cf802f8256e2227497fe27ddde0

[Maraya1969]

1. Do these people try to be stupid or is it just a gift?

The president of a college saying teachers “are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges.”

[patphil]

2. So, who do they plan to have teach in these charter schools?

Perhaps they want people that stayed at a Holiday Inn Express instead of teachers.
Or maybe Flo from Progressive Insurance, and Jake from State Farm.

That's a huge red stop sign for this project.

[Thomas Hurt]

4. christofascist apparatchiks that's who.

Liberty and Oral Roberts U grads, proud boys, ammon bundy, you get the idea.

[SharonClark]

5. Sounds about right.

[patphil]

6. Yeah, I was just being a bit sarcastic.

If you got a teaching degree from a real college, you would automatically be disqualified. Only fake colleges and schools dedicated to religious indoctrination are considered worthy educational institutions.

[stopdiggin]

3. the conservative voter is (in large part) disdainful

of BOTH science and education. The only real surprise here is that anyone in Tennessee is claiming surprise (or offense) at these remarks. Utterly mainstream.

[Midnight Writer]

7. Hillsdale College teaches talk radio nonsense. Nobody needs more of that.