Nashville Schools Budget Approved In Testy Meeting

NASHVILLE, TN -- The Metro school board approved the district's $924 million budget proposal Monday night, though it was no walk in the park.

Among the final items on the chopping block in what has already been a tough budget season, as Metro Nashville Public Schools administrators worked through a likely shortfall due to declining enrollment, was Reading Recovery, a $7.2 million reading program that recent audits indicate is ineffective.

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One of the board's leading proponents for the program is Jill Speering who, along with Amy Frogge, has been one of the harsher critics of MNPS Director Shawn Joseph, questioning spending by the Central Office while administrators call for austerity.

"I've heard from many that the superintendent's administration is vindictive, now I know firsthand," Speering said at Monday's meeting, according to The Tennessean. "I would like to believe the release of these documents right before the vote on the budget is not in retaliation ... but it sure looks suspicious."

Joseph refuted the characterization and said the cut was simply because the district isn't getting a return on its investment.

Reading Recovery training will still be available to MNPS teachers on an ad hoc basis and the 86 teachers already assigned to the program will be reassigned to classroom positions, with bonuses offered for those who take jobs at the district's lowest-performing schools.

The budget is more than 5 percent larger than last year's and does include a 2.5 percent, across-the-board cost-of-living raise for teachers.

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