Tennessee

• State Governor: Bill Lee

• State Commissioner of Education: Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds

• State School Board Members

• Local school board members: The easiest way to contact your local school board members is to use an online search tool like XQ or simply look up your school district’s website online. There will almost always be a section of the district website listing the names and contact information of your local school board members. If their contact information is not listed, call your school’s office to request that information.

The Tennessee Department of Education reports that 957,423 students are enrolled in the state’s 1,800 public schools. Tennessee has over 70,000 public school employees, including educators, principals, supervisors, and other professional employees. There are 68,838 teachers in the state, making the ratio of students to teachers 14:1.

Tennessee offers inter-district and intra-district open enrollment, which allow families to attend schools outside of their assigned district. Other Tennessee public school options include charter and magnet schools. Families may also choose to send their children to private school. Tennessee offers two school choice programs to assist with private school tuition: the Education Savings Account Pilot Program and the Individualized Education Account Program. Additionally, Tennessee families may homeschool their children if they notify the state.

References:

https://reportcard.tnedu.gov/state/0

https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/state/tennessee/