A nearly $300 million 2021-22 fiscal year budget presented Tuesday by Sumner County Director of Schools Del Phillips includes raises for all principals and assistant principals, salary increases for both certified and classified employees, five new teachers, principals at two schools scheduled to open in the fall of 2022, and funding for capital improvements at all of the county’s middle and elementary schools.

Sumner County Schools hopes to create 11 new positions with a second round of federal funding the school district is expected to receive in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Excerpt: We can make Tennessee the number one state in the nation for public education by working together with teachers, administrators, parents, and students to create a positive environment that promotes learning.

In many high-poverty communities, the zip code remains as strong of a predictor of student success as it did a half-century ago. Federal education programs have come and gone, as have politicians who promised results. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty. However, it is as problematic as it is enlightening.