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Marta W. Aldrich

Senior Statehouse Correspondent, Tennessee

Marta W. Aldrich is Chalkbeat Tennessee’s Senior Statehouse Correspondent. A newswoman for The Associated Press for most of her career, Marta has covered state government, politics, business, education and other Tennessee news. She has served as news editor of United Methodist News Service and features editor of American Profile magazine. Her freelance work has been published by The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor and Dow Jones News Service, among others. Marta is a graduate of Memphis City Schools and the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Most federal money supports low-income students, English language learners, students with disabilities.
Bren Elliott, a former Nashville school administrator, will oversee improvement efforts that encompass nearly 300 schools
Challenge to classroom censorship will continue, while fight against the state’s ban on payroll dues collection ends.
The state’s first choice dropped out after contract negotiations broke down.
‘Tennessee has always been a bellwether state’ for education reform, says Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds
Results offer localized snapshot of how school systems are doing with pandemic recovery.
The results suggest that Tennessee’s early investments in summer learning camps and intensive tutoring are paying off.
‘We definitely have noticed that a silencing is happening in our schools,’ said one student.
The ban was inserted by Gov. Lee into his popular plan to gradually increase teacher pay.
Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools is the state’s first to take Facebook, TikTok, and others to court.
But up to 60% of third graders could be at risk of being held back as a stricter reading law kicks in.
Testing do-overs, appeals, summer learning camps come next for struggling readers who want to avoid retention
Former Bush administration official will become the first Hispanic American to hold the post.
Research suggests that implicit biases may contribute to racial disparities in education, but it’s less clear whether training employees makes a difference.
After Senate balks, House agrees to limit expansion to Chattanooga-based Hamilton County Schools.
“They are shrugging their shoulders at us,” said one Nashville mom, “but we are not going to stop.”
GOP lawmakers move quickly to expand Gov. Bill Lee’s education savings account program.
5 questions with an education leader about the law’s rollout as high-stakes testing is set to begin
The ousted lawmakers said their goal was to advocate for thousands of demonstrators demanding stricter gun laws.
“If more guns in more places made us safer, we’d be the safest state on the planet, and we’re not,” a Nashville dad and gun-control advocate said.