Tonyaa Weathersbee

Tonyaa Weathersbee

Bureau Chief, Chalkbeat Tennessee

Tonyaa Weathersbee is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Before coming to Chalkbeat, she was the metro columnist for The Commercial Appeal, Memphis’ daily newspaper. Tonyaa is also a multiple-award winning journalist who spent much of her career as an opinion columnist and editorial board member for The Florida Times Union in Jacksonville, Fla. Her work has appeared on sites such as Black America Web, The Root, CNN, The Undefeated, The Bitter Southerner, The Marshall Project and Children & Nature News. She has published articles on her travels to Cuba, Haiti, Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, Barbados, Grenada, Mexico, Canada, Jordan and Turkey. Tonyaa also holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in mass communication from the University of Florida, as well as a master’s certificate in Latin American Studies from UF. In 2020, Tonyaa was inducted into the UF CJC Hall of Fame - making her one of 165 graduates to receive that honor since the college created it in 1970.

Williams cites the district’s infrastructure improvements as a key step, and calls on other community partners to pitch in.

A student-led call for more restrictive gun laws went unheard. Meanwhile, the state dialed up the pressure on public schools.

Barely a quarter of students who graduated high school in 2012 had earned a degree 10 years later.

Fourteen schools had rates of 90% or higher. District officials credit tutoring, graduation coaches and other efforts.

Trezevant is the default option, but transportation will be offered to two other schools as well.

UAB professor Tondra Loder-Jackson discovered an “underground railroad” of Black educators who fought segregation in the South. Can their example help teachers defy restrictions on teaching historical truths?

Crystal Johnson, an AP English teacher affectionately known as Miss CJ, was recently named a 2023 Educator of Excellence.

Building’s age has made cleanup more difficult, district officials said.

Improvement in math tracks statewide trend, but proficiency rates lag behind pre-pandemic levels.