Elissa Kim appointed to Tennessee Board of Education
Former Metro Nashville Public Schools board member and charter school advocate Elissa Kim has been appointed to the the Tennessee State Board of Education by Gov. Bill Haslam, according Jennifer Donnals, the governor's press secretary.
Kim will represent the 5th District, a seat held by Carolyn Pearre, who was appointed to the board in 2011. Kim is Teach For America’s former national vice president for recruitment and represented Nashville School Board District 5. The district encompasses Downtown and East Nashville.
Kim will represent Davidson, Cheatham and Dickson counties.
State Board of Education members hold five-year terms, with the governor appointing board and commission members twice a year in the summer and winter, according to Donnals.
Kim's appointment will bring another pro-charter member to a board that oversees district charter school appeals statewide. Wendy Tucker, Williamson County resident and co-CEO of Nashville-based nonprofit Project Renaissance, has been a vocal proponent of charter schools on the state board.
Rocketship's Nashville charter school application denied
The state board has been allowed to overhear charter school appeals since a law was enacted in 2014 as a reaction to Metro Nashville Public Schools' 2012 decision to deny Great Hearts Academies charter school despite the state board's order the district approve the school.
The 2014 law allows the state board to authorize the creation of a school if a charter application is denied by a district. The law applies only to districts with priority schools and is tied to Nashville's Great Hearts Academies decision.
So far, two schools have won an appeal in Nashville. Rocketship Education's appeal this year of Nashville's decision not to allow the school another charter was unanimously denied by the state board in October.
The 4th District seat is also soon to be vacant, with Lonnie Robert, a retired health industry executive, having been appointed in 2011. Donnals didn't immediately respond to a question about the seat's appointment.
Reach Jason Gonzales at 615-259-8047 and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.