The vast majority of speakers at Thursday’s appeal hearing for the American Classical Academy’s Madison County Charter School supported the approval of the school, even as speakers admitted that they were directed by ACA officials to pack the speaker list.
The meeting brought a passionate mixture of voices to the Jackson-Madison County Board of Education, ranging from protestors outside to slated speakers inside.
One thing that was not diverse, however, were the perspectives of the residents who voiced their opinions in the public comment portion of meeting: 13 of the 15 speakers voiced their support for the approval of the charter school, despite telling reporters that they were told by American Classical Academy (ACA) officials to do so.
“We have friends in the neighborhood and friends in the American Classical Academy that told us about the (public comment section),” said Mary Bowen, bedecked in an “I Love ACA” button, provided to her by ACA Principal Dr. Phil Schwank, who also spoke at the event. “They reached out to us weeks ago…. It was Joel Schellhammer, the American Classical Education (ACE) CEO, who told us to sign up.”
Tanna Keel, beside her, was also encouraged by ACE officials to sign up for the public comment section.
“We were able to go through it and sign up to get the opportunity to speak today—It’s been about three weeks ago that we started applying, after everything was sent out to us,” she said.
The two women were a fraction of many in the speakers’ group that sported ACA buttons and signs provided by the ACE to show their support for the approval of the free public charter school whose application for a Jackson-Madison County school was denied in May.
The school, which is currently appealing two other locations in Tennessee, uses Hilldale College’s 1776 curriculum to provide a classical education that’s “usually only accessible to the state’s most elite,” according to Schellhammer.
“Our public, free classical charter school will be of interest for our community,” he said. “Many parents we spoke to were excited about the prospect of a school that used to be only available to an elite few in the community.”
Schellhammer stated that 110 parents “responded to a survey” sent out by ACE, confirming their support for school in late 2021.
When asked by Executive Director for the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission Tess Shoval whether that was 110 Jackson-Madison County residents, or 110 residents across the five counties that ACE is pushing facilities, Schellhammer could not clarify.
Only two speakers received slots to speak against the application at the meeting: Olivia Abernathy, county commissioner and director of Early Education Initiatives at United Way of West Tennessee, and Matthew Marshall, president and CEO of United Way of West Tennessee.
“I don’t have the results in front of me, so I can’t give that to you,” he said. “But we were more than confident that there would be sufficient interest.”
“I stand today in opposition to American Classical Education,” Marshall said, listing several reasons, but emphasizing the unequal representation of the school. “In the application, they state that their targeted racial mix will be 80% white, 20% African American. The makeup of Jackson is 48% white and 45% African American. So there’s questions to ask there.”
Abernathy expressed her frustration with the entire process after the meeting.
“It’s been a long process,” she said. “I’ve been at every meeting. I was at the initial application meeting, and there was no one there. And then the second application was made and voted on after that. And there was no one there either. No one from ACA. So that says to me that they don’t care about our community to actually engage with the people present and make decisions.”
Outside, Ann Vanderlinde and Sue Barnes—longtime residents of Jackson-Madison County—stood with signs declaring their opposition to the charter school.
“I taught in public schools, and I’m a graduate of public schools,” said Vanderlinde. “And I think that public school system is the best thing that the United States has going for it, to keep us the nation that we want to be.
“And what is being said about school teachers these days is abominable, and lies, and I’m opposed to that as well,” she said. “So I don’t want my tax dollars going to pay Hillsdale or any other charter school fees. And I want public schools to be respected and fully-funded which has not happened in the state of Tennessee.”
Barnes agreed.
“I think it’s wrong to put public money into private schools,” she said. “I feel that the public schools need to do the job of education for everybody in the community. My children went through the Jackson-Madison County School System. They are working adults, they have full lives, not only professionally, but personally. I think that’s what public education is supposed to do. So: no to charter schools, no matter who proposes the charter school, no public money needs to go from public education.”
While speaking, the two were approached by local mother Shana Clesson, who spoke passionately about her support for the charter school.
“We are in the fifth week of school, and we still don’t have workbooks,” she said. “Why don’t we have workbooks? Why are y’all supporting a school system that’s obviously failing? We have supported our school district, we have supported our board members. We have supported and supported and we are done supporting.
“I am pulling my son at 5th grade if this charter school does not come through,” she added. “I will homeschool him. Because I will not continue education with Madison County. Our schools are dumbing our kids down and they are hurting them.”
A final hearing will be held at 500 James Robertson Parkway in Nashville on October 5th to decide whether ACE can take up root in Jackson-Madison County and beyond.
American Classical Education is affiliated with Hillsdale College, a Michigan-based private school.
Larry Arnn, the college’s president, is an influential player in Republican and conservative circles. Arnn chaired former President Donald Trump’s 1776 commission, which was established in the wake of antiracism protests, and growing concerns on the right about K-12 instruction on issues like race.
The commission’s report was partly a counter to the 1619 Project teaching series based on a New York Times Magazine project that focused on the lasting effects of slavery in the United States.
Gov. Bill Lee and education commissioner Penny Schwinn met and attended several events hosted by Hillsdale in 2021. At one of these events, Arnn said he wanted to open 50 new Hillsdale-backed charter schools in Tennessee.
These conversations and meetings led Lee to announce a partnership with Hillsdale at his State of the State address.
In that speech, Lee said K-12 curriculum in Tennessee needs “true American history, unbiased and nonpolitical.”
Since then, the school has applied to open charter schools in Clarksville, Jackson and Murfreesboro under the American Classical umbrella.
All three local districts denied American Classical Education charter applications in July.
But the partnership and Hillsdale’s viability in Tennessee were put in doubt when Arnn appeared on stage with Lee at a private event in June and said, “Teachers are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country.”
Arnn’s comments drew bipartisan criticism.
Arnn has since doubled down on those comments in opinion articles published in The Tennessean and USA Today. The school is also undergoing an aggressive public relations campaign to boost support for the school.
Have a story to tell? Reach Angele Latham by email at alatham@gannett.com, by phone at 731-343-5212, or follow her on Twitter at @angele_latham.
