Peabody Reflector Town Hall

By Jenna Somers and Krystal Schmidt Tennessee’s Education Freedom Act of 2025 takes effect in the 2025-2026 school year. In the first year, the Tennessee Department of Education will award 20,000 state-funded scholarships, commonly known as vouchers, to eligible families to support their children’s attendance at scholarship-accepting private schools. Read More

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s report “Understanding and Addressing Misinformation about Science” In December, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released the consensus study report, “Understanding and Addressing Misinformation about Science.” The report documents two years of research by a multi-disciplinary expert committee to “characterize… Read More

By Jenna Somers Ashley Carse What happens to communities and environments when waterways are dredged to accommodate global shipping vessels? How does built infrastructure affect city temperatures and who is most affected? As a cultural anthropologist, Ashley Carse tries to answer these questions by investigating the local impacts of… Read More

By Jenna Somers During the 2024 legislative session, the Tennessee General Assembly and Governor Bill Lee attempted to pass a statewide education scholarship account (ESA) program. ESAs—also called education savings accounts—are a type of voucher program that support not only private school tuition but other education-related expenses for families… Read More

On June 29, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of Students for Fair Admissions in cases against the University of North Carolina and Harvard College for violating the Constitution’s equal protection clause in their admissions practices. The decisions overturned more than 40 years of precedent set… Read More

By Jenna Somers Will Doyle, professor of leadership, policy, and organizations In April, Will Doyle, professor of leadership, policy, and organizations, participated in a panel presentation attended by congressional staff in Washington, D.C., to discuss the possibility of federal-state partnerships to fund higher education at low or no… Read More