Tennessee education commissioner remains under the microscope

Lizzette Reynolds, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Education, continues to be scrutinized by state lawmakers from both parties.(Photo: John Partipilo)

Tennessee lawmakers have been scrutinizing Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds almost since she took the post in mid-2023 to push the governor’s private-school voucher plan, and some want to take an even closer look at her administration.

Republican Rep. Todd Warner of Chapel Hill called for her resignation early this year as he opposed Gov. Bill Lee’s proposal to offer universal vouchers to private schools. Warner said she was unqualified for the post after she failed to respond to his pointed inquiries in a House education committee meeting. Democrats said as early as January that Reynolds should be removed.

“She couldn’t answer those questions, but she was all for vouchers,” Warner said this week. He plans to take a “deep dive” into her administration in 2025 when lawmakers return to Nashville.

The governor has shrugged off lawmakers’ calls for her removal, saying she was “fully vetted” and “qualified” for the post.

Besides Warner’s persistence as the voucher bill failed, Reynolds was dogged by revelations from Democratic lawmakers that she didn’t meet state requirements to hold the education commissioner position because she wasn’t qualified to teach at the highest level of K-12 schools. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Southwestern University and worked in the U.S. Department of Education, then after being hired last year entered a teacher program at UT-Martin. Even that was hampered by a sworn affidavit she and another education official signed saying she paid for the course when it had been discounted by the state.

Democrats also raised questions about Reynolds’ residence when they found out she held onto her Texas home as her main home.

In her most recent troubling situation, the state’s Ethics Commission is considering how to handle a sworn complaint filed by Rep. Caleb Hemmer about trips Reynolds took to two out-of-state education conferences paid for by her former employer, the pro-voucher group ExcelInEd, which hires a lobbyist to work on education issues in Tennessee. Under state law, the group is prohibited from providing such gifts, directly or indirectly, to the state education commissioner.

Reynolds, whose salary tops $255,000 annually, repaid the more than $2,000 involved in the trips, after Hemmer filed the complaint.

But Warner has questions about that matter too.

“I think she needs to explain her position on that, why she felt it was OK to take a trip with them and them pay for it. But again, I never thought she was qualified to begin with,” he said.

Hemmer, a first-term House member from Nashville, raised many of the concerns about Reynolds, then filed the ethics complaint after her trips were documented, causing lawmakers to wonder whether she is working in the best interests of public education or her former employer, ExcelinEd.

The Ethics Commission met in executive session last week, purportedly to consider Hemmer’s complaint. Officials declined to discuss the subject of the meeting, But Hemmer expects to receive a letter from the commission either dismissing the matter or calling for an investigation by the state attorney general.

Hemmer said he’s “assuming she won’t wait around if the case goes to the attorney general.”

In fact, Reynolds didn’t attend the most recent meeting of the State Board of Education, which is rare, considering it meets only four times a year.

Democrats call for removal of education commissioner

If Reynolds does exit, many of Warner’s questions could be moot. Still, he said he wants to find out how many Education Department employees are qualified to teach, since they oversee K-12 schools, and take a closer look at hundreds of millions of dollars in state contracts.

GOP senators leery of criticism

While some lawmakers have dismissed criticism of Reynolds as “political,” key Republican senators are taking the middle ground. During her initial hearing before the Senate Education Committee last session, Reynolds had to refer nearly every question to staff. She has also refused to hold press conferences or answer media questions, usually leaving through the Cordell Hull Building hall after meetings escorted by staff.

Sen. Todd Gardenhire, a Chattanooga Republican who serves on the Education Committee, declined to wade into the matter, saying selection of the education commissioner lies with the governor.

Likewise, Republican Sen. Ferrell Haile of Gallatin, an education committee member, said the choice is up to the governor, though he continues to work with Reynolds, mainly on the private-school voucher matter.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m waiting to see where the governor lands and what he brings forward, and it’ll be a while before we know that,” Haile said.

He noted the governor has made it “no secret” that a voucher plan is his top priority.

Haile backed the governor’s plan this year and received an endorsement from Lee before the August Republican primary. He appears to be wavering somewhat, saying he’s not certain about his position. Yet Haile predicts the governor will bring an amended proposal in the 2025 session.

Despite making somewhat unprecedented endorsements in the Republican primary for voucher supporters, Lee doesn’t appear to be any closer to passing his main initiative.

Lee introduced a universal private-school voucher plan in late 2023 to great fanfare, attended by Arkansas Sarah Huckabee Sanders, only to see it fall flat in the final session of the 113th General Assembly. The Senate and House floated their own versions of the bill but never could reach an agreement, and the proposal failed to come to a vote.

Sen. Jeff Yarbro of Nashville, one of several Democrats to question Reynolds’ qualifications from the outset, said this week the governor’s stance on Reynolds is “befuddling.”

“I’m not sure if the governor’s office is just ignoring the obvious or they can’t find anyone else who wants this job, given how unpopular the agenda is,” Yarbro said.

Many lawmakers believe Reynolds was brought in following the departure of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn to concentrate exclusively on passing a private-school voucher plan.

In addition to her problems with the sworn complaint, Yarbro contends Reynolds is not a trained educator and doesn’t reside in Tennessee, nor does she have the confidence of many Republican lawmakers. Reynolds

“I have trouble seeing the upside for Tennessee kids,” he added.

Still, Lee has stood by Reynolds through the revelations and criticism. A spokesperson did not respond Wednesday to follow-up questions from the Lookout.

Warner, meanwhile, said the governor’s recalcitrance on Reynolds “just blows my mind.” He can’t figure out why Lee continues to support her.

“We all make mistakes and make bad choices, and it looks like he made one here,” Warner said. “It looks like it could be fixed pretty easy by letting her go or calling for her resignation, like I did.”

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