Clemmons says Education Commissioner “continues to embarrass” Tennessee
April 6, 2024, 4:05 p.m.

NASHVILLE, TN — Tennessee House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Ray Clemmons stated yesterday the state’s Education Commissioner is an embarrassment and stood by his call for her termination or resignation.

This comes in the wake of a new report published by The Tennessean that says Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds was granted a tuition waiver that she was ineligible to receive when she enrolled for classes at the University of Tennessee-Martin. The report says she used the free wavier available to state employees to take classes towards earning a master’s degree and a teaching credential. However, to get the waiver, you have to have worked for the state for at least 6 months. Reynolds twice signed applications misrepresenting that she had been an employee for six months in order to receive the waiver, which was granted, after only 6 weeks of employment.

Administration officials told The Tennessean that granting her the tuition was “an administrative error” and that she has since repaid the money. However, Reynolds is continuing to use the tuition wavier, now that she is eligible, to take classes despite being paid a salary of approximately $255,000 a year.

Chairman Clemmons says that the latest embarrassing revelation about Reynolds continues to raise issues about her character and fitness to hold the job, as well as the questionable competence of the entire Lee Administration. "There are multiple issues with the ongoing Reynolds debacle. First, she is wholly unqualified for the job for which she is being paid $255,000 a year by taxpayers. Second, there is a fair debate to be had about whether the tuition waiver was intended for Cabinet members who make far more money than other state employees.

Additionally, and most importantly, the commissioner of the Department of Education is not a position for which you hire someone who literally requires on-the-job-training. It is utterly offensive to think that our governor left the state to hire someone less qualified than thousands of Tennessee educators to run what is arguably one of the most important departments in our state government. Then, when we called him out on it, Lee had the audacity to defend Reynolds' credentials knowing that he had already tried to send her back to college on the taxpayers' dime."

House Democratic Caucus members have been calling for the removal of Reynolds since January when it was discovered she does not meet any of qualifications for the job spelled out in state law. According to state statute, the commissioner is required to be a person “of skill and experience in school administration” and should be “qualified to teach in the school of the highest standing over which the commissioner has authority.” Reynolds does not have a teaching license and has never taught or worked in school administration.

Clemmons added, “Given Bill's never-ending crusade to destroy public education in Tennessee, I guess it's not surprising that he had to hire a Texan whose only qualification is her willingness to promote a voucher scam and other school privatization schemes. Tennessee educators are too smart and have too much respect for public education to be a part of Lee's snake oil agenda."