by design | Jan 18, 2015 | Absher, Archives, Columnist
By Sally Absher sallyabsher@knoxfocus.com For this week’s Special Education feature, The Focus spoke with Patti Quinton, the mother of four beautiful girls. Caitlyn, 20, is currently a junior at the University of Tennessee. Kristen, 15, is a sophomore at the L &...
by design | Jan 12, 2015 | Absher, Columnist
By Sally Absher One of the biggest concerns for parents of children with special needs is the issue of inclusion in the least restrictive environment. As taxpayers, we should all be concerned about the costs involved in sending students across town to segregated...
by design | Jan 11, 2015 | Absher, Archives, Columnist
By Sally Absher Cha-ching. That is the sound of the Knox County Schools Board of Education spending more of your tax dollars. At last Monday’s Work Meeting, Dr. McIntyre, in his Superintendent’s Report, laid out his plan to address the substitute teacher shortage....
by design | Jan 5, 2015 | Absher, Columnist
By Sally Absher By Sally Absher sallyabsher@knoxfocus.com This month The Focus will be presenting a series on Special Education. This is a topic that few of us think about, unless we have a child with special needs. Sadly, many regular and even special education...
by design | Jan 5, 2015 | Absher, Columnist
By Sally Absher The week before Christmas, Gov. Bill Haslam announced that he was appointing Dr. Candice McQueen to serve as Tennessee Commissioner of Education, ending weeks of speculation about who would replace outgoing Commissioner Kevin Huffman. After watching...
by design | Dec 21, 2014 | Absher, Archives, Columnist
By Sally Absher sallyabsher@knoxfocus.com For 2014, the Tennessee State Report Card indicates that the high school graduation rate in Knox County was 88.7%. But 11.3% of students who entered ninth grade did not graduate with a regular diploma, and will not be ready...
