Journalist @dailymemphian // stories mine, Rita’s 🐶 // 🔎 tips [email protected] or Ldtestino.54 on signal
Memphis, TN
Joined December 2015
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Laura D. Testino 〽️ retweeted
Two @HoustonISD schools are piloting the Alpha School model this year.
HISD Superintendent Mike Miles tells @nytimes that students initially spent longer than expected on the Alpha apps, eating into time that was supposed to be spent on afternoon enrichment.
My deep dive on the "A.I.-driven" Alpha School, revealing their internal learning and enrollment data for the first time, just as the network expands into public education.
There is a big gap between the marketing and reality.
nytimes.com/2026/10/23/us/al…
Laura D. Testino 〽️ retweeted
The Tigers remained poised in the locker room, despite a double-digit halftime deficit against East Carolina.
Memphis rallied to earn a 41-34 overtime victory, capped with a walk-off interception. dailymemphian.com/section/sp…
Laura D. Testino 〽️ retweeted
Florida-based firm advising Memphis schools’ state takeover board has done similar work nationwide, including in Houston. In Florida, that work has been the subject of federal and state investigations. chalkbeat.org/tennessee/2026…
Laura D. Testino 〽️ retweeted
Shelby County funding for a lawsuit challenging the takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools is nearing a set spending limit, documents show.
Read more: dailymemphian.com/subscriber…
✍️Story by Laura Testino, @bdriesdm
Laura D. Testino 〽️ retweeted
Trump’s Education Department has not made public all its civil rights investigations at schools and colleges.
So @propublica sued and obtained all the complaints and investigations. And now we are publishing them so you can search the cases too.
propublica.org/article/civil…
Tennessee judicial panel dismisses private-school voucher lawsuit via @TNLookout
tennesseelookout.com/2026/10…
Tennessee Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, eyes Nashville schools for takeover, WKRN reports.
He's calling for an audit, which could lead to the district meeting three of four required thresholds
wkrn.com/news/local-news/nas…
That's based on my reporting from earlier this summer.
MNPS, like most districts, qualifies under the 50% proficiency threshold and the letter grade threshold
dailymemphian.com/subscriber…
BREAKING: MSCS takeover paused again
dailymemphian.com/section/me…
Former MLK50 reporter Rebecca Cadenhead reports for her new post at the WSJ about 16-year-old Olga Bessan-Gligo, the Central High student who was killed crossing Union Avenue last year:
wsj.com/us-news/the-deadly-1…
There is no line item for discussion of the 90-day plan that includes the proposed superintendent hiring timeline first reported by The Daily Memphian, as some news outlets are suggesting today
Here is the agenda
The executive committee of the state-appointed Memphis schools oversight board will meet on Monday afternoon at 1 pm in a virtual meeting
tn.gov/meetings/2026/10/19/e…
The executive committee of the state-appointed Memphis schools oversight board will meet on Monday afternoon at 1 pm in a virtual meeting
tn.gov/meetings/2026/10/19/e…
Laura D. Testino 〽️ retweeted
The Post Guild has started a GoFundMe to support our union colleagues who are losing their jobs, including circulation drivers and others in the printing plant who will lose their jobs just after the holidays. Donate here: gofundme.com/f/support-for-l…
The Washington Post plans to close its Springfield printing plant and lay off 118 employees by the end of 2026 or early January virginiabusiness.com/washing…
when you are watching tv tonight and it seems like this appeared out of thin air please remember the part where I wrote that I got the documents and spent the week getting more info
🫶
NEW: Takeover consultant wants MSCS to have a ‘transformational superintendent’ hired by December
None of the appointees would tell me if they plan to follow the timeline. If they do, the search could remain fairly secret under new state law
Details:
dailymemphian.com/subscriber…
NEW: Takeover consultant wants MSCS to have a ‘transformational superintendent’ hired by December
None of the appointees would tell me if they plan to follow the timeline. If they do, the search could remain fairly secret under new state law
Details:
dailymemphian.com/subscriber…
NEW: Takeover consultant wants MSCS to have a ‘transformational superintendent’ hired by December
None of the appointees would tell me if they plan to follow the timeline. If they do, the search could remain fairly secret under new state law
Details:
dailymemphian.com/subscriber…
🔔 🔔 🔔
“But the generally positive takes show that many parents are happy with schools that are widely assumed to be low-performing, perhaps because they see and value things that are not easily measured.”
Despite low test scores, parents give Brooklyn’s P.S. 307 high praise chalkbeat.org/2026/10/15/ps-…
