Tess Stovall

Tess Stovall

2015 NACSA Leader

Tess Stovall serves as the Director of Charter School Accountability and Policy for the Tennessee State Board of Education. In this role, she manages the charter school application process and authorization duties of the State Board. Prior to joining the staff of the board, she served as the Transformation Facilitator at Cameron Middle School, the first district-led conversion of a traditional public school to a charter school in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Tess has also worked for Congressman Jim Cooper (TN-05) and a centrist think tank, Third Way, on economic and education policy in Washington, DC. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of The George Washington University where she earned Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Political Science and Sociology and a graduate of the London School of Economics where she earned  a Master of Science Degree in Political Sociology.


Most Recent Posts
Beyond the Mold: Equipping Authorizers to Evaluate Innovative Schools
By David Greenberg and Jason Zwara Raising the Bar on Accountability Last year, we made several important updates to our state policy recommendations. These changes were critical to accountability in...
NACSA Statement on Rhode Island Charter School Moratorium
NACSA is calling on Governor McKee to protect both families’ access to high-quality public schools. and the integrity of Rhode Island’s charter school system by vetoing legislation that would impose...
NACSA Supports Three Federal Bills to Modernize CSP and Help Strengthen Authorizing
The U.S. Department of Education’s Charter Schools Program (CSP) has supported the growth of the charter school sector for more than 30 years. Despite significant changes in the charter sector—especially...