By James Harrison - Nooga.com -

Tennessee's efforts to reform education attracted eyes across the nation in 2011, as Gov. Bill Haslam lead an aggressive charge toward implementing new structures through a combination of Race to the Top funds and legislative measures.

Haslam visited Chattanooga in April to discuss impending changes to teacher tenure and collective bargaining in the state, expressing a desire to have an honest discussion with teachers and administrators who would be affected. It wasn't long before the governor would sign new bills into law regarding both topics, with a fair amount of opposition.

Along with Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman, the governor made headlines in July by announcing Tennessee's intent to pursue a waiver exempting schools from No Child Left Behind standards. Joined by a handful of other states, the waiver request prompted a national discussion regarding the program's outdated standards. Tennessee's effort was praised by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and Haslam joined President Barack Obama for a waiver announcement at the White House.

By August, Haslam was saying he hoped reforming education statewide would be the legacy of his tenure as governor. As Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander co-introduced legislation to the Senate aimed at fixing No Child Left Behind, the former governor said Haslam was doing the right thing in his role.

After a brief delay, Tennessee formally submitted its 75-page waiver request, addressing strategies for the future in four key areas for improvement. The application categorized state schools into three categories, which would be finalized after testing in the summer of 2012 should the state be granted its waiver.

One of the categories outlined in the state waiver was priority schools, which included the Howard School of Academics and Technology. Howard, one of only five schools in the state's newly formed Achievement School District, was the focus of ASD Superintendent Chris Barbic, who began accepting applications for charter schools in Howard's zone shortly after beginning his job.

But no applications for a charter school near Howard were accepted by the ASD, and in December Barbic held his first forum at the school. Speaking to a room of more than 200, the superintendent assured members of the community that the state would not be closing Howard, and encouraged the school to succeed.

The governor wrapped up his year by appointing two groups to oversee implementation of new reforms and promising to not pursue any new forms of education legislation in 2012. Along with a task force to examine the usefulness of school voucher programs, the governor tapped SCORE to conduct an independent review of the state's new teacher evaluation system.