Knox County Board of Education Chairperson Indya Kincannon; Candidate for Knoxville mayor Ivan Harmon

Knox County students are back in class after their summer break. During the summer much of the discussion about the upcoming school year was centered on bricks and mortar issues. That was especially true in the Carter community, where large numbers of parents turned out to support building a new elementary school there. They were not successful, but the school board agreed to renovate the aging school building.

A much bigger issue of concern for parents and administrators is academic standards. Last year a tougher curriculum was introduced into Tennessee schools, followed in the spring by a new, more difficult TCAP test. Preliminary statewide scores from that test indicate about half of Tennessee's public school students failed to meet state academic standards.

A couple of weeks ago, the State Board of Education approved a new "common core curriculum," which will increase math and language arts requirements for all students.

The bottom line for these changes is it will be be tougher to get good grades in Knox County and across the state.

In the first segment of this week's program, Knox County Board of Education Chairperson Indya Kincannon joins Gene Patterson to talk about the new academic standards and the debate over Carter Elementary School.

Knox County Commissioner Ivan Harmon says he wants to be Knoxville's next mayor. He recently declared his intention to run for mayor next year. He is Gene's guest in the second segment.

Then in the Final Word, Cortney Piper, with SRW and Associates, and Jesse Mayshark, managing editor of Metropulse, talk about the growing field of candidates for Knoxville mayor.