Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter
A state move to take over Memphis-Shelby County Schools is picking up steam after the district’s board dismissed its director eight months into the job.
State Rep. Mark White, chairman of the House Education Committee, said Monday he is putting together a bill that would enable the Department of Education to create a management group to run Memphis-Shelby County Schools without oversight by the school district’s board of education.
White, an East Memphis Republican, said the school board’s firing of Marie Feagins as director of schools on January 21, is one more reason the state should take over the district, in addition to poor student performance.
“I’m a believer that Memphis-Shelby County Schools can do a lot better than they’re doing,” White said.
Under the plan, which wasn’t filed in time for this week’s special session on private-school vouchers, the state would put together a group that would “supersede” the school board for at least two years “to right-size things,” White said. School board members would continue to be elected but would serve only in an advisory role, he said, adding he is working on the legislation to make sure it’s legal.
Senators from Memphis blasted the idea Monday, with Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari calling it an “attack on democracy.”
“Instead of punishing local decisions, we should focus on moving forward together,” Akbari said, to deal with funding inequity and invest in schools.
Likewise, Sen. London Lamar, chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus said she is concerned by House Speaker Cameron Sexton’s plan to draft a bill enabling the state to acquire control of the Memphis school district.
“Such a move represents significant government overreach and threatens the foundational principle of local governance,” Lamar said.
Everybody talks about the focus is on the kids. Well, if the focus is the kids, we can’t focus all of our energy on trying to punish the adults.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris
For instance, the Achievement School District that primarily targeted struggling schools in Memphis is being dissolved, and most of the schools under that district remain in the bottom 5% statewide for student performance, Lamar said.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris is lobbying lawmakers to drop the state takeover, hoping cooler heads will prevail.
“We’re doing the best we can to defuse the situation and turn down the temperature,” said Harris, a former state senator. “Everybody talks about the focus is on the kids. Well, if the focus is the kids, we can’t focus all of our energy on trying to punish the adults.”
White, who agreed to dissolution of the Achievement School District after keeping it afloat for several years, said it served a purpose in removing some schools from the state’s “priority” list for poor performance and pushing Shelby County Schools to set up iZone schools, which received more school district support until the district ran out of funds to keep the program going.
“We’re not moving the needle for our community with all the opportunity we have,” White said. He added that some schools in the district closed because they didn’t have enough students, then were trashed by thieves, making it impossible for charter school operators to buy or lease them.
The Memphis-Shelby County School Board fired Feagins over allegations dealing with overtime expenses, acceptance of a $45,000 donation, questions about federal funding and missed grant deadlines, and conduct detrimental to the district.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.
Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter
