A small army of elected officials, lawyers and others have all addressed the questions surrounding the proposed surrender of the Memphis schools charter, but after weeks of public pronouncements on what the proposal would or would not do, John Q. Public is still in the dark.
That is not to suggest that John Q. hasn't already made up his mind. Just that John and other voters still don't have the information needed to make an informed choice.
Part of the blame for this confusion can be placed at the feet of the school officials who started it in the first place. City school officials accuse county school officials of trying to lock out city school students. County officials warn of massive layoffs and school closures should the referendum proceed. State election officials say the City Council must approve the referendum. City Councilmen say they don't have to do any such thing. Others jump in with a petition and lawsuit seeking the referendum. While all this is going on, city and county school officials try to hammer out an agreement to postpone the referendum.
And still, despite television and newspaper reports on the ongoing drama, no one seems to know the answers to some important questions. We still don't know if the referendum will be held in February or early March, or sometime in 2012. We still don't know if and when a new countywide school board would be created, elected and seated. We don't know if Memphis officials would have to continue to provide financial suppport to county-operated schools. We don't know who would head the greatly expanded county school district. We don't know if city teachers would be employed by the new county school district or whether the new system would adopt the old Memphis curriculum or the one used by the old county school district.
No one seems to have the answers to questions like these. Perhaps, in part, because the news media in Memphis have decided where they stand and don't want to confuse the issue with inconvenient facts.
At a time when the course of public education is to be decided, TV news breathlessly informs viewers that 20% of the Frayer HS female population is either pregnant or recently had a baby. With a straight face, a reporter looks into the camera and asks what has caused this problem. What has been a Memphis problem will become a countywide problem in a few short months if the city school system is disbanded.
I've already written that consolidating the city and county schools will be difficult and expensive. There will be no cost savings from consolidation. Instead, there will inevitably be more administrators and fewer schools. More costs and less tax revenue. In the long run, it is probably a good move for both the city and county. But in the short term, there will be confusion, political power struggles, waste, fraud and inefficiency. The students caught in the middle of this storm will be impacted throughout their lives. But eventually, consolidating the school systems will reinforce the idea that Memphis and Shelby County are one community - a large inner city and small suburban towns together in one county.
I just hope that all the important questions are answered before John Q. goes to the polls. Just so he'll know exactly what he's voting for when asked to determine the fate of Memphis city schools.
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