The people of Memphis may or may not decide to disband their public school system in a few weeks. Although there are still a number of questions to be answered, it looks like the city will hold a referendum on the question sometime in February.
The city of Memphis has operated a city school system for more than 100 years. Students who live outside the city limits attend schools operated by Shelby County. The city system has three times the number of students as the county schools. The city system is funded by Shelby County as well as the Memphis City Council.
Later today, the county election commission will answer some questions relating to the referendum. One of the key questions is whether or not county residents living outside the city will be allowed to vote. This is a key question. Voters in the county recently overwhelmingly defeated a referendum on consolidating Memphis and Shelby County government. The same proposal was narrowly approved by Memphis voters.
If only Memphis voters are allowed to take part in the referendum, it will very likely pass. Supporters of the charter surrender maintain that city property taxes would decline if the city school system is disbanded. But county residents, who would see taxes increase, are likely to vote against a consolidated school system. They will vote against consolidation in order to avoid higher taxes, certainly, but the county residents have a more powerful incentive to reject consolidation.
The city school system is a dismal failure. Led by overpaid, ineffective administrators, the system is bloated with ineffective teachers and administrators. Test scores are abysmal and waste and corruption are rampant. County residents fear that merging the two systems would lower standards in county schools, not raise them throughout the countywide system. It's a legitimate fear, given Memphis schools' long record of failure.
The county election commission also must set a date for the referendum. The timing of the election will also be significant. The referendum could be held as soon as Feb. 8 even though many important questions have yet to be answered. Among the questions that have not been answered:
When would the charter surrender take effect? Immediately after the referendum is certified? At the end of the school year? In 2012? No one knows.
Who would operate the consolidated school system? The current county school board, or a new board that would also include Memphis residents? When would the new board take control? How would the new district lines be drawn. No one knows yet.
How will the two systems be merged? They have different rules, different books and different curriculum? How are the systems to be merged? What about employees of the disbanded Memphis system? Will the consolidated system be required to retain former city employees?
If this important referendum proceeds as scheduled, voters will be expected to make a monumental decision without knowing many key facts.
I suspect that merging the county and city school systems would be a benefit to all of Shelby County in the long run. But the long run in this case could extend to 20 years, an entire generation. In the short term, the transition will be costly and painful. If I'm correct, the question is - will voters opt for accepting short term pain in hopes of seeing a long term improvement in their schools.
Stay tuned....
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