That’s the message from the Frayser Neighborhood Council in response to plans by Tennessee’s Achievement School District to take over and convert to charter schools several existing schools in the Memphis neighborhood of Frayser.
Here’s the text of a letter from the Education Committee of the Frayser Neighborhood Council:
As members of the Frayser Neighborhood Council Education Committee and on behalf of the parents and children of Frayser we stand in support of parents at Hawkins Mills, Denver and Brook Meade Elementary Schools who choose as their parental option to keep their neighborhood schools with the Shelby County Schools system.
It is our position that the Achievement School District should improve the education performance and outcomes in the schools they presently run and those that they have approved before considering absorbing any additional schools in Frayser. We are asking that the ASD respect the wishes of the parents and the broader community as our parents exercise their right to choose.
Sincerely,
Sonya H. Smith
Marvis Rogers
Carmen White
Jessie Binion
Charles Taylor
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
These brave, informed citizens are heroes and champions for our children. THANK YOU. ASD was NOT created to FIX anything. It was created to fundamentally transform public education in TN. And Chris Barbic a change agent and Broad Superintendent Academy graduate was sent to do the deed. If we want to fix our schools in TN we must do several things. 1. Elect our Education Commissioner and state school board members better yet turn out the lights on the entire department leaving a small support unit 2. Repeal Race To The Top….not just Common Core but all of RTTT. 3. repeal Charter School Act 4. Restore COMPLETE local control to parents and the local LEA. 5. Every school to have an elected volunteer school board which encourages parental involvement. If every school had their own board parents can interact with a board that has a smaller more focused perspective…..build it and parents will come. 6. Return to pre-1965 curriculum with real books and teacher lead classes. #5 should be a priority.