Category Archives: Shelby County Schools

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Shelby County Sues Over State Takeover of Schools

The Shelby County government is challenging the state’s takeover of public schools in Memphis. A new state law passed this year created a state-appointed “Board of Managers” to oversee the Shelby County School Board.

This unelected board, appointed by politicians from Nashville, has the power to usurp decisions made by the elected leaders of the Shelby County Schools.

Tennessee Lookout reports on the lawsuit:


The Shelby County government sued Tennessee lawmakers in federal court last week, hoping to regain local control over the board that oversees the Memphis school system. 

State lawmakers passed a bill earlier this year disbanding the locally elected Memphis Shelby County Schools board and replacing it with a nine-member one, all appointed by Republican leaders in the state. 

Lawyers for Shelby County argued in their complaint that the law “dismantles” the structure that allows “110,000 children and their families to have a voice in the most consequential local decisions affecting their daily lives.” 

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Will the State Close Some Memphis Schools?

As a new state board begins “managing” Memphis schools, some are wondering if that management plan will mean school closures.

Chalkbeat reports:

The state takeover of Memphis schools could lead to more school closures as seen in other seized local districts Tennessee lawmakers are using as a blueprint.

A state-appointed board of managers is set to take control of key decisions for Memphis-Shelby County Schools in the coming weeks. Its members include a former MSCS superintendent who introduced a plan to close almost 30 schools during his tenure that never came to fruition.

School closures have also been an early move for state-selected leadership in Houston and Fort Worth, the sites of two recent state takeovers that Tennessee proponents have often said they want to use as models for MSCS.

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Another State Takeover of Memphis Schools

Tennessee’s top policymakers don’t trust Memphis. Especially when it comes to running schools. They showed it with the Achievement School District. And, they are showing it now with a new oversight board – appointed by politicians in Nashville like Gov. Bill Lee and House Speaker Cameron Sexton.

Here’s the thing: The ideas of these old, white men failed when it was called the ASD and they will fail again.

And the ASD just kept failing. Subsequent education chiefs tried a variety of ASD heads and an array of ever-vaguening goal statements, and yet by 2024, they were still nowhere. Under four different state education commissioners, helmed by five different leaders,and aimed at shifting sets of goals and strategies, the Achievement School District never accomplished the kind of dramatic school turnarounds that its supporters aspired to.

State takeovers mostly fail. They use the wrong metric for failure, the wrong diagnosis, the wrong pool of “expertise,” the wrong motivation, and the wrong timetable, and Tennessee’s ASD, with its dogged over-a-decade unsuccessful flailing, provides one of the most thorough debunking of takeovers.

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State Moves Forward with Takeover of Memphis Schools

Chalkbeat reports:

Tennessee Republicans have passed an unprecedented intervention of the Memphis-Shelby County school system that gives political appointees sweeping authority over the locally elected school board and the state’s largest school district.

The appointed oversight board will have four years to address what Republicans argue is untenable academic underperformance and administrative instability in the district, which serves more than 100,000 students.

The new law gives the oversight board, which could be appointed at any time and must convene for the first time before July, broad latitude to set performance metrics for the district. It could also control everything from firing and hiring a superintendent to textbooks and classroom curriculum. The new body would have final say over the district’s $1.7 billion budget and major decisions like school closures and zoning.

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Will Bill Lee and Legislative Republicans Take Over Memphis Schools?

Here’s what Chalkbeat says could happen in the state’s ongoing quest to let Republicans NOT from Memphis subvert the will of the people of Memphis.

Memphis Republicans Mark White and Brent Taylor, who are sponsoring the legislation, have both said in recent months that they want to align with White’s original bill.

White’s plan would install a board of managers, handpicked by elected state Republicans, that would have significant authority over the Memphis-Shelby County school district. Appointment powers would be given to the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker, all Republicans who are not from Memphis.

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Taking Shape

Candidates are emerging for the 2026 Memphis-Shelby County School Board race.

Chalkbeat reports:

Five incumbent Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members — Michelle McKissack, Natalie McKinney, Tamarques Porter, Sable Otey and Towanna Murphy — confirmed with Chalkbeat that they’re running for reelection.

Sonia Partick-Warr filed campaign documents with the election commission but did not list a party affiliation.

Toshina Williams-Webb posted her intention to run on Facebook.

Jon Carroll confirmed to Chalkbeat that he will run as a Democrat.

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Republicans Plot Takeover of Memphis Schools

Mark White and other legislative Republicans want to dictate how Memphis runs its schools.

Chalkbeat reports:

Tennessee House Republican leaders will push forward a plan in 2026 to install a Memphis-Shelby County schools oversight panel that would seize significant decision-making authority from the locally elected school board.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton and education committee Chairman Mark White confirmed this month they are committed to working with the Senate to pass a form of takeover legislation in the 2026 legislative session.

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A $10 Million Ride

Memphis school leaders are exploring a range of options to help boost student attendance.

One option: Expanding bus service.

Chalkbeat reports that approach carries a heavy price tag:

Memphis school leaders say expanding student bus services to help boost attendance will raise transportation costs by a minimum of almost $10 million next school year.

Board members advanced the idea in late October to increase busing after multiple teachers testified that students weren’t showing up for class in fear of increased law and immigration enforcement. Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond was tasked with delivering a plan within 30 days.

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$1.6 Billion in Repairs

That’s what’s needed in Memphis-Shelby County Schools, according to a story from Chalkbeat:

MSCS leaders are expected to present initial plans on Dec. 16 for what could be a decade-long process of school closures and renovations. This comes after an independent study found this spring that Memphis schools need over $1.6 billion in maintenance repairs over the next 10 years.

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Showing Up

Chalkbeat reports on improved absenteeism in Shelby County Schools:

Memphis school leaders say a door-knocking campaign and increased outreach has helped put the district on track to reduce chronic absenteeism for the first time since well before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stacey Davis, the district’s director of attendance and enrollment, said in an October board meeting that almost one-third of Memphis-Shelby County Schools students were chronically absent last year, meaning they missed more than 18 days of class. But she expects that figure to drop to around 26% of students this year.

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