Memphis school leaders are exploring a range of options to help boost student attendance.
One option: Expanding bus service.
Chalkbeatreports 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.
Chalkbeat has the story of PAC spending in races for Memphis/Shelby County School Board.
A Memphis political action committee dedicated to improving economic and social mobility in Shelby County and across Tennessee poured nearly $40,000 into four Memphis-Shelby County Schools board races.
Candidates Rachael Spriggs in District 1, Tim Green in District 6, Amber Huett-Garcia in District 8, and Rebecca Edwards in District 9 each received an $8,300 donation from TN Prosperity PAC, according to recent campaign finance filings. The other two candidates for District 1, current board Chair Michelle McKissack and former Chair Chris Caldwell, each received $2,500.
The story notes other significant donors in the school board races:
Memphis PACE, which is the political action committee for the Memphis Shelby County Education Association, the larger of two MSCS teachers unions.
The Leadership for Educational Equity PAC, a national nonprofit leadership development organization “inspiring and supporting a network of civic leaders to end the injustice of educational inequity,” according to its website.
