MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – The new year could bring drastic, new oversight to Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

When the state legislature reconvenes for the new session next month, Republicans are laser-focused on passing legislation that allows the state to take over MSCS.

Action News 5 talked to the local GOP leader behind the renewed push to find out what’s changed since last year’s takeover effort failed. During the previous legislative session, the House and Senate versions of the plan differed, and lawmakers could not reach a consensus.

Representative Mark White of Memphis is now proposing that instead of forming an advisory council to guide the Memphis-Shelby County School Board, the state should form a management board—a panel of education experts from Shelby County.

White says they’ll be handpicked by the governor and speakers of the House and Senate. This group will have a lot more power to tell the local school board what to do, and it will have the power to pick a new director of schools.

“What we’re trying to do is break down the bureaucracy in a decades-old system,” Rep. White told Action News 5 during a Zoom interview on December 23.

He says he is more determined than ever before to put people, chosen exclusively by Republicans, in charge of educating 100,000 students in a Democratic-majority city.

“We’re gonna put in some really first-class people, and we need to make it worth their time,” said White. “[So] that they can come in, much like there’s a model going on down in Houston where they’ve done this, and after two years, they do not have any failing schools.“

But veteran school board member Michelle McKissack points to the failure of the ASD, the Achievement School District, as an example of why the state seizing control of Memphis schools won’t work.

Tennessee took over 30 of the lowest-performing MSCS schools in 2012. A decade later, research suggests ASD did not improve student performance, and may have actually led to worse test scores in the high schools.

Commissioner McKissack told Action News 5 in a statement:

“If our priority is students and helping them, then a state takeover does not do that. I believe it will lead to more instability in the district with more change in leadership with a managing board that has no real connection or accountability to the community.

We are playing whack-a-mole with what the problem is…from shortening the terms of five board members to a state audit of the school district. The state has succeeded in getting all nine seats on the next ballot and an audit is still underway. At the bare minimum, the state should let all of that play out to see what the next steps should be.”

MSCS Commissioner Towanna Murphy also sent a statement to Action News 5.

“It is disconcerting to learn that the state continues to pursue takeover efforts. This matter is unrelated to the termination of our former superintendent. The motivation behind this action appears to be financial gain and authority. The state’s previous attempt at control was marked by significant failures.

The potential impact on our children is substantial, and it’s concerning this seems to be of little consequence. Despite our collaborative efforts to find a mutually beneficial solution, our schools are thriving without state intervention.

We believe it would be in the best interest for the state to focus on their own responsibilities, however the prospect of a $2 billion budget appears to be a driving factor. Ultimately this appears to be more about personal interests and less about the well-being of our children.”

Rep. White says in a district where three out of four students cannot read on grade level, and only 20% can do math at grade level, the state’s priorities will include:

• Increasing literacy rates by the 3rd grade
• Boosting math scores
• Plus streamlining and modernizing MSCS buildings

“I don’t want this school legislation to divide people. I want it to bring people together. Because it’s that important for the young people in our community,” said White. “We can do this, and we have a golden opportunity right now to do a better job for the future of our city.”

State lawmakers return to Nashville for the start of the new session on January 13.

Action News 5 reached out to Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond’s administration for comment, and did not get a response by our Tuesday night deadline.

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