Memphis City Schools Beat Blog

Memphis mayor Willie Herenton on Tuesday asked that the City Council to draft a referendum to be put on the November ballot that would allow citizens to say whether they support the city mayor appointing the Memphis City Schools superintendent and school board. Herenton, rebuffing claims that his proposal was a “power grab,” requested that the referendum state that the changes would not take place until 2012, when he is out of office.

“This isn’t about Willie Herenton,” he said.  “I fundamentally believe we can do better with the governance of the Memphis City School system.”

Herenton has proposed creating a mayoral-controlled school board and superintendent several times, most recently in January. The former MCS superintendent made his most recent call during a Monday press conference in the Hall of Mayors.

State law requires all school boards be elected and gives boards sole authority to appoint superintendents. Attempts to change this 1992 law have routinely failed in the General Assembly.

Councilman Bill Morrison rebuffed Herenton’s proposal Tuesday.

“The city of Memphis needs to get out of the education business, not deeper into it,” he said. . “We do not need to appoint a school board or superintendent.”

City Council Atty. Allan Wade said that went Chattanooga stopped funding its city school district, the county picked it up.

State election coordinator Brook Thompson told The Commercial Appeal on Monday his office would have to research whether such a referendum is allowed under Tennessee law. "Generally speaking, you have to have statutory authority to have a city referendum," he said.

In 2003, responding to a request from Herenton, Thompson said that it's up to the school board to call for a referendum on abolishing the city school system.

Memphis City Schools is a special school district with its own charter separate from the city’s.

According to a legal opinion written for the school board by attorney Ernest Kelly, creating a city-run school district would require a combination of a two-thirds majority referendum vote giving the city the power to levy taxes for schools, and a simple-majority referendum vote that the school board surrender its charter.

Board members and school officials said Monday they see no need to change the district's structure. Research doesn't show appointed boards produce better academic results, said board member Martavius Jones.

An indignant interim Supt. Dan Ward told reporters at a Monday press conference he’s tired of hearing weary of blanket statements maligning the school system he’s served for 36 years.

"You've been hearing about waste and mismanagement and inefficiencies in the school system. If you know of any, just call us. We'd be happy to tackle it," he said. "If you don't know of any, put down the epithets."

Board president Tomeka Hart agreed, saying the district is focused on creating better accountability in the wake of operations scandals.

"You get criticized for making changes. (Ward's) made the changes that need to be made."

--Amos Maki and Dakarai I. Aarons