Shelby County School Board and Shelby County Commission – Connecting the dots

http://district3schoolboard.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/shelby-county-school-board-and-shelby-county-commission-connecting-the-dots/
 
Before I launch out for the my pregame meal(what I eat before I go to the SCS meeting), I wanted to share some thoughts about the relation between the county commission and the Shelby county school board and why I think the next 10 years are crucial decisions to the long-term sustainability of Shelby County.

Education and its related debt service(building, etc) make up 60% of the county tax rate. Roughly $2 goes to operations and .79 goes to deb service. That comes out to around $2.80(give or take a few cents) on the tax rate. And education is the one expense that continues to rise since 80% of the education budget is made up in salaries and benefits. Unfortunately, businesses are double taxed with a professional tax and a 40% property assessment while residents are stuck with a 25% assessment. This makes business investment and retainment almost impossible without pilots. With the completion if 385, access to Fayette, Tipton, and Marshall County will be as easy as ever.

Realistically, education is a controllable investment and expense. However, the new school board will need to map out a 10 year plan to design a new educational system that drives the tax rate down. Is that impossible? No..

My goal will be to partner with my colleagues and create a Strategic Education Planning Committee for Shelby County. The goal will be for this committee to be composed of the SCS Board, A Representative from the County Commission, the Memphis City Council, and every Municipality. The goal will be to review the best educational models(ones that are actually successful) and adopt those models district wide, develop a plan to fund capital(if needed), and a long-term sustainable funding plan that does not require tax increases.. As you can see, the SCS and County Commission are the biggest players in this discussion.

I have ideas and opinions. Does the size and breadth of the administrative structure of the SCS consume much-needed resources out of the school? I believe it does.. Does the continual need to invest in deferred maintenance and buildings fit into our long-term goals? I do not believe so. Can we divest into individual schools and break apart the massive federal, state, and local dragnet that we continually find ourselves in? I think so.. Can we eliminate most of the county bond debt by getting out of the school building business? i think we can.. Can we lower the business tax rate and eliminate most pilots? I think so.. Can we lower the county tax rate over time? I think so..The key is to divest into the schools. And our legislature has given us all of the tools to make it happen.

I believe that a route exists but we have to have willing partners on both sides to figure it out. That is why I plan to start the discussion here and then transition to the county commission to help see it through to a conclusion

REMINDER - MBOA Special Meeting

Board of Mayor and Aldermen Special Meeting
Monday, August 19th  beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Tonight is the third reading on Millington Schools. Please come if at all able. One of the topics is how many members should be on the Millington School Board.

If you have a preference (5 or 7), tonight is the night to present it.

Mays asks county commission why challenge to municipal schools should continue

A Wednesday afternoon order issued by U.S. District Judge Samuel “Hardy” Mays asks the County Commission why revamped state legislation on municipal schools earlier this year doesn’t make the commission’s arguments against the suburban school districts “moot.”

The three-page order directs the parties to present their positions on the question by Aug. 23.

The commission filed a third-party complaint in June, 2012, challenging legislation earlier that year allowing the suburbs to pursue municipal schools after the Memphis City Schools, and Memphis voters, surrendered the schools charter. The suburbs have stated they want to remain separate from the resulting countywide configuration that emerged from the charter surrender — a school system that opened its first year this month.

On Nov. 27, 2012, Mays issued a ruling saying the 2012 legislation was unconstitutional because it applied exclusively to Shelby County. His ruling also voided referendums for municipal schools in all six suburbs last summer and school board elections in November.

In this year’s legislative session, the General Assembly passed another bill applicable to other counties in the state, thus solving the constitutionality question. The suburbs again overwhelmingly approved the referendums for municipal schools on July 16, and each is going through the ordinance process aiming for school board elections on Nov. 7.

Mays asked in Wednesday’s order whether the new legislation resolved the legal question posed by the county commission, citing legal language that states a “statute passed during the course of litigation may make unnecessary a determination of the former controversy and render the case moot.”

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/aug/14/mays-asks-county-commission-why-challenge-to/
 

© 2013 Memphis Commercial Appeal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

DEVASTATING CHANGES TO TEACHER LICENSING PROPOSED

TN Alert from Stop Common Core in TN Group

DEVASTATING CHANGES TO TEACHER LICENSING PROPOSED

The State Board of Education will vote THIS FRIDAY, August 16th on changes to Teacher Licensure....

The changes would mean licenses would not be renewed for teachers receiving a 1 on their GROWTH SCORES for 2 out of 3 years. Notice - this is growth scores not your overall evaluation score!

IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT ALL TEACHERS IMMEDIATELY CONTACT THE MEMBERS OF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO EXPRESS THEIR CONCERN OVER THE PROPOSED CHANGES TO TEACHER LICENSURE.

Tennessee State Board of Education

DISTRICT 1: Mr. Fielding Rolston (Chairman)
Email: frolston@ecu.org

DISTRICT 2: Mr. Mike Edwards
Email: medwards@knoxvillechamber.com

DISTRICT 3: Ms. Vernita B. Justice

Email: vernitajustice@comcast.net

DISTRICT 4: Mr. Lonnie E. Roberts
Email: lroberts@trh.com

DISTRICT 5: Ms. Carolyn Pearre (Vice Chairman)
Email: cpearre@comcast.net

DISTRICT 6: Dr. Jean Anne Rogers Email: jahrogersod@mac.com

DISTRICT 7: Ms. Janet Ayers
Email: ayers.janet@gmail.com

DISTRICT 8: Dr. Melvin Wright, Sr.
Email: wrightmelvindds@bellsouth.net

DISTRICT 9: Ms. Teresa Sloyan
Email: tsloyan@pittcomanagement.com

EX OFFICIO: Dr. Rich Rhoda
Executive Director
Tennessee Higher Education Commission
Parkway Towers, Suite 1900404
James Robertson Parkway
Nashville, TN 37219
(615) 741-7572
FAX (615) 741-6230
Email: Richard.Rhoda@tn.govSee More

 

TN Department of Education

 

Teach for America Memphis Corps HIts 350

Interesting way to save money...but will it be at the expense of a quality education?

Posted by John Branston on Thu, Aug 1, 2013 at 10:19 AM

• 
  
• Athena Turner

Bolstered by national attention to school reform, Teach For America will have 350 corps members in Shelby County classrooms when schools open next week. That number includes 200 first-year teachers and 150 second-year teachers, said Athena Turner, executive director of Teach For America Memphis. An additional 250 TFA alumni are working in the Memphis area, the majority of them in teaching positions, she said. Memphis is one of the Top Ten TFA locales in the country.
"Education reform is the reason," said Turner, a member of the 2006 TFA Memphis corps.
She said Memphis ranks somewhere between Number 10 and Number 20 in preferred placement for prospective corps members, behind such favorites as New York, Chicago, and San Francisco among others.
The Walton Family Foundation announced this week that it is investing up to $2.7 million in Teach for America in Memphis — the first such investment in Memphis by the Arkansas-based foundation. The money will be used to recruit and train nearly 4,000 new teachers. TFA has clout in Tennessee, with alumni including Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman and Achievement School District Superintendent Chris Barbic and a growing number of charter and non-traditional schools. For the first time, TFA Memphis did its summer training in Memphis and boarded corps members at the University of Memphis this year.
"It was a good bonding experience for them and the full-time staff," said Turner.
Only two corps members will be teaching in legacy Shelby County schools, one at Millington High School and one at Lucy Elementary. One corps member is placed at academic powerhouse White Station High School but is teaching in the traditional as opposed to the optional program.
TFA Memphis plans to have 250 new corps members each year starting in 2014.

http://www.memphisflyer.com/CityBeatBlog/archives/2013/08/01/teach-for-america-memphis-corps-hits-350