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Memphis board delays school year's start indefinitely in demand for city funds

Ohanian Comment: I commented on the newspaper site that it seems odd, given the $90 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation("This is huge, this is huge, this puts Memphis City Schools in very elite territory, on the front page of the nation," said an exultant Supt. Kriner Cash), that now they don't have enough money to open.

In late 2009, Melinda French Gates of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation described Memphis City Schools on Thursday as among four districts in the country with "potential to serve as national models so all students can benefit."

Indeed.

A Memphis parent replied, "Maybe they had to spend it all on "a href="http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=870"> earbuds

394 people commented on this situation, most offering "suggestions" along the lines of (I'm quoting directly from the website)


• let the kids learn on their own--instead of playing basketball
• let kids take free online classes--they'll get a free computer
• let the state take over
• fire excess administrators to reduce costs
• Close the schools. They're useless anyway.
• As a teacher, I can tell you folks to stop freaking out. We don't need 10 months to get the students ready to take the TCAP!!! . . . There is NO RUSH. make your kids sit down and read a book, put the xbox and playstations down and turn off Disney and Nick TV.


And so on. Every which way, it is an ugly story. One must wonder what is really going on here. For starters, school employees, won't get paid until school starts. How many people have enough savings to tide them over?

And the "solution" of the new state commissioner of education/former Teach for America executive Kevin Huffman is, if the Memphis City Schools haven't provided an approved budget showing the city is paying its fair share by October 1, he will withhold state funding.

Some solution.

by Jane Roberts

Classes for Memphis City Schools will not start this fall until the City Council deposits $55 million -- the amount the city has budgeted for schools from tax revenue -- in the district's account, school board members decided Tuesday night.

The board voted 8-1 to delay the start of the school year indefinitely, putting the system in the limelight as the district attempts to force city leaders to make good on funding promises.

"We've been patient; we've cut 1,500 jobs," said board member Tomeka Hart. "We're not going for everything. We're not saying give us everything you owe. We are just saying we have to have the money in the bank from our city so we can pay our bills.

"It's a difficult situation they are in but we can't continue to sacrifice our difficult situation to help them out of theirs. We did not create this situation, and we are a governing body as well."

City Council president Myron Lowery said several of the funding issues are tied up in court and therefore not negotiable right now.

"The council supplies less than 10 percent of almost a billion-dollar school budget," Lowery said. "They have voted to delay for having less than 10 percent in hand. That is ridiculous."

He blames the problem on poor communication between Supt. Kriner Cash and Mayor AC Wharton.

School employees will not be paid until school starts, throwing thousands of Memphians into a quandary, including Sarah Harper, who said, "as much as I would like to get paid, as much I need to get paid, let's not muddy the water about what the real issue is. Our children are being made the pawns. The city of Memphis needs to fund Memphis City Schools and fund them now. Demand they make this right." Added Clara Ford, her voice rising with emotion as she addressed the board: "We've got to have the money. If we don't have it, we can't open the doors. I will guarantee you this city would be up in arms if they have to teach their children at home or find somewhere for them to go."

The vote came 2 1/2 hours into the emergency meeting, with impassioned arguments on both sides from members of the teachers union.

Cash said the board had spoken but said it was no victory.

"Our children need to be in school. I can't tell you that passionately or emphatically enough. I am going to keep fighting to get a resolution," he said, but made no promises. "What's next? I expect the city to be in touch with us."

Earlier, Wharton was perplexed by the board's discussion to delay, telling the City Council that money to fully fund the district had been set aside.

"The money is in the budget -- no ifs, ands or buts about it," he said. "On Friday, I stated to Dr. Cash that we have fully funded Memphis City Schools for the fiscal year 2012. The money is there, point blank. I don't know how to state that with any more clarity."

Wharton was visibly upset, at times pounding the podium in the council chambers. The district says the city has shorted it $151 million over four years, including $78.4 million for the 2011-12 school year.

The city has not approved the district's budget, required by state law. The district is to submit its budget to the state by Aug. 1. School had been scheduled to start Aug. 8.

If MCS cannot produce an approved budget showing the city is paying its fair share for schools by Oct. 1, new Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman told Cash on Tuesday that he would withhold state funding for MCS.

At 50 percent, the state is the largest provider of funds for public education in Memphis.

MCS board president Martavius Jones cast the lone vote against the move to delay the start of school after talking on the phone with Wharton during a recess in the meeting.

"I didn't get a commitment from him. I tried," Jones said, adding that the best solution would be one that didn't hurt taxpayers. "The city is going to have to take this out of their reserves (and) that will make borrowing costs go up, which hurts taxpayers."

While the city has approved the money, it has not been sent to the school system because the council has not yet approved the district's budget, as required by state law.

While Jones said he has never known the council not to approve the budget before school started, it was not approved until Sept. 14 last year, more than a month after the start of school.

But the environment this year is different, said school board attorney Dorsey Hopson, because the council's legal position in the merger with Shelby County Schools is that the city schools no longer exist.

— Jane Roberts
Memphis Commercial Appeal
2011-07-19
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/jul/19/memphis-school-board-votes-8-1-delay-start-classes/

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