Sources: MSCS oversight bill may be dead after passing in Senate, House
by: Maurice Miller, Harrison Klopp, David Royer
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A bill to create a state-controlled oversight board for Memphis-Shelby County Schools passed 26-6 in the state Senate on Tuesday, and was later approved in the state House.
But sources including state Sen. Raumesh Akbari tell WREG the House is going to let the MSCS takeover bill die on the desk without a review by a conference committee. If that happens, the bill will not pass this year.
Lawmakers plan to lean into the $6 million forensic audit of MSCS and come back next year, those sources said.
The bill, also known as the Tennessee Public School Accountability Act, would authorize the Department of Education to appoint a board of managers for four years.
It would also lift the income cap on school vouchers in Shelby County.
The bill was amended by the House, so it did not immediately head to the governor Tuesday. The Senate sent the bill back to the House. If the House does not conform to the version passed by the Senate, the bill would go to a conference committee to hammer out the differences.
But it may not make it to that committee, according to WREG’s sources.
Both Republican State Rep. Mark White and Taylor have introduced separate bills regarding the matter.
“It is my concern the largest district in the state of 110,000 students that we are not performing as we should. There’s a lot of bureaucracy in the system,” White said.
“Trying to fix our school system in Memphis is like trying to baptize a housecat,” Taylor said.
The bill drew a lot of criticism from Democratic lawmakers.
“Memphis is not like a crackhead with his last tooth,” Senator London Lamar said.
“We’re basically punishing one county, Shelby County, because its students come from poverty,” Senator Jeff Yarbro said.
“It’s an attempt to thwart democracy, and I don’t like some of the folks who got elected to the school board and their decision making, but the reality is, just like you and I, they got elected by people to represent them,” said State Representative Justin J. Pearson said.
And while the Democratic opposition was loud, the Republican supermajority was able to drown out the noise as Taylor’s bill passed overwhelmingly in both chambers.
Locally, the bill has faced opposition from MSCS board members, including Michelle McKissack, who opposed the firing of Dr. Feagins.
“Children, that is the part of the equation that really hasn’t been mentioned,” McKissack said. “What is the impact this is going to have on our students? On our teachers? Potentially more upheaval in the district – I really hope something can be ironed out where it is amenable to everyone involved.”
A special committee will likely have to sort out the details of the bills before the plan heads to the Governor.
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