Posted on 02/11/2011 6:31:06 AM PST by GailA
The Memphis City Council on Thursday accepted the decision by the Memphis City Schools Board of Education to surrender its charter, essentially wiping out the city school board in one vote.
"The Memphis City Schools board will be dissolved upon the filing of this resolution (with the Secretary of State)," said Council Atty. Allan Wade. "They would continue to exist only for the purpose of winding up their affairs."
The council instructed Mayor A C Wharton to deliver notification to the Secretary of State today.
But it remains unclear -- even to many council members -- what the 10-0 vote meant, and whether council action could trump state law.
In Nashville, the state House on Thursday gave final legislative approval to the bill that would delay consolidation of Memphis and Shelby County Schools to the start of the 2013-14 school year.
(Excerpt) Read more at commercialappeal.com ...
They are not content to wreck their own schools, they want to equalize the entire county schools system to wrecks. Just my 2 cents.
Both House and Senate have voted on this to delay it (prevent), all it needs is the gov's signature.
Lot of dirty dem politics involved.
Haven’t found the House bill info but 64 GOP voted to stop this. It has now passed the Senate!
http://www.marknorris.org/media2011/02-07-11b.htm
A liberal is to education as a cat is to water.
Just spreadin’ the wealth around.............but in reality spreading the misery.............
Memphis is a cancer, and it’s important that the state government of Tennessee act so that it does not metastasize.
The super of Memphis Schools has a golden parachute of about $1 mil...first thing he did when he came in was to do away with K-3 failure and grades.
Kind of like Acorn, Log Cabin Republicans and a guy I knew who used to run for profit educational programs. They’re in an untenable position, so they’re going to dissolve, walk away from the problems they created, and reorganize with a “clean slate.”
I am in Desoto county and we are worried at more flight from Shelby coming our way.
Thanks. That certainly explains why so much population has been fleeing Shelby County just over the line into north Mississippi in recent years.
Actually - a better analogy:
Public Schools are litter boxes
Liberals are cats...
The unfunded liabilities is the reason that the city was trying to merge witht eh county and form a metropolitan area last year.
Ohhhhhhh no. You can keep Memphis, or give it to Mississippi. We don’t want it.
Gov Halsam has signed the legislation that just passed. I hope it helps, Pickler has filed a law suit against the city.
There is also the issue of the MILLIONS the city owes for the school system they didn’t pay last year.
Commissioner Roland thinks state law will trump any thing the city can do.
We don’t want this ‘grandfather’ it to start because the city voted before Halsam signed the law.
And you will get a BIG flight out of Shelby Co if the city wins. Because you will be looking at busing, taxes, dems in control of ALL the schools in Shelby Co.
Bad schools, high property taxes, and crime out weigh MS state income tax.
From Sen Norris’ news letter
Early on the morning of Friday, February 11, Governor Haslam signed his first legislation into law – SB 25.
SB25, which I sponsored along with Rep. Curry Todd, addresses what Tennessee Education Commissioner Patrick Smith identified as “an anomaly in the law.” The question is how to consolidate a large school system into one less than half its size in an orderly way which assures a unified and balanced county school system. The case arose out of Shelby County, but it could happen in several counties with special school districts across the state.
Those opposing an orderly transition in Memphis, one with a plan and a timetable, played the race card early. Sad.
Others tried to make it look as though the legislation was an effort to abort the referendum scheduled on March 8. False.
In the end, on the evening of Thursday, February 10, the truer motives of “opposition to order” became apparent. The Memphis City Council, which cut funding to the City Schools and now refuses to satisfy a $57 million judgment for its abdication, attempted to dissolve the City Schools. No referendum. No debate. No questions asked. Just kill it.
Perhaps their rationale is that, if dissolved, the $57 million liability is dissolved with it. Could this entire charade have been designed to avoid the City’s legal liability? Was the City’s filing a certificate of the schools’ dissolution with the Secretary of State just hours after the new law went into effect an effort to defraud its creditors (in this case, 103,000 school children)?
Only time will tell. In the meantime, here are a few links to resources which delve more deeply into this issue.
To see the presentation and passage of the bill in the Senate:
http://tnga.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=196&clip_id=3492
(Scroll down the menu under the video box and select SB 25 – you will be taken directly to discussion on the bill)
To see AC Wharton on January 4 requesting the legislation we just enacted:
To see my interview with Ernie Freeman the day the bill became law:
Read my Op-ed in the Daily News:
http://www.memphisdailynews.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=56222
Thanks to everyone who has offered kind words of encouragement and support since this ordeal began just before Christmas 2010.
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