Memphis has surrendered it's school charter...they want to run the entire county school system...they were NOT happy with ruining their own schools now they want to ruin the county schools. Which they would control in about 3 years. Which means MORE TAXES, and a dumbing down of the educational system for the county schools, and a possible return of busing because of inequality in the 'new system'.
ping
County wide school mergers are a bad idea in most cases. They’re usually a means of combining a failing district with one that’s doing well.
Gail, you are correct, this is all about expanding the tax base so that they can raise the taxes on the county properties and lower them (slightly) on city properties.
About 10 years ago, Oregon’s legislature forced unification of schools (consolidation of all districts into K-12). This forced unification was pressed under the “economy-of-scale/efficiency” banner. Parental involvement, test scores, graduation rates have all suffered. Bigger is rarely better where education is involved. School board members were involved/concerns parents/patrons.....now they have become politicians. Fight all expansion. Small/local should become/remain the default.