School & District Management News in Brief

Memphis Suburbs Moving Closer to Avoiding Merger

By Jaclyn Zubrzycki — April 23, 2013 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Tennessee’s state legislature has passed two bills that would allow six of Memphis’ suburban cities to create their own districts. Those cities, all in Shelby County, intend to have new systems up and running by the start of the 2014-15 school year—and in doing so, evade a merger with the Memphis district.

Earlier this year, a judge had ruled that the suburban cities’ efforts to create their own districts were unconstitutional, though they had already passed referendums and begun creating local school boards. The new bills were written in response to the judge’s ruling and override laws that prohibited the creation of new school districts in the state and limited the number of districts per county. The changes mean that suburban cities near other urban centers in Tennessee could also create their own districts.

Suburban leaders have said they fear the merger will affect the stability of their own school systems. But the new law raises concerns about the financial stability of the merged district, which could end up serving only students from the city of Memphis and unincorporated areas of Shelby County.

The suburban cities have been collecting extra sales taxes in order to fund the new school systems.

As of press time, Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican, had not yet signed the bills into law, but has stated his intention to. Legal and civil rights challenges are still a possibility: Lawmakers who oppose the measure expressed concerns that it will result in more-segregated and less equitably funded districts.

A version of this article appeared in the April 24, 2013 edition of Education Week as Memphis Suburbs Moving Closer to Avoiding Merger

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management 3 Tips to Help Districts Navigate Educator Layoffs
Keep cuts in line with the district's overarching goals, an expert advises.
3 min read
Illustration of scissors cutting row of paper dolls.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
School & District Management Teachers Hate All Those Meetings. Can Principals Find a Workaround?
Principals can't do away with every meeting, but they can reduce some and make others more effective.
4 min read
Image of a staff meeting.
E+/Getty
School & District Management Q&A When This Principal Talks About Mental Health, People Listen. Here's Why
The NASSP Advocacy Champion of the year said he used stories from his school and community to speak with his state’s legislators.
6 min read
Chris Young, a principal from Vermont, poses for a photo in front of a Senate office building in Washington, D.C.
Chris Young, a principal from Vermont, stands in front of a Senate office building in Washington on March 13, 2024. Young was among the secondary principals to meet with legislators urging them to keep federal funding for schools stable.
Olina Banerji/Education Week
School & District Management Teacher Layoffs Are Mounting. How Districts Can Soften the Blow
Layoffs are coming in districts large and small. Here's how district leaders can handle them.
8 min read
Pencil Eraser Erasing Drawn Figure
AndreyPopov/iStock/Getty