Suburban Schools (Memphis, Germantown: transplants, 2014, layoffs)

[Tigertate]

The state legislature has approved bills that will allow the formation of municipal schools state wide. This is a big development for the area because this new law that applies state wide will more than likely stand up to any potential court challenges. A similar law was passed last year, but it only applied to Shelby County and for that reason it was deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge. The suburbs will now need to have new referendums to create city run schools and elect school board members. The Memphis system and the suburban system will be merged for one year starting this August, but many of the suburban cities will break away starting in August of 2014.

This is big news to potential transplants that were concerned about the merger of the Memphis and suburban school system and the uncertainty that the situation created.

Some people in Memphis do not want the suburbs to break away from the merged system, but IMHO allowing the suburbs to create their own schools is pivotal to the long term stability of Shelby County, which is ultimately good for Memphis. If the suburbs were not allowed to have their own schools we would have seen massive growth in the surrounding counties. This growth would have been primarily from migration of middle class residents from Shelby County and new transplants choosing to move into Fayette, Tipton, and Desoto County instead of Shelby.

[Longtimelistener]

As a citizen of Memphis I could not agree more with your sentiments. If it had gone the way we hoped it would and the terrible management of MCS had been turned over to SCS things might have turned out better but MCS has shown it's hand. It isn't a merger, it is a takeover of county schools. The layoffs in the county schools shows what liars the merger people were when they said all things would stay the same at the suburban schools.
The state acted correctly knowing full well if it didn't people would move in huge numbers to get out of Shelby County. The cost of supporting a poor inner city with lower tax dollars in the county would have brought financial ruin to the county.
I'm still baffled by fellow Memphians who are so against the municipal schools. Can't see the forest from the trees.

[Tigertate]

Another good thing for Memphis residents if the fact that many of the new suburban districts will probably allow non-resident children to attend their schools (for a small tuition fee that will be MUCH cheaper than private school), which provides more education alternatives to people in Memphis. Private school is crazy expensive (at least some are) and many middle class people in Memphis feel like if White Station is not an option, private is the only other alternative (Well, that or moving out of Memphis to the burbs). These new districts in may provide another option to those folks which may help Memphis retain more middle class families.

[Longtimelistener]

White Station is the only choice for high school if you live inside the city limits. The rest are bad to awful. Private choices are all religious except for Lausanne which will only set you back $20k.........per year.
Part of Memphis will continue to be districted to Germantown. The city of Memphis would be wise not to screw that up. That area of South Cordova could end up being a cash cow from property taxes if they are zoned Germantown. Germantown has already said it will continue to educate them. It's up to the city of Memphis to be smart and say thank you.

[Tigertate]

Originally Posted by Longtimelistener

White Station is the only choice for high school if you live inside the city limits. The rest are bad to awful. Private choices are all religious except for Lausanne which will only set you back $20k.........per year.
Part of Memphis will continue to be districted to Germantown. The city of Memphis would be wise not to screw that up. That area of South Cordova could end up being a cash cow from property taxes if they are zoned Germantown. Germantown has already said it will continue to educate them. It's up to the city of Memphis to be smart and say thank you.

You are 100% correct. The city would be down right stupid to change the status quo in that area. That area is very nice and having the area zoned for Gtown schools is only a plus. In hindsight the city should have let the county keep all the schools for the areas they annexed over the last 30 years (if the county would have agreed to keep them). If that would have played out like I hope the South Cordova scenario plays out, large swaths of the city may not have turned to crap (i.e. Hickory Hill) and the property values in Cordova would have been much more stable. This would have put the city in a much better financial position today. Unfortunately, the leaders at the time did not see the big picture.

[Carlito Brigante]

White Station is just as bad as any other MCS school if your child is not in their optional program...

[DubbleT]

White Station draws much of the local student population from a stable middle class neighborhood so does not have a lot of the problems many of the other city schools face, but yes, the non optional program at White Station is probably not up to par with many of the better county schools.
I am curious about the IB program at Ridgeway, has it not lived up to the potential? Not a draw for parents in the same way the program at WSH is?

[Tigertate]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

White Station draws much of the local student population from a stable middle class neighborhood so does not have a lot of the problems many of the other city schools face, but yes, the non optional program at White Station is probably not up to par with many of the better county schools.
I am curious about the IB program at Ridgeway, has it not lived up to the potential? Not a draw for parents in the same way the program at WSH is?

I have heard good things about the program, but I think it is so small at this point that many parents do not give it much thought. In comparison to the general school population this program is miniscule. The racial demographics at Ridgeway also do not really meet the criteria for many of the parents that live in the surrounding neighborhoods. The school is not very diverse at all (approx. 85% black). Many white families are not going to feel comfortable sending their kids to a high school that is 85% black. It is what it is. White Station is about 50-50 white to non-white. Many of the county schools are also very diverse when compared to Ridgeway and many other MCS high schools. I hate to bring race into the conversation, but I do think it is a factor in where people decide to send their kids to school.

[Comingtomemphis]

Tigertate, you shouldn't hesitate to bring race into the conversation, because that was the basis for the court cases. As with maintaining the tax base, creating the munis should actually help integrate Memphis schools in the longer term. There aren't enough white kids left in the MCS/SCS system to integrate it, as most people would understand that (say, over 50% white kids in every school). Creating the municipal schools may actually attract more white families who, after all, probably didn't really want a long commute anyway. Strengthening the schools and tax base in Shelby County is a good thing.

[Carlito Brigante]

While we all know Memphis has a HUGE problem when it comes to race, I think CLASS is more the determining factor with the whole school debacle than RACE is. Keep in mind there are already Black students in Shelby County Schools. It's just that most of them come from two parent, solid income households were education and hard work are valued. That's the complete opposite of most of the Black kids in the "inner city" who attend MCS schools. With that in mind, I don't see how anybody could blame the munis and the suburban residents, because it certainly does make a difference and affect the quality of the school they send their children to and the education being provided there.