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November 30, 2005
Shelby County Schools Joins State’s Elite in Achievement/Value Added

Value Added grades represent what students are expected to gain in an academic year.  In order to achieve an “A,” systems must move students beyond a year’s academic growth.  This is extremely difficult for high performing systems because there is less room for improvement.  On the TN Report Card in K-8 scores in Math, Reading/Language Arts, Science, & Social Studies,  only five school systems of Tennessee’s 136 (Franklin, Johnson City, Maryville, Oak Ridge, and Shelby County) received at least 2 “A’s” and no “C’s in achievement, as well as all “A’s” in Value Added scores.
                                                        

The other four systems attaining this feat average 40,000 less students than Shelby County Schools and spend an average of over $2,000 more per pupil. If Shelby County Schools had the same funding as the other four systems, an additional $88 million would be available each year to help students.

July 25th, 2005
No Child Left Behind  in Shelby County Schools! see STATS

Two years ago the federal government initiated the most sweeping accountability program in  the history of public education - No Child Left Behind. Under  this program benchmarks were set to establish a required level of proficiency in Math and Reading /Language Arts in  elementary and middle schools, as well as in Algebra I and English II in high schools.  The test results were disaggregated into categories by race, students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students and students with limited English proficiency.                                                                  


Shelby County Schools certainly accepts the premise that “No Child (should ever be) Left Behind.”  As educators, we are committed to helping each student in our system  reach their full potential.  Shelby County Schools is Tennessee’s 4th largest system and the 85th largest of over 15,000 school systems in the nation.  For a system as large and diverse as SCS, the NCLB results were truly outstanding. This is a tribute to the implemented initiatives and hard work and dedication of the wonderful teachers and administrators in our system. We are also proud of the outstanding effort put forth by our students, as well as the continued support of their parents.  This was truly a     team effort.                                                                                           


 The following is a summary of the SCS’s “No Child Left Behind” data:

All 46 Shelby County Schools

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July 25th, 2005

I wanted you to be the first to know about the County Commission’s vote on the  Memphis City Schools and Shelby County Schools Joint Capital Plan.  The “Joint Capital Plan,” which had previously been approved by the MCS & SCS School Boards and endorsed by the County Mayor, was  passed by the County Commission with ten affirmative votes.

Our two school boards, along with Mayor Wharton, are certainly to be commended for the capital agreement that was worked out.  This “Joint Capital Plan” addresses many of the most pressing capital needs of both school systems - the maintenance needs faced by Memphis City Schools and the severe overcrowding SCS faces in the southeastern portion of our system.

A special debt of gratitude goes to the County Commission for recognizing the capital needs of both systems and the subsequent approval of the “Joint Capital Plan.”  With their vote the County Commission has joined our two school boards and Mayor Wharton in sending a resounding message that our children are a priority in this county. 

 

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July 13, 2005
School Budgets Funded
At a meeting today, the County Commission approved a tax rate which fully funds our school budgets.  They are to be commended for this action.  We had already cut $16 million from our budget and were forced to eliminate 389 positions, and yet still faced an additional $5.5 million deficit if this action had not been taken.   

Capital Needs Plan in Jeopardy - Your Help is Needed                                                                                
On Monday, July 11th, instead of approving the Joint Memphis City Schools & Shelby County Schools Capital Needs Plan, the County Commission voted 7 to 5 in favor of sending it back to their Education Committee for further review. I am concerned that any attempt to alter this document could ultimately jeopardize the agreement. Both the MCS and SCS School Boards went through several months of meetings to come up with a proposal to benefit the capital needs of both school systems.  Twenty drafts were made during this process. The final document has been approved by both the MCS & SCS School Boards, and has been endorsed by Mayor Wharton.  The Capital Plan involves the following:

 2006 Capital Funding

Critical Capital Needs faced by SCS in Southeastern Shelby County

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Feb. 15, 2005         
The Answer to School Funding Issues is Cooperation Not Consolidation

Every year when public school budgets are being prepared,  “consolidators” emerge touting school consolidation as the magic wand that can make school funding woes disappear.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  In reality, the history of school consolidation in Tennessee’s large systems is very clear - it’s costly, education is not improved, and enrollments often drop. The cost factor is due in part to Tennessee statutes which require a lower funded system, in this case SCS, to be “leveled up” to the higher funded system.  Instead of concentrating on expensive consolidation, what really needs to be discussed are measures that can provide more efficient use of tax dollars that will enhance the quality of education for students in Memphis and Shelby County.

The myth of school consolidation as a cost saving measure needs to be dispelled once and for all.  Although school consolidation can be effective in better utilizing tax dollars when merging small systems, this has not proven to be the case for large systems in Tennessee.  The staffs of Memphis City Schools and Shelby County Schools have already explored the possibility of joint purchasing.  It was determined that both systems were already receiving maximum discounts due to their size.  Many individuals fail to realize that of the over 15,000 public school systems in the nation, Memphis City Schools (MCS) is the 19th largest and Shelby County Schools (SCS) is the 89th largest.   

Proponents of school consolidation also state money can be saved by reducing administrators.  This seems to be logical in that instead of having two superintendents you would only need one. A consolidation plan  released last week, however, called for creating five school districts, each with their own superintendent.  This proposal also called for another layer of bureaucracy over the superintendents made up of a chancellor, two deputy chancellors, and a chief administrative officer.  This doesn’t sound like saving money.

Funding for K-12 education in Tennessee

Under Tennessee law, money for public education needs to be split according to Average Daily Attendance (ADA), which represents the number of students attending school in a system.  This makes perfect sense when dealing with the cost to educate students.  If three fourths  of the public school students in our county attend MCS, then they should get three fourths  of the  local funds designated for educating students.  What has come into question though is that present state law requires the same ADA split for capital projects.  If SCS builds a school,  MCS automatically receives approximately 3 times the amount of the SCS building cost.  SCS also automatically receives their ADA percentage of the amount for an MCS building project.  Through cooperation and legislative action the costly ADA formula for capital projects can be changed.