State Representative Mark White narrows state intervention bill to only impact Memphis-Shelby County Schools

Representative Mark White (Photo by the Tennessee General Assembly)

House Education Chair Mark White, R-Memphis, announced Tuesday morning that he’s narrowing his proposed Tennessee Public School Accountability Act to only provide state intervention into his hometown school district.

White’s amended legislation would empower the commissioner of the Department of Education to recommend the governor, speaker of the house, and lieutenant governor to jointly create a board of managers for Memphis-Shelby County Schools. This board would essentially supersede the district’s existing school board and director of schools.

Under the legislation, existing district leadership and school board members would not be able to meet, make key decisions, or alter the makeup of the existing school board without approval from the new board of managers.

White told the House K-12 Subcommittee that state-led change is needed to address decades of underperformance and to ensure Memphis is ready for the new jobs that are moving to Shelby County.

“We have such tremendous economic opportunity in our community. As you know, Blue Oval City moved to West Tennessee. FedEx has been there for 50 years.  We have xAI which has come to our city, artificial intelligence, and they are committed and already started investing $60 billion in our community. Which is bringing tech companies into our community,” said White. “But we’ve got to address a decades old issue in our community and that is our local school system is not performing to the current opportunities that are demanding it. “

White has been publicly discussing the possibility of state intervention ever since members of the Memphis-Shelby County School Board began the process of firing former Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins after less than a year on the job.

Under his legislation, the governor would appoint 5 members of the board of managers and the lieutenant governor and speaker of the house would appoint 2 members each. The board would serve a minimum of four years and up to six, and each member would be required to reside in Shelby County and have experience in education,

finance, facilities, health, management, data, or evaluations.

The bill has created pushback from a coalition of religious, business, and community leaders who formed the organization Save Our Schools 901 to fight it. Organization leader Ron Redwing addressed the House K-12 subcommittee to explain his organization’s concerns.

“While we do agree, and there’s no question that the district needs a makeover, but we do not need a takeover,” said Redwing. “We think that’s absolutely asinine to think that some hand-picked individuals are going to come in, replace the locally elected board.”

Instead, Redwing proposed letting the Shelby County Commissioners appoint an advisory board that would provide guidance to the district, instead of direct authority.

White pushed back on that proposal, saying students in Memphis deserve a new approach.

“This is not state intervention. This is trying to set a process to where Shelby Countians can deal with their own issue,” said White.

Members of the House K-12 Subcommittee sided with White, advancing the bill to the full House Education Committee on a party-line 6 to 2 vote.

Representative Sam McKenzie, D-Knoxville, was among the two votes against the plan.

“We elect people to represent our interests.  This bill erases that.  It lets an appointed board; I don’t care where they’re from.  The people that are appointing them are right here in this building or the one next door.  The local school board would have no say anymore. That’s not the way America works,” said McKenzie.

Members of the Senate Education Committee are scheduled to take up a companion bill tomorrow.