By Melissa Brown
Tennessee Republicans have passed an unprecedented intervention of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools system that gives political appointees sweeping authority over the locally elected school board and the state’s largest school district.
The appointed oversight board will have four years to address what Republicans argue is untenable academic underperformance and administrative instability in the district, which serves more than 100,000 students.
The new law gives the oversight board, which could be appointed at any time and must convene for the first time before July, broad latitude to set performance metrics for the district. It could also control everything from firing and hiring a superintendent to textbooks and classroom curriculum. The new body would have final say over the district’s $1.7 billion budget and major decisions like school closures and zoning.
Tennessee Senate and House Republicans voted on the measure Wednesday. Gov. Bill Lee must sign the legislation into law before oversight board members can be appointed.
A Memphis school board member on Tuesday called the law “racist” because Tennessee Republicans, all of whom are white, will seize control from the locally elected school board in a majority Black and Democratic county.
The school board is considering its legal options, though Memphis Republicans pushed a new law to block school districts from funding lawsuits against accountability measures.
Takeover advocates argue intervention is needed to move the needle on Memphis test scores. Last year, more than 75% of Memphis students failed to achieve proficiency in reading and math. But the district earned the highest possible score in academic growth, or student improvement on state tests, for the fourth year in a row.
Democrats argue academic underperformance is affected by systemic socioeconomic realities of MSCS students and the whiplash of district changes over the years, like the failed Achievement School District enforced by the state.
Not all Memphians are opposed to an oversight board after years of academic underperformance and leadership instability, which some say came to head after the local school board suddenly fired former Superintendent Marie Feagins in January 2025. There have been four MSCS superintendents in the last five years.
Though Memphis takeover opponents say the new law is aimed squarely at MSCS, it could affect other Tennessee school districts down the line. The law will apply to any schools that meet four of six criteria: academic underperformance, chronic absenteeism, D or F school grades, and priority school status, financial mismanagement as determined by the Tennessee education commissioner, and leadership instability.
Officials from the Tennessee Department of Education this week testified 80% of Tennessee schools already meet two of the academic underperformance standards, with less than 50% of students scoring proficient or higher on state English and math tests.
In addition to MSCS, six other school districts meet three out of the six criteria, including two school districts operated by the state.
“This bill is not about any one district, any one city or county,” Memphis Republican Rep. Mark White, the bill sponsor, said. “It’s an important component in our statewide accountability framework that applies uniformly to every local education agency in the state of Tennessee.”
For now, only MSCS meets the leadership instability and financial mismanagement criteria, in large part due to an ongoing state-funded audit that hasn’t yet been completed.
A legal challenge of the bill will likely hinge in part on these provisions. House Democrats on Wednesday argued the targeted legislation violates the Tennessee Constitution.
“While this bill is written like it applies broadly, in fact it narrows and narrows until it lands on Memphis-Shelby County schools. It is targeted application,” Memphis Democratic Rep. Antonio Parkinson said.
Parkinson proposed a pared-back advisory board that would maintain local governance while providing an accountability structure, but it was voted down by Republicans. Parkinson called the politically appointed oversight board “complete unchecked power.”
Before the vote Wednesday night, MSCS General Counsel Justin Bailey said the district was waiting for a final bill decision to move forward with a lawsuit.
Bailey said the law that prevents the district from using its own funds to legally challenge state-imposed accountability measures doesn’t clearly define “accountability” — so the parameters it applies to are unclear.
– Bri Hatch contributed to this report. Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa at mbrown@chalkbeat.org.
This story was originally published by Chalkbeat.
