Filed under: Dr. Boyce Money, Education
Ciara, Quddus and K. Michelle attend the The Get Schooled National Challenge & Tour at East High School on October 7, 2010 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Memphis, Tennessee is a city that is rich with culture, history and opportunity. I've visited the city on several occasions and found the city and its people to be quite enjoyable on all levels. What's also interesting about Memphis, however, is that it's city schools are failing and it continues to be a town that is plagued with racism: The city itself is mostly black, while wealthier whites live on the outskirts, hoping that the black folks don't come and rain on their parade. The city is not nearly as disconnected from it's legacy of blatant racism as it might want to believe.
Voters in the city of Memphis are being sent to the polls Tuesday to decide whether or not to transfer control of the Memphis City Schools to Shelby County, which surrounds Memphis. The Memphis City School Board voted on December 20 to surrender its charter and relinquish control of Memphis City Schools to Shelby County, leading to tomorrow's showdown. The referendum effectively allows voters to validate the decision by the school board, overriding Shelby County's legal challenge to the Memphis City School Board decision.
In an interview on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Roland Martin listened to a local pastor, Kenneth Whalum, who seemed to feel that merging the school districts means that the citizens would be "giving up on their kids." The pastor sounded disappointed that in the city where "Martin Luther King breathed his last breath," such a merger would be allowed to take place. He even compared the surrender of the charter to "making your kids wards of the state." I am not sure of the agenda of those involved in the interview, but what was made clear was that an alternative viewpoint was not even considered. That fact alone made me wonder if there was another side to the story.
I later heard that Glenda Warren, who works with Stacy L. Spencer, pastor of the New Direction Christian Church, felt other points of view were not properly considered by Roland and Tom. According to Warren's email to Martin, "he (Pastor Whalum) turned it into a race issue stating that a mostly black school district was trying to surrender its kids into the hands of a predominantly white school district." She further went on to provide information and facts that might explain why so many in Memphis are in favor of the merger.
According to an informational document I received from Ms. Warren, it appears that the situation may not be as simple as Martin and Whalum made it out to be. Shelby County schools has long been accused of being yet another one of the county districts across America that is petrified of having to share resources with students from the city. Perhaps out of concern that the quality of their own schools is going to decline, Shelby County has been working with the Republican majority in the state legislature to obtain "Special District" status, giving the county taxing authority, allowing it to have greater financial independence and avoid a merging with Memphis City Schools. On Minnesota Public Radio, David Pickler, Chairman of the Shelby County School Board expressed his disdain over the idea of merging his county's schools with those of the city of Memphis. Pickler's district is mostly white, while the Memphis City School district is mostly black with more than twice as many students (43,000 to 103,000), so while it might appear that the city of Memphis is handing control over to Shelby County, the truth is that Shelby County citizens would be outnumbered.
Like most other suburban counties across America, the suburban schools of Memphis are wonderful places to get an education: The sun seems to shine a little brighter, the birds chirp a bit louder and everyone ends up happy and well-educated. The Memphis City schools are the opposite, experiencing the same kind of urban decay being felt all across America, as those who've been granted wealth from their forefathers refuse to share their opportunities with the descendants of slaves. Without the resources currently being provided by the county, Memphis City School funding would be cut in half in the event that Shelby County were to become a special district. As it stands, Shelby County is currently legally obligated to ensure that all students in the county are educated, including those in the Memphis City Schools. With the new Republican majority, the Memphis City School Board effectively realized that Shelby County would get the "Special District" status it had been seeking, leaving the kids of the Memphis City Schools hanging out to dry.
The Memphis City School Board, seeing that the Republican majority in the Tennessee Legislature was determined to allow Shelby County Schools to become a special district (by lifting a ban on such moves that has been in place since 1982), mobilized a preemptive strike by surrendering its charter to the county, requiring the county to educate all of the children in the county, regardless of where they live. That means that the county's goal of having a special place to protect them from those pesky inner city kids who'd like to be educated has been thwarted.
After carefully considering both sides of the issue, I am firmly convinced that the Memphis City School board made the right decision. I am also concerned that Roland Martin, a friend for whom I have tremendous respect, didn't take the time to interview those with opposing viewpoints. This issue is too important for the citizens of Memphis to only get one side of the story. I encourage Roland and Tom Joyner to open the door for those who disagree with Pastor Whalum.
When it's all said and done, the most important issue here is that we all do what is necessary to educate our children. Everyone can see that the kids in our cities are being left behind and not given access to the same opportunities as everyone else. This form of segregation should be disallowed and fought vehemently. With every extra minute we wait before addressing this sickening disparity, we are destroying the life and future of yet another child. It's time to ensure equal funding across the board, so that we can all have access to the American dream.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. To follow Dr. Boyce on Facebook, please click here.