Tennessee's State-Run District Runs Into Political Trouble
Tennessee's state-run Achievement School District, which takes over low-performing schools and either runs them directly or hands them over to charter organizations, has run into partisan political trouble.
Several Democratic state lawmakers said Monday they will propose bills this upcoming legislative session to either shut down the turnaround district, which mostly is based in Memphis, or severely limit its authority to take over schools. Citing a recent Vanderbilt University study, the politicians said district-led turnaround efforts in Chattanooga, Memphis, and Nashville have academically outpaced the state's and that until the state-run district can begin to show academic progress, it shouldn't be allowed to take over more schools.
"The ASD should go back to its original goal and refocus on intense intervention at a small number of schools," state Rep. Brenda Gilmore, chairwoman of the Black Caucus of State Legislators said during a press conference Monday.
Party caucus leaders echoed that sentiment on Twitter.
Couldn't be there in person, but I stand w/ Chairlady Gilmore & the Black Caucus. #TNLeg #TNEdu #EducationMatters https://t.co/H2K0ESDwlX— Rep. Craig Fitzhugh (@craigfitzhugh) December 28, 2015Democrats don't have much political sway in the state's Republican-controlled legislature, and Republican Gov. Bill Haslam and his appointed commissioner Candice McQueen said recently that they still support the turnaround initiative, which was created under the state's waiver from provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act. Several bills were proposed last year to limit or shut down the ASD though only one actually passed. That bill limited the ASD to taking over schools that have failed to make any academic improvement.
"The ASD is one of multiple strategies to reach students in our lowest-performing schools, and we have seen schools perform better the longer they're in the ASD," a statement from Haslam's office said.
In recent weeks, the state-run district's takeover process has led to loud parking lot shouting matches and rowdy protests in several impoverished communities on the north and south end of Memphis. Shelby County Schools district leaders, which operate Memphis schools, have aggressively fought to pull students from the ASD to avoid funding cuts associated with a decreased enrollment. The Shelby County Schools board last month signed a resolution this month for the legislature to place a moratorium on the district.
Within the ASD, enrollment at several of the 27 schools has lagged, and YES Prep Public Schools, a nationally ranked charter operator based in Houston, abruptly abandoned its efforts to expand in Memphis after its leaders said they wouldn't be able to meet enrollment projections.
Academically, the district's charter operators in Memphis have struggled to cope with the city's entrenched poverty and the abnormally high mobility rate of its student body. Leaders have alsostruggled to hire and retain quality and experienced teachers. Its superintendent, Chris Barbic, resigned this month.
Just days after Vanderbilt released its study in early December comparing the state-led and district-led turnaround efforts, the state took over four more schools. Parents involved in the Tennessee's State-Run District Runs Into Political Trouble - State EdWatch - Education Week:
