Memphis-Shelby County Schools—Accountable to Whom?

In a half-hearted effort to address decades of mismanagement and poor student performance, the state’s largest school district, Memphis-Shelby County Schools, released a six-page accountability plan earlier this year. But that’s nothing compared to the Comptroller, who recently released over 660 pages of a scathing audit detailing the district’s financial missteps. It doesn’t take a math major to see one of these is more detailed and meaningful than the other.

And the details are something: tens of millions of taxpayer dollars flagged as waste, fraud, and abuse. Tens of millions more spent in non-compliance with district policies and federal grants. Critical processes without formal documented or standardized procedures and areas of non-compliance with state law. These findings are underscored by recent TCAP results indicating less than 26 percent of students are meeting expectations for English Language Arts (ELA), and even fewer are meeting expectations in math.

Parents are fed up, but the district continues to spend taxpayer dollars, pushing a lawsuit against the state over a well-reasoned district takeover plan, despite the millions already siphoned away from classrooms. While a district can claim accountability even in the face of clear failures, when education funding truly follows the child, not the school system, parents are accountable and feel more empowered to give their child the best learning environment possible. But real accountability isn’t what school leaders want. The Memphis-Shelby County Schools interim superintendent said plainly, “I don’t want people to choose [education freedom scholarship].” A board member followed up by saying the scholarships lack the same accountability as public schools. We can agree to disagree, but nothing is more accountable than taking your child’s education funding to a school that will provide a better education.