Suburban plan needs research

The Commercial Appeal
February 20, 2005

At least they're not just saying "no."

In a meeting with The Commercial Appeal's editorial board last week, four of Shelby County's six suburban mayors actually endorsed a plan to reform the way local schools are funded.

Too often in recent years, the suburban mayors have come across like David Spade's character in a recent TV commercial, in which he coaches a call center operator to answer "no" to any question.

The mayors don't want suburban residents to pick up the slack for funding Memphis city schools if the Memphis City Council reduces its share of support.

They aren't willing to consider merging the Memphis and Shelby County school systems, either. And they certainly won't entertain the idea of merging Memphis and Shelby County governments.

They argue, in no uncertain terms, that the Memphis city government and school system have problems that can't be fixed simply by asking suburban residents to pay a greater share of their costs.

Speaking for his constituents, Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald said: "They don't want to pay for the sins of others."

So what would the suburban mayors support? The four who met with our editorial board indicated that they like a plan to keep the boundaries of the two school districts frozen in place, irrespective of any future annexations by Memphis.

Under that plan, Shelby County government could still provide operating funding for the two school systems, based on the student populations in each.

For capital expenses like new construction or major equipment purchases, the population-based formula perhaps might be scrapped in favor of a system based on the needs of each district.

And each district's school board would have taxing authority to raise more money, relieving city governments, including Memphis, of the obligation to directly fund education.

State Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, filed a bill this year that could set the plan in motion, by freezing the school district boundaries.

Taking the idea a step further than his colleagues, McDonald suggested that two school districts might not be enough. Perhaps the county could use several separate districts, each served by a school board representing its constituents' interests.

The suburban mayors' concept is about as far from school district consolidation as one can get. That doesn't mean it's not worth discussing.

However, here's where the mayors and anyone else who supports the separate school district concept have some work to do. They need to do some serious research to find out whether their restructuring plan would actually save any money or help schools operate more efficiently. More important, how would the quality of education in each district be affected?

If suburban leaders devise a plan that shortchanges the needs of students in inner-city Memphis, they can expect it to meet with the same sort of hostility from city residents that consolidation plans provoke in the suburbs.

The suburban mayors are quick to criticize Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, who admittedly hasn't done a very good job of selling his pro-consolidation views to the community at large.

The question is, can the suburban mayors do any better in selling an alternative idea that they believe has merit?