A Fairy Tale – by Ken Hoover

 Once upon a time, in the Kingdomof Shelby, there were two large school districts.  The biggest district had the lowest test scores in the land.  There were many tales of wasted money and management problems.  The smaller (but still very large) school district was doing okay, ranked 23^rd out of 135 districts.  Almost all of the very large school districts in all of the nearby kingdoms struggled as well.  The wise men said “Their very large size is a disadvantage.”

 A great wizard suggested that we improve the large school district by consolidating it with the smaller district.  The wise men asked, “How will this help?”  They wondered how getting even larger would help the district get better.  “It’s magic” replied the wizard.

 And so, the two school districts were combined.  None of the children learned more; some of the children learned less.  The consolidated district used more of the kingdom’s treasure.  Many of the subjects moved to other kingdoms.  However, the subjects who remained had unity and they lived happily ever after.

 The Debate

 The debate about municipal schools is jelling into two central positions.  The municipal movement rests upon the idea that a 150,000 student school district is too large to manage.  Four decades of research shows that smaller districts serve students better.  The cost effectiveness of smaller districts is an added bonus.

 “Sheer size is one problem.  Central office staffs are large, highly specialized, and remote from the schools, so that superintendents and board members deal with education only indirectly and through policy rather than through direct contact.”  Educational Progress by RAND Corporation – 1990

 Most residents ofGermantownare convinced that the absolute best structure for their school children is a municipal school district.  The same is true for the other suburban municipalities.  The size of these majorities will be measured in the referendums each city will hold.

 The argument against municipal schools boils down to unity.  A recent Commercial Appeal article gives a glimpse of the unity argument presented by several members of the Transition Planning Commission. (http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/oct/28/schools-transition-commission-shares-hopes-fears-a/) 

 “And the county wins really big if our city school kids are educated better because we all are in one pot.” – Staley Cates

 ”If we don’t worry about the entire area, this community … will die slowly, but it will die.” – John Smarrelli

 The central theme of the unity argument is noble – we must all work together for the greater good.  Nonetheless, the unity philosophy has serious gaps in its logic.

 Pull Together

 A supporting argument for the unity position is “If we all pull together, we can make things better.”  Proponents of municipal schools are viewed as separatists who are abandoning the most vulnerable students.  What is never explained is exactly how suburban residents can contribute to improving city schools.  Parental involvement is overwhelmingly at the school level.  Do we expect Collierville parents to attend Ridgeway High PTA meetings?  Are we askingBartlettparents to volunteer at Airways Middle?  Will city students be more diligent in their homework if the name of their district changes?  The answer to all of these is clearly “No”.

 Still, there is a belief that forming a municipal school district shows a lack of concern for other areas.  A deep concern for my neighborhood school does not indicate indifference about other schools.  It does indicate a realism regarding how far my influence extends.

 Parent and community engagement at the district level is limited in the best of circumstances.  There are very few opportunities to volunteer at the central office.  Only occasionally does a school board issue generate significant public comment.  The influence of parents and stakeholders on board activities declines sharply as school district size increases.  A mega district will strongly discourage parental engagement at the district level.

 Schools thrive when parents and communities are engaged and ‘own’ their schools.  That sense of ownership cannot be delegated to a distant neighborhood.

 Greater Good

 Suburban residents are asked to “look beyond your selfish interests to the greater good.”  A significant percentage ofGermantownresidents would be willing to make some sacrifices in order to benefit other areas of the county.  That is not the proposition on the table. 

 Germantownparents are being asked to join a mega district structure that has a long history of underperforming.  There is no promise or even expectation that this sacrifice will be rewarded with improved student performance anywhere in the county.  There is a very reasonable expectation that this structure will lower student achievement and increase costs.  These have been the results in other areas; areas where the districts being consolidated were much smaller than we have here.  At 150,000 students, the penalties of scale will be much more severe for us. 

 Who can support sacrifice for the greater bad?

 Unity

 In the consolidation discussion, unity of purpose is being redefined as unity of organization.  Every school district inTennesseeshares the same goal of excellence in education.  They succeed in varying degrees based on a wide range of factors.  We don’t need a mega district in order to understand what educational failures inMemphismean to the entire region.  Clearly, we MUST find ways to improve outcomes forMemphisstudents.  Researchers and the top two educators inShelbyCountyagree, a mega district will make it harder to improve outcomes, not easier.

 True unity cannot be imposed.  Unity is recognition of shared interests.  Improvement in our schools IS a shared interest.  A mega district works against our shared interests.

 Puzzles

 It is not surprising thatArlington,Bartlett, Collierville, andGermantownare seeking to take ownership of public education.  The question is, why aren’t Whitehaven, Frayser, Cordova, andEast Memphismoving to take ownership of their neighborhood schools?  THAT is the path to radically improved education inShelbyCounty.

 It is also surprising that small school districts are opposed by much ofMemphiswhile charter schools are well accepted.  A charter school is a school district consisting of one school.  The principal benefits of a charter school (and small school districts) are programs tailored to the population served and freedom from the bureaucracy that goes with large school districts. Memphistoday has 26 school districts; one traditional district and 25 charter schools.  For some reason, charter schools are welcome but a second, third, or fourth traditional district is highly undesirable.

(Letter to the Editor, Germantown News, published 9/29/11)

By Dick Vosburg,Germantown

The appointments on Monday, September 12, make it clear.  Our participation in the decisions to be made by the new school board is not wanted and our voices will not be heard.  All that the new Shelby County School board (to better be known as the Memphis Metro Mega School Board) wants from us is the contents of our wallets.  District 4 was supposed to represent us, but Venecia Kimbrow was recruited by Steve Mulroy and the pro-consolidation advocacy group Stand For Children.  They believe that a 150,000 school district is a good idea; despite all the research indicating smaller is better.  They will destroy what we had in Shelby County Schools, and what is very sad, they will make things worse for the former Memphis City Schools students.

According to a Utah study cited on myGermantownSchools.com: “Who controls the quality, financing, and curriculum of our schools? While many citizens intuitively feel these decisions are best made by the parents and teachers of students in the local neighborhood, under our current system, for various reasons, the power to make those decisions rests in the hands of school boards and administrators who oversee increasingly large districts.  Smaller districts are more efficient than larger ones in both dollars per student and numbers of administrators per student…. Paradoxically, the larger a school district gets, the more resources it devotes to secondary or even non-essential activities.Utah’s smaller districts score better, not because the educators of big districts try less, but because the bureaucracy, which a large district must have for control, ties their hands.”

The school board is charged with three types of decisions: structure, superintendent and policy.  At least 16 of the 23 members of the school board firmly believe that the current failed structure is to be retained.  If you hear about chancellors or regions, don’t be misled—the only structure that will improve things pushes real decision-making and taxing authority down to local citizens.  There will not be a serious discussion of structural innovation, because that would dilute power.  And the whole reason for the charter surrender was to grab power and money.  As Mulroy acknowledges, the purpose of the Board is not to find the best solution, “the purpose of this board is make unification work.”  Regardless of what is best for the students.

Ken Hoover, a Germantown advocate for local control of education applied for appointment for the District 4 seat in order to bring that discussion to the new school board and try to find better answers.  His election was blocked by Mulroy, Ford, Brooks, Bailey, Harvey, Chism, Brooks and Carpenter.  Eight Memphis representatives elected the board member supposed to representGermantown. By the time we go to the polls in August 2012 and get a chance to elect someone to represent us, planning for theMemphisMetroSchool District and the Germantown Municipal School Districtwill have gone far down the road.  Any hope for improvements for all the children of the county will have passed us by.  No matter how strong our desire to help all students, we will be limited to creating something excellent for the children of Germantown residents.

An Analysis from Dick Vosburg

A key question (maybe the question) to the establishment of aGermantownMunicipalSchool District is the effect on property taxes.  I will try to give some perspective to the issue.

Historical precedent has been that when Memphis annexes property, any schools therein are transferred from Shelby County Schools to Memphis City Schools at no cost.  That means free.  The eight schools within GermantownCity limits are owned by Shelby County Schools, paid for by all the taxpayers of ShelbyCounty.  That means we paid for them and will continue to pay for them (to the extent of approximately $6.4 million per year paid byGermantown taxpayers to service school debt).  So the precedent is free.

If you have been listening to Martavious Jones, president of the Memphis City School Board, he is sayingGermantown should pay replacement cost for the schools.  Why? Because he thinks he can get it from us.  Is this fair?  No one from MCS is talking about fair. Germantown city staff has estimated replacement cost as $130 million based upon insured values.  The old Shelby County School Board (who has title to the schools) missed the opportunity to follow the precedent of transferring the title toGermantown.  So, Germantown will be negotiating with the new 23-member Memphis Metro School Board where we will be outvoted 16 to 7.  A transaction requires a willing buyer and a willing seller—we doubt we will have that.

So what is our alternative?  Next to every school is a park.  We can tear down the park and build a school.  When the schools have been abandoned, we can take over the schools, tear them down and build parks.  Hopefully that is humor and it will never come to that.  But what do we have in the schools inGermantown?  Average building age 24 years.  All with great amounts of deferred maintenance needs.  Most do not have fire sprinklers or adequate technology.  While updating the buildings would probably cost less than building new, maybe not that much less.  Hopefully Southern Education Strategies will give us an indication of what the deferred maintenance costs might be so that the Mayor can use that in negotiations with the Memphis Metro School Board.

If we are serving the 4,600 students who areGermantown residents, we need probably six schools.  I will assume we configure them as 5 elementary-middle schools and one high school (a separate middle school and four elementary schools do not change the calculations).  The primary schools will cost approximately $15 million each.  Seven acres of land (even if buying up some homes) should not cost more than $3.5M per school.   Southwind High School cost $45 million, including land.  So capital cost of the six school buildings should not be more than $137.5 million.  For that we would get six bright, shiny new schools; not the worn buildings that Mr. Jones wants to sell us for about the same amount.

Germantown just issued debt at 2.55% for 20 years.  But our AAA debt rating will not survive another $137.5 million—we would probably pay more like 3.1%.  This would cost Germantown $9.325 million in annual debt service over 20 years.  With current Germantown valuations, that means 71.7 cents per $100 assessed value.

Operating costs are really unknown—that is one of the primary responsibilities of the recently-hired consultant, Southern Educational Strategies, to assess.  Germantown Schools will get both state and county funding.  The State requires we contribute at least 15 cents per $100 of assessed valuation so we are financially invested in the municipal schools.  Let’s assume that the 15 cents will be sufficient.

Can we afford this?  The median home sale in Germantown this year was almost exactly $300,000.  With assessment at 25%, that means an average assessed value of $75,000.  An increased tax of 86.7 cents per $100 means $650 per year in increased property taxes for the median Germantown home.  This will cover the cost of buying land, building new schools and operating them.  This is the worst case scenario and our city leadership will likely find a less costly path.  $650 is expensive for those with limited resources; a bargain for those paying private school tuition.  How many new families will be attracted to Germantown?  When a house sells will there be more young families looking?  Will home values go up?

If home values go up by as little as 2%, that will be enough to break even. One way to look at the financial aspects of a municipal school district is cash flows.  If you invested $650 a year into a savings account paying 4% interest, at the end of ten years you would have $7,804.  If you invested $650 a year in a municipal school district AND the presence of a school district added 10% to the value of your home, you would have an extra $22,000 when you sold your home, even if the value did not appreciate further.  A municipal school district is a fabulous investment when viewed in terms of property values. This might be the best $650 you invest to maintain your home value—and think of what we can provide for the children of Germantown!

Check out the latest updates in the Resources tab of www.myGermantownSchools.com.  We have also added a link to an excellent site, www.smallerschools.org.

 SmallerSchools.org

 Some quotes from the site:

 “Control is the key. Who controls the quality, financing, and curriculum of our schools? While many citizens intuitively feel these decisions are best made by the parents and teachers of students in the local neighborhood, under our current system, for various reasons, the power to make those decisions rests in the hands of school boards and administrators who oversee increasingly large districts.”

 ”Webb & Ohm (1984) found smaller districts more efficient than larger ones in both dollars per student and numbers of administrators per student….”

 ”Paradoxically, the larger a school district gets, the more resources it devotes to secondary or even non-essential activities.”

 “Utah’s smaller districts score better, not because the educators of big districts try less, but because the bureaucracy, which a large district must have for control, ties their hands.”

 “Substantial studies show that bigger is not better and that ‘bigness’ is alienating citizens toward our educational institutions.”

 “Magnet and charter schools are only imitations of what could be found with smaller schools in smaller districts.”

 The Smaller Schools site is advocating statewide public policy for Utah.

 Additional Studies

 We have also added two more studies on the district size.  We have not found ANY research that advocates increasing district size other than combining districts with less than 1,000 students each.

School District Size and Student Performance – Economics of Education Review, 2003

“Controlling for characteristics of the student population and other environmental factors, including class and school size, district size appears to hinder educational achievement, having its biggest impact on middle school student performance.”  Page 1

The Influence of District Size, School Size, and Socioeconomic Status on Student Acheivement – Washington School Research Center, 2002

“We found that large district size is detrimental to achievement in Washington 4th and 7th grades in that it strengthens the negative relationship between school poverty and student achievement. This finding replicated that of the Bickel and Howley (2000) study.”” Page 16 (4th and 7th grades were the groups studied)

Spread the Word

Forward this post.  Encourage your friends to visit myGermantownSchools.com and register.

The long awaited ruling is here.

Summary

Norris-Todd is the controlling law for this transition. All challenges to Norris-Todd were dismissed. The provision allowing the formation of new municipal school districts is in effect. At the end of the 2012-2013 school year, Germantown will be permitted to form a Municipal School District under state law.

The makeup of the SCS Board will change; how soon is still to be determined.

Background

Most people have some familiarity with this case. City interests claimed that MCS no longer exists and that SCS is already responsible for the city schools. The County Commission claimed a right to pack the SCS board with an additional 18 members. If allowed, this would put city interests in charge of the SCS board immediately.

MCS claimed that Norris-Todd should govern the merger BUT claimed that the special/municipal school district provisions of Norris-Todd were unconstitutional. MCS also asked the judge to require the City of Memphis to continue providing maintenance of effort through the end of the transition period.

SCS asked the judge to rule on whether the transition was immediate or delayed under Norris-Todd. A major request from SCS was that the judge prohibit the County Commission from adding any new board members.

The Board

Mays found a strange middle ground in his ruling. He declared that MCS will cease to exist in 2013 and will continue to manage city schools until that time. He also found that SCS is immediately “responsible” for the education of city students. This “responsibility” means that city voters must have a voice on the SCS Board. Mays ruled that the current school board districts are unconstitutional because they exclude city residents. He asked the parties to suggest remedies for the “unconstitutional” condition.

He also ruled that the County Commission cannot pack to board with 18 new appointed members. Mays says that the size of the school board is spelled out in the county charter and can only be changed by amending the charter. Charter amendments must go before the voters.

Since the County Commission cannot increase the number of board members, the only obvious solution to the “unconstitutional” nature of the current districts is re-drawing the district lines.

The most likely resolution to the SCS board question is a two step process. In step one, the County Commission would re-draw the boundaries of the seven school board districts. Although Judge Mays dismissed the school board members claims attached to this suit, TN state law does not allow a duly elected official to be deprived of his office. All seven of the current school board members will be allowed to serve out their terms. The effect of re-drawing lines would be to replace the three members whose terms expire in 2012 (Clayton, George, and Wissman) with city representatives in the elections next summer.

The County Commission can be expected to approve an amendment to the County Charter expanding the number of seats on the SCS board. A charter amendment would have to go before the voters, probably on the 2012 ballot. Once approved, the commission would appoint two or four new members. After the 2012 election and the County Commission appointments that would follow, a majority (5-4 or 7-4) of the SCS board members would be Memphis residents.

The Ruling

The Mays ruling includes 16 declarations, or findings:

1) MCS has surrendered their charter under the private act, making SCS “responsible” for city students.
2) Norris-Todd is constitutional and will govern the transition period.
3) MCS has been abolished for all purposes other than winding down their operations.
4) MCS board actions prior to this ruling are valid.
5) SCS is responsible for the education of MCS students and will oversee the transition to a combined district.
6) The MCS board will operate city schools until the summer of 2013.
7) MCS will cease to exist at the end of the 2012/13 school year.
8-10) SCS and MCS will both prepare plans to protect the rights of teachers.
11) The commissioner of education must make a determination as to whether or not the teacher protection plans are adequate.
12) Parties with appointing authority (SCS Board, MCS Board, County Mayor) will make their appointments to the transition committee.
13) The City of Memphis and the Memphis City Council have no authority over the transition.
14) The City of Memphis must continue their maintenance of effort contributions to MCS during the transition.
15) The Shelby County Commission has NO authority to change the number of seats on the SCS board.
16) Current SCS board districts are unconstitutional.

My Germantown Schools is a group of ordinary citizens dedicated to local control over our Germantown public schools.  We have adopted three basic missions:

 Educate:  We will be a clearinghouse of information on the school issue.  The Resources section already contains links to studies and legislation and will continue to grow.  The News tab contains links to media coverage of the schools issue.  The blog portion of the website allows us to serve as a discussion group, airing multiple perspectives from across Germantown.  Beyond the website, we plan to use direct mail and other communications to share information with everyone in Germantown.

 Organize:  If you are a conservative, you might join the Republican party.  If you are a liberal, you might join the Democratic party.  If you are a hunter, you might join Ducks Unlimited.  If you believe in local control of public education, you should definitely join My Germantown Schools.  By joining together, we will form the foundation of public support upon which a local school district will be built.

 Unify:  My Germantown Schools will work to build a consensus in support of local control over our schools.  A city school district provides an incredible opportunity to link parents, other residents, the business community, and municipal government together in a singular pursuit – excellence in education.  We truly can be the shining city on the hill.

There are some difficult questions to be answered.  Our Board of Aldermen and, later, the local school board will make decisions and set policy.  Our role is to build one voice in favor of a municipal school district.

A successful effort will require the support of all Germantown residents.  To reach all constituencies, we have formed a steering committee with public school parents, private school parents, and retirees from the four corners of Germantown.  The tremendous value of these multiple perspectives has already shown through in our first few steering committee meetings.

We have also registered a political action committee (PAC) underneath the My Germantown Schools umbrella.  The PAC can provide a vehicle for supporting our elected officials.  More importantly, the financial reporting required by the PAC will provide transparency for the financial dealings of My Germantown Schools.

We have already seen the support of hundreds of Germantown residents.  We need the support of thousands.  Please forward this message to everyone in town.  Send them to MyGermantownSchools.com to join the cause.