The state’s move to take over schools in Memphis-Shelby County is picking up steam after the district board took over and rejected oversight.

House Education Committee Chairman Rep. Mark White summed up a bill Monday that would allow the Department of Education to establish a management group to run Memphis-Shelby County schools without overseeing the district’s school board. I stated.

White, an East Memphis Republican, said that the school board fired Marie Fiegen on Jan. 21 as school director, which is another reason why the state should take over the district, in addition to poor student performance. I stated.

“I believe that Memphis-Shelby County schools can do much better than they do,” White said.

Under plans that were not submitted in time for this week’s special session on private school vouchers, the state has put together a group that “replaces” school boards with “right-sized ones” for at least two years. White said. Although school board members will remain elected, he said they will only serve in the role of advice, adding that he is working on the law to ensure it is legal.

A Memphis senator condemned the idea on Monday, with Senate minority leader Raumesh Akbari calling it a “attack on democracy.”

“Instead of punishing local decisions, we should focus on moving forward together,” Akbari said.

Similarly, Sen. London Lamar, chairman of the Senate Democrat Caucus, said he was interested in House Speaker Cameron Sexton’s plan to draft a bill that would allow the state to gain control of the Memphis School District. Ta.

“This kind of move represents a significant succession of governments and threatening the fundamental principles of local governance,” Lamar said.

For example, achievement school districts that primarily target struggling schools in Memphis have been dissolved, with most schools under that district remaining in the bottom 5% of the statewide overall for student performance.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris is lobbying lawmakers to drop the state’s takeover, and hopes Coolerhead will win.

“We’re doing our best we can to ease the situation and lower the temperature,” said Harris, a former Senator. “Everyone talks about focusing on kids. Well, if the focus is kids, we can’t focus all our energy on trying to punish adults.”

White agreed to dissolve the achievement school district after several years of floating, removing some schools from the state’s “priority” list due to poor performance and establishing Izone Schools in Shelby County Schools He said it serves the purpose of doing so. We received more district support until the district ran out of funds to continue the program.

“We don’t move the needle for the community with all the opportunities we have,” White said. He added that some schools in the district had not had enough students and were dumped by burglars, making it impossible for charter school operators to buy or lease them.

The Memphis-Shelby County Board of Education has fired Figgins for overtime costs, acceptance of $45,000 donations, questions about federal funding, questions about grant deadlines, and allegations dealing with conduct that is harmful to the district. .