And the inevitable buzzkill

No big plans for a lazy Saturday. I like to lay in bed and sleep longer, or just drowse, when it is colder, but today I was up earlier. Free spicy chicken biscuit at Chick-Fil-A, so had to get dressed and go out during my appointment time, which was OK, since then I got on the laptop and started the weekend chores - inputting assignments, grading papers, inputting grades, etc.

Well, right away I see a new email from the district informing me I have missed two mandatory professional development sessions for new teachers. Sessions I knew nothing about - the only session about which I was informed was early during my first or second week, and I only found out from a "by the way" conversation, giving me less than a day's notice. It kind of freaked me out a little (by which I mean a lot) since I hate missing obligations, and because I am always blaming myself for everything I assume everybody else does too. Shot off an email to let my two superiors know this was not intentional, and asking for advice (which was answered today by one, which is good - I think I am not on her email list for notification of this stuff - it took the front office at the school a hella long time to get my email on their routing list). Still, it knocked me off my schedule, and I only did about 2 of the 4 hours of school related work I had hoped to accomplish. Which reinforces the self-blame game.

Not that I will run out of time. I have all day tomorrow, and the weather doom-criers are talking about snow Sunday night and Monday morning. Now that I work for the county school system, it is likely school will be canceled even for the threat of weather, since the county is geographically more wide reaching - although the heavier snow is predicted for south of the state border. But I can't count on that. So, a couple of hours grading papers, which always brings me down, then lesson planning, and playing with the new smartboard app.

Meanwhile, the drama continues over the two school systems and the largely incomprehensible game of political chicken/hot potato/pick your own metaphor. If you aren't here in Memphis (and really, even if you are) it is nearly impossible to give enough background detail. The city is fully within the county (Shelby), but has a completely separate government, public services (police, fire, etc.), emergency response (911), schools, and taxation. So, while we own a house in Memphis, we pay both Memphis and Shelby County property taxes, but only receive services from Memphis entities. Some of our county taxes come back to the city schools, since the county is required to pay a portion of that budget.

*interlude* The mindset is that the city is urban, the county is suburban. The city is black, the county is white. The city is poor, the county is affluent. The city is crime ridden, the county is safer. The city schools are terrible, and the county schools are above average. Therefore there has been a steady migration of people westward, out of the city limits, which further divides the haves and have-nots, since if you can't afford to move, well, it brings down the median income. Our former mayor further fueled this divisiveness by telling people if they should get out if they didn't like the city or its government. The situation is not as black and white (pun intended) as public opinion indicates. */end interlude*

A couple years ago, some bright (meaning stupid) politician "interpreted" a clause in the city charter to mean that the county was entirely responsible for funding the city schools, and as a result got the city council to remove $57million that was budgeted by the city for schools. The city lawyers, paid by the city, obviously sided with the people who cut their checks. Every other legal mind knew it would not stand, as state law says a city cannot reduce funding to schools, even if it is not mandated by city law. In other words, you have been funding the schools for many decades, you better keep doing it. Then the geniuses (again, opposite of) kept appealing the rulings against them, and not setting money aside to cover the $57million "just in case" they didn't win on appeal. Long story short - higher city taxes. Meanwhile, every politician is for education.

Periodically Memphis stretches itself and annexes areas of the county near the city limits, based on some formula I have not been able to fathom. This means some schools (and their valuable infrastructure) become part of the Memphis City Schools, to the ire of residents and students in those areas. My school is right on the border and could be annexed in a future grab. Anyhow, the County schools floated the idea of appealing to the state legislature for Special School District status (which Memphis City Schools already has, which is how they exist separately, but within), something that is rarely granted. But IF it were to be granted, it would prevent future annexation by Memphis City Schools, would allow the County Schools to have a bigger say in tax rates to fund schools. Important word there: IF.

This possibility scared the hell out of the Memphis School Board, and as a threat to the County Schools, floated the possibility of surrendering the school charter (written and never changed since 1869), which would have the effect of forcing the County Schools to then absorb the Memphis City Schools. By the numbers, a system currently serving 47,000 students would suddenly have an influx of about 100,000 students. This was supposed to scare the County into not considering Special Status, but nobody in power came out and said anything, so the Memphis School Board voted to surrender the charter.

Now the dominoes start falling. The law says that the public must vote on surrendering the charter within 60 days. But the Election Commission will not schedule the vote until their lawyers have a say (plus, the vote will cost about $1million). County legislators start a push to force the state, not the county, to take over the city schools. The state informs the Election Commission that they cannot schedule the vote until the City Council ratifies the surrender. The School Board, having left themselves a loophole, notices that they didn't ratify the minutes of the meeting at which they voted to surrender the charter (a common practice, so they can judge public opinion and backpedal if their re-election is in jeopardy), but can't actually find the minutes, and a 15 minute emergency meeting lasts 4 hours. NOBODY has a plan in place for any contingency - the county doesn't want to be responsible for this, and hasn't put together any kind of plan should they be forced to take over. The city schools haven't made any plans on how things would be handed over - in short everybody wants the issue to go away, because it is WAY too much work to actually try to fix the troubled and failing Memphis City Schools.

So, nobody in education here knows what their future holds. But it isn't going to be pretty, and it sure as hell isn't going to make education any better for anyone, and it is certainly going to make it chaotic.