WW, The Mayor, 2007
King Willie, our affectionate name for Memphis Mayor W.W. Herenton, gave his "State of the City" address on Saturday morning at a prayer breakfast. Now, King Willie wants to take over the world, but first, he wants to take over the county.
Like many other cities, Memphis has its share of funding woes. People want services, but they do not want to fork over the big bucks it takes for the government to provide the services along with the large bureacracy that goes along with it. So, King Willie's solution is to consolidate the city government and the Shelby County goverenment, thereby saving money on services that are otherwise duplicated.
Central to all of this is funding the city schools. King Willie and the city council could tear up the city school charter forcing the Shelby County school board to take over managing all the schools in Shelby County. (It would also make for like the 3rd largest school district in the nation.. bigger is not always better.) Shelby County already funds a portion of the city schools, but the hope is that a single school board would make all the schools better. (Let's think on that one.)
Now, I lived and taught in Knox county, which underwent the same sort of consolidation a few years ago. The good schools were still the good schools, and the bad schools, while they were some of the most polished and well-funded schools in the county system, still struggled with the same problem. I experienced both kinds. I don't claim to be an expert on anything, but it is the students and the community that determine what kind of school they would like to have. Money, governance, teachers, and bureacracy really don't matter.
For more information on King Willie's address, see this article in the Commercial Appeal.
Like many other cities, Memphis has its share of funding woes. People want services, but they do not want to fork over the big bucks it takes for the government to provide the services along with the large bureacracy that goes along with it. So, King Willie's solution is to consolidate the city government and the Shelby County goverenment, thereby saving money on services that are otherwise duplicated.
Central to all of this is funding the city schools. King Willie and the city council could tear up the city school charter forcing the Shelby County school board to take over managing all the schools in Shelby County. (It would also make for like the 3rd largest school district in the nation.. bigger is not always better.) Shelby County already funds a portion of the city schools, but the hope is that a single school board would make all the schools better. (Let's think on that one.)
Now, I lived and taught in Knox county, which underwent the same sort of consolidation a few years ago. The good schools were still the good schools, and the bad schools, while they were some of the most polished and well-funded schools in the county system, still struggled with the same problem. I experienced both kinds. I don't claim to be an expert on anything, but it is the students and the community that determine what kind of school they would like to have. Money, governance, teachers, and bureacracy really don't matter.
For more information on King Willie's address, see this article in the Commercial Appeal.
posted by FF at
1/02/2005 03:32:00 PM
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