SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — Enormous changes are on the way for Memphis Shelby County Schools, with over 1100 jobs set to be eliminated ahead of the next school year.
The new budget is expected to save around $68 million dollars annually by laying off hundreds and eliminating hundreds of other positions.
Sarah Carpenter, Executive Director of The Memphis Lift, believes the district needs to do whatever it takes to improve meager test scores, particularly in reading.
“We should only be focusing on children, no matter what your position is. We should only be focusing on children,” she said. “We need to focus on every child in this city.”
Carpenter brushed off concerns that the changes are happening too rapidly.
“It should’ve been happening. Our kids are dying every day, You see it. Our kids have to walk through the jungle to get to school,” she said.
Still, others aren’t so sure. JC Bowman is the Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, a nonpartisan teacher’s association. He understands some changes are necessary, but isn’t convinced this is the right path forward.
“Shelby County has had a bloated bureaucracy at the central office, so losing some positions should be expected. But you just don’t go in with a chainsaw to cut your steak. You go in with a knife,” he said.
At the same time, just this week the district held a job fair, seeking to fill and re-assign hundreds of positions as hundreds of millions in pandemic-era funding dries up.
Bowman is concerned the plan isn’t realistic, and many teaching jobs require specialized skill-sets and qualifications that can’t just be redirected.
“It doesn't do good to put a chemistry teacher teaching second grade, and on the same token, it doesn't do well to put a second-grade teacher teaching chemistry,” he said. “If this plan fails, she won’t be long for Memphis.”
The school district is hosting another job hiring blitz on Tuesday to try and fill more positions.