by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Education, Memphis City Schools | May 29th, 2012 9:35pm CDT | 5 Comments
Anytime there’s a lag in political intrigue in Memphis and Shelby County, we can always depend on our school issues to produce some. That’s particularly true when it involves longtime board Shelby County School board chairman and now unified school board member David Pickler and the pending decision [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Economic Development, Education, Memphis City Schools, Poverty | March 14th, 2012 12:44am CDT | Comments Off
“We are a nation of idiots about infancy.” It was unquestionably a slap-in-the-face wake-up call, but there was no rebuttal to offer after recently listening to the convincing case laid out by Robin-Karr Morse, author of Scared Sick: The Role of Childhood Trauma in Adult Disease, family therapist, [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools | September 2nd, 2011 12:10am CDT | 43 Comments
So, let’s make sure we’ve got this right. So, what if under a new unified school district, students in Germantown will attend the same schools and have the same principals? The curriculum comes from State of Tennessee. So, what reason is there besides race that strikes such fear into the hearts of Germantown parents? [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools, Uncategorized | August 17th, 2011 12:19am CDT | 41 Comments
Town mayors and county school officials have now fully reaped what they sowed. As they enjoy their ever-present victimhood, they seem oblivious to the reasons they now find themselves as part of a new, countywide school district. In last year’s referendum on consolidating city and county governments, they vehemently denounced the pro-consolidation mantra: “Doing [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools | August 1st, 2011 12:05am CDT | 7 Comments
There’s now little question that when it comes to our school systems, we need to push the restart button and start over. Now, we can only hope that U.S. District Judge Hardy Mays makes it happen. It may seem like the nuclear option, but at this point, it’s the option with the most potential for [...]
by SCM (RSS) Memphis City Schools | July 21st, 2011 1:35pm CDT | Comments Off
In response to our post earlier this week about the dispute between Memphis City Council and Memphis City Schools, we heard from several Council members who took issue with our opinion. In the interest of having a meaningful conversation and understanding its position about this contentious issue, here are the facts summarized by the City [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools | July 19th, 2011 12:28am CDT | Comments Off
While we encouraged and supported Memphis City Council’s attempt to end the double taxation of Memphians for public education, that noble battle was lost when the courts abandoned all logic and confirmed the current inequitable system. That said, it’s time for City of Memphis to pay Memphis City Schools what the courts have ordered [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools | June 24th, 2011 12:49am CDT | 3 Comments
If urban school districts like ours had a dollar every time somebody said, “Children are our future,” they’d never have a funding problem. Unfortunately for these districts, Americans are long on platitudes and short on support. That said, we begin with the obvious: children are our future. Or more precisely, well-educated African-American students will in fact [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools, Uncategorized | January 31st, 2011 12:58am CDT | 33 Comments
There hasn’t been a group of white politicians working this hard to keep a majority black constituency from voting since the days of the poll tax. Now that we think of it, we wish we hadn’t even mentioned the poll tax, such is the willingness of far right Republicans like Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools, Uncategorized | January 20th, 2011 12:54am CDT | 7 Comments
Now we’re really confused. First, Memphis City Schools Commissioner Jeff Warren fought for a slowdown to develop a plan to decide the future of Memphis City Schools, but just hours before losing decisively in his push of a Shelby County Schools-inspired agreement last night, he pulled his own plan from his back pocket. Or, more [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools, Uncategorized | January 15th, 2011 12:57am CDT | 6 Comments
Previously posted November 22, 2010: Shelby County Schools Board Chair David Pickler extending an overture to Memphis City Schools is the equivalent of Dr. Kevorkian volunteering to work in ICU. You know he’s going to do something, so you really don’t have anyone to blame but yourself if you fall for his unctuous pleas. After [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools | January 13th, 2011 12:06am CDT | 12 Comments
Peace in our time. Once again, short-term political interests may be on the verge of defeating long-term good sense. It appears that in hopes of eliminating political risk, some people are willing to sell the rights of Memphians down the river in exchange for what has been amusingly been called a “compromise.” At least that’s [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools | January 11th, 2011 12:05am CDT | 47 Comments
Just when we were trying to give Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris the benefit of a doubt, thinking that there might be a chance that he would be the grown-up in the suburban debate about school consolidation, he’s show his true colors. When push came to shove, he’s just Ron Lollar with a better [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools | January 6th, 2011 12:04am CDT | 2 Comments
We reprise this post from February 26, 2006, as Memphians get ready to vote (yes, there will be a vote) on consolidating our dual, and dueling, school districts into a single district with one vision for every student in Shelby County: As we pointed out last week, the rhetoric of Shelby County Schools officials often [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools | January 5th, 2011 12:39am CDT | 37 Comments
As we are napalmed with lies and assailed by fear mongers, we received this dose of reality- the facts about school merger and reasons to support it - from our friend, Shelby County Commissioner and University of Memphis constitutional law expert Steve Mulroy: REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE “YES” ON SCHOOL UNITY: 1. We are [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools, Uncategorized | January 4th, 2011 12:51am CDT | 4 Comments
Apparently, you have us confused with someone who gives a damn what you think. That favorite quote by an old friend came immediately to mind yesterday as Shelby County School Board Superintendent née Chairman David Pickler had the gall to publicly and aggressively campaign for the Memphis City Schools Board to reverse the vote giving [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools | January 3rd, 2011 12:32am CDT | 20 Comments
We think we know who the Tennessee legislator of 2010 was – G. A. Hardaway – and we may be on the verge of seeing who will be the winner of the goat award for 2011 – Sara Lewis. Tennessee Rep. Hardaway has been stalwart in speaking persuasively on behalf of the children of Memphis [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools | December 30th, 2010 12:28am CDT | 8 Comments
Jim Crow: ethnic discrimination especially against blacks by legal enforcement or traditional sanctions. We’ve been thinking about this a lot as a result of our give and take yesterday with our friend, albeit adversary on this issue, Ken Hoover, when he suggested that we are off-base in saying that the current debate about unifying our [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools, Uncategorized | December 23rd, 2010 12:10am CDT | 2 Comments
The cast of characters in suburban politics would flunk a remedial course in elementary logic. Here’s the syllogism they offer up: One, Shelby County Schools are superior to Memphis City Schools and the paragon of exceptional education. Two, our only concern is about the kids and getting them a quality education. Therefore, we will do [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools | December 15th, 2010 3:12pm CDT | 5 Comments
We are strongly for the consolidation of our schools into a Shelby County Schools district that deserves to have that name (it does in fact serve all of Shelby County), and we think the odds for the city schools board to vote in favor of surrender are good. School commissioners deserve a great deal of [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools | December 13th, 2010 12:16am CDT | 21 Comments
Suburban politicians, Chambers of Commerce and anti-consolidation firebrands are like the pyromaniac who starts a fire and then shows up later to say that we all need to work together to put it out. After years of pursuing special school district status for Shelby County Schools, and without a fleeting concern about Memphis City Schools, [...]
by Smart City Memphis (RSS) Memphis City Schools, Uncategorized | December 1st, 2010 12:48am CDT | 19 Comments
It appears that Freda Williams is all that stands between serious negotiations and Memphis City Schools’ worst nightmare: a special school district for Shelby County Schools with taxing authority. In her role as president of the Memphis City Schools Board of Commissioners, Ms. Williams sits in a pivotal position in setting the terms of the [...]
by Bill Day. Memphian Bill Day is two-time winner of the RFK Journalism Award in Cartooning. His cartoons are syndicated internationally by Cagle Cartoons. Cartoons Archive →
Photograph by Amie Vanderford
This ongoing series of photographs is intended to show the daily lives of these single mothers in order to invoke recognition of their similarities to all mothers, along with understanding and empathy from the viewer of the strengths that these single mothers possess within the challenging situations they face. My hope is that newfound empathy with these mothers’ lives will give people some pause before they condemn single mothers when discussing issues such as welfare and other politically charged hot buttons.
