In opening her piece she states “Memphis is poised to become the next national center for New Orleans-style school governance.”  And this isn’t just her saying it, it also comes out of the mouths of district officials.  The stated goal of this system, to quote Brad Leon, is to create “a system of schools” similar to what New Orleans has done.” Those words will make you cheer or shudder depending on which side of the education reform debate you come down on.

I won’t quote the whole article here because it is extensive, but my favorite graphic from the whole article shows the speed and extent to which these new “systems of schools” are already forming:

As a teacher in our city I’m both encouraged and worried by what I read here. I’m encouraged because, unlike many urban cities with struggling education systems, we are truly taking action to address the tremendous inequalities that exist in our system.  I work in a high performing charter (Soulsville) and see the tremendous impact it can make on kids, especially those that would otherwise attend the neighborhood school where I used to work (right down the road at Hamilton High).  I’m also encouraged because I sincerely believe that these people truly want to see quality educational outcomes for all children.  Personally, I’ve never bought into the corporate reform mindset that believes all school reformers are out to destroy public education in our state.

At the same time, I’m worried that creating these new systems will only solidify tiered inequality in our city.  I can easily foresee a system where the lucky few attend high performing charters, those zoned for the ASD attend those schools and the district pours its time and money into iZone while neglecting those schools and students that don’t fall under the umbrella of the iZone, most likely due to lack of resources.  Furthermore, out in the municipalities, which will not fall under the jurisdiction of SCS and these reform efforts, there may be NOTHING done to combat the inequalities that exist there. Outcomes in these areas are still woefully low by any standard and should be a part of any reform efforts in Shelby County.

I’m also worried about the impact this approach will have on teachers in these new systems.  In my experience and in that of my colleagues, those that work in charters, ASD schools and iZone schools work incredibly hard and burnout is common due to the numerous stressors that come with trying to turn around long time failing schools.  I know many teachers who have left their charter schools in the past year because of the high stress environment.  This is true whether I talk to teachers in ASD charters, non-ASD charters or iZone schools across the city.

As these “systems of schools” expand, it is imperative that charter operators and system superintendents work to ensure that this pattern doesn’t continue.  Educators want schools where they can work for an extended period of time.  They need to see these new schools as long-term career options where they can work for five, ten, even fifteen years while continuing to be successful. I firmly believe that for this to happen, there needs to be some sort of teacher voice heard in this process to ensure that these type of work conditions exist.  Unions and charters have not traditionally worked well together, so that’s probably not the answer, but there needs to be some sort of unified teacher voice ensuring we make this vision a reality. Because at the end of the day, education is about the quality of the people we put in the building with the children.  All the reforms in the world won’t do us any good if we can’t get good people to come to and continue teaching in whatever school systems we put into place.

Are you a Memphis or Shelby County educator?  What do you think about this “systems of schools” approach?  Email us your thoughts at [email protected], then sign up for our email list and follow us @bluffcityed on twitter!