Race and Education in Memphis

            Since we've been talking about the role of education in the construction of freedom in the late 19th and early 20th century, I thought that a post about the school merger between the Memphis City Schools (MCS) and Shelby County Schools (SCS) systems would be a great opportunity to discuss race in education today.  For those that are unfamiliar with the merger, here are a few links about the merger that I thought were particularly interesting:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/02/in-memphis-classrooms-the-ghost-of-segregation-lingers-on/252992/

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/sep/03/differences-persist-over-what-ignited-school/?partner=RSS

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/education/merger-of-memphis-and-county-school-districts-revives-challenges.html?pagewanted=all

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704629104576190962779141814.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/21/in-memphis-old-strife-hea_n_825974.html

The merger is an opportunity to integrate two systems with contrasting demographics and to create a unified education system that will pool resources "to ensure that every student in Shelby County receives an excellent education." Despite this opportunity, the decision to merge seems only to have divided residents, local leaders, teachers, and others.

            The merger has created a great source of tension between the two systems, as well as the Memphis community as a whole. Many argue that the “core issue” of the merger is tax money; they claim that the merger is a poor decision because it may jeopardize the financial stability of the merged school system. Others argue that although financing the unified system is important, race is the true source of the conflict and opposition to the merger.  In an interview regarding the merger, a Memphis resident and MCS school cafeteria worker said that she questioned why Memphis schools would consider giving over its students to a system that “doesn’t want them.”  She said, “It’s just like you losing your freedom going into bondage.  In the background, in the foreground, it’s about race.”  Though some welcome the merger, others have let fears, prejudice, and or bias lead them to take action to combat the merger.
            Parents of students in the SCS system, which is predominantly white, feel that the merger will diminish the quality of the education that their children receive and that the merger will compromise their children's safety at school. To address this fear and to insulate their children from the effects of the merger in the future, they have already started to consider taking matters to into their own hands. Some plan to or have already chosen to take their children out of the public school system and to put them into private and independent schools. Suburban leaders have pushed for the creation of special school districts that would have their own taxing authority. In Germantown and other municipalities, voters have agreed to raise sales taxes to pay for the cost of creating their own school districts.  For many, the merger says a lot about race in Memphis and perhaps America as a whole.

What’s your take on the merger?  Do you feel that opposition to the merger on economic/financial grounds is legitimate, or do you feel like race is the driving factor in the conflict?  Do you think that the merger should be pursued at all costs in the interest of providing equal access to quality education?  Do you think that there are more efficacious and or efficient means of providing equal access to education?