Some Memphis School Board members want a raise. The Board recently passed a resolution asking the City Council to support a pay increase by allowing the issue to appear on the ballot during the November elections. I would like to commend Commissioners Lora Jobe and Dr. Barbara Prescott for recognizing the poor timing of this request and voting against the pay increase issue. Such a referendum will ask the public to vote in favor of quadrupling School Board salaries from the current $5,000 to $20,100 per year. This is approximately what the City Council and County Commission members are paid. Let's give this some thought prior to the council's vote.
The Memphis City School Board has a single focus... education. They set policies for the schools in their system and prepare an annual spending plan for the education needs of this community. The Board then places that plan before the City Council for approval and funding. The Board doesn't have taxing authority; therefore, unlike the City Council and County Commission, they are not held accountable for tax increases needed to fund a ¾ billion dollar budget.
The City Council and County Commission have a broad scope of responsibilities that include, among other things, education, public safety, sanitation, environment, public health, taxes, planning and development. The School Board shouldn't be compared to legislative bodies that have a broad spectrum of issues to consider.
To strengthen the justification for a $15,100 payraise, School Board members note that the Memphis City Schools system has a larger budget and more employees than the either the city or county governments. Their logic is meant to imply that they are of equal stature to our city and county governing bodies. This argument only points to their failures. True governing bodies are charged with the responsibility of reducing the size and scope of government by creating efficiencies not bureaucracies.
Nashville appears to have set the right trend by not paying their board members a salary. They are only reimbursed for travel expenses. While I am not advocating this pay structure, the Nashville public school system does make the case that the performance of the schools is not related to the pay of its board members. The Memphis City School Board already receives the second highest salary in the state of Tennessee. Based upon recent news accounts of the performance of the Memphis City School system, we cannot boast about being the second highest achieving school system in the state.
This year, the Memphis City School Board considered a policy to allow students who have not mastered the basics nor completed graduation requirements to participate in commencement exercises. Such a policy would diminish the value of graduation ceremonies for students who worked hard and played by the rules. Just last week, the Tennessee State Board of Education disclosed that over half of the state's failing schools were within the Memphis school system. Furthermore, the state has threatened to take over failed schools if corrective action isn't taken.
Add to this the fact that the Memphis City School Board debated for a full year a construction contract to build 15 new schools. After many complaints of favoritism and cronyism, the Board was set to approve the contract. Only minutes before the final vote did the Board members learn that funding was available for only nine schools. These are just a few of the blunders made by the same Board that has asked for a tremendous increase in their pay. Isn't a raise supposed to be a reward for a job well done?
There is plenty to point to when making the case against rewarding the performance of this Board. Quadrupling the Memphis City School Board members' pay flies in the face of good governing. Most would agree that our current Board has not conducted themselves in such a way as to merit a pay increase. We should not reward the stewards of a failed system, a system that is not only failing taxpayers but more importantly, failing our children.
