House approves bill giving state control of Memphis schools

(The Center Square) – The Tennessee House of Representatives approved a bill that will give the state control of Memphis-Shelby County Schools hours after it passed the Senate on Wednesday.

House Bill 662/Senate Bill 714 creates a board of managers to oversee the school district for four years. The Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board of Education will be required to submit its budget, which totaled $1.9 billlion this year, to the oversight board, which can also fire district employees and nix board actions.

The nine-member board will consist of Shelby County residents, except for one, according to the bill. If the school district does not meet certain goals within four years, another board will be appointed for two years.

The oversight board will be established as soon as Gov. Bill Lee signs the bill.

House Democrats presented a different plan that removed two of the six criteria in the original bill that addressed the ongoing audit of the schools and the turnover in the superintendent’...