Behind the Headlines Podcast · WKNO/The Daily Memphian

1627: Two of the biggest Memphis stories of 2025 have a surprising connection

·27 min·1 clip

A lawsuit could decide whether four or all nine Shelby County school board seats appear on the 2026 ballot.

1. Behind the Headlines Podcast focuses on two of Memphis’s biggest 2025 stories and the issues that could shape 2026. 2. Eric Barnes is joined by Laura Testino and Bill Dries, both reporters with The Daily Memphian, because they have covered the schools, county government, and election cycle all year. 3. The episode asks what came out of 2025’s biggest civic fights and what is likely to matter when lawmakers and voters return in 2026. 4. Laura Testino says Marie Fagans’ six-week ouster proceedings helped reignite a dormant Tennessee legislature idea for a Memphis-Shelby County Schools takeover. 5. She says community pushback against the board helped create support for state intervention, but House and Senate bills still did not align by the end of the April session. 6. Testino says Senator Taylor and Rep White plan to revive the takeover legislation in the second year of the two-year session. 7. She says the bill’s shape still matters because lawmakers are weighing how much authority an appointed board should have and who would appoint it. 8. Bill Dries explains that the Shelby County Commission voted in October to move all nine school board seats to the same ballot under a new state law applying only to Shelby and Knox counties. 9. He says the school board is suing over the law as unconstitutional and is also suing the Shelby County Election Commission to stop that ballot change. 10. Dries says the lawsuit will determine whether four school board races or all nine seats appear on the 2026 ballot. 11. Barnes and Dries map the 2026 election calendar, with school board primaries in May and the winners advancing to the August county general election. 12. The conversation then turns to the county sheriff’s race, where the jail is described as the central issue and no incumbent is seeking re-election. 13. Barnes says the jail conditions, intake delays, and lawsuit exposure make the system feel like a political and financial emergency. 14. Dries says any new jail will require the sheriff, county mayor, county commission, and likely the state to act together. 15. He adds that neither the sheriff nor the school board has taxing authority, which limits how quickly either crisis can be solved. 16. Testino says the county’s budget problems, bond restrictions, and wheel tax uncertainty make large projects harder to finance. 17. She says the district’s first facilities plan in years points toward a capital campaign and possible private donors, including support tied to XAI and the Memphis Chamber. 18. The interview stays conversational and policy-heavy, with Barnes repeatedly pushing for concrete numbers, timelines, and who has authority. 19. Listeners following Memphis schools, county government, and 2026 elections will get the most from it. 20. Listeners looking for a light recap without budget and ballot details may skip it.

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