Behind the Headlines Podcast · WKNO/The Daily Memphian

1636: MSCS could challenge state takeover in court, board chair says

·32 min·2 clips

MSCS has voted to close five schools as the first step toward 15 closures over three years.

The show opens on the potential takeover of Memphis Shelby County Schools. Eric Barnes is joined by board chair Natalie McKinney, former board chair Michelle McKissick, and reporter Laura Testino. They go back over the lawmakers pushing the takeover effort at the state legislature. The central question stays blunt: who would actually hold power if the plan moves forward? The guests describe it as a move that would replace elected control with a board that is mostly advisory. They keep circling back to what that would mean in practice. The discussion stays on authority, procedure, and the chance of legal outcomes. McKinney says the district needs to tell its own story better. McKissick says people outside the district often miss how much progress has been made. She also says the public tends to flatten the district into a single letter grade. The conversation pushes back on that shorthand. The guests point out that individual schools serve students with very different needs and backgrounds. That mix changes what a score can really tell you. They use Downtown Elementary as an example of a school where one label does not capture the full picture. The board also talks about how it has been communicating with the public. McKissick says the board and superintendent have been doing a better job in meetings and in the way they present information. She points to a scorecard that is expected to go public on the district website. The episode also covers the board's vote to close five schools. That decision sits inside a larger set of possible closures. By the end, the conversation has moved from politics into the practical questions of schools, budgets, and next steps. The stakes are local, but the consequences could still reshape how Memphis schools are governed.

As heard by us

Memphis school politics, reduced to authority, grading, and who gets to set the terms.

The segment follows the legislature's push to take over Memphis Shelby County Schools and install an advisory board, with board chair Natalie McKinney and former chair Michelle McKissick laying out how the district reads the fight.

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If you want the real fight over Memphis schools, start here.

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