The Importance of the Resolution
Community outrage and deepening engagement over the governance and decision-making of the current elected MSCS board has highlighted the need for ensuring maximum voter engagement.
Governance of local school systems has changed dramatically over the last two decades. Many of these changes have been associated with the merger and demerger of the MSCS school systems and municipal districts. Regardless of these changes, voter participation in school board elections for the urban school board districts has been on a dramatic decline, particularly in off-year elections.
In the school board elections of August 2024, only 13% of registered voters cast a ballot. Memphis school board elections have had turnout as high as 39% in 1980, but 13% in 2024 is a near-all-time low, edged out only by the 12.2% turnout in 2004.
Compare these figures to the most recent general election that featured county commission seats in November 2022, which saw 34.4% turnout, likely due to the fact that the ballot included midterm congressional elections and other big ticket attractions such as the gubernatorial election. Even as recently as 2018, 51.1% of voters cast a ballot in the general election that included county commission seats.
This evidence points to the likelihood that aligning school board elections with county commission elections would, at the very least, increase the number of votes cast in school board races in Memphis. In general, higher voter turnout correlates with increased voter education, a higher caliber and legitimacy of elected officials, and increased accountability and engagement by the populace.
Some may be asking, “What does this actually do to improve oversight of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board?” The resolution does not remove anybody from office, does not allow sitting members to be recalled, and does not guarantee that former Superintendent Marie Feagins will get her job back (Feagins’ ouster is seen as the catalyst for the many attempts at legislating oversight of the MSCS board). But, advocates for the resolution such as Memphis Lift, a parent-led education advocacy nonprofit based in North Memphis, argue that this measure is desperately needed.
