Education in Memphis

While conducting research with the Rhodes Institute for Regional Studies this past summer, students attended a panel discussing the state of Shelby County schools and education in Memphis overall. One issue that was unavoidable in the conversation was race in education. As the largest school consolidation in American history, the merger between Memphis City Schools and Shelby County Schools in 2011 sparked new controversy over inequalities in education and issues of race in Memphis. When Memphis was forced to integrate schools during the 1970s, white families left in droves to private schools and the two school systems were under de facto segregation. Memphis City Schools was composed almost entirely of blacks with very little economic power, while Shelby County schools was predominantly white. The merging of the schools brought attention to persisting disparities in the school system and educational inequality due to race, while displaying Memphis' issue with race.

As Shelby County expanded in suburban areas due to white flight and the burgeoning black middle class, the disparity between Shelby County and Memphis were undeniable. For example, the median income for Memphis was 32,000 a year, compared with an average income for the suburbs of 92,000. Since schools are funded by income taxes, schools in lower income neighborhoods are disadvantaged. This split is not only evident in schools, but in the board of education too. Just recently in the past two years has the board included African Americans. Similarly, the school board headquarters were split into the racially divided districts and in the last year the headquarters have made efforts to merge.

Schools in predominantly black neighborhoods have suffered. While middle-class blacks are in higher income, predominantly white schools, those in poverty receive significantly less in schooling. Then, the low retention rate for teachers only effects the experience of students worse. As the panel discussed, schools are forced to focus on systemic issues from growing up in poverty, rather than educating kids. Some children receive their only meals of the day during school, while others are dealing with socioemotional issues that hinder instruction. So much of school’s work today is retroactive, because they are helping kids with issues at home, and do not have the resources or time to tend them all. One news outlet indicates that about 21% of the city’s adult population can read at a high enough level to read a newspaper, that is nearly a quarter of the population. It should without saying that, one cannot get a job if that cannot read the ads for said jobs. The improvement of Memphis’ school system is essential to the city’s growth as a prominent, urban sprawl.

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Cody Stockton