Joe Brown

The Memphis City Schools funding debacle is still unsettled. But Councilman Joe Brown wants to make it abundantly clear that he is adamant about restoring the $70 million that was slashed from MCS’s budget.

In a letter to Gov. Phil Bredesen, Brown expressed his disappointment with the council’s decision to cut MCS funds. “I voted to fund MCS and I too am insulted by the lengths my colleagues went to have the funding reduced,” Brown wrote.

Bredesen was just as disappointed with the City Council and expressed his concerns in June when a reporter questioned him at the J.K. Lewis Senior Center.

“I was very disappointed in what the council did,” Bredesen said. “I think it hurt the school system and I think it really has hurt Memphis’ long term economic future.”

The governor said funding should be restored to attract businesses to Memphis. They’re not going to come to a city, he said, “where this kind of mess is going on in the schools….”

“I’m hoping that they will come to their senses and restore it,” said Bredesen, “[so] we can move on from there as how to fix and how to improve the schools. But if they don’t, the state will take a dim view of the thing.”

The governor is referring to a vow the state has made if MCS funding isn’t restored. According to the Tennessee Department of Education, $423 million will be withheld if the council doesn’t reinstate $70 million in funding.

The 2008-09 proposed operating budget for MCS is $931 million. State funding makes up 45 percent of the budget.

The council voted 10-3 to cut school funding. Brown was one of three who argued against cutting school funding.

“This act not only hurts the students, but the educators and the community as a whole,” he explained to the governor.

Wanda Halbert

Councilwoman Wanda Halbert said the council is receiving regular updates from city attorney Alan Wade. A former school board member, Halbert said, “We are confident in Mr. Wade’s ability to represent the City Council. He is trying to pursue a temporary arrangement to help Memphis City Schools.”

Halbert said the issue has to be resolved in court “so we can define the responsible party to fund public education.”

On July 17, Chancellor Kenny Armstrong will hear arguments from Rainbow PUSH, a civil rights group claiming to represent the interest of parents.

The group filed a lawsuit against the City Council, alleging the state’s Open Meetings Law was violated during private discussions about the budget.

A separate suit filed by the school board against the City Council also is pending.

Halbert, who voted to cut MCS funding, said, “I certainly hope the city will continue to fund the school district in some fashion. But the public must understand our responsibility is to fund the entire city of Memphis.”

During the recent interview, Bredesen said if funding wasn’t restored, other districts in the state would take its money out of its school budget without fear of consequences.

“In Tennessee, for better or worse, funding schools is a joint responsibility of local government and the state,” the governor said. “Just as I expect the sate and legislature to step up to our responsibility, I expect local government to step up to theirs.”

Phil Bredeson

Bredesen said the council has a clear and legal responsibility to fund schools. However, “It’s certainly the responsibility of everybody involved, which I think a portion of that responsibility lies with the city of Memphis in which the school system operates.

“What I’m afraid has happened here is a bunch of people, for political reasons, have let the kids become pawns in this system, and I’m just not going to let that happen,” Bredesen said.

“I’m hoping ultimately this summer that the City Council will come to its senses on this thing,” Bredesen said. “Aside from what it does to the schools, this is a terrible signal to be sending in a city that has got so much potential to grow its economy and grow its job base.”

Brown said, “We have done an injustice to our constituents and students by cutting funding.”

He is certain the governor understands his position.