By Jane Roberts - The Commercial Appeal -

April 13, 2010

At Mayor A C Wharton's urging, the City Council voted Tuesday to fully fund the city schools for the current school year with the proviso that the school district fund the city's charter schools.

There was no applause and little fanfare as the vote was read, but it ends months of bickering about school finance and essentially revives the solution that councilman Kemp Conrad proposed months ago.

Under the deal, the city will pay the schools $50 million in three installments: $20 million by May 1, $20 million by June1 and the remaining $10 million by Oct. 1, when new taxes will be flowing into city coffers.

"We felt that sometimes you have to step out there and make the phone call," council chairman Harold Collins said.

The bulk of the money -- $30 million -- will come from city reserve funds, with another $10 million from cuts Wharton has made since he took office.

The remaining $10 million will come from shifting funds around -- "$2 million here, $3 million there," said Wharton, who vowed to "keep police boots on the street and the fire trucks running," but didn't rule out a tax increase for next year.

The payment does not settle the two lawsuits that the school district has filed against the city for funding, but Wharton said that if the city loses its appeals in those cases, there will be a tax increase. Two courts have sided with the city schools; the state Supreme Court has not decided if it will hear the case.

Wharton proposed the surprise resolution in a council committee session with Collins and MCS Supt. Kriner Cash at his side.

Charter school supporters have been pressuring the council to take action. Last month, the school district told its charter schools that without City Council funding, they would have to take cuts in their final payments for the year.

"I think we have just witnessed extraordinary leadership by Mayor Wharton, chairman Collins and Supt. Cash," said school board member Betty Mallott.

In early winter, Conrad proposed taking $30 million from reserves and $20 million from the general fund to provide money to the schools.

"I'm glad the council finally passed the 20-30 plan," Conrad said. "It's high time we stopped kicking the can on the funding issue, but MCS should be ashamed of their tactics of holding charter schools hostage."

While Wharton is confident that he can find the money for the current school year, he and Collins suggested it may take a tax increase to fund the schools next year.

"We'll be honest when we go through our budget process," Collins said. "We'll cut as much as we can."

On Monday, Cash will present his budget for the coming year with $57 million in cuts, including closing schools and cutting several hundred positions.

"It's not as easy as one side wins and the other side loses," Cash said. "There are still difficult decisions that will have to come now."

For a system that has been "destabilized for three straight years," the resolution, he said, offers Memphis City Schools and its charter schools stability "while the courts continue to resolve the questions."

News of the plan washed over the city plaza Tuesday afternoon as dozens of parents were arriving at City Hall to hear how the council would deal with the funding shortfall for charter schools.

"We're still going to the meeting, and we are going to stay," said Rev. Anthony Anderson, head of Memphis Business Academy. "We want the City Council to see us and know that they can't just ignore Raleigh and Frayser.

"We're as powerful as White Station, Central and East, and they are not going to ignore us."

— Jane Roberts: 529-2512