Image Credit: Karen Pulfer Focht for Tennessee Lookout
***Note from The Tennessee Conservative – this article posted here for informational purposes only.
By: Adam Friedman [Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –
The Shelby County government sued Tennessee lawmakers in federal court last week, hoping to regain local control over the board that oversees the Memphis school system.
State lawmakers passed a bill earlier this year disbanding the locally elected Memphis Shelby County Schools board and replacing it with a nine-member one, all appointed by Republican leaders in the state.
Lawyers for Shelby County argued in their complaint that the law “dismantles” the structure that allows “110,000 children and their families to have a voice in the most consequential local decisions affecting their daily lives.”
State Republicans targeted the Memphis school board for takeover this year, after pushing the state c to audit the school district. Before the audit was released, House Speaker Cameron Sexton and other Republicans in the state House were already openly pushing for a takeover.
The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office released a partial report in April.
The complaint alleged violations of the equal protection clauses in the U.S. and state constitutions. Lawyers for Shelby County asked a federal judge in the Middle Tennessee district to issue a preliminary injunction to stop the new board from asserting any authority.
The lawsuit came one day after the newly appointed board was convened by Gov. Bill Lee in Nashville, according to the Daily Memphian.
It’s now the sixth law passed by state lawmakers this year to face a legal challenge. Others include the legislature’s attempt to take over airport authority boards, a law to ban certain pharmacy benefit managers and multiple redistricting challenges.
