MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) < Memphis school board members voted late Monday to hold a special election for residents on surrendering the charter for the city's schools.
Board members voted 5-4 after an hours-long meeting to surrender the charter, meaning a referendum will be sent to Memphis voters, WMC-TV reported. If approved by voters, it would mean a de facto consolidation with the more affluent and less populous Shelby County school system.
The surrender proposal was introduced last month after Shelby County began pursuing a special school district designation that critics believe would move money from the city’s schools to the county’s.
An election must be held within 60 days.
According to The Commercial Appeal, with 151,000 students, any combined district would become the 14th-largest school system in the country.
Efforts to consolidate the two school systems have traditionally been major obstacles to form a metropolitan government.
One issue is what might happen to a $90 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to city schools.
The 7,000-member Memphis Education Association has said it would vigorously oppose any charter surrender.