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THE APPROACH

DISTRICT TRANSFORMATION IS POSSIBLE.

Together 4 Students focuses on these 3 key concentrations.

Raise the quality of instruction for every student.

Create an excellent classroom experience. Activate improvement at MSCS through new leadership, rapid execution, and proven instructional models.

High-Quality Schools County-wide

Hold all schools — district and charter — to a clear, unified standard of quality. Expand access to high-quality seats from 40,000 today to 84,000 by 2035.

Community Alignment & Wraparound

Align civic, business, philanthropic, and community leaders around a birth-through-career agenda. Build the ecosystem that surrounds and supports every Shelby County learner.

Success is defined by two headline goals by 2035:

80%

80% of Shelby County students are in high-performing schools (A or B rated)

80% of Shelby County students are on a clear path to a rewarding career (college, credential, or career-ready)

MILESTONES

60% of students (63,000) in high-quality seats — up from 38% (40,000) today.

BY 2030:

80% of students (84,000) in high-quality seats.

BY 2035:

The Accountability we need.

Our teachers, principals, and school staff are working hard. The success we see happens because they go above and beyond for our kids, despite the District's challenges.

As concerned citizens, we want transparency, accountability, consistent leadership, and real academic progress. Most of all, we expect a system built around students, not politics, bureaucracy, or dysfunction. The current governance of our system has not delivered. Now, we have enhanced accountability for results.

The Elected Board will now have its decisions reviewed by an Oversight Board - this means contracts, budgets, and staffing decisions will no longer be made in the vacuum of the elected school board meetings. Each decision will be reviewed by the  Oversight Board. This extra layer of oversight protects our tax dollars and gives the public more time to understand and provide feedback on critical decisions for our students.

Yet we know the Oversight Board will not deliver simple accountability on its own. They also need to be held to account, and the law that created the Oversight Board builds that accountability in.

Under Tennessee Code § 49-1-616, the Board must:

  • Its meetings fall under Tennessee's Open Meetings Act, and its records are public.

  • It must submit an annual progress report to the Governor and state legislative leaders.

  • Suspected misuse of public funds goes to law enforcement, the district attorney, or the state comptroller.

  • Any member who isn't up to the task can be removed by the official who appointed them.

However, the law simply sets the floor. We need parents, educators, and neighbors who show up, ask questions, and demand.  We can't afford to miss this opportunity, and neither can our students.