Category: Momentum Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After months of debate in the Tennessee General Assembly, legislation proposing a state takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) has stalled, thanks in large part to all of the students, families, educators, and community members who made their voices heard.

Even though the bill did not advance this session, the conversation about the future of MSCS is far from over. Lawmakers could revisit this proposal as early as January 2026, and the underlying concerns facing our district remain: aging buildings, staffing shortages, underfunding, and opportunity gaps for students.

To continue the work to improve MSCS, Save Our Students (SOS) is inviting families, educators, and stakeholders to a Community Listening Session on Monday, May 19 from 6:00 – 8:00 PM at BRIDGES. This event is an opportunity for everyone from the MSCS community to come together and share ideas, concerns, and priorities for building a strong, sustainable school system.

“Memphis came together to push back on legislation that didn’t reflect our values or address our district’s real needs,” said Cardell Orrin, Executive Director of Stand for Children and SOS representative. “We’re keeping that momentum alive by listening to the people who know MSCS best: those who live, learn, and work in it every day.”

• Who: Save Our Students (SOS) Coalition
• What: Community Listening Session on MSCS Solutions
• When: Monday, May 19 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm 
• Where: BRIDGES (477 N 5th St., Memphis)
• RSVP: bit.ly/listeningsessionSOS

The listening session is part of a broader effort to gather input and shape long-term solutions that reflect the diverse voices of Memphis and Shelby County. Participants will also have the opportunity to connect with Momentum Memphis, a coalition that has been working for years to advance evidence-based policies and community-led strategies for improving our public schools.

We encourage all MSCS stakeholders–parents, teachers, students, and concerned residents–to join the conversation and help shape the path forward for MSCS.

Just a couple of weeks ago, we ended a blog post honoring Dr. King, writing: Dr. King’s vision calls on us to keep fighting, and we do so with unwavering faith that “the moral arc of the universe” still bends toward justice–if we stand up and pull it that way. 

Over the last two months, we stood up and pulled. 

With a diverse group, we led a powerful campaign to stop the state takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools… and we won.

Alongside our partners in the Save Our Students coalition, we organized town halls, packed legislative hearings, published op-eds, and flooded lawmakers with emails and phone calls. We mobilized across Memphis and beyond, from thousands of text messages sent across the state to in-person testimony at the Capitol.

The takeover legislation is stalled until 2026, after failing to move out of conference committee where the sponsors couldn’t resolve key disagreements, many of which were raised repeatedly by our coalition’s public pressure. But “stalled” is the key word here: we have a two-year session, and since the bill is not technically “dead,” it could come back for a vote as early as January of 2026. 

You can take immediate action to help us build on that work today!

We can’t back down now, because the real challenges for supporting our students still exist. Education continues to be a clear battleground in the freedom struggle in Memphis. The takeover was always a distraction from the real work: identifying challenges, advocating for change, fully funding solutions, and fixing our schools. For decades, Tennessee has funneled resources into jails, given tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy, and prioritized political power plays instead of investing in Black and Brown children’s education. When jail roofs leak, emergency dollars flow almost immediately; when classroom ceilings crumble, students wait. 

We fought so hard against this takeover because no new layer of bureaucracy will replace the funding, great teachers, and safe, modern buildings our children need to succeed in school. Now, it’s time to act with the audacity that Dr. King imparted upon us. This is our moment to show the state that Memphis matters, and we don’t need interference from officials who don’t understand or represent our community. We need an engaged, organized base ready to do the hard, sustained work of building the high-quality public school system our students deserve. 

We urge everyone who cares about our kids’ futures to join us in demanding real solutions and real investments. Make a commitment to stay engaged by filling out your personal advocacy plan. Tell us what you’re ready to fight for – whether it’s increased funding for our schools, true accountability for our elected officials, or real investment in the systems and services our kids and families need to thrive.

With all hands on deck, we’ll move from a single victory to sustained power. Join the movement, and fill out your advocacy plan today!

Here is your monthly friendly reminder to join us for our virtual joint Momentum Memphis Education Task-Force meeting on Monday, October 4, at 6:00 pm via Zoom.  Hear task-force leaders give updates on our advocacy campaigns, meet our community change partners, and learn how you can get involved in our efforts to make education equity a reality for all students in Memphis and Shelby County. Please use this link to RSVP.

You’re also invited to hear Memphis Director Cardell Orrin speak at the Hooks Institute Prohibited Concepts in Instruction in Public Schools Created by Tennessee Law on Tuesday, October 5, at 6:00 pm. If you didn’t know, Gov. Bill Lee passed a law banning 14 concepts in instruction that appear to significantly limit how educators can teach students accurate, fact-based, American History in the classroom. Memphis Director Cardell Orrin and other panelists will be discussing these changes and more via the Hook’s Institute Facebook page. Please use this link to RSVP.

Here is your friendly reminder to join us for our virtual joint Momentum Memphis Education Task-Force meeting on Monday, August 2nd, at 6:00 pm via Zoom. Hear task-force leaders give updates on our advocacy campaigns, meet our community change partners, and learn how you can get involved in our efforts to make education equity a reality for all students in Memphis and Shelby County. Please use this link to RSVP.

—

Did you miss our virtual Reimagining Student Safety webinar we hosted this Wednesday? No worries, we’ve got you covered! You can watch this and our other on-demand broadcasts by visiting our Stand For Children Facebook page.

Momentum Memphis Task Force launched a survey to the community at the end of 2020 as the decision to reopen schools in Shelby County was being considered by officials for the Spring of 2021.

Parents were given the option to either return to school buildings or remain virtual. Our goal was to highlight the experiences and concerns of SCS families moving forward in the event of extended virtual or hybrid learning into the spring, the rest of the 2020-2021 school year, and beyond, as well as to communicate the shifting need to examine the more nuanced barriers in a potential long-term hybrid models with an increased amount of families opting to keep their kids at home.

The areas of these concerns include:

• Supervision and support from a family member or qualified adult

• Reliable internet access

• Mental health and behavioral issues associated with virtual learning

• Academic and instructional support

• Consistent, dedicated, and quiet space for schoolwork

Upon examining survey results, here are the most pressing concerns from parents and families in Shelby County as it relates to childcare and student support. If you have any questions or comments about our Parent Perspective Survey, feel free to email us at [email protected].

Momentum Memphis YES Fund Task Force Leaders Meili Powell & Haley Mathews both have published op-eds in The Commercial Appeal and The Daily Memphian!

Check out their pieces on the Youth Education Success (YES) Fund and why it’s important to invest in the future of our student’s education so that they can have equitable opportunities for success.

YES Fund Task Force Leader Meili Powell’s Op-Ed: https://www.commercialappeal.com/…/disinves…/7698480002/

YES Fund Task Force Leader Haley Mathews Op-Ed: https://dailymemphian.com/…/opinion-when-teachers-get…

Want to learn more about the YES Fund and how you join us in our efforts to being education equity to Shelby County Schools? Click here to visit our website.

Here is your friendly reminder to join us for our virtual joint Momentum Memphis Education Task-Force meeting on Monday, April 5th, via Zoom at 6:00 pm. Hear updates on our advocacy efforts from task-force leaders and learn how you can get involved in our fight to make education equity a reality for all students in Memphis and Shelby County. Please use this link to RSVP.

If you haven’t already, please consider taking our SCS Childcare and Back to School Perspective Survey. Shelby County Schools has resumed in-person learning for the spring semester, and we want to hear your feedback on the matter! Let us know your thoughts on continuing distance learning at home by taking the survey today!

As part of our continued fight against racial injustice in our community, Stand Tennessee has recently joined as an organizational member of the Dignity in Schools Campaign, a national coalition focused solely on dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline. 

DSC members work to transform their communities, support alternatives to a culture of zero-tolerance, punishment, criminalization, and the dismantling of public schools, and fight racism and all forms of oppression through direct action organizing, public policy advocacy, and leadership development.

To continue the work locally, we’ve joined with two Memphis-based youth advocacy partners, Bridge Builders CHANGE and Shelby County Youth Council, to develop a strategy to remove law enforcement officers and SROs from Shelby County Schools and increase mental health support for students such as additional school counselors and school social workers and increased funding for “Reset Rooms” as an alternative to punitive methods for addressing student behavior. With the help of Memphis Stand Director Cardell Orrin and lead Outreach Coordinator Paul Garner, these youth-led partnerships have established a “Counselors, Not Cops” campaign and have begun outreach to local legislators to accomplish our shared goals.

Here’s what lead outreach coordinator Paul Garner had to say about working with Bridge Builders Change and the Shelby County Youth Council:

“Having the opportunity to join and work with youth on this transformative intergenerational campaign has been an inspiring reminder of why we are committed to work for education equity. It’s exciting to join the planning calls each week to provide support to the CNC Youth Cohort as we develop strategy and action and meet with elected officials to ensure that all students in Shelby County, regardless of zip code, income, or race, have equitable access to comprehensive mental health services and to break the school to prison pipeline which often begins with policing in our schools.

Like many marginalized constituent groups, youth are often left out of conversations about policies and programs that affect them the most. When we do give youth a voice, it is filtered and through our perspective as adults. It has been a privilege to collaborate in a process where their voices are not just valued, but leads the conversation about solutions to the issues our young people face everyday.”

Learn more about the work our youth-based advocacy partners are doing to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline in Memphis and Shelby County by watching this week’s episode of Cardell’s Soapbox on Wednesday, March 31st at 5:00 pm via Stand for Children’s Facebook Page.