The NAACP-Nashville Branch and at least one Metro Council member is asking the Metro Nashville School Board to delay voting on a controversial redistricting plan.
In a letter to school board members and other members of the Metro Council, Dist. 19 council member Erica Gilmore writes, "I believe (voting on the redistricting measure) would be taking a step back in our progress toward racial and economic diversity. Further, I feel it is appropriate that the new board members to be elected in August and the new director of schools have the opportunity to participate in the decision."
The NAACP weighs in with stronger language saying, "Making promises of financial guarantees without the consent of the Mayor and Metro Council shows an alarming lack of awareness of, or disregard for, the legal and political environments in which the board is expected to conduct its business. The chair of the task force has said that the plan should not be implemented without the guarantee of additional resources, and since you cannot make such a guarantee, you ought to keep this plan on hold." The letter was drafted by Nashville Branch President Marilyn Robinson and other NAACP officials.
Both are right in asking that the plan be set aside until school officials can determine what the plan would cost and where the money would come from.
The redistricting plan calls for major changes in the district's transportation system and for the hiring of large numbers of teachers and support people to provide services to students. No estimates have been made public about what it would cost to implement the plan and the school district cannot fund the initiatives without additional money from the city.
Delaying a vote until the funding questions can be answered would be consistent with the task force's recommendations. In its report, the task force set out a series of prerequisites to support schools in high poverty areas and said none of the redistricting recommendations should be put into effect if those prerequisites are not met.
For a school district in distress, with some schools under state control, it would be foolish to undertake such a massive disruption of activities without at least knowing what the plan would cost and how it would be funded. Since revenues come from the Metro government, it is also right that council members get a chance to review the plan and determine if they want the millions of dollars it will take to make the changes.
Basic management requires that school board members ask what the plan will cost and how it will be funded. Until those questions can be answered, it would be foolhardy to vote on the issue.
-- Jim Grinstead
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