“Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools. The Tennessee supermajority’s redrawing of its Congressional districts to siphon Memphis Democrats into Republican seats came days before the Memphis-Shelby County school system takeover is expected to be signed into law. It’s an unprecedented confluence that could dilute the voting power of Tennessee’s largest majority-Black city. This week, Memphis Democrats decried an onslaught of Republican measures they say are aimed at Black Memphians, who will see their locally elected school board neutered by GOP political appointees just as they lose a Memphis-centered Congressional district aimed at protecting minority voting power. Senate Democratic Caucus Chair London Lamar, a Memphis Democrat, called the sweeping effort “an absolute power grab.” “You didn’t like our school board, you took that over,” Lamar said Thursday prior to the redistricting vote. “You didn’t like our airport authority. You took that over. And now, you don’t like the way Memphis votes. You’re going to take that away from us, too. You cannot claim local control while stripping Memphis voters from meaningful representation. You cannot claim to respect democracy while changing the rules.” Now, one of the main architects of the Memphis-Shelby County schools takeover wants to capitalize on the redistricting effort. Sen. Brent Taylor, the Memphis Republican who sponsored the Senate version of the takeover, announced Thursday he would run in the redrawn 9th Congressional District just minutes after the redistricting effort was signed into law. Taylor and other Republicans have denied the effort was tied to Memphis’ racial makeup but say they’re now able to further consolidate Republican power in Tennessee due to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. “This is about allowing Tennessee to maximize its partisan advantage,” said Sen. John Stevens, a Republican from Huntingdon, in a Senate debate this week. Taylor’s partner in the schools takeover, Memphis Republican Rep. Mark White, was one of the few Republicans who did not support the redistricting effort. White opted to not cast a vote in favor or against the measure alongside a handful of other Republicans who serve in more competitive districts in Shelby and Knox counties. The state takeover legislation awaits Gov. Bill Lee’s signature to become law. The law would shift control of the state’s largest public school district to a nine-person oversight board appointed by Tennessee’s top three Republicans, including the governor. The new board will diminish the authority of the local school board, which is in the m iddle of an election cycle that drew the largest voter turnout in over t wo decades for county-wide May 5 primary elections. Takeover advocates argue years of academic underperformance and district management drama necessitated the intervention, which accelerated after the school board in 2025 quickly fired a new superintendent. It also follows years of rising tensions between Tennessee Republicans, a majority-white party with supermajority power, and local leaders in Memphis, a longtime Democratic stronghold with a majority-Black population. Last year, Republicans imposed a state and federal law enforcement surge because of immigration and crime concerns. A Memphis school board member in April called the oversight law “racist” as Tennessee Republicans, all of whom are white, will seize control from the locally elected school board, the majority of whom are Black. Memphis parents have expressed concern about funding and support for a predominantly Black school district. The Republican supermajority has given the oversight board nearly unlimited power to dive into district records, from teacher evaluations to curriculum reviews, and control the district’s largest financial decisions. It will also have final say over the district’s operating budget and superintendent contract. Its power even extends in part to the Shelby County Commission, the county’s local governing body, which will be blocked from signing off on the MSCS annual budget until the oversight board gives its approval. Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa at mbrown@chalkbeat.org .
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