WKNO TRANSCRIPT
CHRISTOPHER BLANK (HOST): A compromise over the state takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools may be on the table. With us to talk about what it could be is political analyst Otis Sanford. Welcome back!
OTIS SANFORD: Thank you, Chris. Hope you're doing well.
BLANK: A quick recap here: two local lawmakers, both Republicans, have serious problems with the Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board. They both believe that, at least for the foreseeable future, there should be a new board of political appointees telling the school board what needs to be done to improve the district. But Rep. Mark White and Sen. Brent Taylor differ on this intervention. And for a bill to pass the legislature, their plans have to come together. So let’s start with what are the main differences, and how might they be merged?
SANFORD: The main differences are kind of cosmetic in some ways. One is calling for a "board of managers," I think that's Taylor's version. Mark White is calling it an "oversight board." There's a little difference in who gets to appoint members to the board. And then there's the issue of whether the existing elected board can be terminated, or gotten rid of. So, they seem to be moving ahead to try to work their differences out. We'll just have to see where it goes from there.
BLANK: You know, this would be unique to our school district. What has the school board done to warrant this much oversight?
SANFORD: The thing that angered everybody is the firing of the Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins. And the school board, I have to say, brought it on themselves by doing that in such a hasty manner. But Chris, I would have to say that the optics of two white Republicans, one of them highly privileged — at least one of them highly privileged — running roughshod over an overwhelmingly African American school district, at least in terms of students and the board, can't be lost on me. I feel like I have to say that.
BLANK: And both lawmakers are really concerned with compliance -- forcing the school board, essentially, to do what it’s told here. And Taylor’s bill even allows for what he calls this “board of managers” to remove school board members who step out of line. Or even defund the school district. I guess the question this raises is: why even have an elected school board if they’re just being told what decisions they have to make?
SANFORD: And you raise a good point, and in theory we may not need it. But the constitution calls for an elected school board. So if we're going just get rid of the school board then so be it. And let's not dance around all these other things that these bills are trying to do. I just see this all as pretty draconian because it only applies to the Memphis-Shelby County Schools. It doesn't apply to anybody else in the state that I'm aware of. And it just seems like it's going a little too far for me.
BLANK: Well, Otis, I filed my taxes last week...
SANFORD: Good for you!
BLANK: ... Only to learn on Monday that the IRS extended the filing deadline for Tennesseans due to the recent storms. Which is so annoying. I could have procrastinated for another six months.
SANFORD: You could have. But you should have done like me. I filed mine in March and got it over with.
BLANK: No, no no. I like the excitement of the last minute.
SANFORD: Spoken just like a newspaper person.
BLANK: Deadlines are very important to me.
SANFORD: That's right.
BLANK: But speaking of taxes, xAI has been in the news quite a bit lately. But this week, the Daily Memphian's Samuel Hardiman reported that the company may not be paying as much Memphis and Shelby County property taxes as was originally touted. The project, for a long time, was hyped as a $12 billion investment. It's being taxed as a $2.2 billion operation. And that's a big difference. How are public officials involved in this, and are there politics involved?
SANFORD: Well, you know there's always politics involved, there's no question about that. This is a tax break because they are not being assessed on everything that is within the facilities they own. So that is a break. Having said that — and this is good reporting by Sam Hardiman, by the way. They are now spinning this by saying at least we're getting two billion dollars. And I think the Mayor Paul Young is saying we're going to take that money and we're going to invest it back into the community, blah, blah, blah... And in reality, xAI is still the No. 2 taxpayer based on the property that it has in the city and county right now. Second only to FedEx, according to Sam's story. Yeah, this is illuminating and going from $12 billion operation to a $2 billion is a lot. But that's politics and that's business.
BLANK: And they seem to be going together a lot these days.
SANFORD: Absolutely, absolutely they are. I would just hope that the issue continues to be on the main thing, which is are regulations being followed as it relates to the environment. That to me is more important than whether there's a little rearranging of financial incentives here.
