Head of the state-run Achievement School District stepping down

Malika Anderson is stepping down as head of the state-run Achievement School District, effective Sept. 30.

The Tennessee Department of Education, which oversees the ASD, announced her departure in an email Wednesday afternoon.

The education department’s Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operations Officer Kathleen Airhart will step in as interim superintendent until the state completes a search for a new leader.

Anderson said by phone stepping down was her decision. She’s been superintendent less than two years, taking over in January 2016, but started on the leadership team of the ASD in 2012 during its formation.

“The case of Memphis and Shelby County is an extreme example of how imbalanced political power, our local school-funding model, and the allowance of secession can be disastrous for children,” the report says.

“The plan really is after Sept. 30 to support some of the work around Tennessee and around the country through consulting work while I recharge,” Anderson said. She said she may consider another leadership position in a school district or a charter organization next school year, but thought now was the best time to hand off the baton at the ASD.

Anderson was the second superintendent of the district. She began with the ASD in 2012 and took over the helm in January 2016 following the resignation of Chris Barbic.

The news of Anderson’s departure comes a week after the state district’s high school results showed little to no growth on TNReady end-ofcourse tests.

The district also recently went through a massive central office overhaul that included layoffs. Anderson said she thought it would be best to put the new leadership team in place before she resigned, hoping to put people in positions who have institutional knowledge. But bringing in a new leader does run the risk that person will want their own team, she acknowledged.

The state created the ASD six years ago with the intent to take over and turn around the state’s most poorly performing schools and, for the most part, outsource their operations to charter school networks. It continues to be controversial as the district now oversees 33 schools, 30 of which are in Memphis.

Anderson worked out of Nashville, an initial point of contention in Memphis education circles when she took the job, but came to Shelby County on a monthly basis.

Shelby and Nashville leaders have long pushed back against the ASD, calling for more local control to school improvement efforts.

Shelby is considering taking legal action against the ASD and the education department for adding grade levels to schools, which three opinions from the Tennessee Attorney General said recently they should not have done.

The state district has also failed to coax student contact information out of Shelby or Nashville, which Anderson previously partially attributed to low enrollment in ASD schools.

Anderson said she was surprised when she took over at the ASD at the number of “institutional barriers” between local school districts, parents, legislators and families.

“I think that good intentions are there. But good intentions do not change lives,” Anderson said. “They do not change opinions. And they don’t necessarily direct action. So I think there’s just a lot more work to do to align our good intentions with the policies and practices that we put in place.”

Anna Shepherd, Metro Nashville Public Schools board chairwoman, said the ASD’s struggles meant it was “time for a leadership change.”

“And I think its past time the state take a hard look at the ASD,” she said. “We know they are hard schools to make successful.”

Shelby County Schools board chairman Chris Caldwell also sympathized with the difficulty of turning around high-poverty, low-performing schools.

“The ASD was struggling when she took over, and it’s just very hard work,” Caldwell said. “I don’t think that the legislation that created the ASD allowed for them to have the support they needed, as well as regular public school districts.”

Despite the controversy, the state solidified the role of the ASD in its effort to turn around schools by making it part of its plan to comply with the new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act. The U.S. Department of Education approved Tennessee’s plan just last week.