TPC guided by goals we all can embrace

We are like all mothers. We want what’s best for our children and we know that few things are as important as a quality education.

That’s why we strongly support the recommendations of the Shelby County Transition Planning Commission for a unified Memphis and Shelby County school district. The recommendations are the product of an unprecedented examination of public education in our community in which the commission’s 21 members spent more than 400 hours in 150 meetings with more than 14,000 teachers, educators and other citizens in all parts of our county to develop a plan that is equal parts grounded and visionary.

As it began its work, the Transition Planning Commission set out 10 guiding principles we all can embrace:

The academic success and well-being of our students come first.

Educators and staff are our most important resource.

We have high expectations.

We are all in this together.

We aim to enhance our district by balancing stability with needed change.

We desire excellent community schools and options for all.

We believe parent engagement is essential.

We must save where we can to fund what we need.

We value strong leadership.

This is our once-in-alifetime opportunity.

These were not merely statements to be posted on the wall during meetings. They are in fact the themes that are found in the commission’s final re- port and its recommendations for everything from planning and budgeting to nutrition, from governance to instruction, and from security to student services.

While addressing the nuts and bolts of a new and better school system, the Transition Planning Commission also painted the picture of what excellence in education can be, calling for universal prekindergarten, putting in place student interventions tailored for each child, expanding the Gates Foundation’s Teacher Effectiveness Initiative to put an accomplished teacher in every classroom, doubling the number of advanced placement classes, finding ways to maximize the use and investment in buildings, creating “multiple achievement paths” for schools to accommodate multiple operators and give leaders more autonomy, and establishing higher common core standards.

Many in our community have cried out for a bold vision of what our public schools can be. The answer has now been provided by the Transition Planning Commission. And yet, the lessons of the commission extend far beyond its mandate.

Its work is in fact a symbol of the new maturity and the commitment to the future that we can all support. Despite ominous predictions to the contrary, these commission members focused on the positives and found ways to bring people together for the good of our children.

Commission chairwoman Barbara Prescott said she agreed to head up this yeoman’s job because “it is a historic time in our community and a historic time to come together to educate our children.”

There is no question that she is right. The Transition Planning Commis- sion has shown us a path to a better future, and now it is up to the rest of us to exercise our citizenship to call for these recommendations to become reality.

It’s difficult to count all of the positive impacts that can result from the school system imagined by the Transition Planning Commission. Better educated students have better options for their lives. Better educated students fuel our economy at a time when we are pursuing jobs in the knowledge economy. Better educated students need fewer social services, they have less involvement with the criminal justice system and they have higher incomes.

In this way, the school system the commissioners envision is the single most important talent development strategy that we can create in Memphis and Shelby County.

As parents, we want a community where every parent’s child has the op- portunity to receive highquality education. We value the importance of public education and we want a school system, regardless of where we live and how much we earn, where our children can learn and excel.

Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell said the TPC has “produced a plan that puts academic success above all.” Memphis Mayor A C Wharton said the “plan is a road map to building a great school system.” The Transition Planning Commission has indeed given us a road map. Now is the time to begin the journey to a better school system and a better Memphis and Shelby County. We can show the rest of America how it is done and become the model for the nation. Shante Avant of Memphis is deputy director of the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis. Jenni Falkof is a Memphis attorney.