Education

IPSR examination prompts independent audit of federal Covid-relief funds

Memphis-Shelby County Schools has hired a national accounting firm to audit its internal procedures in spending millions in federal COVID-19 relief funds, also known...

David WatersDecember 5, 2022

The Memphis-Shelby County Schools board began an investigation of Charles White after The Daily Memphian published an examination that found the district likely overspent millions of federal dollars on HVAC upgrades.(Courtesy Memphis-Shelby County Schools)

Education

School district fires facilities manager after IPSR investigation of bidding irregularities

A senior facilities manager for Memphis-Shelby County Schools was fired in late July for “gross misconduct” in connection with construction contracts awarded to a...

David WatersOctober 30, 2022

Andy Bobowski, co-founder of Backrs, leades new protégées at the Purpose Workshop, an orientation for the support app. (courtesy Backrs)

Education

‘Backrs’ builds support network for first-generation college students

Hope in Memphis is a recurring series about people who are working every day in Memphis to defy and defeat crime and violence, poverty...

David WatersOctober 28, 2022

“Legislators are making it more difficult to have honest conversations about safe and healthy sexuality, and the consequences of that could be huge,” said Lisa Moore, president and CEO of Girls Inc. in Memphis. Moore is pictured June 10, 2021, with architectural renderings of the new Patricia C. Howard Campus. (Lucy Garrett/Special to The Daily Memphian file)

Education

Loss of funding, reproductive rights raise concerns about teen births

There’s no great mystery about why teen births have been declining steadily in Shelby County for 15 years. “Education and contraception work,” said Ashley...

David WatersSeptember 13, 2022

Jackie Johnson, a 23-year-old mother of two, reads to her children, Cordale, 4, and Markel, 1, before school. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Education

Transforming the city one teen mom at a time

Hope in Memphis is a recurring series about people who are working every day in Memphis to defy and defeat crime and violence, poverty and...

David WatersSeptember 12, 2022

A student at Cherokee Elementary School volunteers to read. Third graders in public schools who “flunk” next spring’s TNReady reading test — and generally two-thirds of them in Tennessee do — are eligible to be retained in third grade next year. (Jim Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Education

One Day, One Test: The promise and perils of Tennessee’s new third-grade reading gate

Tennessee’s toughened third-grade retention law, passed in early 2021, goes into effect this month. Third graders in public schools who “flunk” next spring’s TNReady reading...

David WatersAugust 19, 2022

Memphis-Shelby County Schools board member Althea Greene (left) and superintendent Joris Ray join applause for a former student who offered praise for the public school system. Not all praise for MSCS was positive, however, as some contractors complained about the district’s lack of competitive bidding for equipment. (Houston Cofield/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Education

Changes in MSCS construction guidelines favored some vendors, excluded others

Last August and September, Memphis-Shelby County Schools hosted five pre-bid meetings to outline a whopping 84 federally funded HVAC upgrades at various schools. Representatives...

David WatersJuly 5, 2022