Tuesday, February 15, 2011

They Will Win

These Gerrmantown students are some of the only students who'll be celebrating when it's all over.  Not because the county will win but because they won't be part of the losing team. They will probably be the first graduating class of GCS. I have said from the beginning,"this is about class not race." As this plays out you're going to see what is now the county school system become an even smaller group . Those who have the most are going to abandon those who have-not-quite as much. 

You can tell what city has the means to benefit from this Norris bill. This whole thing initially was about who controls the money derived from property taxes. All of the outspoken surburban mayors have suddenly gotten quiet. The only one that can afford to start their own school system is Germantown. Over forty % of children there already attend private schools anyway. Those parents are already paying for a system they don't use.. A municipal sysrem would be cheaper for them in the short term. But what about Bartlett, Millington  and the other areas up for grabs? They need things to stay as they are. Collierville and Germantown already share three schools. For that reason they can split the cost of starting anew. Those two municipalities need the three years proposed in the Norris Bill to figure out how to equitably divide the services of a new school system between the two of them. In the end they will win.

4 Comments:

Blogger Common said...

Suburbs study effect of possible schools merger on property values
Independent school systems viewed as enhancing values
By Clay Bailey
Memphis Commercial Appeal

Suburban leaders have long cited schools -- Shelby County Schools -- as a major building block to growth and property values in the cities that ring Memphis.

Now, with a potential city and county schools merger under intense debate, there is also a debate about the potential impact on property values.

"I've always said, people have come here because of schools and stayed because it is clean and safe and their property values are maintained," Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald said.

But determining the impact on real estate values is as complicated as determining the ultimate outcome on education.

"Uncertainty is never good. People want to be sure what the situations are and what kind of schools their kids are going to go to," said John Gnuschke, director of the Sparks Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Memphis.

But even without studies from universities or local Realtors, many agree that a municipal school district for select suburbs -- an idea under debate -- could enhance property values despite higher taxes to fund schools.

At a Memphis Area Association of Realtors forum last week, County Commissioner Mike Ritz said the three larger suburbs -- Bartlett, Collierville and Germantown -- should begin planning immediately to establish their own districts.

"If they run good systems," Ritz said afterward, "it could seriously enhance property values big time in the suburbs that can afford to do it, and do it well."

1:05 PM  
Blogger Common said...

cont:

Gnuschke's group has not done a study on the impact of the school options on property values, but he is aware of the benefits. When he came to the area in 1976, he chose Bartlett because of schools.

"They've been a magnet since I moved here," he said.

The MAAR also has not done a study on the impact and is not taking a position on the education question.

Individually, members are seeing an impact. Richard McWaters of Bartlett said uncertainty has cost him two contracts from clients unsure whether to move until the matter is settled.

Suburbs studying their own school districts can't predict the increase in property taxes because of the unknown costs associated with taking on the operation. But, like others, McWaters believes a good, local municipal school system would offset increased property taxes.

"I think if it hurts anything, it might hurt private schools," said McWaters, who has worked in local real estate since 1987. "I don't think $1,000 a year raise in property taxes is going to keep you from buying a house if the schools are highly rated. It might keep them from going to that $15,000-a-year private school."

Dr. Richard Evans, a University of Memphis professor of real estate and economics who serves as co-director of the Center for Real Estate Research along with Gnuschke, doesn't have school-age children at home. But as a Germantown resident, he would favor the additional taxes for the suburb having its own school system, run by Germantown. He said the schools provide additional value to property.

There still are concerns about flight if the result is a large, countywide school system. Some suggest there are not many places left to flee. Others say school systems in Fayette and Tipton counties have their own problems.

Nevertheless, cities such as Oakland in Fayette County are trying to position themselves for migration. Officials are working on a growth plan and trying to lobby legislators for the same municipal school opportunities as Shelby County to separate themselves from the Fayette system.

"We want to have something strong to attract them to the area," Oakland Mayor Scott Ferguson said recently. "We're not going to have that unless we have that strong tool of education."

But like many aspects of the school argument, nothing solid can be decided because of the unknowns.

"How it all plays out, and how it impacts housing markets depends on how the decisions are made," Gnuschke said. "It could be positive; could be negative."

1:39 PM  
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