Memphis is Tennessee's largest school district, with 110,000 students, and its poorest. One in three children there lives in poverty, compared with about one in five statewide. Read an update of education policies in Tennessee. Memphis is one of the state's worst-performing systems as well, and it is under the gun to change for fear that state lawmakers will try to seize control. A whopping 35.2 percent of the 9th graders who start high school in Memphis drop out before they graduate, more than twice the state average.
Attendance is lower than the state average, and so is student performance.
In 1995, only 49 percent of Memphis 9th graders passed the state math-competency test, compared with 71 percent statewide. Students start taking the test, which is required for graduation, in the 9th grade. In fact, Memphis students perform below the state average in every subject and every grade on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, a standardized exam given annually to 2nd through 8th graders. Many, including Mayor Willie W. Herenton of Memphis, a former schools superintendent for the city district, say high poverty rates are to blame. The Memphis city schools are struggling with these factors.