Superintendents in major metropolitan school districts have faced firing in the last few months, and Memphis is no different.
On December 16, the Memphis-Shelby County School Board called a meeting to discuss terminating the contract of Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins, who has only been on the job for eight months. Some board members said they intended to fire Feagins on the basis on multiple contract violations, including allegedly the fumbling of grant dollars for homeless students.
The board meeting a day later included hours of public comment from the community, calling on board members whose to rethink their decision to dismiss Feagins or face recall. Public comment continued when the meeting began discussing the contract termination, with community members interjecting comments and boos throughout. Some cheered on Feagins when she spoke and yelled at board members who were explaining their intent to vote to fire her.
The comments provided evidence of Feagins’ strong support base within the community and among teachers. Some supporters turned the tables on board members at the meeting and started calling out the elected officials by name and the number of votes it would take to recall their seats.
The board pushed off the vote to terminate Feagins’ contract to the new year, but the fight over leadership of an expansive urban school district is not new – and one that Memphis shares this year with public school districts in Chicago and St. Louis.
School boards in both communities fired their superintendents in recent months, with both ousted leaders having spent less than five years on the job (roughly the national average for large metropolitan area district superintendents).
For leaders in all three districts, financial concerns are a common thread.
How does SLPS and CPS districts compare to Memphis?
Demographically, MSCS is somewhat comparable to both Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS). The schools in their districts generally have higher populations of minority students.
The disricts all serve in metropolitan cities that have historically had lower investment into the public school system. In addition to lower investment, school districts around the country are experiencing the loss of federal COVID-19 relief dollars.
The Commercial Appeal reviewed the demographic data for each district, either reported by the State in the case of SLPS and MSCS, or self reported by the district itself in the case of CPS.
| District | Student pop | Low income | %African American | %Hispanic | %White |
| St. Louis Public Schools | 19,600 | N/A | 76% | 7.3% | 11.9% |
| Chicago Public Schools | 325,305 | 71% | 35% | 46% | 11% |
| Memphis-Shelby County Schools | 105,000 | 55% | 75% | 19% | 5% |
Most importantly, all have considered firing their superintendents in the last few months.
St. Louis Public Schools terminate superintendent a year into the job
St. Louis Public Schools needed a new superintendent in 2023 when Kelvin Adams retired after 14 years on the job.
Adams announced his retirement in August 2022, according to reporting from St. Louis’s KSDK, and by December 2022 the district would be without a leader. The nationwide search began, according to a district website, with Ray and Associates, Inc reaching out to over 1,700 contacts to see if they were interested in the job.
After a six-month search, Dr. Keisha Scarlett, an assistant superintendent with Seattle Public Schools, emerged as the top candidate from the pool and was named to the position in February 2023. Memphis hired Feagins after a two-year search process.
Scarlett officially assumed her role in July 2023 and she was placed on involuntary leave a year later, according to St. Louis Public radio.
Scarlett was fired by the Board of Education for the district in October 2024 according to a press release from the district. The termination was with cause and effective immediately.
St. Louis Public Radio reported that Scarlett violated district policy regarding “expenditures, hiring protocols and authorizing unapproved administrative pay.” Scarlett also misused district issued credit cards for expenditures such as $125 at Massage Envy, $26 at Planet Fitness according to STLPR’s reporting.
Chicago Public Schools CEO fired without cause
Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez was fired without cause on December 20, according to ChalkBeat Chicago, and will receive a payout of $130,000 to stay on for the remainder of the school year per his contract.
Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez was fired on December 20 after serving as the leader of the school district since 2021. Martinez was fired without cause, according to ChalkBeat Chicago reporting, and will receive a payout of $130,000 but stay on for the remainder of the school year per his contract.
Martinez’s dismissal comes amid the backdrop of a new school board, which included the first election for board members who will replace the current board members, all of whom are appointed.
Martinez was facing turmoil with Chicago leaders over how the district should navigate the coming months and years after federal COVID-19 relief dollars were spent and budget deficits presented themselves.
Martinez was appointed to the CEO post by former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and stayed on after she lost her reelection bid to Brandon Johnson. Johnson kept Martinez on but had major disagreements on how to handle Chicago Teachers Union’s contract proposal costs which CPS estimated would create a $4 billion deficit for the district in coming years, according to Chalkbeat Chicago.
Johnson had even asked Martinez to step down, but he refused according to Chalkbeat Chicago reporting, ” citing a need for stability in a district roiled by frequent leadership turnover in recent years.”
Why does MSCS want Feagins gone?
During the public school board meeting on December 17, Chairwoman of the Board Joyce Dorse Coleman read aloud a termination resolution that included multiple allegations against Feagins.
The allegations in the resolution were as follows:
- “Dr. Feagins misled the Board and the public when she stated during a Board Work session that the District had paid employees $1 million in overtime wages for time not worked. Dr. Feagins never presented any evidence suggesting that her statement was true, and did not correct or clarify her statement to the public.”
- “Dr. Feagins accepted a donation of more than $45,000 without Board approval. At a Board Work Session, Dr. Feagins misrepresented her knowledge of involvement in depositing the unapproved donation check in violation of Board policy.”
- “Dr. Feagins was dishonest with the Board and the Public when she stated that certain federal grant funds were all available to the District despite Dr. Feagins failing to obligate the funds prior to the required deadline.”
The board went back and fourth on various things after Coleman read the resolution into the record. There were multiple attempts to defer the item. Board members voted against postponing the resolution indefinitely and ultimately decided to allow Feagins to respond to the allegations during board meetings in January.