Press Release

A JMCSS communication for families & community stakeholders

Jackson Museum Charter Application – Superintendent’s Reflection, July 14, 2025

I. Why I Wrote This Report

Every day I drive throughout this community and see children whose futures depend on the decisions we make in this room. That reality grounds me. This reflection is not simply an analysis of the Jackson Museum Charter School application; it is a look at who we already are, what we have learned, and how we ensure that every new idea truly lifts our students higher. Choice matters—the right choice matters more.

As Superintendent of Jackson‑Madison County Schools, I hold sacred our collective charge to ensure that every student—regardless of zip code, background, or life circumstance—has access to rigorous, life‑changing learning.

This document is more than an analysis of a single charter application; it is a reflection on the work we have accomplished, the progress still ahead, and the disciplined, student‑centered decision‑making process the Board and I employ whenever a new idea arrives at our doorstep.

Over the past five years, we have built a portfolio of options that places students on clear pathways toward Enlistment, Employment, or Enrollment: JCM Early College, high‑impact CTE and workforce programs, universal Pre‑K, high‑dosage reading tutoring, a robust K‑12 STEM network, district‑wide theatre productions, JROTC competitions, and a strong principal development program. Equity and access are the twin pillars of every initiative we launch.

The Jackson Museum Charter School now seeks to serve many of our most vulnerable learners—children who already face fragile supports, low literacy rates, and economic hardship. Choice, in itself, is not the issue; the question is whether this choice addresses our most urgent needs better than the alternatives already available.

A new school must be demonstrably better—especially when it targets the very students we are most committed to uplifting. At the close of this report, I offer key reflection questions and a data‑grounded recommendation.

II. The Promise—and Perils—of Charter Schools

Charter schools emerged in the 1990s as laboratories of innovation for underserved communities. But history reminds us: innovation without deep community roots often falters. Tennessee’s Achievement School District (ASD), once heralded as a turnaround model, is now being dissolved. A 2020 Vanderbilt study found ASD schools “did not improve student achievement and, in some cases, fell further behind.” That outcome informs our caution today.

“The real goal of education must be to provide all students—especially the most disadvantaged—with a quality education that will allow them to fulfill their potential.” — Dr. Pedro Noguera

A museum theme may be permissible, but a theme alone is insufficient. A theme is not a strategy. Early literacy, great teaching, and wrap‑around support are strategies. In communities impacted by poverty and trauma, expectations must rise, not fall. Any new model must provide:

Evidence‑based instruction (anchored in the science of reading)
Robust academic and operational plans
Transparent, sustainable finances
Support services that meet or exceed those of JMCSS

Charter Performance Statewide

The ASD experience underscores the risks when charters are not deeply rooted in their communities or held to rigorous standards. Tennessee now faces school closures and costly transitions back to local control—a cautionary tale we cannot ignore.

Museum‑Themed Charters and Low‑Literacy Communities

Museum schools thrive on experiential, resource‑intensive learning—field trips, curated artifacts, and external partnerships. Without strong foundational literacy, students cannot fully access such curricula. Nationally, only 21 % of low‑income fourth‑graders read on grade level versus 51 % of their higher‑income peers. A model that de‑emphasizes systematic phonics risks widening that gap.

Compounding concerns are typically thin wraparound services, the absence of district transportation, and limited mental‑health supports—precisely the resources our highest‑needs students require.

Current Landscape of Choice in Tennessee

Education Freedom Scholarship (EFS) – 2025: Universal ESA program; 50 % of awards prioritized for families ≤ 300 % FRL and for students with disabilities.
Individualized Education Accounts (IEAs): Flexible funds for students with disabilities.
Previous limited ESAs have been folded into the new universal model.

Families already have unprecedented latitude to seek alternatives; our charge is to ensure those alternatives are excellent.

III. Jackson Museum Charter School Proposal – Persistent Gaps

Despite a revised submission, the application continues to fall short in critical areas:

Curriculum clarity & instructional innovation
Staffing and recruitment plans (flat $50 K salary; $500 benefits stipend)
Comprehensive services for EL, special‑education, homeless, and early‑childhood learners
Budget realism & long‑term sustainability
Student access – no district‑wide transportation, creating a barrier in high‑poverty zones
Fragmented literacy instruction (see scope and sequence)

Additional unanswered questions include: facility location, credible intervention model beyond current JMCSS supports, and funding for mandatory experiential activities.

IV. What Choice Already Looks Like in JMCSS

Additionally, JMCSS has done an exceptional job with providing CHOICE. While there has been a history of options that predates this administration and Board—such as Madison Academic Magnet High School, JCM Early College, Northeast Academic Academy (a school-within-a-school), and Community Montessori—the expansion and intentionality around choice have grown tremendously in recent years. Since the inception of this administration, the Board and I have been extremely thoughtful in adding more choices. We have followed a structured process to determine which path we should follow to support our students’ needs.

Our Board has expanded opportunity without lowering standards:

Dual Enrollment & College certifications (University of Memphis, Union University, Lane College and TCAT)
High‑dosage tutoring– LIFT Schools
Expanded Pre‑K with transportation
Malesus STEM Innovation Center
Jackson Academic STEAM Academy (online homeschool hybrid)
Parkview Prep Bridge‑Blended credit recovery
North Parkway STAR Academy (school‑within‑a‑school turnaround)
LOOP workforce internships (JMCSS, JEA, and West TN Healthcare)

This fall we launch LIFT Schools — Leading Innovation through Focused Transformation: master‑teacher stipends, leadership coaching, and three‑strand supports (tutoring, teacher PD, principal mentorship) anchored in the Science of Reading.

Remember there are two ways: (1) a Way and (2) the JMCSS Way.

V. How We Evaluate New Options

Every proposal must demonstrate:

Evidence‑based instruction
Robust operational & staffing plan
Financial viability without shifting core district resources
Equity of access (transportation, meals, athletics, arts, wrap‑around services)
Alignment with the ABC Strategic Plan and the three E’s—Enlistment, Employment, Enrollment

The Museum Charter School meets some expectations but fails several others. Approving a “Partially Meets” application would signal that lower expectations are acceptable for the students who most need excellence.

VI. A Path I Can Support

I believe in partnership. I invite the Museum Charter team to explore a school‑within‑a‑school model—as we did at STAR Academy—under direct JMCSS oversight. That preserves thematic enrichment while guaranteeing:

Transportation & nutrition services
Access to sports and extracurriculars
Teacher pay aligned to district scales
Full compliance with special‑population laws

VII. Conclusion & Recommendation

Choice is powerful only when it is the right choice. In 2023 the Board denied Madison Classical Academy; the state charter commission later overruled, yet on June 3, 2025, that school voluntarily terminated its agreement—reinforcing the cost of green‑lighting unready models.

After five years of partnership with this distinguished Board, I cannot in good conscience recommend approval of the Jackson Museum Charter School as an independent LEA. Instead, I urge the applicant to explore a school‑within‑a‑school partnership—mirroring our successful North Parkway and Northeast Middle Schools’ models—so that district oversight, transportation, athletics, and wraparound services remain intact for our most vulnerable children.

Below are several of the most pressing, unresolved concerns:

$50K flat teacher salary, insufficient to recruit top talent
No secured facility
No transportation plan
$500 fringe‑benefits allocation per teacher
Unfunded experiential‑learning costs (field trips, exhibits)
Minimal staff positions beyond classroom teachers
Technology allocation of only $150 per device
Limited phonics scope & sequence (Heggerty only)
Reduced intervention time and unclear i‑Ready usage

Our students—and the educators who serve them—deserve better. For now, I recommend that the Board acknowledges the Resolution to deny the standalone charter. However, I encourage the applicant to collaborate within an existing JMCSS campus, where we can safeguard quality, access and equity. Our children deserve the right choice—not merely another choice.

Reflection Questions for the Board

Does the proposal exceed the academic supports currently offered in JMCSS’s highest‑need schools?
How will the charter guarantee equitable access without district transportation?
What safeguards exist if projected philanthropic or grant revenue does not materialize?
Will staff compensation attract and retain the caliber of teachers our children deserve?
How will the model strengthen, rather than fragment, the broader Jackson‑Madison community?

Respectfully submitted,

Dr. Marlon King
Superintendent, Jackson‑Madison County Schools

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Press Release

A JMCSS communication for families & community stakeholders

Jackson Museum Charter Application – Superintendent’s Reflection, July 14, 2025 Jackson Museum Charter Application – Superintendent’s Reflection, July 14, 2025

I. Why I Wrote This Report I. Why I Wrote This Report

II. The Promise—and Perils—of Charter Schools II. The Promise—and Perils—of Charter Schools

III. Jackson Museum Charter School Proposal – Persistent Gaps III. Jackson Museum Charter School Proposal – Persistent Gaps

IV. What Choice Already Looks Like in JMCSS IV. What Choice Already Looks Like in JMCSS

V. How We Evaluate New Options V. How We Evaluate New Options

VI. A Path I Can Support VI. A Path I Can Support

VII. Conclusion & Recommendation VII. Conclusion & Recommendation

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