Whalum wants city to pay schools before charter surrender vote - Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee

Whalum wants city to pay schools before charter surrender vote

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MEMPHIS, TN -

By Kontji Anthony - bio | email | Facebook

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - With Memphis voters on the brink of a historic vote that could transfer the city school system to Shelby County Schools, school board Commissioner Kenneth Whalum, Jr. is making new demands.

Whalum read his new proposal to fellow commissioners Monday night, calling for the City of Memphis to pay up $57 million he says is owed to the school system.

"Be it therefore resolved that the Memphis City Schools Board of Commissioners, by enactment of this resolution, publicly demands immediate payment of the amount of money owed to Memphis City Schools by the City of Memphis," he read.

The two-and-a-half year court battle over the $57 million payment has taken a back seat to the battle over transferring city schools to the county.  Whalum's resolution calls for the schools attorney to bring closure to this financial tug-of-war by any means necessary before Memphis voters go to the polls on March 8.     

Memphis Council chairman Myron Lowery had no comment on Whalum's new demands, Action News 5 caught up with him at a city council retreat days before Whalum's resolution.

"We've got to resolve the dilemma with the Memphis City Schools - the amount of money that we owe the schools," Lowery said.

During the retreat Saturday, Lowery told fellow council members he's not a attorney, but paying the school system what its owed is the "right thing to do."

Copyright 2011 WMC-TV. All rights reserved.

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