All in the Numbers

Published June 18, 2009 at 11:00 a.m.

The stakes are school funding, student performance, newspapersurvival, the NCAA investigation of the University of Memphis, thelocal tax rate, and the viability of our sports facilities. In eachcase, a few simple numbers would tell us more than a stack of reportsand position papers. But for various reasons, those numbers are hard toget.

• The Memphis City Schools system has been losing students forseveral years. The question is how many and how fast? The questionmatters because funding is based on average daily attendance.

The 2008-2009 enrollment was 103,000, according to SuperintendentKriner Cash and his deputy Irving Hamer. The MCS website says 105,000.The Tennessee Report Card says MCS enrollment was 107,314 in 2007-2008,110,753 in 2006-2007, and 116,528 in 2005-2006. That's a decline of13,528 students, or 9 percent, in four years. During that time,per-pupil spending increased from $8,708 to $10,366. No wonder someCity Council members think the $948 million MCS budget could stand a$57 million cut.

• Last month, 35 Memphis high schools held graduationceremonies. College-bound MCS students, we are told, were offered $94million in scholarships. Congratulations, graduates. But it would bemore helpful to know how many of you there were and where you came from— this year and last year. No complicated cohort graduation ratesor percentages, thanks. Just a number.

In an open-enrollment system, there's no better indicator of who'sattracting students, keeping them, and graduating them and who isn't.In previous years, numbers gathered from principals, board members, andMCS by this newspaper showed that a few city schools graduated nearly400 students, while others graduated fewer than 100 students. MCSshould provide that information each year by the end of May, at budgettime.

• The city mayor and the Memphis City Council are trying to setan operating budget without any agreement on the number of cityemployees. I've seen numbers as low as 6,000 (Commercial Appealeditor Chris Peck's column last Sunday) and as high as 7,774 (the cityof Memphis 2008 annual report's listing of "full-time equivalentgovernment employees by function"). Somebody is way off. That's adifference of 1,774 employees, or 30 percent.

I called the offices of the city finance director, chiefadministrative officer, and human resources director but could not getan answer in two days. Before decisions are made about layoffs or 3percent raises, it would be nice to know how many city employees thereare and why their numbers are apparently growing faster than the citypopulation.

• Speaking of The Commercial Appeal: What's a dailynewspaper worth, and what are its prospects for survival? TheCA's parent company, E.W. Scripps, does not release financialsfor its 15 newspapers. It closed the Rocky Mountain News inDenver earlier this year and has cut staff and salaries in Memphis.Collectively, the Scripps newspaper division earned $71 million inprofit on $569 million of operating income in 2008.

The New York Times last week asked six experts what theBoston Globe (which is owned by the parent company of theTimes) is worth. The answers ranged from negative $25 million(you read that right) to $1 (you read that right, too) to $10 to $20million to the value of the underlying real estate to $350 million.

• Did Derrick Rose cheat on his college entrance exams? Rose'sSAT and ACT college entrance exam scores are redacted in the U of M'sresponse to NCAA allegations that someone else took the test. Rose sayshe took his own tests. The university says the findings of a forensichandwriting expert were inconclusive. Release the scores — boththe ones that were too low and the one that made him eligible —and maybe we can decide.

• Will FedExForum need a bailout? How about AutoZone Park? Howmuch improvement does Liberty Bowl Stadium need if there are 10,000no-shows in the reported 24,000 average attendance? Would a campusstadium make more sense? It's time for some brutal honesty in reportingattendance at college and professional sports events. Turnstile clicksand butts in seats, not tickets sold or distributed. That goes for theTigers, Grizzlies, and bowl games. A no-show doesn't buy snacks,souvenirs, hotel rooms, or a parking place, and those things contributeto the revenue stream.

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