Ask Tomeka Hart about her career aspirations and
she’s quick to point out that she’s not a politician. She says that two terms on the Memphis City Schools board will probably be the extent of her public
service. If she’s lucky.
Her political future depends on the voters of District 7, who for 17 years
have been represented on the school board by the Rev. Hubon Sandridge. If Hart
wins, the 33-year-old lawyer will represent a district that includes five of this year’s
No Child Left Behind failing schools. She says she is ready for the challenge.
“My main issue is and always will be the children,” says Hart. “Every
decision the board makes should be determined by the question, Does it benefit the
students? If it doesn’t, I will vote against it. We have to somehow get everyone
involved in the education process, especially parents. If they won’t come to
the schools, we’ve got to go to them.”
After graduating from Trezevant High School and the University of
Tennessee, Hart moved to Georgia and taught junior high and high school business
courses in Cobb County. When she decided to go to law school, her mother
convinced her to return home and apply to the University of Memphis. “I was so
surprised when I moved back and heard all the negative news about the
school board,” says Hart. “Our kids deserve
so much better than what they are getting, which is a lot of grandstanding.”
Cardell Orrin, Hart’s campaign manager, says his candidate offers a “new
perspective.” Hart and Orrin plan to meet with community organizations,
parents, and students during a door-to-door introduction campaign. Orrin says
he wants to raise $25,000 for his candidate. Hart
is also backed by a young professional organization called New Path, and
Orrin has organized volunteers from that group and is meeting with potential
contributors. Last week, there was a fund-raiser
for Hart in the South Main district.
Although Hart has not talked with Sandridge, she knows his platform
and his board history. “I don’t see this as
old versus young, but you have to have a change in ideas,” she says.
The platforms of Hart and Sandridge, 54, are almost completely
opposite. Sandridge supports corporal punishment; Hart opposes it. Sandridge
vehemently opposes closing underpopulated schools, specifically Manassas High; if closing
a school is in the best interest of students, Hart would support it.
“I do not think [this position]
should be a lifetime appointment,” she says.
“If you haven’t made a difference and empowered somebody else in that time, then
it’s time to move on.”
But being in politics is a lifetime
appointment, says Sandridge. “They’re [Hart and other opponents] just
campaigning. You don’t just run a race to get out
there. You have to be on the field every day,”
he says. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m delighted to see the interest in these young
people, but I don’t ever intend to get out of the political arena, because it patrols our
lives 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Sandridge has been criticized for his tumultuous relationships with other
board members. His antics, including yelling, finger-pointing, and stormy walkouts,
have all been chronicled by local television.
Still, Sandridge doesn’t seem worried about his reelection chances. “My
constituency knows me. The record is what you run
on,” he says. “The arguing within the board
is not always fighting, but what you call political debate. All you see on TV is me
arguing, but I’m just a passionate leader. And at the
end of the day [the media] does not show what happens
positively.”
Hart is single, has no children, and works for the law firm of Young and
Perl as a labor and employment attorney. “What shocks me the most is
when people ask why I care, since I don’t have any children in the school system,”
she says. “Do we have to have kids in the system to care? We have to care
because we will pay for not caring about these
students, one way or another.”