Memphis schools chief named finalist in CMS superintendent race

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kriner Cash has served as the superintendent of schools for Memphis City Schools since 2008.

Cash currently leads the 23rd largest district in the country with nearly 113,000 students. He was involved in a large and complicated merger between the city and county school system in Memphis.

However, his long-time right-hand man resigned in disgrace last month after making drunken comments about a female employee’s breasts.

According to reports of the incident, Deputy Supt. Irving Hamer made sexual remarks about a secretary’s breasts in front of Cash’s inner circle of advisers at a party at Cash’s home. Cash reportedly ordered Hamer to apologize and was upset when Hamer’s issued an apologetic email instead of apologizing in person.

Perhaps what many people within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system would find interesting, Cash instituted a controversial pay-for-performance system for teachers, which upset many teachers within the Memphis City Schools system.

The system is Memphis is much like the Washington, DC system. Much like opponents of the pay-for-performance push in Charlotte, many teachers in Memphis said the system would be used to purge teachers instead of helping them improve.

Cash is reportedly working on a $900 million annual budget, which is similar to CMS’ budget.

When he was in the running for the Memphis position, he had served in the Miami-Dade (Florida) school system as the Chief of Accountability for four years. According to reports from Memphis, Cash was a unanimous decision in Memphis.

Before his time in Miami-Dade Schools, he served as the superintendent of Martha’s Vineyard from 1995 until 2004.

Cash earned his Bachelor’s degree from Princeton, a Master’s degree from Stanford and his Doctorate from the University of Massachusetts.

For more information on his tenure in school leadership, click here.

Cash’s wife, Lisa, died last September from cancer.

WSOC