The Tennessee Star’s CEO and editor-in-chief, Michael Patrick Leahy, and lead reporter, Tom Pappert, praised Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor’s (R-Memphis) latest push to advance state intervention in Memphis-Shelby County Schools, highlighting both his legislative efforts and strategic use of social media to build public support.
Earlier this month, a state-commissioned forensic audit uncovered widespread operational deficiencies within Memphis-Shelby County Schools, including more than $1.1 million in spending categorized as waste or abuse and significant breakdowns in financial oversight and recordkeeping.
🚨 Moments ago, I called @RepMarkWhiteTN to let him know I’ve alerted Senate leadership that I plan to make a motion tomorrow on the Senate floor for the Lt. Governor to appoint the MSCS Local Intervention Conference Committee. This will be the final step toward passage so we can… pic.twitter.com/2zfkTqhQsV
— Senator Brent Taylor (@SenBrentTaylor) April 12, 2026
During Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Leahy played a clip Taylor shared on social media featuring a phone call he had with Tennessee State Representative Mark White (R-Memphis), in which the lawmaker outlined his plan to take the next procedural step toward passing legislation for state intervention in the school district.
In the recording, Taylor told White, “Tomorrow during the Senate session, I plan to make a motion to appoint the conference committee for the Memphis Shelby County School Intervention Plan,” adding that he had secured support from Senate leadership after a weekend of discussions.
White called the development “such excellent news” and emphasized the significance of the effort after what he described as a “two-year project” aimed at addressing persistent failures in Memphis education.
After playing Taylor’s clip during Monday’s broadcast, Leahy praised both the content of the announcement and its delivery to the public.
“What I like about what Brent Taylor’s doing, he’s really become very adept at the use of social media. And that’s a clever way to do it,” he said.
He added that Taylor’s approach in publishing a recorded call as a video update helped generate attention around a key legislative moment.
“And I just have a hat tip to him for basically using this method – a tweet, a video of his conversation with his colleague in the house – to make news about his statement,” Leahy said.
Pappert echoed that sentiment, arguing Taylor’s effectiveness stems from consistent and authentic engagement with constituents over time.
“Brent Taylor’s use of social media, it’s more than just that he posts to social media. It’s that he really is authentic and engages with the public,” Pappert explained.
“I think over the past few years he’s really learned how to, one, stay true to his constituents. Stay authentic, stay in regular communication with them while also sharing what he’s doing with the greater public outside of Memphis and the rest of the state of Tennessee and even nationally,” he added.
Pappert also characterized Taylor as a prominent and effective figure within the state’s Republican leadership.
“I think Brent Taylor is a very effective Republican. He is a very intelligent man, clearly, and I think he’s going to go far in Tennessee, though he may not want to,” Pappert added. “He seems to be genuinely committed to fixing the city of Memphis.”
Regarding Memphis-Shelby County Schools, Pappert noted that the legislation Taylor is advancing is designed to address failing school systems statewide, but said the Memphis district stands apart.
“It essentially carves out any school that is in a total state of failure in the state of Tennessee can have this process begin against it. But Memphis-Shelby County Schools is the only school that has such horrific numbers that it would fit with this resolution,” he explained.
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https://t.co/qqagqUdP4G— Michael Patrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) April 13, 2026
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Brent Taylor” by Brent Taylor.
