Thoughts on Education Issues

I am running on the platform of SAFETY in Our Schools. SAFETY is an acronym for the six key issues of Safety and discipline; Academic focus; Fiscal responsibility; Effective communication; Transparency and accountability; and Your schools, your voice.  These are issues of great importance to the future of our schools and they will be my primary areas of focus as District 2's next representative on the School Board.

I have responded to candidate questionnaires from community organizations and the media, including the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, Chattanooga Parent magazine, and the Signal Mountain Mirror.  I am linking them here so you can read my answers as originally provided (in case the various publications have to edit them for space reasons).  I hope you find them helpful as you make your choice in the District 2 race.

To flesh things out a bit more, below are some additional thoughts on the quality and cost of education in Hamilton County schools:

• Education is important. Education can transform a person's life. It changed mine for the better. The son of a firefighter who had to work a second, and sometimes a third, job to feed his family and make ends meet, I earned three college degrees and am now a professional educator myself. I believe in education. But believing in education does not mean believing that money is the only – or even the main – issue, or that taxing citizens more and more will guarantee better education.
• Memphis has by far the highest property taxes in Tennessee. Yet Memphis has some of the worst-performing schools in the state. Clearly, high taxes do not equate to good schools.
• Washington, DC spends more money per student than any other school district. But its schools are among the worst in America. It is obvious that per-student spending has little to do with the quality of education.
• Studies cited by the National Education Association show that parental involvement is the single most important factor that contributes to student success. (And it doesn't cost the taxpayers a dime.)
• The Hamilton County Department of Education's 2007-08 budget is $320,524,292 – nearly 58% of the entire county budget (source, Hamilton County government web site). The system enrolls about 40,000 students so the funding works out to about $8000 per child. In no sense are county schools underfunded! If a link did exist between funding and student performance, Hamilton County schools would be among the best in Tennessee since they are funded more generously than most other districts.
• The Hamilton County Department of Education is the largest employer in the county. It has approximately one employee for every six students and roughly one teacher for every 14 students. (Yes, that means non-teaching employees outnumber teachers.) There is obviously no shortage of classroom teachers in Hamilton County; but if there were, it could best be addressed by cutting back on administrators and consultants (or by sending them back into classrooms to actually teach).
• Hamilton County perennially ranks near the bottom among all Tennessee counties in per-student funding from the state. (The fact that we spend more than average per child means that the county taxpayers are more than making up the difference already.) If anyone still believes that local schools are underfunded, clearly the question should be addressed by seeking funding equity at the state level, not by further increasing the already heavy burden on county taxpayers.
• It is clear that Hamilton County schools have more than sufficient resources to do their job of educating students well. The system's Chief Financial Officer has said so publicly. If they are not doing that job (some schools are doing it better than others, but all could improve) it is a failure of leadership, not a failure of funding. The need for new and better leadership, and the need to put more of the available funds directly into the classroom, is why I am running for a seat on the School Board.
• As District 2's representative on the School Board, I will stand up for students, teachers, parents, and the tax-paying citizens who pay the bills ... not for consultants, administrators, and external organizations. I will put academics first and emphasize school safety, fiscal responsibility, transparency, and open communication with citizens.