Unfortunately, it appears Larry Henry may have swallowed the "we need more money for the children" ruse. The school system has an insatiable desire for more tax dollars. Not just in Hamilton County, but across the nation.
In my business I travel frequently across the U.S. I have learned in my travels that the education industry has done a marvelous job of pitting county against county, and state against state. If a state is ranked in the top half in school funding, there is a push to get in the top third (of course, as soon as a new state enters the top-third, by definition a different state drops out - and the hand wringing begins "we are falling behind" - round and round (or should I say up and up) it goes.
In our area we are told how wonderful Georgia pay is, and how we "are losing quality teachers." In Georgia, the education industry bemoans the generous retirement package in Tennessee, and the fact Tennessee has no income tax - effectively making Georgia teachers underpaid.
I hope Larry Henry is comfortable aligning himself with William Cotton and the Times editorial staff (you know, the paper which endorsed John Kerry and John Wolfe, and dubbed Commissioner Henry and company the "gang of five anti-education commissioners"). I think before he supports a tax increase he should ask himself if it makes sense that the number of students being taught has DECREASED, while the amount of funding has INCREASED.
As an aside, I wonder if five commissioners end up supporting a tax increase if the Times will dub them the "gang of five anti-taxpayers"?
Robert Purcell
bobpurcelltcu@yahoo.com