As a candidate for Hamilton County School Board, I have been blessed and humbled by the support given to me. Also many letters were written and much work done in my behalf and I am very grateful for everyone’s help. I have met many fine people in Tyner, Apison, Collegedale and East Brainerd that share my desire to provide the very best education for all children of Hamilton County. I have also met candidates for other offices that strongly hold this view.
I have been impressed by the Chattanoogan.
com in providing information about the school board race without bias or misstatement of facts. And I thank John Wilson for this.
However, in other news sources, there has been some inaccurate information about me. The statement “he has been out of the classroom for 12 years” is one example. I retired from Hamilton County in 2001 as principal of Wolftever Creek School. Then I worked as an elementary music teacher at Boyd Buchanan School for 10 years, retiring in May of 2011.
The false impression here is that I have been unaware of changes that were taking place in the state and in local schools. I am well aware of changes going on as my wife and son were teachers in Hamilton County Schools during this time. I have also been in contact with administrators and other teachers who have shared their views with me. I was not just playing my saxophone on street corners oblivious to what was happening in education.
My focus in this campaign has been to stress the need to improve communication between all of our elected bodies with the superintendent and citizens of our county. And I want to provide the buildings and teachers to serve our students in and out of District 7, strengthen our elementary schools, the arts and vocational education.
I am proud of Hamilton County and our schools. I am honored that the Hamilton County Education Association endorsed my candidacy and trust me to work with everyone for the best for our students and teachers. I am grateful for the education I received in the schools here from elementary to graduate school. My hope is to make partial repayment to my community for what it has done for me.
Ralph Miller
Candidate for School Board
District 7