Roy Exum
When Hamilton County School Superintendent Rick Smith stands before the County Commission and presents a budget proposal that includes a $34 million increase on Wednesday, his plea will be realistic and sincere. Our schools are in lousy shape and, frankly, the needs of our community are not being met – and cannot be met – until we support our school system.
Central High School has been waiting on a “promised” auditorium for 48 years and there are stories to match all over town.
The worst? When City High moved across the river in 1963, the old building on East Third was meant to be torn down. That was over 50 years ago so follow the timeline.
But, with the racial unrest at the time, our leaders made it a predominately black school called Riverside High School. The 1964 Civil Rights Act enforced desegregation so when the last of Riverside kids were finally absorbed by other schools by 1983, the building was meant to be torn down.
But, no, Erlanger needed it for its nursing school and continuing education for two years before it became the Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences in 1986. Today some of our brightest kids graduate from CSAS with an exceptional education. Parents literally camp out in order to get their children enrolled and it is arguably among the best public high schools in the state.
My point is that the main building was built in 1922 and the two wings on each side were added in 1935. How does that work for you? My goodness … and the wings were built by the WPA (Works Project Administration), a government-funded program created to give people jobs after the Great Depression. That was 80 years ago!
It is reprehensible that we’ve allowed our schools to get to this point, but when Hamilton County is the worst in all of America when it funds our public hospital Erlanger, with a paltry $1.5 million, that says it all about our county leadership. Our county and city are the worst in all of America! The City of Chattanooga gives Erlanger absolutely nothing when each inner-city shooting averages about $25,000 in costs. Who is proud of that?
And the county? Listen, $1.5 million a year doesn’t even cover the medical expenses for the jail. It is sickening to see the public’s money diverted into senseless “public art,” ridiculous “enrichment” programs, and other stupid expenses that are truly abysmal to the majority of the populace. The commissioners' discretionary fund is little more than a buy-a-vote program and everybody knows it.
Supt. Smith wants “the best school system in the South” and, realistically, that will never happen because of two recent indicators. First, the school board voted 7-2 on his budget request which illustrates to the county commissioners and the community, as well, that the school board is still not unified and nearly dysfunctional.
But the worst rap came from Smith’s own lips when, at a meeting to gain support for his request in Soddy Daisy, the superintendent of our schools reportedly said, “We get the kids that the other schools don’t want. We have to take them.”
With a mindset like that, this guy wants us to shovel an additional $34 million his way? Because he has to take kids nobody wants? At the time he was talking about the sad fact “we have a society today that doesn’t respect teachers. “How many of us would have ever said anything crosswise to a policeman?”
As the superintendent, it falls on Smith’s shoulders to do something about that. That is precisely his job and, the guess here is that had he addressed discipline issues harshly when he first took office, the odds on getting a $34 million annual increase would be far better. He would have far greater respect from the taxpayers who are appalled by reports of cafeteria fights where nobody goes to jail.
That brings up the racial horrors of Baltimore, the recent arrests of minors who misbehave and incite chaos on our downtown streets, and the ever-tragic shootings that plague our predominately black neighborhoods. Forget the liberal hand-wringers – education is our only answer.
School board member Rhonda Thurman is dead-on when she begs for stronger discipline in our schools. We have School Resource Officers that in reality are fight-referees that cannot be everywhere at once. One angry, rebellious kid can shut down a classroom where 90 percent of the students in the room are the real victims. Dial 9-1-1 and ask our judges to discipline troublemakers because their parents will not. No teacher should be forced to put up with behavior issues from “kids other schools don’t want.”
Supt. Smith is right when he says “you are not going to police poverty away. Education is the only answer,” and until County Mayor Jim Coppinger and the good people on the County Commission make education and health our biggest priorities, the citizens are being poorly represented.
Coppinger, who has been a wonderful leader, has no choice but to raise taxes. Look at what it costs to live today versus 10 years ago. Nobody wants to pay more taxes but nobody wants less education, less medical care for our indigents, potholes on our streets, or school children who get nothing to eat from Friday lunch until breakfast at school on Monday.
We have police officers whose children are on a free lunch program based on their daddy’s take-home pay. Who is proud of that? But when some road-rage moron wants to play bumper-tag, you sure do appreciate the fact they are around. Never has it been so expensive to live but to not realize the tremendous increase in costs the county also has to absorb is folly.
Education is vital in the war against generational poverty. Let’s be realistic about that. Mayor Coppinger must trim the fat away from every department’s budget, but he also must do what is morally right “for the kids other schools don’t want.”
They are us, too, and if we ignore them as we have done with our schools for years, we deserve what is going to happen.
royexum@aol.com