We all remember the story of the Trojan Horse, and how it was used by the Greek soldiers hidden inside, to gain access to the city of Troy. Well once again the likes of Donna Horn, Mr. Miller and especially Superintendent Rick Smith are doing the same thing. "It's for the children" they always say when any bureaucrat or their minions want to convince you and me to give up more of our hard earned money. Since Mrs. Horn didn't seem to know about their $39 million surplus, maybe she and the other "tax and spend" cheerleaders should do their homework like Commissioner Tim Boyd has requested, before asking for more.
Having received over $100 million in funding over the last 10 years and another $5 million last year, one might ask, what have you done with all that money? The teachers certainly didn't get it, and judging from the test scores from some of our schools, the students didn't receive the benefit either.
Mr. Smith, Mrs. Horn and Mr. Miller say we need to add more teachers for foreign languages and art classes. I would suggest that for far too many of our students, English is still a foreign language, and I don't mean immigrant children. Perhaps the old approach of "reading writing, and arithmetic" would be a better place to concentrate your efforts.
Mrs. Horn may look on our labors as "latte money", but for most folks they die a death of a thousand cuts, as politicians always look to more of our money as the answer to their problems. We all sympathize with those dedicated teachers who are always the last to benefit from these across the board pay raises. Seems the administrative gravy train keeps rolling as the pay disparity between teachers and staff keeps growing with each "for the children" ploy.
Do we assume that by granting teachers and especially staff members a pay raise, that they can teach better? Do they hold back on quality in the classroom for lack of a larger salary? I doubt it. Judging by low 19-23 percent college proficiency levels of graduates from some of our high schools, Mr. Smith needs to earn that $193,000 we pay him (not considering it included a big pay raise after just two years in office).
Perhaps Mr. Smith could start by consolidating the several existing schools we have that are operating at half their enrollment capacity, and consider converting them to vocational schools for the vast number of students that never go on to college. Oh, I'm sure there are many areas "cheerleaders" could help us to improve instead of always just looking to more money as the answer.
Call your commissioner, and tell them to vote no to the tax increase. Enough is enough.
Bill Reesor
Ooltewah
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Put the property tax increase on a referendum and let the taxpayers decide the issue. Democracy?
Chuck Davis
Lookout Mountain, Tn.
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Chuck, I've got a better referendum to give the nation a huge taste of democracy and the President and Congress the "Wake up call of the Century."
Put a national referendum on the 2016 ballot. The question is: do you favor a roll back, for those who actually pay federal income tax, of 20 percent of your total tax bill for 2016 and beyond?
When federal income taxes are cut, local needs can be met and taxpayers will have money in their pockets to bring about a true economic recovery.
Until that happens local governments will never be able to fund local needs adequately in spite of the illusion many politicians try to create.
Ralph Miller