Jared Bingham with Chattanooga 2.0, a community wide initiative to improve academic excellence, gave an update of the organization to the Chattanooga City Council members Tuesday afternoon. The organization is trying to form collaborations and partnerships in the area.
The focus of the program is on early childhood education starting from birth through third grade. By the time children start fourth grade, said Mr. Bingham; 60 percent are reading at just the third grade level. Trying to play catch up becomes a circle he said and a daunting task, and everything revolves around rudimentary math skills which are lagging behind too, he said.
The strategic plan to overcome the problems has been based on input from 3,700 people across Hamilton County to determine what they perceive to be the problems in order to address them. The city of Chattanooga is especially interested and funds multiple programs to promote early childhood education. Chattanooga 2.0 is funded by private foundations, businesses and organizations such as Head Start, Chambliss Home, Siskin, and Little Miss Mag. The implementation of the programs offered by 2.0, are coordinated through a "Hub," of other groups including the United Way, and Children’s Discovery Museum as a way to share best practices.
The goal is to double kindergarten readiness in the next nine years, said Mr. Bingham. There is a direct correlation between poverty and academic performance, he said, but not all kids need to go to Pre-K. Some young children are taught skills from a caretaker at home, and others, at churches, and they all need support. Information needs to be supplied to all the venues. Councilman Russell Gilbert suggested informing of the available services at the hospital to birth parents and grandparents, or at little league baseball where children as young as three, participate.
The program also aims to graduate every student with a dual enrollment certificate with college classes or an industry certification to ensure job readiness, as well as providing daycare services so adults can continue their own educations.
Some items scheduled for the council meeting next Tuesday include a request from the public works department that would waive use fees in the amount of $925 for the Bridge Christian Church for a series of "Movies in the Park," that will be held at Heritage Park beginning on August 12.
A request by Friends of East Brainerd, a coalition of businesses and community churches in the area, will hold "Back to School Bash" on Sunday, Aug. 7, where free back packs filled with school supplies will be offered. The council will consider a request to waive the park and house fees in the amount of $1,000 for the event.
Chattanooga’s transportation department will seek authorization from the council to pay Campus Development Foundation, Inc. for a temporary construction easement for an amount not to exceed $1.00. The easements will be on three tracts of land along Martin Luther King Boulevard and will be used for making hardscape improvements to MLK and to improve the King Street Plaza. It is considered to be a public space, but is controlled by The Campus Development Foundation of UTC.
Bids have been sent out for an as-needed contract for city-wide concrete requirements for 12 months with the option to renew, for an approximate amount of $1,408,000. The city would like to use this contract for the MLK project with plans to do the work before school starts. A bid for the construction services will be chosen at the meeting.