Roy Exum: The Readers Are Right

  • Saturday, April 29, 2017
Roy Exum
Roy Exum
It is hardly a secret that since I have become intensely interested in public education in Chattanooga, I have tried to read, research and understand how our efforts have fallen horribly short in the last 15 years. We agree we have a crisis on many fronts and I hope it is equally obvious I am desperate for solutions. Much like school board member Karista Jones, I worry that we are losing “a generation” of children and this is totally and completely unacceptable.
I have learned many things, and am in the process of trying to get my arms around many other problems that puzzle me.
After a week when the state Department of Education offers what I feel is a terrible threat to our struggling inner city schools, our school board sent a balanced budget to our county leaders that is $200 million more than it was 20 years ago. Simple math: that is an average of a $10 million increase in each of the last 20 years. There is no way for that to add up.
Years from now, when we look back at our current struggle, I am convinced Rhonda Thurman, who has served six terms on the school board in consistently stormy seas, is a voice of reason and sanity. I quoted Rhonda in a Friday story where she fears the way I presented her feelings may have been misconstrued. Allow me to use her own words in an attempt to set the record straight and to further share her well-founded beliefs. She writes:
* * *
“Good article but, I do not want the commission to think I am asking for a tax increase because I am not. I am personally frustrated with the fact we have many tax increases "for the children" and it has not done one bit of good. I also do not want to use my grandchildren as poster children for a "for the children" tax increase.
“I also do not want to appear as a bleeding heart, which I am not. The taxpayers in Hamilton County have been very generous with HCDE. You told me how the budget has doubled since 1998 (In 1998 the combined city and county had 45,000 students, which is more than we have now).
“The problem is the school board has allowed our children to be used as guinea pigs for every new educational fad. I would appreciate it if you would reword your article so I do not look like I am frustrated with the commission; I am frustrated with the school board who is more interested in teachers and administrators than students. I am not giving up on students - just the bureaucracy.
“Yes, these I-Zone children live in poverty, but they can learn. We need to hold them to the same standard as everyone else and quit giving them excuses. Also, how does more money make better teachers? Teachers were teaching reading before they even had to have college degrees to teach.
“Public education as we know it is dead.  Look for more charter schools that will be full the day they are open. Also, the more charter schools we get, the more inner-city schools that will become more and more empty.
“Incidentally, another side note, I don’t believe these schools will improve until the parents and students value education.”
* * *
THE BABIES DROWNING IN THE RIVER
Another wonderful letter:
“The problems with your local schools and a lot of problems elsewhere remind me of a story going around twenty five or thirty years ago.  I am sure you have heard it.  Anyway, it deserves hearing again.  A casual Google review of the story will show how often it has been used and the several meanings given to the story.
“Some people had gathered for a picnic and as they shared food and conversation, someone noticed a baby in the river, struggling and crying. The baby was going to drown!
“Someone rushed to save the baby. Then, they noticed another screaming baby in the river, and they pulled that baby out. Soon, more babies were seen drowning in the river, and the townspeople were pulling them out as fast as they could.
“It took great effort, and they began to organize their activities in order to save the babies as they came down the river. As everyone else was busy in the rescue efforts to save the babies, two of the townspeople started to run away along the shore of the river.
“Where are you going?” shouted one of the rescuers. “We need you here to help us save these babies!”
“We are going upstream to stop whoever is throwing them in!”
“Your school officials are still saving the babies and not addressing the problems.  Nothing will change until this is reversed.  The time to teach a teenager to be respectable is not in the ninth or tenth grade, nor is the time to teach them how to read.”
* * *
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Another voice of reason responds:
“I wanted you to know that I have not given up but am feeling powerless.  Did you catch that tidbit on TV in the wee hours of yesterday morning that the President had signed an Executive Order overnight ordering a review of the K-12 federally funded public education system?  I did not hear it mentioned the rest of the day into the night when the Senate shut down. 
“That means that (Betsy)  DeVos likely will be supporting what the State Commissioner is pushing based on her weak philosophy and personal view in favor of private schools.  They are wonderful, of course, but those most in need cannot afford them nor are they equipped to blossom without the interest that comes with heritage and an appreciation of an education.
“Why were we locals so much smarter coming out of our public schools prior to the 60's?  Nah, don't answer that.  If one is smart enough via experience to ask the question, one already knows the answer.  Have a good day, and God bless.
* * *
WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO MATTER?
“I am wondering what the County (elected officials) think about the State Commissioner of Education essentially taking over our public school system administered by the County.
“Apparently the only ones not involved in the process are the only ones who matter:  the State, County, and City taxpayers.  Are we so ignorant, incompetent, lazy, and poor that our County cannot handle its statutory responsibilities but is imminently qualified to be a ‘yes person’ to the State to get a stranglehold on all those dollars just waiting for the pickup. 
“It is all about money.  One only has to look at the school superintendent, the school board, and the democrats running politics at the highest level to see what money can buy....and have you noticed, it is never enough.
“My last statement of fact is this:  The failure of our children in our educational system in Tennessee and elsewhere is a direct product of the failure for those same children in the home.  How many parents know who and where their children are, took responsibility for them, went to school and graduated from high school, and work and pay taxes?
“Those answers will tell you that the Commissioner of Education can do nothing about them but touch all the political bases to generate political interest and establish herself as a political force to be reckoned with in the political future.”
* * *
WHO IS EDUCATED ENOUGH TO KNOW ABOUT EDUCATION?
“Thank you for yesterday's (Wednesday 4/26/17) article. I would like to submit the following response:
“Perhaps you should add “and so much more nonsense it makes one wonder who, if anyone, in charge of public education in Hamilton County, is educated enough to know anything about education!"
“And certainly, after the comment  "And I can easily identify exactly who will pay the price for this ruse – the man or woman you see in your mirror" you should add, and the legions of Hamilton County teachers standing behind you who are being sacrificed for the sins of the leaders (some of them may even be a family member, a loved one, or perhaps a neighbor - but none of them will be the esteemed leaders who are continuing to drag us into this quagmire, unless of course they get a "buy-out" in the hundreds of thousands of dollars or, in the case of site administrators, get promoted to a higher paying position.”
* * *
Obviously, all of us still have a long way to do. The first step is the most demanding in any journey. Let’s go.
Latest Headlines
Opinion
Democratic View On Top State Senate Issues - March 18, 2024
  • 3/18/2024

Campbell bill seeks to save lives by studying suicide trends in Tennessee 3 p.m. Senate Regular Calendar — SB 1787 , by Sen. Heidi Campbell, would require state health officials to produce ... more

The Odor Of Mendacity - And Response (2)
  • 3/16/2024

The Fulton County judge, Scott McAfee, overseeing the Fani Willis prosecution of Donald Trump and eighteen other defendants has spoken. In response to a motion by defendants to remove Willis ... more

Capitol Report From State Rep. Greg Vital For March 15
  • 3/15/2024

General Assembly confirms new Tennessee State Supreme Justice Members of the General Assembly confirmed the appointment of Mary L. Wagner to the Tennessee Supreme Court in a joint session ... more