I’ve never entered into the fray of the various topics covered in the opinion section of the Chattanoogan.com but when it comes to our local education system and the volumes of opinions, I couldn’t let it go without weighing in.
I am a product of public schools in North Georgia, as were my two kids, who are both doing extremely well and are productive adults. I also see firsthand the products of the local school system, job applicants who cannot read the application. This is beyond irresponsibility.
I know the breakdown in the families has a lot to do with the problem, but we are not going to fix the family units in short order, so we need to do the next best thing and fix the schools. Maybe I am being too much a simpleton but if I had a star pitcher on my baseball team, I would call on him when the game was on the line. Folks, we are past that point in the game.
Normal Park comes up time and again in all of the articles posted here as well as other media outlets. Does the principal of Normal Park know what she is doing? Seems like it. Sounds like she may be your star pitcher. Why search in Houston or Minnesota or wherever a paid headhunter looks when you have experienced professionals here, with a firsthand understanding of how to do it right? You can always hire a lean management type business leader to help on the financial side of the equation as well, to insure that the school system is not top loaded unnecessarily and to get the most out of the $400 million budget.
Maybe it is time to step back and simplify this process.
Dan Nuckolls