I have been following the recent discussion around public school funding here in Hamilton County. I have seen many letters to the editor and many more social media posts on both sides. I have read that this is "about expanding Barack Obama and George Soros’s plan to socialize the United States – one county at a time." I have also read that "money can't fix a sick society." In addition, I have read that "schools are warehouses for children, catering to bullies and marauding gangs."

Really? This is getting a bit out of hand. Let's tone down the rhetoric and focus this debate where it belongs- on Hamilton County's 44,500 school children. Now is not the time to engage in left or right wing conspiracy theories: instead, let’s have a reasonable conversation about the future of not only these children, but of our community as a whole.

As adults, let's ensure we create the best possible school system for Hamilton County.  I, for one, will engage in this debate with purpose and with an eye towards improving the lives of the children in our schools as well as Hamilton County’s ability to thrive in the future. To attract quality jobs, we must offer a quality workforce: a property tax rate increase now to develop our schools is the best investment we can make for the future of our whole community.

Dede Engsberg

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I am always amused when folks, especially those with an agenda want to convince us that they don't have one, and then go on to disclose with their arguments that they really do. Ms. Ensberg obviously is pushing for another property tax increase, and reminds me of the wizard in the Wizard of Oz that tells the people "don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain". I had been very involved in local politics, (but no more), and in fact helped some folks get elected, and frankly worked very hard to help defeat others that I saw as part of the problem, and the school board was at the top of my list. 

One of the areas that still seems corrupted by "the system" are those bureaucrats in our education system other than our classroom teachers that continually see more money (always including themselves at the head of the line of course) as the answer to "our failing schools". Like the Trojan horse that was used to get inside the gates of the city, county leaders back their friends on our school board, and the overpaid school administrators by always saying, "It is for the children", as they hide behind our kids to fatten their wallets.  Don't believe me, just take a look at the number of "assistants" this, and assistants" that, who bloat our county school budget with more positions than you will find on the credits to a Hollywood movie set.

To suggest that we would have better schools if only we could pay to get "better teachers" is passing the buck, and is an insult to the dedicated teachers that do their best to educate our children.  They are always treated like the kid at the end of the dinner table when the food is passed. 

Do your research and you will find that these high paid (no I mean overpaid) bureaucrats and administrators always include themselves in on a "piece of the action", when citizens like me only want the teachers to have the opportunity to reduce the shameful difference between their pay and that of the administrators for a change.. They will hire and then fire leader after leader as school superintendents that fail to deliver, and think nothing of continually sending them on their way with big fat buyouts (your tax dollars) that should have gone to our teachers and our kids. 

The bottom line is I am sick and tired of politicians, school boards,and overpaid and overlapping bureaucrats always coming to families with limited incomes, and especially homeowners, for more and more money. Do you shameless leaders ever take responsibility for not achieving the results you promised with your last swipe at the taxpayers' wallets.  Quit blaming the teachers and using our kids as an excuse for your continued failures. 

Again, I implore all of you that are homeowners to just look at the disgusting bloated salaries of these folks that always think more money is the answer, only to put the largest percentage in their greedy pockets. I would say vote them out, but like unwanted weeds, they always return. 

Bill Reesor
Ooltewah