McClendon Is Bad For Teachers

  • Thursday, July 18, 2019

The teacher raise proposal was simple, 2.5 percent from the county, 2.5 percent from the state. After his massive tax hike was turned down, Superintendent Johnson dropped the county match in favor of more support staff. Fine; that's his prerogative, and a 5 percent raise on top of step raises is unheard of in the private sector anyway.

Tucker McClendon has now proposed misappropriating the state's 2.5 percent for even more support staff positions. How much clearer can he be that he values the APEX plan and UnifiEd's opinion more than the teachers he is responsible for?

Even the tax-hawk conservatives among us agree that teachers around here deserve more than a goose egg, especially when the state is paying. Thanks to administrative inaction on discipline, our schools are practically war zones; teacher "combat pay" should come before social engineering projects.

Apparently Mr. McClendon disagrees. He values our teachers so little that he is willing to actually divert state funds intended for them to UnifiEd's "equity" projects. What's equitable about that?

Charles McCullough

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