I believe Ben Daugherty is the most qualified and best candidate to serve as District 2’s next rep on the Hamilton County School Board.
Not knowing either Ben or his opponent, I made a point of meeting them a couple of months ago.
I found both to be nice people who are engaged in their children’s schools, sought feedback from teachers, will work to reduce excessive testing, support our superintendent’s decision to not arm teachers, and want to expand community support and services - all while respecting each and every student.
I support Ben for two main reasons- one practical and objective; the other subjective but important to me and others.
First, Hamilton County Schools and us taxpayers need Ben’s business acumen.
With HCDE as the county’s second largest employer (dropping to second only after contracting out custodial staff and teaching subs) with a $663 million budget, we need someone used to working with big budgets and who has the skill to strategize opportunities for improvement that can be leveraged into increased revenue for teacher salaries while also looking for innovative ways to ‘fix’ maintenance and other issues in our schools.
Ben has said repeatedly that teacher salaries should be the cornerstone upon which other aspects of the budget are built. Retaining and hiring the best teachers is essential to a good education for our kids.
Another reason I support Ben is because he has pledged to do what he can to protect Girls Sports from the advent of Trans athletes and support policies regarding age-appropriate books and materials, especially for our elementary students.
His opponent supports the expansion of Title IX (re girls sports) to include gender identity and has said that she really doesn’t care what her children read as long as they’re reading.
Both candidates agree the School Board race should not be partisan because politics should play no part in our schools. Since the state requires them to select a party for the ballot, Ben chose to stay true to his Republican roots and not change his status to please those who think all candidates should declare themselves as Independents despite past affiliation and supporters. I respect honesty.
So, for all that, I hope that I’ve convinced more of you to vote ‘Ben for the Win’ either in early voting, which ends Saturday, July 27, or on election day Aug. 1.
Melissa Barrett