Approximately 97 employees of the City Schools Department of Education (operating as the Hamilton County Schools,) are given $100,000-$230,000 a year, plus lots of benefits for their services. None of these employees teach one student and most of them are not in a school building.
A few of these folks are necessary, maintenance, busses, etc. But, a lot of them are not.
Most of these folks hold teaching credentials. I would insist that our new City School Board members speak to the superintendent and have him send these folks back into the classroom to teach children and relieve their colleagues of a few students. Lower student teacher ratios will improve instruction. After all, isn't improving instruction the main goal of these people?
I bet that most of these folks would not go back to the classroom, even if you let them keep their current salary. So, for every one of them that doesn't go to the classroom, fire them, then hire two teachers at $50,000 each. As Custer said, "where did all those Indians come from?"
The next step is to start your own school system as many of our private schools have done. They are thriving and bursting at the seams with students from the City School System. You know something is up when parents will pay $10,000 - $30,000 per child to get in private schools. I wonder how many of the people that run these schools make this kind of money. How many people do they have running their school? I bet it isn't 97.
Let's go, Red Bank, Soddy-Daisy, East Ridge and Signal Mountain. The future is now.
Ernie McCarson
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I like Ernie McCarson's idea of sending some of our central office top heavy staff back to the classroom to teach. I'm sure the idea is to get the teacher to student ratio in a more productive mode. He also mentioned his belief that most of the staff are credentialed to teach. I've never believed, in my adult life, that credentials guarantee competency, nor does it guarantee the "heart" to teach.
I gave up on the government school system early in my children's educational path. Some of my friends chose to stay the coarse, only to jump ship later. We have a huge problem with our Hamilton County School system and it won't be a simple fix. However, I do believe it is fixable.
In 1989, John Silber, then president of Boston College, wrote the book "Straight Shooting" about what's wrong with America's education and how to fix it. Mr. Silber, fighting all the way, changed the culture of Boston College, and made it an institution of higher learning. I know, all colleges are called that, but it doesn't make them so.
In our local schools today, students are not allowed to fail, that is, fail on paper. Most of the system is in failure. I say that, while also saying that each of our schools have some very bright students. These young people go on to make a good life for themselves. It's mostly because they want to learn and are self-motivated.
The average private school tuition today for a student K-5 thru 5 is north of $13,000. Sixth thru 12th is north of $15,000. If it's Baylor, GPS or McCallie, it's north of $33,000 for day students and double that for boarding students.
The problems in the government, aka public schools, began when discipline was removed. I had one meeting with the board of education, when in the 8th grade, and that was more than enough for me. It was administered by Coach Don Shockley and I knew he cared about me and my future. It was painful for my rear end, but I think the disappointment I caused him hurt my heart even more.
Mr. McCarson, until we can reform tort law and give authority back to the schools, we will never fix anything. Those who form the tribe calling themselves "accident lawyers" are actually tort lawyers. A tort is a civil wrong, other than a breach of contract, that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Back in the day we referred to such lawyers as ambulance chases. Not so today, as they hire scouts to find potential victims, or as a good soccer player can do, be a good flopper. They also fill our airways with advertisement, promising to get you the big bucks. Who pays for that in the end, all the while the tort lawyer is walking away with 33 percent of the take.
Some of these tort lawyers file suits before ever contacting the other party, mainly because they want the upper hand. Can you imagine lawmen such as Wyatt Earp or Bass Reeves shooting another person first, before they knew that a crime was committed, to gain the upper hand. Okay tort lawyers, I know the difference between civil and criminal law so save your words. I'm merely giving an example of how skewed the legal system is, causing the school system to walk on egg shells.
Let's start the change at to ballot box, and on the national level, elect those who will get tort reform laws. Have you ever noticed how many lawyers are in public office?
J. Pat Williams