Open Letter to the Hamilton County School Board and HCS District Leadership: My name is Jeremy Barrett, and I teach high school mathematics here in Hamilton County Schools. For 24 years I’ve taught through six superintendents, several curriculum changes, a dozen iterations of class schedules, two statewide grade scale overhauls, and, most recently, the overcaffeinated rise of benchmark testing. Benchmark testing. Three times a year. Every year. Like a redundant, blinking cursor in the middle of a document no one is reading. Now, let me concede a point right away, because gray areas deserve a moment in this age of binary opinions: I fully acknowledge that at the elementary level, ... (click for more)

Not so long ago, there was a pitch from a collection of school principals regarding the issue concerning students of illegal aliens. This collective was/is not in favor of declining the same “education” as citizens, and those whose parents are in the country legally. There are those outside their circle that support this: fair enough, as what are children who are here by way of the actions of their parents supposed to do? However, for anyone keeping up with the outcomes of education not only within Hamilton County but the United States in general, this debate may simply be a zero-sum game. The strive for intelligence, the virtue of citizenship and knowing our history as a nation, ... (click for more)