Here we go again. No information, no communication, and no care for the people who live, work, and send their children to school in this area. It seems the city of Chattanooga is in a time crunch to apply for funds by July 31, so they are throwing this plan together haphazardly without any community meetings again. The city spent $2.8 million to purchase the Airport Inn almost three years ago in October of 2021 and it has sat abandoned and used regularly for criminal activities. At one point, Mayor Kelly said that since the city purchased the motel that 911 calls went down by 47 percent in the area, but then a few months later, the city had to spend $22,000 to secure the building because ... (click for more)

Improving school attendance addresses many educational challenges, including poor reading skills, chaotic classrooms, and learning loss. However, truancy, chronic absenteeism, and school dropouts often go unnoticed and are not given enough attention by policymakers. School attendance is just not a sexy policy issue. Unlike testing, there is no industry like the highly profitable testing companies that spend millions lobbying policymakers for more taxpayer dollars to fight for these kids. No highly financed political campaigns are focused on promoting “showing up for school” as an alternative to universal vouchers. Stephen Hawking once said, “Half the battle is just showing ... (click for more)