Chattanooga Times Editorial Recognizes Public Education Foundation and Urban League of Greater Chattanooga on Eve of Community Forums


Editorial
Monday, April 21, 2003
Chattanooga Times Free Press


It’s not always easy for individuals to make their voices heard when it comes to issues of great communal importance, but those interested in the quality of teaching at public schools in the community have several chances over the next few days to express their opinion. It’s an opportunity that should be embraced.

The Public Education Foundation and the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga are working together to provide a forum in which residents of all ages and interests can help create a blueprint for improved teacher quality in Hamilton County Schools. To that end, the partnership has scheduled five meetings to seek the views of members of the public. The first of those meetings, co-sponsored by the East Ridge Education Committee, is scheduled in the cafeteria at East Ridge High School between 6-8 p.m. this evening.

The initial gathering will be followed by similar meetings at the Carver Recreation Center in Bushtown on Tuesday, at Hixson United Methodist Church on Thursday, and at both the South Chattanooga Recreation Center on West 40th Street and at Central High School on Tuesday, April 29 th. The latter is co-sponsored by the Central High PTSA. All sessions are scheduled from 6-8 p.m.

The PEF and Urban League are engaged in a worthy initiative to create community awareness of the oft-proved relationship between improved student performance and teacher quality and, consequently, the need for a well-qualified, highly effective teacher in every public school classroom.
A valuable part of the long-term project is soliciting community advice to help create a plan that will lead to improvements in current policies and practices concerning teacher recruitment, placement and retention. It is an undertaking vital to the future of public education and, indeed, continued growth in Hamilton County.

The series of meetings marks the public beginning of a process that will take many more months to complete. The neighborhood sessions, however, are not isolated events. Rather, they are an integral part of a longer process. They will give parents, students and educators, as well as business and civic leaders, an all-too-rare opportunity to speak to an issue that will directly affect everyone in the community for years to come.

The PEF and Urban League can certainly create a worthwhile plan to enhance teacher quality on their own. That’s not the point. Any proposal to bring more qualified teachers and improved schools to Hamilton County will require a deep commitment and willing assistance from the community at large if it is to be successfully planned and then implemented. These forums allow citizens to make their voices heard and by doing so to become a part of a collaborative process that reaffirms a broad-based commitment to public education.