Tag: Rhonda Thurman

Hamilton County School Board Member Not Backing Down Despite Calls for Her Resignation

Peter D'Abrosca

A Hamilton County School Board member has fired back after a left-wing Hispanic group called for her job over comments she made regarding the explosion in growth in the school district’s Hispanic population. 

“We had about 8,000 Hispanic students last school year, and at last count the number was 8,671 this year,” Rhonda Thurman told The Chattanoogan in August, sparking the controversy. “They arrive every day at schools like Howard in groups of five or more. It is mind-boggling to me the burden it puts on the schools, the teachers and the taxpayers.”

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Hispanic Group Demands Resignation of Hamilton County School Board Member over ‘Attacks on Marginalized Communities’

Peter D'Abrosca

A left-wing Hispanic group is calling for the resignation of a member of the Hamilton County School Board after that school board member noted a vast increase in the number of Hispanic students enrolled in county schools.

“We had about 8,000 Hispanic students last school year, and at last count the number was 8,671 this year,” Peggy Thurman told The Chattanoogan in August. “They arrive every day at schools like Howard in groups of five or more. It is mind-boggling to me the burden it puts on the schools, the teachers and the taxpayers.”

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Legislation Permitting Tennessee’s School Board Members to Run by Party Has Strengths and Weaknesses, Elected Official Says

Chris Butler

Tennessee State Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) has filed legislation that would, if enacted into law, permit school board candidates in the state to campaign as the nominee or representative of a political party. Cepicky filed the bill for the Tennessee General Assembly’s current special session. The Tennessee Star’s attempts to reach Cepicky on Thursday were unsuccessful.

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Chattanooga Left-Wing Activist Under Criminal Investigation Speaks to Middle School Students About Political Activism

Chris Butler

A left-wing activist in Chattanooga who allegedly vandalized property and allegedly used social media to attack the family of the judge overseeing her case served as guest speaker to middle school students and discussed political activism.

That activist, Marie Mott, is currently running for the Chattanooga City Council, according to her campaign’s Facebook page.

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Hamilton County Mayor Seeks 34 Cent Property Tax Hike to Hire 350 School System Personnel That One Board Member Says Are Unneeded

Jason M. Reynolds

  Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger on Tuesday presented a budget that includes a 34-cent property tax increase for the school system, The Chattanoogan reported. The proposed budget does not include any increase for the county general budget, the publication said. Coppinger had previously talked about including 15 cents for that portion of the budget, for a 49-cent increase. The proposed tax increase of 34 cents would cost the owner of a $100,000 house $85 per year, The Chattanoogan said. The proposed 17 percent property tax increase is meant to hire 350 positions for the school district, The Tennessee Star reported. Proposed new positions include counselors, graduation coaches, a data warehouse programmer, 15 truancy officers and more. School Board member Rhonda Thurman, a critic of the proposed bump in spending for the school system, recently told The Star that even if the 350 personnel do not help to raise test scores, they likely still will keep their jobs. “We never get rid of a program. All we do is keep adding on to them,” said Thurman, who said these positions are unneeded. Coppinger’s proposed budget is $819 million, a $65 million increase from the current year, with almost $60 million…

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Hamilton County Schools May Keep 350 Extra Employees, Regardless of What Results They Bring

Chris Butler

  If 350 additional employees don’t help raise the Hamilton County School System’s test scores then those new employees will get to keep their jobs, regardless of results, said School Board member Rhonda Thurman. As The Tennessee Star reported, school system officials have proposed adding that many new employees because they believe it is the path to improving their academics. County commissioners may have to raise property taxes to fund these new positions, several of which are administrators and social workers. “We never get rid of a program. All we do is keep adding on to them,” said Thurman, who said these positions are unneeded. “No one ever loses their job or is held accountable. There is all this great and wonderful stuff that is supposed to happen, and the people in charge tell us how these positions will improve everything — and then they don’t (improve everything). No one ever loses a job.” School Board member Kathy Lennon, though, said she’s confident in Superintendent Bryan Johnson’s plan for additional school employees, and she believes it will impact school systems academics in a positive way. School Board member Joe Wingate, meanwhile, said this plan “is just a proposal for how…

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‘It Takes a Village’ Mindset Prompts Hamilton County Government Schools to Possibly Raise Property Taxes

Chris Butler

  At least one Hamilton County School Board member who favors a plan to hire 350 more school employees says government-run schools can do a better job than certain parents tending to a child’s social and emotional needs. As The Tennessee Star reported, many of these proposed new positions pertain to social and administrative work. Most school board members voted for a budget that includes these new positions. County commissioners must approve the plan. They may have to raise property taxes to fund it. School Board member Kathy Lennon said many children in the county live in single-parent homes, while children from two-parent families have it easier. Arguing on behalf of money for these new positions, she told The Star this week these children “are victims of their circumstances.” “So, yes, we (the school district) are their support system. We have to give them what they need. It is our responsibility as educators, as a community, to provide them with the resources they need in order to succeed,” Lennon said. “Some children don’t know how to go to school. They don’t get to come to school with a full belly. They don’t get to come to school with packs of paper and…

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Bill Gates Backs 17 Percent Hamilton County Property Tax Hike For Education, While School Board Member Questions Need for 350 New Non-Teaching Positions

Jason M. Reynolds

  Bill Gates says he will continue to pour his foundation’s money into Tennessee education initiatives and he seemed to endorse a proposed 17 percent Hamilton County property tax increase, according to an interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The interview is available here. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given more than $2.7 million to education initiatives in the Chattanooga area, the Times Free Press said. Gates told the newspaper his foundation does not take positions on school vouchers. He met with Gov. Lee and other state education officials in Nashville, the Times Free Press reported, to see if the governor and the state had placed a priority on education. As a result of his meeting, he said the foundation will make more investments in the state, having already spent about $34 million in Tennessee. Chattanooga officials hope to receive word of another Gates Foundation grant later this summer. Gates also spoke to the Times Free Press about the proposed property tax increase in Hamilton County. “How else do you get more resources for your school system unless the business community thinks, ‘OK, this is going to pay off for us,’ because they are the ones who are…

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Hamilton County May Pay More Property Taxes for School Social Workers

Chris Butler

  Hamilton County residents may have to pay 17 percent more in property taxes so the local school system can have enough money to create 350 new positions. And Hamilton County School Board member Rhonda Thurman told The Tennessee Star many of those proposed positions are unneeded. School board members have already voted in favor of the plan. Thurman was one of two school board members who voted no. County commissioners must still give the OK. They will likely have a vote next month, Thurman said. That extra money, if county commissioners go along, should generate an extra $34 million for the school district, Thurman said. Proposed new positions include counselors. graduation coaches, a data warehouse programmer, a testing coordinator, a director of social and emotional learning, new assistant principals, and a college and career advisor, among other things. The money would also pay for 15 new truancy officers. “We already have 10 truancy officers. That (addition) will get us 25. They’re just going to drag kids back to school who don’t even want to be there who then misbehave when they get back,” Thurman said. Thurman said a quote from former Republican President Ronald Reagan best describes how the…

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Hamilton County’s UnifyEd Officially Expands Into Political Arena

Jason M. Reynolds

A Hamilton County education advocacy organization seems to want to have it both ways – as a education reform nonprofit – and as a political action committee. Hamilton County education advocacy group UnifiEd says it wants to make sure every class has a “great teacher,” achieve “universal excellence by guaranteeing equal opportunity to all students,” get the community to support public education by increasing transparency and accountability, and prioritize public school funding, according to its website. Those sound like lofty goals. However, Hamilton County Board of Education members Joe Smith and Rhonda Thurman last May accused UnifiEd of politicizing the district’s desegregation debate, the Chattanooga Times Free Press said. The spat began with the board members speaking out against UnifiEd’s APEX Project.The project suggests the school system increase integration by redrawing attendance zones and providing transportation options to other schools, among other options, Thurman said. UnifiEd fired back at Smith and Thurman, the Times Free Press said: “These school board members’ stance and rhetoric is especially concerning given the long history of segregation in Hamilton County schools,” read a statement from UnifiEd in response. UnifiEd has pushed for cultural competency training, which has already been taking place in Williamson and Knox counties,…

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Pushed by UnifiEd, Hamilton County School Board Uses Consultants, Committees to Tell Community Its Schools Are Unequal in Diversity

Jason M. Reynolds

Williamson County and Knox County Schools have been making headlines with their white privilege and “cultural competency” training for teachers, but so far there is no sign that trend has spread to Hamilton County Schools – yet. Williamson County has forced teachers to learn about “white privilege” in required in-service training days, The Tennessee Star has reported in a series of stories. Knox County Schools are spending $170,000 out of their $928,677 in-service budget on cultural competency training for teachers. Hamilton County Board of Education has been working with diversity consultants for the past couple of years to desegregate schools through means that would include busing. They formed committees and workshops to label the district as inequitable for minority students. One diversity group attacked two school board members last year for opposing their plans. Dr. Marsha Drake, the district’s chief equity officer, launched an Equity Task Force in 2018. The Hamilton County Board of Education in May 2018 voted to begin seeking funding to pay for the Howard Group, a consultant agency, to identify “the larger factors that put some students on unequal footing,” the Chattanooga Times Free Press said. The board asked the Howard Group to work with the…

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Hamilton County Board of Education Passes Costly, Controversial Plan

Chris Butler

Members of the Hamilton County Board of Education want to spend nearly half a million dollars of taxpayer money on consulting work that possibly isn’t necessary, according to The Chattanooga Times Free Press. The money, the newspaper went on to say, will “assess the condition of the district’s facilities,” and develop a plan for new projects and maintenance. Board members voted six to two in favor of the plan, despite what The Time Free Press said was “heated disapproval” from District One Board Member Rhonda Thurman. The money, $337,915, will pay MGT Consulting Group “to conduct a multi-layered audit of the district’s buildings and their maintenance needs” according to the paper. Exactly $149,930, meanwhile will go “to study and predict future growth and capacity,” The Times Free Press reported. The paper quoted Thurman as saying the school district “didn’t need external consultants to inform them about the state of the schools, because it has done that work before and those funds could be better used to actually fix problems.” “The price tag on this is staggering. … We’re spending $500,000 for someone from out of town to come in and tell us what we should already know,” Thurman said, according to The Times Free…

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