Chattanooga businessman Tim Kelly is running for mayor, The Chattanoogan said Thursday.
The election is March 2021. Incumbent Andy Berke is term-limited.
Read the full storyWealthy Businessman Tim Kelly Runs for Chattanooga Mayor
Tag: UnifiEd
Hamilton County School Employees Allegedly Involved in Scam to Steal Money
Hamilton County School System officials have reportedly suspended three employees without pay because of their alleged role in a scheme to steal nearly $1 million.
Read the full storyFour Chattanooga Foundations Reportedly Funding Left-Wing UnifiEd
Four Chattanooga-based foundations help fund the city’s left-leaning UnifiEd, according to a letter The Chattanoogan published Monday. The author of the letter, April Eidson, listed the Benwood Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, the Lyndhurst Foundation, and the Footprint Foundation as UnifiEd donors. Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd linked to Eidson’s letter on his Facebook page Monday. Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga spokesman Joda Thongnopnua told The Tennessee Star Monday that Eidson’s letter lacked some important context. “I want to be clear. We supported the (UnifiEd) 501C3. They have a 501C4 as well. That is a more political organization, but all our money went explicitly toward the 501C3,” Thongnopnua said. “We did that to fund some pretty specific non-controversial things like successfully advocating for the adoption of some changes that improved the transparency and accountability of things like school board meetings and putting the budget online. They also did these community input sessions that engaged about 2,600 local residents and that kind of community voice where we invested in UnifiEd and other groups that work to make sure every kid has access to a great public education regardless of what zip code they are in.” No one at…
Read the full storyHamilton County Commissioners Warn Left-Wing Group UnifiEd Could Spread Influence Across Tennessee
Depending upon whom you ask, the Chattanooga-based UnifiEd is either a harmless political group with no real clout or it’s one of Tennessee’s most far-left and dangerous organizations. Many people in Hamilton County believe UnifiEd members orchestrated a proposal to add 350 new positions to the county school system, at a cost of $34 million, and at taxpayer expense. As reported, many of those proposed positions are for social workers and new administrators. Most school board members voted for the plan, but county commissioners have the final say approving it. If they do so, they may have to raise property taxes. County Commissioner Tim Boyd told The Tennessee Star this week he doesn’t underestimate UnifiEd, nor will he take any chances on the threat he says members pose. “UnifiEd has a political agenda, and it is not to improve education in Hamilton County. It is to turn Hamilton County from bright red (politically) to dark blue,” Boyd said, adding he’s spent a lot of one-on-one time with UnifiEd members, and he knows them well. No one at UnifiEd’s Chattanooga office returned repeated requests for comment Friday. “The GOP locally keeps ignoring me screaming and hollering about them,” Boyd said…
Read the full storyBill Gates Backs 17 Percent Hamilton County Property Tax Hike For Education, While School Board Member Questions Need for 350 New Non-Teaching Positions
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…
Read the full storyHamilton County’s UnifyEd Officially Expands Into Political Arena
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,…
Read the full storyPushed by UnifiEd, Hamilton County School Board Uses Consultants, Committees to Tell Community Its Schools Are Unequal in Diversity
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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