Galloway wants to use teaching experience on school board

Hamilton County school board candidate Joe Galloway says students are facing too much change in the classroom as school administrators roll out new programs and curricula aimed at improving test scores each year.

If elected to the District 6 seat on the Hamilton County Board of Education, Mr. Galloway, 63, said he will work to improve student achievement by focusing on the long-standing problem of a lack of parental involvement.

"We need change, but in some areas I think too much change hurts the focus of children," Mr. Galloway said. "There is too much testing. Students should be graded more on effort."

District 6 includes seven schools, such as East Lake Academy of Fine Arts, East Side Elementary, Lookout Valley elementary and middle/high schools. Mr. Galloway's opponent in the Aug. 5 election is Gary Patterson. They are vying to succeed longtime school board member Janice Boydston, who is not running for re-election.

Joe GallowayJoe Galloway* Age: 63* Family: Mr. Galloway lives with his wife, Cheryl, in Lookout Valley. He has three children and two grandchildren.* Occupation: Mr. Galloway retired last year after teaching at Lookout Valley middle and high schools for 35 years. He still coaches men's basketball.

Mr. Galloway, who lives in Lookout Valley, retired from Lookout Valley Middle/High School last year after teaching and coaching for 35 years. He served as assistant principal for three years, still volunteers as athletic director and coaches the men's basketball team.

All three of his children attended the school where he taught. They have gone on to coach sports at public schools.

He said his experience teaching and coaching will help him unite school board members, whom he said too often get mired in politics, and increase support for the system's valuable teachers.

"We need more people who understand what the education system should work like," he said.

David Dinger, a teacher at Lookout Valley Middle/High who played for Mr. Galloway, said he thinks Mr. Galloway would be a great asset to the school board.

"He is a guy who can work with people really well. He always made level-headed decisions. He didn't jump into things," Mr. Dinger said. "I still go to him today for advice. He is just someone that a lot of people out here look up to."

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