Superintendent Rick Smith listens during the meeting.A man who got married right out of Red Bank High School struggled for eight years to support his three kids and stay-at-home-wife on a $10-an-hour auto parts store job - until he scored a $30-an-hour computer-related job at Chattanooga's Volkswagen assembly plant.
Hamilton County school board member Steve Highlander, who taught at Red Bank, knows the man and used him as an example at the board's retreat Saturday morning of why the school district needs to offer more vocational training for students who aren't college-bound.
"Vocational, for sure, we need," said Highlander, whose district includes Central and Ooltewah high schools.
Board members spent four hours Saturday going over such matters as the school district's goals, its strengths and weaknesses. They heard about Hamilton County's scores on the statewide school Report Card released Thursday, learned how the the district promotes literacy, discussed public comment at board meetings and reviewed the new collaborative conferencing process that replaces collective bargaining with the teachers' union.
Teacher morale was a challenge cited by school board member Greg Martin, who represents Hixson-area schools. Martin said he sat down for a two-hour talk with two dozen teachers at Loftis Middle School after the school board reduced health insurance benefits.
"It's a high-performing middle school," Martin said. He said one "great teacher" at Loftis told him, "I feel like I'm treated like garbage."
"That really hurt me to hear," Martin said. "I think one of the challenges we have is, 'What can we do?'"
School Superintendent Rick Smith said he wants to "nurture a culture" where teachers are valued, compensated competitively and given ongoing opportunities to learn.
Toward the end of the session, Smith outlined what he called a bold vision to make Hamilton County the best public school system in the South.
"What would it take?" he asked. "If Chattanooga is to become a truly great city, we must have a great education system."
Smith said he's met with officials at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, which provides the bulk of the 300 to 400 teachers the district hires annually, and discussed improvements needed there.
"UTC's got to get better," he said. "UTC must aspire to have the best teacher prep college in the South."
UTC spokesman Chuck Cantrell said by phone Saturday afternoon that, "Our teacher prep program is very well-respected ... and well-known for its quality. And we are looking at ways to even improve it more."
Smith asked board members to imagine what it would be like if all students entered kindergarten reading at grade level. He stressed the need for early childhood education, from birth through pre-kindergarten.
Smith said there are 42 pre-kindergarten programs for 4-year-olds in the county, about half run by the school district and half by other organizations.
"We've got waiting lists at every one of them," he said.
The school district plans to open an early childhood education center -- which Smith said could be used as a model for other schools -- at Calvin Donaldson Environmental Science Academy, a pre-K through fifth-grade school in Alton Park.
Smith said he's shared his vision to make Hamilton County the best school system in the South with business leaders and elected officials.
Asked after the meeting how he planned to fund the improvements, Smith declined to say. He said the first step was getting commitment to the vision.
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/tim.omarzu or twitter.com/TimOmarzu or 423-757-6651.