Educational Attainment Rank1. Ann Arbor, Mich.17. Atlanta25. Huntsville, Ala.30. Nashville34. Knoxville54. Greenville, S.C.78. Birmingham, Ala.87. Little Rock, Ark.88. New Orleans120. Jackson, Miss.128. Montgomery, Ala.137 (tie). Memphis150. Beaumont, Texas
Edu-Ouch
Nobody denies educational attainment in Chattanooga could be better. But the city's rank as the 11th worst among 150 United States cities in a recent WalletHub survey doesn't ring true.
We are ranked 140th, worst of Tennessee's four largest cities and second worst in the Deep South. Breaking down the ranking, we are 123rd in percentage of high school diploma holders, 122nd in college or associate's degree holders, 121st in bachelor's degree holders, 121st in graduate or professional degree holders, 116th in public school system ranking, 92nd in workers with jobs in computer, engineering and science fields, and 88th in number of doctors per capita.
The ranking is based on two dimensions, educational level and quality of education, both of which are weighted equally. The survey then identified nine metrics relevant to those dimensions, and the cities were measured against them using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, GreatSchools.org and U.S. News & World Report.
In sum, Chattanooga ranked 128th in education level and 132nd in quality of education.
Whatever the ranking, UnifiEd Executive Director Elizabeth Crews and Deputy Executive Director Lakweshia Ewing believe the city is poised to move up.
"A recent poll showed the most important thing to Hamilton County voters is improving our public education," said Crews. "We at UnifiEd believe the Chattanooga region is on the brink of positioning itself to become the best mid-sized city in the South."
"However," said Ewing, "schools cannot do it alone. It takes an entire community to create a successful public education system. There is a public education movement of parents, teachers, students and community members growing in this area."
Statistics indicate skilled workers with degrees pump the most money into a local economy, and a recent report from the U.S. Treasury and the U.S. Education Department indicate education "expands job opportunities" and "boosts America's competitiveness" in the global arena.
Today, Chattanooga's economy is not in bad shape and its schools are improving, but imagine how much its economy might improve if it had an even more educated workforce.
Leaving On A Jet Plane
Chattanooga area residents who need weekly or occasional air transportation know flying out of Lovell Field is far more convenient than out of Atlanta, Nashville or Knoxville, but circumstances in the last decade or so have made the choice moot.
Flying out of Chattanooga was prohibitively expensive compared to the other cities, the connecting flights didn't match up or the equipment (planes vs. jets, small vs. larger) wasn't what passengers desired.
Now, though, with fewer cancellations here, larger jets there and at least competitive fares, the airport is on track to set an all-time record for annual passenger boardings. The previous record, set in 1993, was 311,204. Through the first seven months of this year, boardings were up 14.64 percent to 197,505 passengers.
A flight from Chattanooga to Los Angeles earlier this year, using different carriers for one-way tickets, was competitive with flights from Atlanta and Nashville. If that is the norm, passenger service from here can only climb.
And if airport officials continue to seek flights to additional cities and even other carriers, flying into and out of Chattanooga will be even more desired.
Drill, Baby, Drill
The sensationalist environmental crowd quickly blamed fracking and renewed its calls for bans on the process when tainted groundwater was found over the last several years in areas of Pennsylvania and Texas. However, a new study by The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which looked at dozens of cases of suspected contamination and then focused on eight gas wells in which tainted water was linked to the wells, found the problem was in the pipes and seals in the wells.
That type of contamination is easier to fix and more preventable, the study's lead author said.
Fracking, a process in which highly pressurized chemicals and water are pumped deep underground to break shale and release natural gas for harvesting, has precipitated a boom in drilling and a fall in natural gas prices.
Horizontal drilling and fracking are also partially responsible for the recent drop in gasoline prices, according to Bloomberg. The extraction methods of domestic crude oil in the shale -- especially in the booming Bakken formation in North Dakota, the Eagle Ford formation in south Texas and the Permian Basin in west Texas and eastern New Mexico -- make the oil's domestic processing cheaper than foreign imports.
And with refineries running at record levels due to the increased oil production, supplies of gasoline are ample. When supplies of natural gas and gasoline are ample, companies choose to stay in the U.S., saving jobs.