Martin: Searching out answers to 'simple' questions

Joda Thongnopnua, center, David Morton, left, and Jackie Homann work at the Metro Ideas project, and independent nonprofit start up that is rethinking the traditional policy research model.
Joda Thongnopnua, center, David Morton, left, and Jackie Homann work at the Metro Ideas project, and independent nonprofit start up that is rethinking the traditional policy research model.
photo Columnist David Martin
Simple questions rarely have simple answers. Just ask the crew over at the Metro Ideas Project, Chattanooga's newest think tank.

First, a little background in case you're unfamiliar with the organization. The Metro Ideas Project is the brainchild of Joda Thongnopnua (pronounced tong-nawp-new-uh), a young yet well-versed, civic-minded policy wonk.

The UTC grad sold partners at the Lamp Post Group on the value of creating a nonpartisan research and policy startup aimed at tackling major issues facing mid-sized towns. Why? He says that in larger cities, there are typically sufficient amounts of resources and organizations dedicated to exploring possible remedies to metropolitan ailments. In places like the Scenic City? Meh, not really.

So, with two years of runway funding in his nonprofit bank account, Joda recruited former government reporter David Morton and policy analyst Jacqueline Homann to his team. The three will now try to identify, present easy-to-understand analysis, and offer solutions to the problematic variables existing within the Chattanooga equation. The hope is that whatever gains they are able to stimulate here, their work will prove to be a valuable roadmap for other like-sized cities across the country.

Now, back to those "simple" questions.

Though they eventually want to sift through topics such as crime and the justice system, land use and housing, and broadening the definition of the term "entrepreneurship," Metro Ideas has trained its initial sights on the local education system, particularly school budgeting. They believe that by enabling people to make sense of where school dollars come from and where exactly they go, they can, in Joda's words, "help elevate the conversation about education and funding."

Square one, figuring out how much the Hamilton County Department of Education spends per pupil per year. Shouldn't be a hard question to answer, right? Wrong.

Apparently, that information doesn't exist in any publicly reported form. According to the Metro Ideas website, they "couldn't find average spending per-student for each school in the county" anywhere. Not in the Hamilton County Comprehensive Annual Budget Report or Comprehensive Annual Financial Report or even the Public Education Foundation's Citizen's Guide to Understanding the Budget.

The only average Joda, Jacqueline, and David could find was related to the entire system. HCDE, on average, allocates over $9,700 for each child on a yearly basis. The only Tennessee districts spending more per student are Davidson and Shelby counties, who top Hamilton County's expenditures by roughly $2,000 per pupil but also have lower graduation rates.

The Metro Ideas team is right that there's additional value in creating an appreciation for school-by-school funding awareness. That perspective, Joda says, will help encourage four beneficial attributes: equity (ensuring resources are distributed appropriately), transparency (clearly identifying waste and needs), community engagement (building consensus for decision-making), and results (learning how specific stimuli spur outcomes).

Before the Metro Ideas Project makes any education policy recommendations, they're presenting findings related to the overall system budget, teacher pay and hopefully answering their initial question: How much are we spending per child?

I've got my fingers crossed this first course of study proves successful. Because, as most of us are aware, there are plenty other "simple" questions in Chattanooga that desperately need answering.

David Allen Martin is a syndicated columnist who writes from Chattanooga. Contact him at davidallenmartin423@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @DMart423.

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