Imagine if Hamilton County was a "mecca for teachers." Imagine if Chattanooga residents looking for a new home didn't have to worry about school zones because "all the schools were going to be quality."
Those are the kinds of dreams that keep Jared Bigham, director of the Chattanooga 2.0 education reform initiative, on the job every day.
They are the same aspirations every Hamilton County resident should have for its public schools and why the initiative, now about halfway through its 100-day planning period, is so important.
Chattanooga 2.0, which involves a wide variety of businesses, foundations, educators and citizens, is expected to formulate its key initiatives for the community to act upon in late spring or early summer.
"The coalition in place is ready to act," Bigham said Friday in a meeting with Times Free Press editors and reporters.
He said the continuing cooperation and interest he's seen from individuals have been phenomenal and paint a portrait of a community interested in improving its public schools.
"I don't think anybody's said 'no'," said Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce President Bill Kilbride, who also attended the meeting.
Four groups discussing aspects of education from early childhood through workforce development are developing the strategies, and, according to Kilbride, have shifted from "looking at all that's wrong to optimism."
So far, at least two initiatives seem certain to be a part of the planning report - the use of technology (in the classroom and in the community) and human capital (teachers, training, skills), he said.
Outside the planning process, Bigham said he's also seen wide support for the education effort in the faith-based community - in white, black and Hispanic churches - and believes this support could convert into programming that would accentuate what the students are learning in school.
Kilbride, whose Chamber Chattanooga 2.0 report showed a wide schools-to-workforce disconnect, said he believes the months-long effort can pay off.
"It's getting parents, teachers and others to understand that we could do this," he said.