A small group of local residents met at Southern Burger Co. in Ooltewah Aug. 17 to discuss inequities they’ve seen among public schools in the surrounding area, as well as schools farther out in the county.
The meeting was part of a series of “Ed Talks” hosted throughout the county by local education advocacy nonprofit UnifiEd. Once the series has wrapped up, the nonprofit will use what it’s heard from attendees to develop policy in the hopes the Hamilton County Commission and Department of Education will agree to implement it.
At the Ooltewah Ed Talk, one of the issues voiced by parents whose students attend Harrison Elementary School and Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts was that the buildings are old. Parents and education advocates have long been pushing for the county to build new facilities for the two schools, construction of which would cost $35 million and $64 million, respectively.
Attendees also spoke generally about inequities in select schools across the whole school system, like access to arts programs, which UnifiEd reports only a quarter of students in the county’s public schools have access to.
“… It shouldn’t be that way,” said UnifiEd Organizational Development Director Paul Norman, who organized the meeting. “There should be consistent practices throughout the system.”
The talk also touched on a few inequities that hadn’t come up at any of the meetings he’d hosted in other locations, Norman said. Among that list was a lack of child disciplinary options and uniform enforcement of established consequences, which parents said would make students adhering to the rules and those tempted to break them more productive in the classroom.
One resident noted that part of the problem could be the high number of Caucasian teachers in diverse classrooms. If a teacher is unfamiliar with a specific culture or type of behavior, she explained, he or she might find it harder to find punitive measures that result in longterm behavioral change. Instead, she suggested teachers undergo a “mindfulness training” program that would make them more aware of their students’ individual backgrounds and cultures so they could apply more effective solutions.
Norman said UnifiEd is hoping to hear more creative solutions like these before its policy and research team starts working to create an initial list of policy recommendations. He invited anyone hoping to share other inequities they’ve noticed to come out to one of the remaining Ed Talks.
They will be held each Tuesday at UnifiEd’s McCallie Avenue office until Sept. 26. For other times and locations, visit unifi-ed.org/ed-talks.
Email Myron Madden at mmadden@timesfreepress.com.