Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Rick Smith speaks to the media in October about plans by Hamilton County officials to make $50 million available for new school construction.TORNADOES LEAVE MARKThe April 27 tornadoes that left mass destruction across the region left a hefty imprint on public education, as districts across the region saw damaged buildings, devastated students and shortened school years.Powerful winds left considerable damage when they pulled the roofs off Ringgold High School and Middle School. Students initially attended school at Ringgold’s rivals Heritage Middle and High.In what administrators called a miracle, students were able to return to the refurbished Ringgold High by Sept. 6. Eighth-graders also attend the high school as construction continues on their building.Tornadoes devastated much of Dade County, Ga., though schools remained mostly intact. Dade Elementary’s roof was lost in the storms.Plainview High School in Rainsville, Ala., was severely damaged.In Bradley County, Tenn., Blue Springs and Michigan Avenue elementary schools were heavily damaged by tornadoes. Students from the destroyed Blue Springs Elementary were sent to other schools. Michigan Avenue students returned to class in their building but were kept apart from reconstruction work.LEGISLATIVE CHANGESThe year saw significant changes in state education law from the Tennessee General Assembly, with divisive results. Sen. Andy Berke, D-Chattanooga, said he hopes the Legislature will reverse course on some of its 2011 laws, such as those that changed teacher evaluations and opened the door to for-profit virtual schools. Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, said the reforms were meant to address long-term “educational deficiencies” and wouldn’t likely be changed.YEAR IN REVIEWAs 2011 inches toward the history book, Times Free Press reporters recap the highlights and low points of the year.• Tuesday: Costly weather disasters vex residents, emergency responders• Wednesday: City, county elected leaders face challenges, change• Thursday: VW, Amazon openings soften economic blows• Friday: Reform dominates public education• Today: Top stories of 2011
Some of public education’s most sacred cows vanished this year as the Tennessee General Assembly took on one of its most aggressive education reform sessions ever.
At home in Chattanooga, a changing of the guard also took place as school board members ousted Hamilton County’s five-year superintendent in favor of a longtime schools administrator.
In what reformers say were long-overdue changes, the Republican-controlled Legislature rewrote the teacher tenure law, stripped away teachers’ collective bargaining rights and enacted a teacher evaluation system that, for the first time, ties teacher performance to student achievement. The state also expanded the use of virtual and public charter schools.
“That was one of the most aggressive legislative sessions for public education in my memory,” said Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Rick Smith.