A contract between Hamilton County Schools and Teach for America, a nonprofit aimed at recruiting high quality teachers for high poverty schools, was approved in a 6-3 vote by the school board Thursday night.
The vote – in the works for at least three weeks – was delayed twice due to scheduling conflicts, as well as debates between board members over where the funding was coming from, whether other teacher recruitment programs are being considered and how the contract was proposed in the first place.
Chairman Joe Wingate, of District 7, and board members Rhonda Thurman, of District 1, and Tucker McClendon of District 8 were the only votes against the four-year, $1 million contract that guarantees 15 Teach for America core members will be placed in Hamilton County schools next year.
In a 6-3 vote, the Hamilton County school board approves an MOU with Teach for America. TFA is coming to Chattanooga, starting with the 19-20 school year.
— Meghan Mangrum (@memangrum) November 8, 2018
Those in favor of the agreement – which will actually cost about $3.3 million over five years – emphasized that the board’s $250,000 a year commitment is coming out of state grant money for the district’s priority schools.