So Hamilton County Board of Education members got together Thursday afternoon and ignored years of frustration. A majority – five board members – patted themselves on the back while naming a long-time central office insider to the district’s top post.
It has to be internal politics at its very worse. It simply has to be.
And that’s tragic.
Think of it this way. Pick any other professional walk of life and if that team, organization or company was in the bottom 5 percent of its most desired measurements (like Hamilton County Schools is), would they promote new leadership – even on a part-time basis – from within?
In theory, this is Tennessee firing Derek Dooley and promoting his defensive coordinator.
So here we are, left wondering what could possibly be next.
Well, how about this: Dr. Kirk Kelly, our interim superintendent, has promised to visit all of the schools in the district in the next 30 days.
Say what? With a $385 million budget to finalize, high school graduations, staff evaluations and hiring that must be handled, the best use of our new educational poobah is a grandstanding barnstorming tour?
Yep, the definition of insanity remains the same no matter who is sitting atop the organization flow chart.
FINAL SCORE
OK, I feel better getting that out there.
Thanks.
Now, let’s try to find the winners and losers from the Hamilton County school board’s decision Thursday.
Winner: Private schools around the county, which likely handed out triple digits worth of applications since the decision Thursday.
Winner: The quiet conversations in Hamilton County municipalities about forming their own school systems. (And if you think those whispers aren’t getting louder, then you are fooling yourself.)
Winner: Those perspective challengers for the next round of school board races, especially those who run against the board members who voted for the status quo. Heck, the internal politics by the folding five that made Kelly’s interim designation possible very well could be met with a completely different political passion come election day.
Losers: The 42,000-plus students in the Hamilton County system. And their parents.
QUICK CHANGE
For the longest time, the climate identifier of our fair city has always been, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait an hour.”
Sadly, we also have tippy-toed to another identifier, and this one is not funny.
“No one has been shot today. Well, wait an hour.”
SATURDAY STARS
To the Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization of Chattanooga, and all the other organizations in town trying to help the kids caught in a societal crossfire even before they learn how to fire a gun.
Yes, the gangbangers are shooting at each other, but there are innocent bystanders caught in this, both before and after the shots are fired.
And the BB/BS folks have been trying to help this long before any mayoral moves or what have you.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6343.