District 3 school board candidate Marty Haynes would like to see the Hamilton County school system put its endorsed checks online to show the community what education money is spent on.
He also thinks Superintendent Jim Scales should be replaced – preferably with a local candidate.
“We’re second in the state as far as expenditures per student. We spend something around $9,300. But we’re not second in the state in scoring,” said Mr. Haynes, 51, of Hixson. “Somewhere we have to pay attention. What percentage of dollars are going in the classroom and what percentage are going somewhere else?”
At the same time, he said, graduation rates have gone down every year that Dr. Scales has been here, from 76 percent to 70 percent now.
Mr. Haynes suggests that a program known as online check register, already used in 37 states and in more than 820 school systems across the nation, would help with the Hamilton County system’s accountability for its $350 million budget.
Discipline is another important issue to Mr. Haynes.
“We’ve got a policy, it’s just a matter of enforcing it,” he said.
He noted that he and his family “suffered through one of the worst days a parent will ever have” when two students brought a gun to school while his youngest son was a senior at Hixson High.
“At that point in time, I couldn’t recommend folks send their students to Hixson High School. It’s gotten much better,” he said, “but discipline is always an issue (in any school).”
He said the failure of the George W. Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind Act was because it was unfunded.
On the other hand, his concern for the Obama administration’s Race to the Top initiative, which offers funding for improving schools, is the strings that will be attached to the money for local systems, he said.
Mr. Haynes is one of four Hixson residents vying for the school board seat. The other three are Everett Fairchild, Ken R. Smith and Tony Westendorf.
The election is scheduled Aug. 5.
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