Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Justin Robertson emphasized the importance of valuing public education during his annual State of the System address Tuesday evening.
“This system is not my system,” he said. “This is our community’s school system. My dream for this community is that we will see this public school system as ours and that we will advocate for it as our system. And that we will provide cover for people in leadership positions to make bold decisions and courageous decisions about how we resource and support public schools in our community.”
The event was held at the former BlueCross BlueShield Golden Gateway building at West M.L. King Boulevard and U.S. Highway 27, which the Hamilton County school board recently ranked at the top of its final facilities priorities list. The school system proposes to renovate the building into a middle-high school with two pathways — one for fine arts and another for career and technical education — as well as relocating the Chattanooga High Center for Creative Arts.
“The building that we’re in tonight, I think has the potential to be very, very special,” said Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp, who has advocated for a technical school downtown. “The school board unanimously approved a vision that Dr. Robertson brought forward that I think embodies this idea that all students can thrive, as well as any vision that’s been laid out.”
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Superintendent Robertson calls on community to elevate teachers during State of the System
Throughout the presentation, Robertson and other district leaders tied their commitments to the goals outlined in the district’s seven-year strategic plan, Opportunity 2030. The plan prioritizes student well-being, staffing support and community involvement.
Eleven students, who represented the different programs offered by the district, spoke about their experiences in Hamilton County schools, and educators from across the county explained what was going well in their school.
Representatives from Red Bank Middle talked about how the school began hosting an advisory period every morning to improve school culture and student well-being.
“Kids smile,” Principal Ginger Frady said. “Teachers are smiling, and it feels like a place where kids can learn and be happy.”
Robertson also emphasized the district’s desire to live out the commitments it made in the strategic plan with its values.
“We’re committed as a school system to continue to be good stewards of the public resources that come our way,” he said. “We’re also committed and we feel like it is essential that we have the integrity to advocate for the resources that we need to support public education in Hamilton County.”
Within the next 18 months, the district aims to raise the starting wage for first-year teachers to $50,000, Robertson told the Chattanooga Times Free Press before the event.
During the address, Robertson referenced Gov. Bill Lee’s plan to expand the state’s private school voucher program statewide. The current language of the bill does not contain accountability measures such as standardized tests for students who use the taxpayer-funded vouchers to go to private schools. Officials from Lee’s office have said parents are the best form of accountability.
“I don’t think it’s controversial to say that the landscape of public education in Tennessee is changing,” Robertson said. “We’ve had some say that the accountability (for vouchers) should actually be built in to parents and their satisfaction with that program while not including the same learning measures that public schools are held accountable to. Let me be clear, we have excellent schools by both measures.”
He pointed to the successes of the schools that were highlighted throughout Tuesday night’s address and the 85% of parents who report they are satisfied with their child’s education.
(READ MORE: Hamilton County Schools’ new strategic plan prioritizes student well-being)
Robertson ended his remarks with a call to action, asking the community to make a habit of elevating the teaching profession, telling stories about the excellence in Hamilton County schools and supporting leaders that make decisions that support public education.
“As you heard the mayor say in the very beginning, a strong public school system does not just benefit students, it benefits our entire community,” Robertson said. “I ask you, as we move forward, that you continue to support public schools in our community because that supports kids and it supports every single aspect of Hamilton County.”
School Board Chair Joe Smith, R-Hixson, said the community needs to be aware of the great work being done in local schools
“Let’s give equal time to all the positive things are going on,” he said in an interview after the address. “Incredible work’s being done. Are we perfect? We’ve got a long way to go. He said that, but man we’re doing some great things in Hamilton County. Things that we need to be proud of, that this community should be proud of.”
Contact Shannon Coan at scoan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.