We need to do better by Humane Society
I can’t even express how disappointed I am in the Hamilton County Commission.
I love parks so much, but animals need to come above parks. The Chattanooga Humane Educational Society needs and deserves to be funded. Raise taxes if it is needed. HES deserves to be fully funded.
It is some of the citizens of Hamilton County, not HES, that have caused this problem by their ignorance and irresponsible attitudes and lack of respect for all life. If people were more responsible, HES wouldn’t be so expensive to run. Spay and neuter your animals.
The taxes-owed situation is simply ridiculous. That is a paperwork error and should be corrected immediately. HES a very needed nonprofit. How we treat the most vulnerable members of our society reflects greatly on who we are as a county. Right now, we show up as selfish, shallow and short-sighted.
Lynn Seeger
Red Bank
Can’t we get back to ‘for the people’?
My heart is skipping lots of beats. What’s going on in our government? Who did we elect? Have we elected a president and a co-president? Let’s remember the way Abraham Lincoln aptly described our government. “By the people, of the people and for the people.” Wow, how we have wandered away from that meaningful concept.
“By the people” has worked. The people voted, and their choices are ready to take office. We knew who the candidates were and knowingly chose them. The system worked.
“Of the people” is not obvious. The people running seem to come from the wealthiest among us.
“For the people” is the most troubling. My heart breaks watching our choices at work. The recent debacle in Congress over keeping the government running was an exercise in utter contempt and disregard for most of us.
What can we do? Keeping quiet is not a good tactic. Call Rep. Chuck Fleischmann and Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty. We never ever see them or hear from them. They need to hear from us.
Irwin Ginsberg
Students will love semester exam change
Recent approval by a Tennessee legislative committee (TFP 12/18) of a policy change which mandates that semester exams count no more than 5-15% of a final semester grade (reduced from the current 15-25%): Those who have never managed a classroom or structured a curriculum may well wonder why in the world legislators are meddling in the dynamics of a classroom. Those who have taught and who understand the place of incentives and disincentives in the whole business of teaching and learning don’t have to wonder about the effect of such a change — if students are going to blow off the cumulative review experience of a semester exam at 15%, they most surely will at 5%.
Yes, end-of-year tests count for too much in structuring public school curricula and likely accomplish little in encouraging meaningful student learning. Semester exams in the hands of a skillful teacher and in the context of a semester of serious classroom experience are quite a different matter. And for students who care, not only about their own performance but also about their teacher’s regard, knowing that the exam is at least 1/4 of the semester grade is usually a difference maker.
Finally, do the math. If a student ends the regular semester with a grade of 75 and simply skips the exam (thus “earning” a 0), knowing that it counts only 5%, his grade is reduced from a 75 to a 71. The student who skips the exam will take that deal most days. At least that’s what my 45 years of experience tell me.
Gary Lindley
Lookout Mountain, Georgia
Charging Liz Cheney would be ‘un-American’
I am very torn about putting this “pen” to paper, because of what appears to be the climate to come. But I also don’t want to be silenced by what I saw in the news recently.
I am appalled to see that the GOP may move forward with investigating and possibly charging Liz Cheney for her role in the Jan. 6 committee, which delved into actual lawbreaking by domestic terrorists who attacked the Capitol building. Let’s not forget this was not a peaceful protest. Cheney didn’t break any laws; she merely stood up, with others, for what is right.
Is there no longer room for dissent, even before the inauguration? What’s to come? Is there no room for disagreeing?
This is horrifying and un-American.
Cathy Dreger
Prefers Campbell for Dems’ state chair
Thanks to TFP politics reporter Sarah Dolgin for her Dec. 21 report about the latest array of candidates for chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party. It’s an interesting — and puzzling — group.
One interested candidate doesn’t even live in Tennessee and apparently sees this important position as a personal job opportunity. Another is a quintessential Nashville insider who helped manage an incredibly disappointing statewide campaign. And, then, there’s my favorite — a Chattanooga resident who lives just blocks from the Hamilton County Democratic Party headquarters. As HCDP vice chair responsible for keeping track and coordinating local volunteers, I can attest that he has made no meaningful contribution to our local party or its candidates.
Add into the mix the two elected state representatives who have thrown their hats into the mix — an idea very few seem to favor; no one can do both jobs effectively. The clear choice for TNDP chair is Rachel Campbell, who has built the Hamilton County Democratic Party into a professional, inclusive organization.
As HCDP chair, Campbell ensured that county Democrats had at least one candidate for whom they could vote in just about every race in 2024. She has built a strong volunteer base and is an accomplished fundraiser. And, in her role as TNDP vice chair, she understands how the state party works and how county parties can and should fit into its infrastructure.
There is only one logical choice to lead the state Democratic Party into the future: Rachel Campbell.
Frank Maurizio