Todd Gardenhire
Greg VitalThe Chattanooga Republicans seeking to replace Democratic state Sen. Andy Berke agree on lower taxes, marriage between a man and a woman and other red-meat GOP issues.
But education – and how the state funds it – may be a dividing line between Todd Gardenhire and Greg Vital. At a candidate forum Thursday night, Gardenhire described the state’s public universities as a collective “sacred cow” he’s not afraid to tip over.
“Some of these universities think they can get anything they want from the Legislature,” said Gardenhire, a financial consultant. “I personally think there’s too much emphasis on higher education and not enough emphasis on grammar school and kindergarten.”
But Vital said he doesn’t see a clear relationship between the amount of money spent per student and what he called “the results” – test scores, graduation rates and other outcomes. A developer and former executive at Life Care Centers of America in Cleveland, Tenn., Vital described learning as a complex “lifelong process” and would not commit to slashing college budgets.
“It’s a balancing act,” he said. “We do need to invest in education.”