Five of the 11 seats on the Hamilton County school board are up for election this year, and all of the races have at least one Democrat on the ballot.
Democratic school board candidates introduced themselves to voters and spoke about their key campaign priorities during a Tuesday panel hosted by the JFK Luncheon Club, a political group for county Democrats.
Early voting starts April 15, and the primary election is May 5. The general election is Aug. 6.
Here are a few of the issues candidates focused on during the panel at the Chattanooga Masonic Center:
TEACHER RETENTION
Several candidates said efforts to improve teacher retention must go further than raising pay, noting that respect and providing more classroom resources were also important.
Micah Chapman of Washington Hills said it starts with ensuring teachers earn a livable wage, but he didn’t think that was the end-all solution. The board also has to look at the extra support it provides teachers.
(READ MORE: 15 candidates vying for five Hamilton County school board seats)
Democratic candidates for Hamilton County school board talk teacher retention, community involvement
“How are we listening to our teachers, and how are we learning from our teachers? Because that will affect the way that we lead our community and our schools as a whole,” he said. “We really want to look at how we’re interacting and how our teachers are really being utilized outside of just being the educator or the teacher in the classroom. Are we really valuing their input?”
Chapman, who works at the Enterprise Center, is running against Thessela White of North Brainerd to represent District 5 on the school board. The district includes the Brainerd and Tyner areas.
STATE LAWS
School board member Ben Connor, D-North Chattanooga, said part of his role on the board has been to “fight the people in Nashville who are making some really nasty laws against our kids,” as well as advocate against poorly written bills that have downstream consequences.
He referenced both a bill making its way through the state legislature that would require public schools to track students’ immigration status and a 2024 law requiring schools to receive parental consent before administering medical treatment.
“It’s not just what we will do on policy on the school board,” he said. “It’s how will we advocate statewide to make Hamilton County Schools better than everybody else, as good as they can possibly be, and give our kids what they deserve?”
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Connor, who was first elected in 2022, faces a challenge from Republican Cindy Fain to represent District 6. The district includes the Red Bank and North Chattanooga areas.
White, a customer service representative at U.S. Xpress, questioned why the state was spending more money on the Education Freedom Scholarship program than on public school students. The program gives 20,000 Tennessee students public funding to pay for private school tuition and enrolled its first students in fall 2025.
“That within itself takes away from the teachers who are doing a great job in public education,” she said. “What does that say that we’re using our taxpayer dollars for more vouchers versus putting it back into our school system?”
Tennessee will spend an average of $7,023 per public school student during the 2025-26 academic year, according to data presented at a State Board of Education meeting in August, while the private school tuition grant is worth $7,295. Public school students, though, will still get more public funds due to the local contributions included in the state’s education funding formula.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
When asked where she believed the school system was failing students the most, Ruth Walker said her immediate thought was not about how the schools are failing but rather how the community is failing its schools. Walker, a psychology professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, is running to represent District 3.
“I feel like we have failed them by not supporting them, by not increasing funding to meet inflation and meeting the needs,” she said. “This is something that I think the conversation often comes back to: What are our teachers doing wrong? What are kids not doing good enough? What are the schools not doing? But I really think this is a reflection of us that we have to really look in the mirror and think, what could I be doing more for my schools? How can I get more involved?”
In two years, she said, she’d like to see a community that’s more engaged, involved and knowledgeable about what’s happening in local schools.
(READ MORE: Tennessee bill reducing testing requirements for some students advances)
Walker, of Hixson, is running against Republican Ashley Dillon and independent Sandy Pricer to represent District 3, which includes the Hixson and Lakesite areas.
As a substitute teacher, Betty Duggan, a longtime educator who is vying for the District 8 seat, said she’d seen great disparities within the school system. It’s the community’s responsibility, she said, to figure out where the areas with problems are, as well as where things are going well and ensure that’s spread across all schools.
Duggan, of Concord, is running against Katie Perkins to secure the Democratic nomination for District 8, which represents the East Ridge area. The winner will face the Republican primary winner — either Sabrina Daniel or Sterling DuPré — in the general election.
“We have a very diverse group of people and children in this school system,” Duggan said. “We need to serve all of them — economically, ethnically, culturally. We need to serve everybody the best that we can. … We’ve got a lot still to do, but we do have the models of what we do best with building our schools and building the resources in them. We need to make it for everybody, every child.”
Contact education reporter Shannon Coan at scoan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.