July 16, 2005
Chattanooga Times Free Press
By Beverly A. Carroll, Staff Writer

Hamilton County’s suburban schools, already performing above other school groups, continued to make improvements in math and reading/language arts, according to 2005 test data.

"There’s been a lot of questions about whether the suburban schools are getting their fair share," schools Superintendent Jesse Register said. "Our suburban schools have (had) and continue to have very high achievement scores."

Schools officials on Thursday released test data from the annual Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program. The data is also used by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which measures student achievement in math and reading/language arts.

Overall, Hamilton County student scores rose over last year, the data showed. But suburban schools, most of which were county schools before the 1997 merger with Chattanooga Public Schools, outperformed the district as a whole. In reading/language arts, 91.9 percent of students in suburban schools scored proficient or advanced, compared to 88.6 percent districtwide. In math, 90 percent of suburban students scored proficient or better, compared to 86.2 percent districtwide.

A look at the scores by County Commission and school board districts shows progress in all nine districts. The data showed that the three top-performing districts in reading/language arts and math are districts 1, 2 and 3, which are mostly suburban.

County Commission Chairman Fred Skillern, who represents District 1, has said he is concerned about allocation of resources. Mr. Skillern, who did not return a request for comment Friday, said the district has taken low-performing teachers out of inner-city schools and sent them to suburban schools. He has noted that the district spends more per pupil at inner-city high schools than at Soddy-Daisy High School, which is in his district.

Dr. Register said that much of the additional dollars allocated to inner-city schools are private and federal dollars. The cost per pupil at schools like Howard School of Academics and Technology and Brainerd High School are higher because the enrollment is smaller than Soddy-Daisy or Ooltewah High School. Enrollment at Brainerd and Howard is under 700, while the other high schools have more than 1,500 students.

And low-performing teachers were scattered throughout the district when the staffs of several inner-city schools were reconstituted, Dr. Register said. He said he told the principals at those schools that they could take one or two of those teachers and either help them improve or make a case to dismiss them.

Nolan Elementary School principal Ken Barker got one of those teachers two years ago.

"I sat him down and told him what the expectations were for Nolan, what the parents expected of teachers, what teachers expected of each other, and he chose to leave," Mr. Barker said.

Commissioner Charlotte Vandergriff, who represents District 3 that includes eight schools in the Hixson area, called the scores "heartening."

"Our schools have had much more bad press than good press, and it’s undeserved," she said.

However, Ms. Vandergriff said she did not think some of her colleagues would agree.

"I think there are some on the commission who will pay attention to that and some who will ignore it," she said. "I don’t think this report will sway anyone who doesn’t want to be swayed."

School board member Janice Boydston, whose District 6 includes Lookout Valley and East Lake, said the scores showed that the district is serving all children.

"We are not playing favorites," Mrs. Boydston said. "There is improvement, and no one can argue that."

Commissioner Lou Miller, of District 6, said she thinks test scores are important when vying for federal and state funds.

"It also makes the schools and teachers, everybody, look good," she said.

But scores wouldn’t sway her "no" vote on additional funding for schools, she said.

"We do not have the money; that’s the core of the problem," she said. "I think (the district) has lots of problems. I have problems with priorities. What’s more important than textbooks for children to take home?"

School board members did not budget to buy math textbooks for next year.

Commissioner Richard Casavant, who represents district 2, said he supports additional funding for the schools.

"When I go into a school and flush a urinal and it almost falls off the wall, they need more money," Dr. Casavant said.

Commissioner Greg Beck, whose District 5 includes some of the lower performing schools, said the upward trend was positive. But he declined to say whether schools should get additional funding.

"I’ve got my own ideas about funding," he said. "They will come out at the appropriate time."

Efforts to reach Commissioners Curtis Adams, William Cotton, Larry Henry and Bill Hullander were unsuccessful Friday.