By Matthew Stewart
of The Daily Times Staff
Originally published: October 27. 2009 3:01AM
Last modified: October 26. 2009 11:51PM

Four gubernatorial candidates gathered in William Blount High School’s Patricia B. Lane Auditorium Monday night to discuss the state’s No.1 priority: education.

The Blount Education Initiative (BEI) hosted the community forum that was open to the public. Candidates discussed a wide range of topics from Pre-K, special education, taxes, higher education to the new state standards.

The Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) has released a report titled “A Roadmap for Success: A Plan to Make Tennessee Schools #1 in the Southeast Within Five Years.” Candidates were asked if they thought it was a reasonable goal for Tennessee, which is nationally ranked in the 40s in a variety of educational performance categories.

Zach Wamp answers a question from the audience Monday while candidate Kim McMillan listens in William Blount High School’s Patricia B. Lane Auditorium. Wamp, McMillan, Bill Haslam and Ward Cammack attended the community forum hosted by the Blount Education Initiative.

Ward Cammack, a Democrat, said he thought it was an admirable goal but was apprehensive about how teachers would continue to teach to the test.

Kim McMillan, a Democrat, said she hoped Tennessee’s schools would be No. 1 in the Southeast within five years. McMillan said she would like to see more partnerships between the business and educational communities.

U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, a Republican, said he thought it would be a worthwhile investment and wanted to involve educators in the process. “Educators know a lot more about education than politicians,” he said. Wamp also said he thought it’d be a more reasonable goal to see Tennessee’s schools within the nation’s top 25 in the next eight years.

Bill Haslam, a Republican, said he didn’t think people should be driven by rankings. Haslam then referred back to his five-point program for education that includes higher standards, great principals, great teachers, giving parents more of a say in their child’s education and using data to make decisions.

If schools have great principals and teachers then the rest will follow, Haslam said.

 

Bill Haslam (left), Ward Cammack (right)

 

Kim McMillan and Zach Wamp

In just a few days, we’ll have several of the gubernatorial candidates meeting in Blount County to talk about education in the state of Tennessee. We’d love to have you join us for BEI’s Gubernatorial Community Forum at William Blount High School. The event is at 7 p.m. Monday (Oct. 26) in the auditorium. Please plan to arrive early and find a seat as the event will start promptly at 7 p.m. If you can’t make it out to the high school, it will be aired live on WBIR’s 10News2 Channel and streamed live on their Web site, www.wbir.com. It promises to be an informative evening on education in Tennessee.

Candidate Ward Cammack will now be in attendance. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey has withdrawn from the event.

We look forward to a lively discussion on the importance of education to our students and our state. See you there!

Test results released by the U.S. Department of Education yesterday show why we have an urgency here in Tennessee to improve statewide education. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows that we rank 44th in fourth grade mathematics and 42nd in eighth grade mathematics. The Tennessee Diploma Project, a state education reform effort, has increased state standards and graduation requirements that take effect this year, but we all have to do our part to make successful outcomes for our children. We need to encourage our children to do well in school by helping them with their studies and making sure they understand why learning is important for their futures. It’s not just their futures but the future of our state as well. We need a well-educated work force to bring in the best businesses that provide higher paying jobs and support our economy. Get involved with educational issues in your community. One upcoming opportunity is BEI’s Gubernatorial Community Forum at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, at William Blount High School, where five of the nine gubernatorial candidates will be discussing the future of education in Tennessee.

Brad Smith, executive director of Tennessee SCORE (State Collaborative on Reforming Education), shares his thoughts on the recent news. BEI has been named a promising practice in education by Tennessee SCORE.

SCORE Statement on New National Assessment of Educational Progress Results

NASHVILLE, TN – Today, the U.S. Department of Education released mathematics scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).  These new scores show that Tennessee ranks 44th in fourth grade mathematics and 42nd in eighth grade mathematics.  SCORE Executive Director Brad Smith released the following statement about these scores:

“The NAEP math results released today by the U.S. Department of Education illustrate Tennessee has a lot of work to do to improve our schools.  Ranking 44th in fourth grade math and 42nd in eighth grade math means far too many of our students are not receiving the opportunities they deserve. With the exception of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, we rank behind every other Southeastern state. On October 22, SCORE will release a detailed plan for how Tennessee schools can become #1 in the Southeast within five years. We know this goal is achievable based on our research of other states and the detailed plan we have developed for Tennessee.  We look forward to sharing this plan with Tennesseans next week.”

Tennessee SCORE, which is chaired by former U.S. Senator Bill Frist, is a statewide education initiative focused on bringing all education stakeholders in the state together to improve K-12 education in Tennessee. SCORE will release its final report, entitled “A Roadmap to Success: A Plan to Make Tennessee Schools #1 in the Southeast Within Five Years,” on October 22, 2009.  For more information, go to www.tennesseescore.org.

Blount Education Initiative is pleased to announce that the upcoming Gubernatorial Community Forum will be televised live on WBIR’s 10News2 on Oct. 26 from 7-8:30 p.m. as well as being streamed live on their Web site at www.wbir.com. John Becker, an award-winning journalist who is the co-anchor of WBIR’s Action 10 News at 6 and 11 p.m. and the moderator of the station’s political roundtable “Inside Tennessee,” will serve as the forum moderator. http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=101475&catid=2

In addition to the listed candidates, businessman Ward Cammack will also be participating in the forum.

 We invited you to submit questions about the future of education in Tennessee to be considered for our forum. You may submit them here in the comments section or send them to bonny@blounteducation.org. The deadline for submitting questions is 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22. Thanks for your participation. For more information, check out our press release. WBIR_to_cover_gubernatorial_forum

By Matt Murray, BEI Board President and Associate Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research

A small kernel of conversation on education by concerned individuals will grow into a full-blown discussion by the community when it gathers for BEI’s Gubernatorial Community Forum later this month.

Several years ago as the chairman of the Economic Development Board of Blount County, I sat down with a small number of colleagues and members of the local business community. Our discussion focused on high school graduates and their inability to meet many of the hard and soft skill requirements of emerging job openings. We talked about teachers and administrators, parents and their children, peers and social influences on students, and so on.  No one cast blame, but there was a general consensus that something was amiss. The good news?  Local businesses that had affiliates elsewhere said that the problem was not unique to Blount County. Ok, not really very good news at all when the problem is spread across our country. But we did agree to keep talking with our eyes focused on our own backyard.

Parallel to these discussions, and unbeknownst to me, was a Leadership Blount class that also was focused on education and our community.  The efforts of that class resulted in the third Leadership Summit in 2006 to be centered on education with the involvement of renowned education reformer Willard (Bill) Daggett, who currently serves as president of the International Center for Leadership in Education. The summit, along with a series of follow-up initiatives involving folks from Blount County, got more people talking about the importance of education.

Somehow—to be honest, I don’t recall exactly how—these two groups came together to discuss their mutual interest in promoting education in Blount County. The end result? The Blount Education Initiative. So here we are, championing the cause of education, seeking to elevate education as Blount County’s top priority. 

I am honored to have the recent opportunity to serve as the new president of the Blount Education Initiative. As a parent and educator, and someone involved in promoting economic development for our region, I understand the importance of education to people, families and communities.  I will do my best to serve Blount County well in my new position.

One of things we want to do is engage the community in an ongoing conversation about education. The educational front offers plenty to talk about. We have a new curriculum and higher standards for our high schools. A new proficiency standards reporting system for our schools will shock many parents and the community at the new assessments relative to previous-year assessments. And new, uniform requirements for measuring dropout rates are in place. All of this is set with a backdrop of a rising unemployment rate and concerns about America’s competitiveness in the global arena.

To help keep this dialogue on education moving forward, BEI is excited to be in a position to sponsor a Gubernatorial Community Forum at 7 p.m. Oct. 26 at William Blount High School. This forum will focus on the question of how we can make education our state’s top priority and what kind of educational leadership these candidates would provide if elected governor. I invite all of you to attend and participate in this noteworthy event.

Most active parent-led groups have the same goal – to enrich student education. Nearly all schools for grades K-8 in Blount County’s three school systems have parent groups that work within the school to supplement many kinds of school programs, activities and fund-raising efforts. For more information, click here: Parental Involvement Through Organizations

Please plan to join us for this exciting opportunity to hear from some of the candidates seeking to be our next Governor. They will discuss education, and its importance to the future of our state and our children. This event is open to the public, and seating will be on a first-come, first-serve basis so please arrive a little early. Come participate in the democratic process. Gubernatorial Community Forum

In addition to the listed candidates, businessman Ward Cammack will also be participating in the forum.