News Articles

Source: www.Chattanoogan.com

Only 25 Percent Of Tennessee Students Will Test As “Proficient” On Next Year’s TCAPs, Haslam Says
by Judy Frank
posted September 18, 2009

Tennessee parents are in for a shock next year when their kids’ TCAP scores came back, Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam said Friday in Chattanooga.

Only 25 percent of students who take the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program will test as “proficient,” the Republican gubernatorial candidate told members of SETPAC.

When the federal “No Child Left Behind” bill passed it 2001, he explained, students were required to be tested for academic proficiency.

But NCLB allowed states to “set (their) own bar” regarding what constitutes proficiency and “unfortunately, Tennessee set its bar really low . . . one of the lowest in the nation.”

However, starting this school year the state will rank test scores based on national – not state – guidelines, Mayor Haslam said.

“If Tennessee students perform (on the test) the same way they did the last time . . . only 25 percent will be considered proficient,” he continued. “That’s a real wake-up call . . . and if we let it go, shame on us.”

Already, he said, Tennessee has one of the lowest-performing educational systems in the nation, ranking 42nd among the 50 states.

“If you started school here last year, there’s only a 70 percent chance you will graduate from high school – and only a 17 percent chance you will go to college,” Mayor Haslam noted.

That’s why finding ways to improve K-12 education across Tennessee has to be one of the three major challenges the next governor – regardless of who he or she is – tackles immediately after taking office, he continued.

At the same time, the state will have to redouble efforts to eliminate the state’s $1.3 billion budget shortfall, he said, and to create new jobs so the current 10.8 percent unemployment rate can be slashed.

He’d like the chance to tackle those challenges, he said. But to do that, he will need “upwards of $5 million” to fund his campaign.

In November 2004, then-Mayor Bob Corker began running for the US Senate and worked hard to make himself known across the state during the ensuing months, he told SETPAC members.

“And when he took his first poll in January 2006, do you know what he found?” Mayor Haslam – who described himself as a good friend of Corker’s – asked the group.

“Only 15 percent of Tennesseans knew who he was!”

Those poll numbers were a real wake-up call to the Chattanooga mayor, who responded by spending $7 million during the primary campaign and another $8 million in the general, Mayor Haslam said.

“To win, you have to raise money to fund your campaign,” he added. “If you want to win, you have to.”

Source: www.Chattanoogan.com

"A Deal Is A Deal" On Annexation, Littlefield Says
by Judy Frank
posted September 4, 2009

If area residents now protesting Chattanooga's proposed annexations didn't like the concept, why didn't they speak up when those areas were included within city boundaries in the Urban Growth Plan for Hamilton County, Mayor Ron Littlefield said Friday.

"A deal is a deal," the mayor told members of the Southeast Tennessee Political Action Committee (SETPAC) during their regular weekly meeting.

But current predictions that the annexations are a bad idea that will benefit neither the city itself nor the people affected are just plain wrong - just as earlier generations were wrong when they made similar remarks when areas such as St. Elmo and Hixson were brought into the city, he said.

"Look at the map of Chattanooga and try to imagine what kind of city we'd would have without those earlier annexations," Mayor Littlefield told the group. "There'd be no Northgate. There'd be no Hamilton Place Mall. . . . To have developments like that, you have to have urban services."

While some critics have argued that the current recession makes this the wrong time for any new annexations, Chattanooga's own history refutes that, he noted.

It was during the depression, he recalled, that St. Elmo and other areas now considered integral parts of Chattanooga were annexed.

"That certainly turned out OK," he said.

Further, he said, not carrying out logical annexations can have negative ramifications. For example, the next federal census is rapidly approaching, and money will be appropriated based on population.

"Boundaries need to be set," he said.

The annexation process always is contentious, controversial and painful to endure, Mayor Littlefield said.

But backing off to avoid temporary problems can be extremely shortsighted, with negative consequences that last for decades, he noted.

For example, he told SETPAC members, "East Ridge once had the chance to annex the area where Hamilton Place Mall is now located, but they turned it down because they would have had to buy a new police car!"

Source: www.Chattanoogan.com

Too Soon To Tell Whether Newt Will Run For President, His Daughter Tells Chattanoogans
by Judy Frank
posted June 19, 2009

Although it’s kind of fun to hear people speculate that her father might run for president the next time around, Newt Gingrich’s daughter said here Friday, it’s way to early to tell whether that will actually happen.

Within weeks after the November election, Jackie Gingrich Cushman told SETPAC members, people were already speculating on who the presidential candidates in 2012 will be.

“Obama hadn’t even been inaugurated yet,” she said with a little laugh.

Asked whether she herself would consider running for public office, she said no – at least not now.

“I have two small children,” she explained.

Mrs. Cushman is in town to promote a new book, Five Principles For Successful Life, which she and her father wrote together. In addition to her talk to SETPAC, she is scheduled to speak at Rock Point Books in downtown Chattanooga at 7 p.m. tonight.

Although dealing with the challenges encounter in life can be difficult, she told the lunchtime crowd, a few simple principles can help virtually anyone become happy and successful.

These rules are:
Dream big.
Work hard.
Learn every day.
Enjoy life.
Be true to yourself.

In the book, she and her father use examples of people – ranging from Bill Clinton to William Shakespeare to David Patraeus – who were able to apply those five principles to their efforts to achieve success and live life to its fullest.

Mr. Gingrich, best known as former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, is a nationally recognized leader of the Republican party.

Mrs. Cushman, one of the renowned politican’s two daughters, lives in Atlanta with her husband, son and daughter. She serves as president of the Learning Makes a Difference Foundation, which she founded three years ago, and is active in the Georgia Advisory Council: The Trust for Public Land. 

 

Source: www.wdef.com

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey Says TN Faces Deep Budget Woes