I just read Top Hamilton County School Salaries for 2012 and, once again, I remembered the title of a good old cartoon book:  "Well, there's your problem."

When the first 3/4 of the list of school system employees is not teachers, there's a real problem in the system.  And even after that first well-paid teacher, there are precious few other teachers on the top salaries list.

Note that the first 'instructor' on the school salary list is a JROTC instructor--who makes 1/3 more than the top-paid teacher in Hamilton County.  In fact, 16 JROTC personnel make more than the top-paid real teacher.

Surely I'm not the only one who remembers the old complaint, "Too many chiefs, not enough Indians!"  And surely you don't have to be an accountant to realize where the school system's money is going; it isn't going for teachers, that's obvious.

This list ought to be required reading for every parent of a Hamilton County school student.  Hand them the list, and point out all of those $90,000 salaries, right before the teacher has to ask them to send a box of Kleenex and other goodies to school with their kid because the schools can't afford such costly necessities.

Yeah, that oughta do it.  Good grief. What's it gonna take to fix this problem?

Larry Cloud
Chattanooga

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Hmmmmm....16 JROTC instructors out of how many staff overall?  Perhaps I am misinformed, but I believe there are federal subsidies in place which absorb a good portion of the JROTC salaries, making them comparable to the teacher salaries listed - maybe less. And when they are teaching your child - they are very much real teachers.

While I agree that teacher salaries are truly lacking, I would hardly say that it is due to a handful of JROTC instructors at a handful of county schools. Or even the principals and assistants salaries. Our school funding problems run much deeper than that.

Leadership carries responsibility - shouldered largely by our principals and assistant principals. Find me any organization which runs without leadership - or better yet, someone who is willing to accept that role without the pay - and I think we would all be surprised. I sure would think twice before taking on the leadership of a school without being paid for it.

In the big scheme of things, I guess I don't have a problem sending a box of Kleenex or some extra supplies to school with my child. I would rather see their money go to provide salaries for the teachers, principals and yes, even JROTC (which teaches excellent life skills and discipline by the way).

The leadership, teachers and JROTC at my child's school are amazing. I am grateful every day that they are willing to step into the role they play in my child's life.  All of them.

DJ Locke
Soddy Daisy

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Those hinges usually creak as we sneak up on the subject, but in    this instance that door goes (BAM!) as Ms. Locke slams it open with    her comment "(l)eadership carries responsibility."

    Oh my goodness.

    Full disclosure statement - there is no greater advocate for    teachers, true educators, than me... not even JC Bowman. If JC    disagrees we can easily settle the dispute. Road apples at 20 paces,    dawn, on the morning of his choosing ought to work.

    For starters, and perhaps I'm misinformed, but don't those "federal    subsidies" used to shore up salaries for JROTC instructors come out    of the pockets of working, tax paying, and sometimes voting    citizens? If not, I would sincerely appreciate someone relieving my    ignorance.

    An "instructor" is still a teacher. In the case of JROTC instructors    there is no teaching certificate required of those billets for    retired military personnel. Why must their salaries be so much    greater than those of regular teachers? This is in no way to    besmirch the JROTC program or instructors, but we do have economies    to be concerned with here.

    "Leadership carries responsibility"... where to start on that.

    Does leadership mean the principal of the worst high school in    Hamilton County should be out playing golf instead of tending to    business during the normal work week? And how about all those    assistant principals at that school, or any school? With so many    administrators, why should there be an additional need to have    School Resource Officers, cops?

    Does leadership mean hiding the fact there was a riot at a local    school from the elected school board? How about the fact there was a    school sponsored function being conducted after normal curfew that    resulted in that riot? How about so-called chaperones, employeese of    the school system, being off snorting wine while their charges,    students, are getting stinky drunk on a class trip? The situation    was certainly resolved, and punishment metted out, but the attitudes    involved is the issue. And the employees still have jobs with the    Hamilton County Department of Education? Leadership and    responsibility... that's what we call it.

    Does leadership mean accepting the word of a student, a student with    a history of poor behavior, over that of a long time coach with an    impeccable reputation? Does it include destroying that coach's    career and demoting, as well as transferring, him? Does it include    punishing an innocent working stiff like that coach while the    student receives little or no negative consequences? That principal    was ultimately demoted himself, but he still works for the system    and has a nice, cushy salary... unlike the coach he ripped into.

    Does leadership include purchasing new textbooks only to throw them    in the dumpster as was discovered a couple of years ago behind one    of our schools?

    Does leadership include having schools, arguably supposed to be a    safe place for everyone, where teachers and students are not safe?    Does it include forcing our teachers to teach, our children and    grandchildren to attend, with known criminals?

    That's child abuse.

    Does leadership include having several layers of administration, and    the attendant beaucoupbucks salaries, when classrooms have such    great needs?

    Does leadership and responsibility include sending children home    when a storm blows up so they're exposed to those hazards while    toodling down the road in a school bus? I thought every school was    supposed to be a storm shelter. Why do we take children out of a    storm shelter, supposedly built to withstand a tornado, put them    into a box running around on 6 or 8 hunks of rubber, and send them    home where they're aren't nearly as safe and there might not even be    an adult around?

    But we pay big bucks for all that logic and reasoning ability, don't    we.

    Does responsibility include passing a child on to the next grade who    doesn't meet the requirements of the present grade level? How about    a child who cannot, or can barely, read? If one cares to go to the    Tennessee Department of Education's web site and review the    requirements for each grade level, um, those babies look pretty    comprehensive. Do all of our students meet them before being passed    on to the next grade level or do some, accent on some, teachers pass    their problems up the line for someone else to deal with?

    Every elementary school in Hamilton County has a library, and a    librarian, sometimes with library assistants. Is it responsible not    to even have a library at Sequoyah High School, an accredited high    school?

    It's easy to quote Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s character in the movie Jerry    McGuire... show me the money. But we citizens and tax payers have    done that. Where's the beef for those bucks? Teachers not being paid    well? The average Hamilton County per capita income in 2010 was    $25,445. How does that stack up with teachers' salaries? Pretty    well, I think. It's easy to say that teachers, in fact many    occupational specialties, are paid much more in different areas, but    the cost of living is also higher there. Does anyone ever include    the value of benefit packages and job security into that mix? No.

    Reality is such a drag...

    Ask any teacher and one will discover the very children who never    seem to have the basic necessities of class, the necessities those    of us in the GeezerGang, the gang Mr. Cloud and I are both members    of, are wearing those super el spiffo sneakers, spiffy jackets, and    flipping Jeffersons around like vanilla wafers. What's wrong with    this picture? No lunch money? Look at the shoes. No pencil? A box of    those puppies costs less than a sody pop, or a McBurger, or a bag of    potato chips.

    But it's okay to turn around and ask responsible parents to ante up    for Kleenex, pencils, paper, hand sanitizer, and all the other    supplies on those lists... because they'll do it.

    This is no indictment of Ms. Locke, but hers is exactly the attitude    that's caused some of the problems we currently have in our schools.    Waste at the administrative level is okay because those federal    grants and private subsidies will fill in the gaps, forgetting from    whence all those bucks originate.

    Walk into Dr. Taylor's office with two dogs, walk back out with two    dogs and a puppy. I still say that cute little vet tech took    advantage of an old man who can't resist a pretty girl's smile...

Royce Burrage, Jr.

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The school system has the largest portion of the county budget and apparently is sorely misused. 

We pay taxes to support the school system and in return we get letters from the schools requesting (begging) for money to “beatify” the schools. Oh and the school supply list that never seems to be what an individual student needs but instead it’s what the classroom needs. Then there are the students who show up each and every year without any supplies at all.

Let’s not forget about the illegal immigrants who are also being educated in our system for free who contribute nothing to the financial upkeep of the school system.

Then there are the teachers who have worked in the system over 20 years and make less than $50,000 a year and spend their own money to supply their classrooms with what they need.

What exactly is it that our tax dollars go for?  Until they deal with the real problems in the system I will not give or pay a single extra dime to the school system.

Mike Cox