Hamilton County Superintendent Jim Scales’ contract was renewed early by a 5-4 vote last Thursday, thanks to the Hamilton County Board of Education. No stranger to controversy, Rhonda Thurman, the outspoken hairdresser who disagreed with the decision to allow an East Ridge student to wear a religious head scarf (hijab) to school, strongly disagreed with the outcome.
School Board members Chester Bankston, Everett Fairchild and Kenny Smith also voted against the early contract decision.
According to the Chattanoogan.com, Rhonda “the Hairdresser” Thurman told the Pachyderm Club on Monday that the decision “exhibited arrogance, disregard for the public, deceit, and abuse of power.”
Why the upheaval? Apparently, Dr. Scales’ contract with the Hamilton County Department of Education wasn’t set to expire until 2010. But with the recent vote by the Board of Education, his contract will not expire until 2012. This means that Jim Scales’ job will be secure despite the election of new school board members, most importantly, those new board members who oppose the job that Scales is doing with Hamilton County Schools.
An article written in the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that Rhonda Thurman accused Scales of taking credit “for many school board initiatives and other programs that he could not have spearheaded in his two years as superintendent.” She also denounced the five school board members who voted for his early contract extension for manipulating the vote without knowledge from the other members. She even accused the approving board members of hiding the news release announcing the contract.
While I do disagree with many of Rhonda Thurman’s opinions regarding what is best for our public schools, I have to hand it to her for standing up for those of us who do not have a voice in the way our schools are run. I applaud her actions and though these are only allegations at this point, I believe they are strong enough statements to initiate some sort of movement that forces those in power to re-evaluate the decisions they make regarding the people of Chattanooga and how they make them.
It is essential to note that Thurman also voted against hiring Jim Scales for the role of superintendent in the first place. Actually, she was the only one.
What do you think about the accusations Rhonda Thurman is making toward other members of the Board of Education? Do you agree? Disagree? Do you think she is crazy? What about our seemingly fearless Superintendent? Just how good of a job do you think he is doing regarding Hamilton County Schools? Post your opinion. C’mon… I dare you!
In case you need some ammunition, here are some links related to the topic:
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_130287.asp
http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8520621
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/jun/23/hamilton-county-school-board-member-criticizes-ok-/?breakingnews
0 comments
Post a Comment