As a 1993 graduate of Ooltewah High School; the father of a Hamilton County School student; the husband of a Hamilton County School teacher; and the son of a retired public school teacher: Jeff is an advocate for students, teachers, and public education.
- The purpose of serving on the school board is to ensure that students have access to an appropriate public education.
- Schools should prepare students to become adults who embrace civic life and interacting with their neighbor.
- Standardized tests are a useful tool, but they are not the ultimate tool for evaluating school and teacher effectiveness or student achievement.
- Schools need teach real history, including parts that make us uncomfortable. Schools should examine how history impacts the present.
- Schools teach science. Therefore school responses to science issues, like public health crises, should be guided by the best science available at the time. Popularity of measures should not be a major factor.
- School has always been and always will be awkward and somewhat frightening for kids. We should foster environments where LGBTQ students don’t need to have more awkwardness or unnecessary fear thrust upon them than their straight peers.
- Places like Middle School always have been and always will be awkward for kids. We should foster environments where LGBTQ students don’t need to have more awkwardness thrust upon them than their straight peers.
- Racial, linguistic, gender, cultural, sexual orientation, and religious diversity are a reality. Schools need to utilize materials that reflect that diversity. That some people are uncomfortable with reality is not a guiding principle.
- School Board elections should be returned to a non-partisan format.
- Teachers and other non-executive employees should have the right to organize and collectively bargain.
Jeff P. Crim 