Public Schools in Nashville

By Lee P. Domann

Public Education Improvement a Top Priority

A Redirecting of Council Priorities

Cultivating Personal Relationships within the system

Emphasize Safer Environment for Learning

Making Ours a System that parents Want their Children to Attend

After studying other school systems and the corporate climates in which they operate, I advocate private individual and corporate funding for public education. I am not in favor of public funding for charter schools.

Appropriate and generous funding of education requires a re-education of those in public office as well as the citizens of the county. We do not have a "bad" system wanting to be "good." We are "sick" system in need of "healing."

With increased funding and re-education, we can more adequately provide the quality educational system we envision and a safe environment for students, teachers, and administrators. This, in turn, may bolster a stronger belief in the system and increased volunteer recruitment and development.

As a member of the Nashville Metro Council, I will cultivate a personal relationship with students, parents, teachers, and administrators in all schools in District 6. I will revive the study of our District schools conducted by the citizens of our area in 1995, a study requested by Mayor Phil Bredesen, but never utilized. I plan to use this study as the focus for a Town Meeting to be held in District 6 in the fall. My fellow council members will be informed of the study, the meeting, and the resu1ts.

I want to be active and vocal in re-prioritizing Metro Nashville's budget, in recruiting volunteers, and in securing private funds for public schools.

In the recent past I was honored to have had some involvement with the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and a social skills program developed by educator, David Levine. I am very proud that "Howard Gray" a story-song I wrote several years ago, is widely used in other areas of the country as a basis for this program. The curriculum emphasizes issues of belonging, understanding others, being understood, and offering support to others in return. By being honest, beginning to see things differently, and by learning the importance of personal dialogue and empathy, a safer setting is created both in school and in life situations.

Now is the time to address the "unsafe" environment that exists in many schools. As a citizen, a father, a former student, and councilman, I pledge to continue facing the tough issues of education and social development that I addressed in my song, "Howard Gray," a story of my own teenage experiences.

This position paper printed from Lee's web site Paid for by friends to elect Lee Domann for Metro Council, Nathan Napier, Treasurer