By Steve Hunley It really isn’t graceful to say, “I told you so,” but sometimes even the best of us just can’t help ourselves. A couple of years ago, The Knoxville Focus was the ONLY media outlet in Knox County to write about the “agreement” between superintendent of schools Jim McIntyre and the Board of […]
By Steve Hunley A hit dog always howls. The recent appointment of John Fugate to the Knox County Board of Education caused some howling from a few County Commissioners, most notably Sam McKenzie and Amy Broyles. Broyles was backing Rick Staples, a failed candidate in the recent City Council elections and a known Democrat. The […]
By Steve Hunley Some of you are surely tired of reading editorials about the Knox County School System. Heaven knows I’m tired of writing them, but the sad truth is you’re not going to get the in depth coverage anywhere else. That isn’t the way it should be, but for whatever reason, the local news […]
By Steve Hunley Like most people, I love to laugh. Recently, I got one of the better laughs I can remember when a friend of mine forwarded Joe Sullivan’s column in Metro Pulse to me. Mr. Sullivan wrote a column about the school system and class struggle or some such. Sullivan makes a reference to […]
By Steve Hunley For those who doubted anything published in The Focus about the Knox County Board of Education and Superintendent Jim McIntyre, the meeting last week should have addressed those concerns. The Board, in its most naked display of power politics since McIntyre forced a vote on the extension of his employment contract, violated […]
By Steve Hunley “There’s some extraordinary learning going on out there!” That has been a constant cry from Knox County superintendent of schools James McIntyre during his tenure in office. Last week some 12 superintendents issued a press release they would be meeting at Pellissippi State, yet the meeting was abruptly cancelled just a couple […]
By Steve Hunley Voters are already going to the polls and few races are as important as those for the Knox County Board of Education. That is especially true when one considers fully two thirds of every tax dollar in Knox County is spent on schools. In the race for the Sixth District, Terry Hill […]
By Steve Hunley The Knox County Board of Education last week dealt Superintendent Jim McIntyre his first solid rebuff when it refused to approve his firing of a Knox County high school teacher. An impartial mediator in the case did not find the allegations worthy of the teacher being fired. The mediator recommended the teacher […]
By Steve Hunley For any person who values free speech, recent actions by the Knox County Board of Education are cause for deep concern. Superintendent Jim McIntyre is always braying about “great conversations” and “wonderful dialogues,” but that is for public consumption; the reality is quite different. Board member Karen Carson apparently had an epiphany […]
Don’t Let Your Community Get ‘Pond Gapped’ By Steve Hunley Knox County Board of Education member Doug Harris is busy making the rounds promoting the idea of increasing the local sales tax. Making an appearance on the Hallerin Hill radio show, Harris says a half penny increase in the local sales tax will generate $30 […]
The opinions expressed by Focus columnists and those providing comments are theirs alone, and may not reflect the opinions of The Knoxville Focus or any employee thereof.