Jodi Schaffer News Today

The five Republican Hamilton County school board candidates talked Monday about their key campaign priorities and encouraged conservatives to vote.

Both Republican candidates for the District 7 seat on the Hamilton County Board of Education say they are solid conservatives, both have either children or grandchildren in local public schools, both say they want to give back to their community by serving in public office and both have made safer (or secure) schools one of their priorities.

The two candidates vying for the Republican nomination for the District 7 seat on the Hamilton County Board of Education expressed differing views in a debate this week about the districts school choice program and whether teachers should receive performance-based pay.

State Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, was asked to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at the opening of Thursdays Tennessee House session and refused.

Chattanooga lawyer Jodi Schaffer is a self-described "hometown girl" who wants to protect the constitutional rights of students and parents as a Hamilton County school board member.

A letter to an online news source takes state Rep. Yusuf Hakeem to task without mentioning his name about public school funding.