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Hixson area Hamilton County school board candidates talk priorities, healthy schools | Chattanooga Times Free Press.The three candidates vying to represent District 3 on the Hamilton County Board of Education shared their campaign priorities and views on what makes a healthy school system to a standing-room only crowd Wednesday.Republican Ashley Dillon, Democrat Ruth Walker and independent Sandy Pricer spoke to around 100 community members and local elected officials as part of a candidate forum hosted by the Friends of Hixson.All three candidates are political newcomers looking to replace board Chair Joe Smith, R-Hixson.Smith chose not to seek reelection after serving on the board since 2016.Dillon works at her solo counseling practice, Stained Glass Counseling.Walker is a psychology professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.Pricer is a social worker who founded RiseUp Cooperative, a nonprofit that offers life and leadership workshops for young adults.Early voting starts July 17, and the election is Aug.District 3 includes the Hixson and Lakesite areas.The candidates were each given time to introduce themselves and their campaign priorities before answering questions submitted by attendees.Below is a sampling of what they said.PRIORITIES In her opening remarks, Pricer said she was focused on strong students, strong schools and a strong community.The district has capable, smart students who are disengaged and don't see a clear path for their future, she said."That's where we have to focus," she said."Whether a student chooses college, a trade, military or workforce, they should leave high school prepared for real life.That means expanding access to internships, job shadowing, hands-on learning and helping students build confidence, communication skills and real-world readiness, not just test scores." Teachers, she said, also need support, not added pressures.Pricer said she would advocate for competitive pay and ensure teachers have the tools and environment to focus on students.Dillon said she wants every school in Hamilton County to be as successful as the one her children attend, and her priorities include emphasizing the academic basics as well as reducing testing and the use of technology.The topic she feels most passionate about, she said, is that parents and taxpayers need more transparency.That includes knowing how principals use the extra funds schools get to tailor staff for student needs and being clear about the curriculum."Yes, I want to support students.Yes, our teachers are so essential, but ultimately, I want to support parents," Dillon said."Parents are the best experts on their children.Parents are with their kids way more than teachers or friends or other people are, and parents are the ones who are going to be impacted by their child's lifelong choices, right?The parents are the ones that are at the high school graduation, their college graduations or at the jail visiting their kid, so our parents need to know what's happening in our Hamilton County schools." As a school board member, Walker said her goal would be to listen, communicate and make evidence-based decisions that put students first.Public education, she said, should prepare students with different goals, backgrounds and resources for the pathway that's best for them, and she plans to create an advisory committee with teachers and parents from all eight schools in District 3 in order to represent the whole community.Walker also wants to advocate for schools."We are doing amazing impressive things in our district, and I can only imagine what we would be doing if we would rally behind them, if we would lift them up and if we would support them to the full extent to which we are able," she said."They are doing all of this despite funding cuts, despite staffing shortages, despite attacks on educators and despite eroding public trust in our public education system." PARTISANSHIP When asked whether the candidates' political parties asked them to swear allegiance to anything, Dillon said yes.Walker said no.The Tennessee Republican Party has all candidates agree to the party's guiding principles, Dillon said.The part that applies to schools, she said, says the party believes all citizens should have access to a quality public education that teaches American exceptionalism."I had no problem with saying yes to these policies because I've been a lifelong Republican," she said."I'm not going to vote based on, this is what the party says, because it's what I believe.It's been my entire life, so it wasn't hard for me to sign that.But yes, I did sign something saying that I would vote Republican." (SIGN UP: Get our weekly education newsletter by going to timesfreepress.com/education) Democratic party officials met with Walker to get to know her, she said, but she's her own person."I'm here to represent you, and that's what needs to be reflected in my decisions," she said."As I mentioned before, data will always be a part of that as well, but a party will not." Pricer said she chose to run as an independent because she didn't want partisan politics to affect her nonprofit."Also, politics shouldn't, in my opinion, be in the schools because kids aren't political," she said."The decisions made in the board room shouldn't be swayed by politics because it impacts the kids on a daily basis.It should be what's important for the kids, what impacts them in the right way, not in the political way." HEALTHY SCHOOL SYSTEM A healthy school system has teachers, parents and a superintendent who all respect one another and are able to listen and engage even when there's differing opinions, Dillon said."It also looks like a school system where people are involved and engaged and excited to be there," she said.Walker said a healthy school system has involved parents and a community that cares about the schools being successful even if they don't have a child enrolled in one.It also has students who are cultivating a love of learning and arts, as well as going on to be successful, she said."It doesn't have to have fancy trimmings," she said."It doesn't need all of that.It just needs happy children, and they also need to have community support behind them.The school system impacts the entire country, not just the local community, Pricer said."It looks like every kid thriving, every kid learning," she said."We're passing.None of the schools are failing.None of the grades are failing." TUITION GRANTS Both Walker and Pricer said that more data was needed about the Education Freedom Scholarship program.The program, which will increase to 35,000 seats next school year, provides Tennessee families with public funding to pay for private school tuition."Vouchers in and of itself, they can be really good," Pricer said."There's a lot of lack of data and transparency behind them that I think needs to be changed.It can help get kids out of poor situations.That might be the only chance they get, but it also potentially is being overused and used in the wrong way." (READ MORE: Hamilton County school board considers increasing athletics funding for next year) When the tuition grant program launched, Dillon said her children were enrolled in a private school and the tuition increased by $1,000 per student.She switched them to public school after that.The tuition at most private schools in Hamilton County cannot be solely covered by a tuition grant, she said."The theory or the statement of 'We are helping kids rise out of poverty and go to these $18,000-a-year private schools' is just not true, unfortunately," she said.Walker pointed to a Tennessee Comptroller's Office report that found public school students outperformed their peers who participated in the Education Savings Accounts program — the state's pilot tuition grant program that serves low-income families and is limited to three counties, including Hamilton."For me, that says a lot," she said."Having a state that's willing to invest $300 million, that's a big money ask, right?I would have loved t