WHAT MAKES ALCOA SO GOOD?

[charger81]

We have nine..y'all have six...something wrong with your mat...but I'm not matematician...

 

Alcoa's facilities are still lacking and they deserve the best. Sorry, just my opinion. The recent upgrades are quite nice...feel better?

Not a speller either.

[MrChattanoogaFootball]

I don't understand the "tuition students". I thought they were a public school. The only reason I'm asking is because Alcoa seems to be at another level from the other AA teams. I thought they were a "magnet school". That is what the schools in Chattanooga call a school that allows students from all over the area to come to that school. Even though they are zoned for another school. In this area Tyner is a magnet school. It hurts some of the other schools that lose their best athletes. They go to Tyner to play football because it has a great program. So if Alcoa is not one of those schools but is a public school, what do you mean by "tuition students"? I know they have great athletes, but Howard & Brainerd have great athletes here in Chattanooga, they are not magnet schools either. And no way could they compete with Alcoa.

 

Howard and Brainerd are magnet schools.

[Slick Rick]

Slick Rick can sum it up in two words. MANY ATHLETES!

[IrishBBall]

No dout Alcoa is great. The kids that "pay tuition" in private schools get a multiplier applied to their schools. (I'm not talking about Division II schools that give scholarships to athlets) Just wondering why Ronnie Carter does not treat Public and Private schools equally?

That's a great point! If a private school is participating in the public school division they are forced to multiply their student population by 1.8. Kind of makes you wonder why schools that are able to accept kids out of their school district aren't held to the same standards-they're paying tuition just like the private school kids. Not knocking Alcoa at all because the same thing often occurs at Maryville and Oak Ridge. Kids want to be with a winner and get the recognition and coaching that comes with playing at these power houses. I don't have a problem with that. Brian Sommers is a prime example. He's a great kid along with being an excellent athlete and student. Wonder how many D-1 schools would be heading out to winless Karns to look at him? It's a no brainer as far as I'm concerned.

[tornadogold]

That's a great point! If a private school is participating in the public school division they are forced to multiply their student population by 1.8. Kind of makes you wonder why schools that are able to accept kids out of their school district aren't held to the same standards-they're paying tuition just like the private school kids. Not knocking Alcoa at all because the same thing often occurs at Maryville and Oak Ridge. Kids want to be with a winner and get the recognition and coaching that comes with playing at these power houses. I don't have a problem with that. Brian Sommers is a prime example. He's a great kid along with being an excellent athlete and student. Wonder how many D-1 schools would be heading out to winless Karns to look at him? It's a no brainer as far as I'm concerned.

 

Let's see...private school: everybody pays tuition

public school: only those students not zoned for that school system pay tuition.

It's a tax thing as far as I know. Kids living in the county (or other counties) that come to Alcoa/Maryville/OakRidge don't pay city taxes. We have to revamp the $ somehow. If the state demands that we spend x amount of $ on each kid but that kid's parents don't pay taxes, the school system is losing money. Tuition is a way to break even (or, in Alcoa's case, almost break even). It's not a way to make money like it is in a private school where they can't depend on tax $ to pay the teachers or keep the school up and running.