Published: October 1, 1995

Tennessee Waltz

In Chattanooga, Tenn., the word on everyone's lips these days is "fear.'' That's not the usual sentiment in this river city of 155,000 souls. Farsighted civic leaders have cleaned up downtown, rebuilt substandard housing, and dedicated the $45 million freshwater Tennessee Aquarium on the banks of the snaking Tennessee River. Chattanooga, once a dirty, declining industrial town, has been reborn.

The city is justifiably puffed up over these and other accomplishments. But its hardest task has just begun. This time, Chattanoogans are wrestling with something more important--and more fragile--than its buildings. They are talking about their children. And it's making them uneasy--fearful.

Last fall, after years of declining enrollments and mounting expenses, city residents voted to give up their school system and consolidate with the Hamilton County system. In Tennessee, state law requires counties, not cities, to furnish education. Similar votes in recent years have merged the Knoxville and Nashville school systems...