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closeRetired Northeast High School principal Ella Carter won the District 1 Bibb County school board race Tuesday, trouncing incumbent Kenny Rodgers 1,858 to 600.
Carter, an educator of 47 years, will bring to the board an insider's perspective, which she says will help her make the best policy decisions for teachers and students.
"I'm excited and pleased with the results," she said. "I went into this not for popularity reasons, but I felt like students throughout this county need good representation."
Carter is now one of two board members with teaching experience in the system. Susan Middleton teaches a class at Westside High School as an adjunct teacher.
Carter said she will bring reason and research to the board and is the "sum total package" of someone who has been a student, teacher, principal and central office administrator.
She said she hopes to address the student dropout rate, improve the system's image and help close the achievement gap on tests between white and minority students.
The 71-year-old graduated from the former Ballard-Hudson Senior High School in Macon. She majored in secondary education at Fort Valley State University and got her master's degree in education from Mercer University in 1972. She holds a specialist degree in education from Georgia State University.
She began her teaching career at Appling High School, worked at Ballard-Hudson and Southwest High School before serving as principal at Jones Elementary School and then Northeast High School.
Rodgers was appointed by the school board last fall to serve the District 1 seat, which includes the Northeast High School zone, after Terry Tripp resigned.
Rodgers, 32, said Tuesday night that he wasn't disappointed with his campaign.
"I'll continue to work on the board through December and will continue to give the community every bit of me," he said. "I don't know if I'll run for office again, but I'll continue to work for the community."
To contact writer Julie Hubbard, call 744-4331.
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