Opinion: We have a responsibility to educate our children. So do our GA politicians

The Georgia General Assembly has been hard at work for several weeks now, so it’s time to ask how they’re doing — maybe even have a little quiz.

Especially, we should ask what they’re up to in the realm of education, for education affects virtually every aspect of our lives, including crime, health care and the economy. The most controversial bill currently calls for taking money from the public education budget to subsidize vouchers for students to attend private schools.

This is not a good idea. Ask students of history — or those who have accrued sufficient years to remember the tumultuous days when Georgia was thwarting the court rulings calling for desegregation. In Macon, over a dozen private segregation academies were created to avoid sending white children to school with Black children. These actions, and the accompanying vitriol, resulted in a schism that survives today in spite of the good that exists in many aspects of our community life.

Back in the 1960s and 70s, community leaders realized that it would be a challenge to attract business and industry to our town if they had to explain to prospects that they would need to spend thousands sending their kids to private school. So to bolster the public school system, such organizations as Macon 2000, Parents for Public Schools and others were formed, but yet in the year 2024 we know that the problem has not been solved.

Could it have been? Oh, yes, if Macon’s churches had sought to bring peace and harmony instead of sowing the seeds of division. But the seeds were indeed sown, and the onus is on us today to strengthen our public schools. Thankfully, some state leaders are working to do just that by increasing funding for pre-K programs.

I am a Georgia resident today because back in 1973, the Board of Regents recognized that the first thing they needed to do to correct educational inequity was to create a massive developmental education program, and for a brief period of time they maintained their resolve.

Many years later, our leaders are again awakening to the realization that the educational process must begin as early as possible. Mothers who read to their infant in the womb are not crazy. We can hope that the proposed pre-K legislation and the accompanying funding makes it to the end of the legislative session.

At the other end of the spectrum from private schools are schools in impoverished neighborhoods. Kids who grow up in prosperous areas usually have parents with sufficient income to ensure that their home has books and magazines, that the family can take stimulating trips and that the neighborhood contributes to a sense of security and well-being. Those growing up in poverty will struggle when they begin school unless we provide enrichment.

Until recently, each of my four children attended Alexander Il Elementary, Miller Middle School or Central High School — fine schools, but some of the nearby neighborhoods posed challenges. City officials have failed to realize the burden posed by blighted neighborhoods. Moving a child to a private school is not the answer. Providing a supportive environment to children — all children — in their earliest years will, however, start them on the path to academic success.

So when we ask how our legislators are doing, what is a fair expectation? While the history of our country’s early years includes much discussion of our responsibilities to one another, there have recently been painful efforts to ban the teaching of certain aspects of history. Those who have seen the Broadway play “Hamilton” may have learned more about the early days of this country than does the average high schooler.

I am growing old and will soon leave this earth. Two of the events in my life that I am proud of are serving in a U.S. Army Armored Cavalry Squadron and, much later, receiving the Distinguished Volunteer Award from Prevent Child Abuse Georgia.

A pertinent question is, if space is tight when my wife prepares my obituary, if she consults our state’s legislators, which of those events will they suggest she include?

Larry Fennelly can be reached at larney_f@hotmail.com

This story was originally published January 26, 2024 at 1:00 AM.