Mediocre Performance

Public Education in Bibb County Georgia

Recent Media Coverage has achieved the level than many citizens in Bibb County Georgia have desired for years. Public Education in Bibb County has not lived up to the citizens expectations for decades.

Work With Me, Please.

I have memories of the era when one of my Children attended Miller Middle School. This was in the 1980s. At the time my family lived a few hundred feet from Rosa Taylor Elementary School in Macon, Georgia. When it came time for Middle School at the former A.L. Miller Building we decided riding the School Bus would be an appropriate means of transportation for our child. Often he would come home from school and relate how the Bus Driver would proceed out Forsyth Road and then realize that a mistake had been made and would then turn around and proceed back toward Macon and the Miller Middle School.

I spoke to the Director of Transportation and/or his Secretary frequently and was always informed that they would resolve the problem. I even discussed the situation with the Principal of Miller Middle School who acknowledged that the Children riding a certain bus were frequently late for School, but it was a problem that he could not resolve. Please bear in mind that at this time I was the "Ways and Means" Chairperson for the Parents Group at Miller and we conducted a major fund raiser so it was not like I was a non caring parent who only griped when the system picked on my kid.

Needless to say this situation went on for months and my frustration with the system increased until one morning in December I stopped by the Bibb County Court House to discuss the situation with the Chairman of the Bibb County Commission. You will recall that way back then the School Board had to have approval for the Operating Budget by the Board of Commissioners. I was there early in as much as I got off of work at 7:00 A.M. Once the Chairman arrived I indicated that I needed to discuss a situation concerning the Bibb County School System.The late Mr. Emory Green listened with great interest and assured me that he would indeed resolve the issue. Within three days the situation was resolved and the driver of the school bus for my child knew how to travel from the area of Rosa Taylor Elementary School to Miller Middle School without having to turn around in the vicinity of the Dairy Queen on Forsyth Road. A new driver was hired.

I relate this story now to simply indicate that mediocre performance has been accepted for so long in the Bibb School System that most citizens who have a concern about their Children have already resolved the problems of the past by using other School options here in Middle Georgia. These options have included private school or simply moving out of Bibb County. Of course Home Schooling has also become popular.

Yes, this is a sorry situation that has been allowed to grow for far too many years. I point this out so also let my peers know that this mediocre performance has become a way of life within our School System here in Bibb County Georgia. The situation has endured for so long that the current culture is to continue to accept mediocre performance.

I appreciate the current media emphasis on Public Education in Bibb County, but please be aware that mediocre performance is not a new development. So what can be done to improve the situation? There are those who are calling for Ms. Patterson to resign. I would submit that this may not be the answer. Until a level of proficiency and caring is the watch word throughout the system, no one person can improve the current situation. What about the level of concern about improving our education in Bibb County by other members of the Central Office Management?

I would submit that some on the current school board are also responsible. We have members on the School Board who do not even desire to hear from the citizens who fund their activities. They do not desire to hear from "We The People."

You can be sure that I will post a comment to this Blog Post regarding those who desire to not receive concerns from a Citizen of Bibb County.

You may recall that until recently the School Board had to submit their budget to the County Commissioners for approval. I as well as other concerned citizens made this a campaign issue a few years ago when seats on the Board of Commissioners were up for election.

We now have a School Board that is allowed to set their own tax rate, which is as it should be. We now have the option of replacing the school board if things are not proper instead of having to replace the Board of Commissioners and the School Board. That is but one of the concerns I had when I ran for the Board of Commissioners in the recent past.

As we proceed forward I would encourage all the citizens of Bibb County to become involved in monitoring the activities of our Duly Elected School Board Members. After all they are the ones who set policy and determine the focus of education in our County.

We certainly deserve better than what we have received over the past thirty or maybe even forty years. Our current crisis is not a recent development. The situation has been festering for a long, long time.

The crisis can best be resolved when all are aware that Mediocre Performance will no longer be acceptable.