Education Edition - 1736 Magazine, Fall 2019

A growing city with a bright economic future deserves schools it can be
proud of throughout the city – schools that can attract families seeking
the best education, schools that can inspire children in disadvantaged or
dysfunctional families to strive for a better life and make better choices.
Considering one in every four county residents lives
below the poverty line, the system should be saluted for
doing as good as can be expected.
But “good” is not good enough. Not anymore.
Metro Augusta is growing, thanks to its large and stable
health care, nuclear and diverse manufacturing industries,
not to mention a rapidly expanding technology sector
being fueled by the buildup of Fort Gordon’s cybersecurity
and electronic intelligence-gathering missions.
A growing city with a bright economic future deserves
schools it can be proud of throughout the city – schools
that can attract families seeking the best education,
schools that can inspire children in disadvantaged or
dysfunctional families to strive for a better life and make
better choices.
We know the city as a whole feels the same way. It
is evident by the outpouring of support in recent years
from community leaders, business owners, nonprofits
and institutional stakeholders. Those groups have long
been concerned with the state of education in Richmond
County, but they have been jolted into action by the
relocation of U.S. Army Cyber Command and a looming
workforce shortage that will occur across all industries
during the next decade as the tail end of the boomer generation
enters retirement.
Cyber Command’s highly educated civilian and
active-duty workers, many of whom are accustomed
to living in urban environments, are seeking the best
educational experience for their children. Right now, the
most consistent cluster of quality schools in the region
is found in Columbia County, which is siphoning off
potential residents and the economic benefits they bring
to the community.
We have no ill will toward Columbia County, but
the success of its school system is based primarily on
families of means who could – or would – be residing in
Richmond County, the income source for the majority
of its residents, if Richmond County had more “A”s and
“B”s on its report card.
As for the issue of retiring workers: Who will fill their
shoes? If it’s not Richmond County’s young adults, it
will be young adults from somewhere else. The county
must “grow its own” skilled workforce or employers will
be forced to recruit their talent from other parts of the
metro area or outside the region.
While newcomers are great for enhancing the area’s
diversity and cultural fabric, is that more important
than providing opportunities for this community’s own
children?
We don’t believe so.
From an economic standpoint, Augusta’s next decade
could be like no other. The community will see whether
the influx of the Defense Department’s high-tech
investment in Fort Gordon will be as “transformational”
for the city as some community leaders have predicted.
But even if it is not, there is absolutely no umbrage to
take with the school system’s very deliberate focus on
cyber-based educational programs and work-readiness
initiatives. Both programs, each less than five years old,
already are creating dividends by graduates moving
directly into well-paying jobs, rather than incurring
large amounts of debt for four-year degrees that may be
of dubious value in the future workplace.
The message for the school system is to keep innovating,
keep motivating and continue holding every
employee accountable. Richmond County has neither
the time nor the room for clock-punchers.
The message for the community is to continue –
better yet, accelerate – the support it has shown the
school system during the past few years. The partnerships
that have been forged between the private sector
and the district are making a difference in the lives
of many students – the young people who, without a
helping hand and some positive direction, could easily
be future liabilities rather than workers, leaders and
innovators.
As Richmond County School Superintendent Dr.
Kenneth Bradshaw says elsewhere in this edition: “All
children are born and they all can learn at the same level.
Even though there can be obstacles, our goal as educators
is to provide them with those opportunities.”
If you as an individual can help educators provide
those opportunities and clear those obstacles, now is the
time.
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