Improving education standards good for Selma and Dallas County

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 2, 2004

Last week the Alabama Department of Education released its annual school accountability State Report Card.

The results were improved over last year and gave both superintendents of our area school systems a sense of accomplishment.

The results showed that Dallas County schools saw a 10 percent jump in the number of seniors passing the Alabama High School Graduation Exam.

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As for Selma City Schools they saw a slight improvement from an F to a D-.

Superintendent James Carter admitted that he was disappointed in the grade but reminded that it was an improvement.

What does this tell us?

It lets the parents of Selma and Dallas County High School students know that the school system is improving.

Is it improving at a fast enough pace?

That is a question that each parent needs to ask themselves.

It is also a question that the superintendents are thinking over as they make plans for the next year and the year after that.

What is sure is that the teachers in the city and county do want to make improvements.

What parents need to remember is not only do the grades that were released last week represent the efforts of the teachers but also the efforts of those who carry more responsibility than anyone else, the parents.

The grades of students often are a mirror image of what the investment of the parent.

If the parents of the students of Selma and Dallas County do not care enough to make their child study for tests, do their homework and attend school on a regular basis, then the education system shouldn’t take the blame for below par scores.

Another positive that came from the report from the Department of Education was that none of the schools in either system was put on Priority status.

This was a fact that both superintendents were proud of and so is the Times-Journal.

We encourage the teachers of our community to continue working hard for the betterment of the students of Selma and Dallas County.