As adults, we want the next generation to take what we’ve left behind, improve upon it and move it further along. As parents, we want our children to have a better life than we had, do better than we did and be better people than we ever were.

Then why in the world are we, as a community of adults, in any way satisfied with the current condition of our state’s education system, more specifically the out of control dropout figures.

Alabama maintains one of the lowest graduation rates in the nation with more than 40 percent of students failing to graduate. And, locally, Selma High has missed minimum state standards when it comes to graduation rates, so much so, the current principal’s job was almost eliminated due to the poor results.

What are we doing? Why do we allow such a problem to develop in the first place?

Each of us are not graced with the same quality of parenting. There are good parents as there are bad parents.

But, it is hard to imagine any parent would not want the best for their children. And part of this wanting better for their children should be, no, must be expecting children to go to school throughout the process, sticking to the job at hand and completing the task.

Today, a public forum will be held at the Hank Sanders Technology Center conference room at Wallace Community College at 11 a.m. The free event is designed to discuss ways to improve the dropout problem in this area.

We encourage as many to attend and to take ownership in fixing a problem that has gotten out of hand, not because of the children who have dropped out, but those of us who are adults who have let it become such a problem.