We should sing the praises of our school leaders

Often we overlook what is good about our community. We should not, but we do. It is just our nature. It should not be, but it is.We should be grateful for the fine job our Phenix City Board of Education has done in recent years in seeing that our children are educated to a level that exceeds expectations. Our board of education members, administrators and teachers are recognized among the best of the best. But, we allow their work to be overlooked.Well, others are not allowing that to happen. They are singing the praises of our local educators and the accomplishments of our students.In the recently released 2009 edition of Diplomas Count, in a research article titled "Broader Horizons: The Challenge of College Readiness for All Students," Phenix City ranks as the 14th best school system in the country for the year 2006 - the last year for which information was available. For a 10-year period from 1996-2006, Phenix City's school system ranked even higher - third in the entire country.The survey was released recently on the Education Week Web site at www.edweek.org and was conducted by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center. The survey ranked school systems from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Most systems, according to the research, are meeting "expected" levels when you consider the size of the district, the community's poverty rates, concentrations of minority students and per-pupil spending levels for the district. We did not meet the "expected" levels. We exceeded those levels. In fact, about 2,200 systems throughout the nation exceeded the expected levels by 10 percent or more.Phenix City's leadership, the driving force behind the system's success, pushed our children to exceed the expected levels by 13 percent for 2006. For the 10-year period of the survey, Phenix City's students exceeded expected levels by 28 percent. The only other school system in Alabama mentioned in the 10-year survey was Opelika's which ranked ninth - 13 percentage points behind Phenix City.How is that possible? How could this have taken place in little biddy ole Phenix City? The answer is simple - great leadership by our board of education, administrators and teachers. Also give credit to those who have benefited the most by the work of those individuals - our students.Give credit to all these groups that have achieved this level of distinction while overcoming many obstacles - some good and some bad. The system is the city's fastest growing industry - adding an average of 200 new students each year while systems around it are losing students. Maybe the reason for that is people are recognizing the success of our system and choosing to come here with their children to attend our schools. Expect the numbers to continue to grow as our system prepares for an influx of families relocating to the area under the military's Base Realignment and Closure program. Remember first that our numbers have grown by 200 students per year over the past five years and BRAC was not a part of the reason for that growth. Phenix City is the fourth-fastest growing school system in Alabama. Our education system and its leaders - those in the board room, in administrative positions and in the classroom - will be a big selling point for folks to relocate here when BRAC does begin to affect growth in our area. Our schools have the best facilities, education programs and technology. Our community will see the opening of our new Freshman Academy this fall, a facility that will be home to about 500 students. We have elementary schools that have recently been renovated or that have seen new additions constructed. There are plans for more construction to accommodate the students we currently serve - not the students we may receive in the future. While other systems are stagnant, we have a school system that is thriving.So, should we as a community jump on the bandwagon and sing the praises of our school system? Yes we should. We as a community should stand up and tell anyone who would work against what our school system has achieved to back off. Tell our local city leaders to stand with our school leaders to see this progress continues and to never allow petty politics to get in the way of what is best for our children. From what our school leaders have achieved, it is clear that they are not allowing their differences to stand in the way. The example they have set is well worth emulating.