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DEL.ICIO.USImproving public education a challenge in Denver and metro Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Been there, done that.
Kay Pippin, president of the Henry County Chamber of Commerce and longtime advocate for public education, listened intently to Michael Bennett, superintendent of the Denver Public Schools, as he spoke to about 110 metro Atlanta leaders on the annual LINK trip.
“It was surprising that every idea that everybody in the group got excited about has already been tried in Georgia,” Pippin said in a phone call today.
Bennett, however, made a real impression on Pippin. “The superintendent was fabulous,” she said. “The difference I see here is the clear articulation from leaders on every front. It all comes back to leadership.”
For example, Pippin said that Bennett will meet will all of the school system’s 4,000 employees at least once a year.
“He starts every morning visiting a school, and he carries with him his chief academic officer,” Pippin said, adding that she agreed when Bennett said, “One of the things I’ve discovered in education is that nobody makes a plan and leaves it in place long enough for it to work.”
The LINK trip has hit home how important public education is to a metro area, Pippin said.
“It’s taken us a long time for us to see that public education is as important a part of our infrastructure as roads, water and sewer,” she said. “We haven’t reached a point where everybody in the power structure understands that if we don’t make our public education system succeed, the state of Georgia will have the same problem as Clayton County is having right now.”
Another point that has hit home for Pippin is how metro Denver has worked closely with its congressional delegation to provide a united front on its regional plans.
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