In 1996, I moved here from Philadelphia to provide a better quality of life for my family. I came to Georgia as a middle school and high school teacher as well as a public school administrator.

I was offered my dream job, a full-time position as a professor at Devry University. I worked for Devry from 1996 to 2007. I had to leave Devry because its enrollment was down, and with only 11 years of service, I was low on the seniority list. As a result, for the first time in a long time, I was faced with a true challenge: Do I go back into the public education system, or accept a position at a local college?

At that time, there was a lot of talk about how Clayton County public schools were failing enormous numbers of students and that gangs were prevalent in the schools. Plainly, Clayton County was failing our students. I wanted to make a difference, and I knew I could. Therefore, I wanted to see firsthand what was going on, and I knew the only way to do this was to get on the front lines and accept a job in the classroom as a teacher.

I started on Oct. 5, 2007. The students were betting that I would not last a week. They told me they had had several teachers since August and no one had stayed with them. I informed them that I was here to stay and they would be successful if they listened. Week after week went by and they saw I was serious. They became interested in learning. After two months, some students did not want to leave my classroom after their 55-minute block of instruction.

Contrary to popular belief, the students in Clayton County come from respectable parents. These kids are great kids. They do want to learn. The administrators love the students and work very hard to provide a safe environment and the best quality of education they can for each student. I saw a commitment from the teachers, staff and administrators to do this on a daily basis.

What is being reported in the newspapers negatively about Clayton County public schools, the board, the administrators and teachers is far from the truth. The people who go to work daily to educate our children have a genuine love for educating all the students in Clayton County. Morrow High School just graduated the class of 2008, and the students in that class have received more than $1.4 million in scholarship money to attend schools of higher learning. That is success, not failure.

My hope is that the people who are looking at Clayton County school accreditation will think about the students first, the teachers and the administrators and understand that Clayton is a great place to work and live.

I am speaking from the inside. I am committed to working with new Superintendent John Thompson, Area Superintendent Derrick Manning and board members to help Clayton County schools become one of the best systems in the country.

• Tyrone K. Pelzer teaches math at Morrow High School.