Hormones, alcohol and guns don’t mix

By Ed L. Schrader

The Georgia General Assembly has before it two seemingly disparate bills, but enactment of either of them will have dire consequences for education in Georgia.

One is SB 308, just approved by committee, which would eliminate the current ban on firearms within 1,000 feet of a university campus.

The second, SB 386, would require that pay levels for schoolteachers will be based in part on results of yet another series of tests for students and in part on yet-undetermined factors, but not on the levels of education teachers themselves have attained to prepare themselves for the classroom.

My opposition to these two bills comes from two perspectives. First, I am the president of a private university in Georgia that, among other things, helps prepare teachers with both undergraduate and graduate degree tracks for outstanding and influential careers in Georgia classrooms. As the president, I am also the person responsible for looking students and parents in the eyes and telling them truthfully that we provide a safe, nurturing environment on our campuses.

If these bills pass or remain unchanged at their core, it is the college and university presidents who will have to deal with the aftermath of gun violence on campus. Those same presidents will have to try to make educated people out of students who were “prepared” for college by people with limited academic backgrounds themselves.

The other hat I wear, however, is that of a product of more than 200 years of Southern heritage and struggle. I was born in Mississippi. I am a hunter and own guns passed down in my family for generations. I worked as a geologist in the kaolin industry before choosing a path that led me to serve as president of two of the state’s private education institutions. It is a typical Southern collage that includes at least two Confederate veterans. My family made it through Reconstruction and entered the 20th century as educators and professionals concerned about the future of the South.

All that is to say I approached these bills as a college president because, indeed, they relate to the higher education environment. They also are “Southern” issues. And, as a Southerner I object to them because collectively, whether you view them as litmus tests on political agendas or as short-term budget fixes, they damage our roles as champions of advances in the quality of education and the quality of life in our region that have been long fought and hard won over the past century.

We Southerners pride ourselves on common sense. Does anyone really believe that the Second Amendment rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution that enable us to hunt, or to own and transport firearms, have been compromised by prohibiting firearms on or near college campuses? It goes without saying that teenage hormones, high passions of sporting events, perhaps even higher passions related to academic pressures and, sometimes alcohol and drugs — all of which are realities on campuses, whether we like it or not — do not mix well with guns. Carrying and using firearms at the appropriate place and time is an important component of our Southern history. SB 308 does nothing to reinforce that principle; it just puts more people at risk.

And what are we really trying to accomplish with SB 386? I agree that the public has a right to the best-performing teachers and should provide incentives for those who produce better “products,” well-educated students. Eliminating recognition of advanced education for teachers is not the answer, but will be part of a bigger problem than the one we already face. For decades we have been trying to encourage teachers to go back to school themselves to get more education — an advanced degree in the subject matter they teach or to help them specialize in teaching children in a certain age group or with learning disabilities. Common sense tells us that some part of the compensation incentive package should include advanced degrees.

Today we face a world in which lifelong learning will be the rule, not the exception. Advanced degrees will be required for improved compensation. Some data we recently collected at Brenau University indicates that people engaged in all types of careers with the standard four-year bachelor’s degrees earn a median of about $53,000 a year. That jumps to more than $61,000 for those with master’s degrees, to $79,600 for professional degree-holders, and $81,172 for those with doctorates.

Lifelong learning for enhancing educators’ credentials and credibility is essential to their mastery of an ever-increasing body of knowledge. We expect teachers to convey that up-to-date knowledge to pupils and, as they advance in their careers, we expect teachers to become more proficient in current, critical educational techniques and methods.

Georgia has made progress, but it cannot afford to lose faith in the future and ignore long-term consequences for today’s actions. The best and most reliable tool for statewide economic development is better-educated and internationally competitive citizens.

Long-term thinking is required of our legislators. The United States, the South and Georgia cannot afford to fall behind global trends for better education and a safer educational environment.

Ed L. Schrader is president of Brenau University.