Educators have a lot of giants to fight, one noted superintendent says

Borrowing from a biblical tale, Gwinnett County Public Schools Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks told scores of principals in neighboring DeKalb County Tuesday that they must fight for education in the nimble way that David slew Goliath.

The well-known superintendent of Georgia’s largest school district was speaking at a DeKalb County School District leadership conference at the invitation of DeKalb Superintendent Michael Thurmond. Wilbanks said educators face an army of obstacles like the giant in the Bible, from negative media to selfish parents to policymakers who call for resource-draining initiatives.

One example, he said, was the new law in Georgia that allows educators to carry guns into schools when school boards authorize it. Wilbanks said he doesn’t oppose civilians toting guns except where they are inappropriate, and he included schools in that category. “That’s all we need, for everybody to be packing,” he said, to boisterous laughter from the principals in the auditorium.