School board: District 3 candidates debate rate of progress the past four years

The two candidates running for the District 3 seat on the Muscogee County School Board both claim a passion for education.

Athavia “A.J.” Senior, the retired Midland postmaster currently representing the district, said she has put that passion into a variety of initiatives that have improved the quality of education over the past four years.

Vanessa Jackson, director of the Childcare Network on Hamilton Road, said she puts her energy into the more than 200 children that she cares for every day.

Soon, it will be up to voters to decide which candidate should represent District 3. The nonpartisan election is May 24, with early voting starting May 2.

Senior, who was elected in 2012, said she wants a second term to continue the progress that the district has made under the leadership of Superintendent David Lewis.

“I’m running again because I want to ensure the vision is completed that the superintendent has,” she said. “His vision is to increase our graduation rate and to ensure our children have a quality education … that maximizes their individual potential after they graduate.”

Senior cited a list of accomplishments that the district has achieved since her election to office. The list included updating the math and reading curriculum for elementary schools district-wide, improving the graduation rate by 3.8 percent, launching the Catapult Academy program for dropout students, expanding dual enrollment opportunities for high school students, increasing the number of full-time assistant principals and increasing the number of minority contractors and sub-contractors for the SPLOST projects.

Jackson, a first-time political candidate, believes the school board has been ineffective and would like an opportunity to turn things around.

“The department of education has placed 20 percent of the public schools in Muscogee County on the perpetual failing list,” she said. “Nine of them are elementary schools and that is not acceptable.”

If elected to office, Jackson said she would assess how failing schools are staffed and make sure that they have certified teachers.

“I want to see something in place that really targets elementary schools,” she said. “I want to put emphasis on K-3rd grade … because we know that if you’re not reading by third grade you have like an 11 percent chance of graduating, and if a person doesn’t graduate, they have a 75 percent chance of ending up on public assistance, or and, in prison. And that’s just not acceptable.”

Jackson said the current board has failed to make children a priority, and that’s something she hopes to change.

“I think we need to just put our kids first,” she said. “Somebody just needs to be the voice for the kids.”

This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 8:27 PM with the headline "School board: District 3 candidates debate rate of progress the past four years."