Q&A with Bob Roth, seeking election to Muscogee County School Board
Editor’s note: This is one of the Ledger-Enquirer Q&As with candidates running for a contested seat on the Muscogee County School District Board. Early voting for the 2026 local nonpartisan election, which coincides with the Georgia primary, begins April 27, and election day is May 19.
The contest for the District 6 seat on the nine-member Muscogee County School District Board is between 16-year incumbent Mark Cantrell and challenger Bob Roth.
Here is the Ledger-Enquirer’s emailed interview with Roth:
Why are you running for a seat on the MCSD Board?
“I always wanted to serve the people in my community. After retiring from the Army, I looked for ways to serve. I volunteered with local organizations and my church in south Columbus but still thought I had more to offer. My wife was a teacher for over 30 years, and I witnessed the many battles she fought every day in order to provide the best learning environment for her students. After she retired, I decided it was time to use my leadership and management skills to try and make a difference with the education system in Muscogee County.”
Why should District 6 residents vote for you?
“Great question. First of all, I work hard, and I dive into the details of complex problems. Second, I believe if you want to make a difference, it starts with our children and education. Finally, people should vote for me because I represent the teachers, the parents and the students. For me, this is the pyramid of success for creating a learning environment in the classroom that allows all children to grow. Each part of the pyramid has a responsibility to play. When one part of this pyramid fails, the learning environment is affected and not in a good way. When I look at the scores our students are posting in Muscogee County, and I hear the numerous stories from parents and teachers, it makes me sad. We can do better! We can do much better! But it’s not going to be easy.”
What is the most significant issue you want to advocate for, and what will be your solution if elected?
“Standards. Standards of conduct for the student, standards for the teacher, standards for the parent(s) and standards for the school board staff. Look, building a learning environment that enables a child to learn and grow is not easy. And I certainly recognize everyone is doing the best they can. But our solutions to the problem seem to be one-sided.
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“The pressure we put on teachers is out of balance. No one talks about the parents’ responsibilities. No one discusses the low attendance numbers of our students. And no one talks about how we have significantly grown the Muscogee County staff and the constant pressure the staff applies to the school and to teachers. The staff should be there to assist the teacher, but we are far from that. The motto in the county is do more with less, and time being the most critical shortfall of all.”
What is your occupational and educational background?
“Well, for my personal education. I have a bachelor’s degree in international relations. I have two graduate degrees. One in business administration and the other in U.S. joint strategic planning. I am working on an EdD in educational leadership and have completed most of my coursework. I am holding off on doing my dissertation until I retire-retire. Currently, I work for the U.S. Army on Fort Benning, leading an organization that works on future U.S. Army organizational designs and capabilities. Previously, I served over 26 years in the U.S. Army and led Army formations from platoon to brigade. At each level, I trained our young soldiers and leaders on war-fighting skills that enabled them to fight our country’s wars. I served in educational positions at Fort Irwin, CA, and Fort Knox, KY, teaching tactical operations and developing curriculum for soldiers and leaders alike. After the military, I worked for a learning technology company for 10 years. We provided online training for military service members across the country. I decided to depart industry and return to government service work, which is where I am today. In my personal life, I coached many sports teams as well as having raised four kids with my wife. I have been married for over 42 years, and my wife has been an elementary school teacher for 30 of those years. Needless to say, education was a primary theme in our home, and it continues to be to this day.”
What is your community involvement and history of leadership roles?
“Well, I touched on this a little bit with the last question. As an Army officer, I spent over 72 months in command positions, directly responsible for the training, mentoring and coaching of young leaders and soldiers. In two of these command positions, I deployed with my unit to combat tours in the Middle East. In my personal life, I managed several youth soccer teams. One was for a soccer club in northern Virginia, and the other was for a soccer club at a military garrison in South Korea. I have been a member of my church’s finance committee for almost seven years, and I was the president of our homeowners’ association for four years.”
What else should the Ledger-Enquirer’s readers know about you and your campaign?
“Well, I don’t expect to win. Not because I won’t try to win, no. It will be a result of my honest dialogue with the people within the county. Look, there are a lot of problems in Muscogee County. Yet everyone wants to walk around and act like today’s student scores are OK, but we all can see they are not good. However, we announce to everyone that our high school graduation rates are the highest they have ever been. Does that make sense? No. That’s because we are not being honest with ourselves. The reality is, student performance and high school graduation requirements don’t correlate. A student can fail to meet grade level standards but still graduate high school. That’s crazy. Students at Columbus HS or Brit David Elementary are on grade level and graduating high school, so we know children in the county are doing the work and graduating. But that’s not what’s happening in the rest of the county. We are accepting poor performance in most measurable categories and saying, ‘Well, that’s OK. You can graduate and go figure life out for yourself. Good luck!’ That is unacceptable to me, and I have a plan to make things better.”
This story was originally published April 6, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
