Dear Editor,

At the College, Career Academy town hall meeting on Feb. 11, Troup County Commission Chairman Ricky Wolfe. said their goal was to assure students would graduate and get hired. I thought that was the goal and responsibility of the school system. I don’t believe school system’s 64 percent graduation rate can be cured by throwing more money at the problem – public or private and, id they don’t graduate they probably won’t get hired in our troubled and competitive economy.

As a former quality and training manager. I found the most common problem with job applicants getting and keeping a job, was the lack of basic reading, writing and math skills. Even those who do graduate don’t always have sufficient reading, writing and math skills to be able to read job requirements, specification sheets and to fill out their production records. The school system has failed them in rudimentary skills.

The point was also made that for this to work, they would need the participation of the parents. It seems to me if you want parental participation, you don’t close neighborhood schools and transport students half way across the country. Maybe the school system doesn’t want much participation.

I have always heard that an elephant is a mouse designed by a committee. I don’t think we need another committee-driven bureaucracy creating an elephant to get between the student and the teacher who is trying to teach the skills they will need. Obviously, there were qualified people from other areas nearby to fill those jobs for which our local people could not qualify. And, I can’t believe that they all attended a College, Career Academy charter school.

Mike Waller,

LaGrange