Education should not be allowed to crumble
Area schools will soon be without the services of two long-time educators with the retirements of Warren County High School principal George Bolding and Motlow College president A. Frank Glass.
Bolding is retiring at the end of this school year after 32 years in the Warren County system. With graduation ceremonies scheduled this Friday, Bolding will work until June 30 to help ease the transition for new principal James Bennett.
Bolding will be missed. Whether it was teaching social studies and coaching basketball at Irving College in the early 1970s, or serving as principal at Eastside after that, Bolding has handled a variety of duties during his years in education. One of the most pressing chores was maintaining order at a high school with close to 2,000 students.
As for Glass, he has distinguished himself during a 40-year career in education that placed him at the helm of Motlow College since 1987. During that time, student enrollment has grown 65 percent.
Making the largest impact, as far as local students, is the fact Glass paved the way for Motlow College expansion. Motlow opened its McMinnville Center in 1988, making the first two years of college available to students without driving out of town.
Like Bolding, Glass was influential – a man with great leadership ability. And it’s probably by coincidence both men are retiring at a time when Tennessee is at a crossroads when it comes to K-12 and higher education.
The state’s financial turmoil has been well publicized and no clear solution appears in sight. An income tax is favored by some, hated by others. Raising the sales tax, or eliminating sales tax exemptions, has been another idea. Greatly reducing government services is also an option.
But the majority, at least locally, appear united in the fact we should not allow our school systems to crumble. The Standard believes it would be doing a great injustice to our children – our leaders of tomorrow – to slash funding for K-12 education. It’s also not in the state’s best interest to raise the cost of college tuition, which would only prevent some students from furthering their education.
Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor Dr. Charles Manning was in Warren County last week and he hammered home exactly that same message. Manning emphasized Tennessee is already 49th in the nation in the number of college graduates in our population. Manning blamed much of that on the fact higher education isn’t abundantly funded, resulting in college costs that can be eye-raising – even at “cheap” state schools.
Manning also pointed out higher education was 18 percent of the state budget in 1986, but was proposed to be only 13 percent of the budget for this coming year. This is certainly not the right direction to be heading.
As Mr. Bolding and Mr. Glass prepare to retire and leave the education system, we can say their presence and influence will be missed.
But their departure pales in comparison to what Tennessee schools could soon be losing – vital funding.
If we want better lives for our children and better-paying jobs for this state, it all starts with education. That’s one thing we can’t allow to slip away.