By Patricia Morris
Before you know it, the Fall Election(s) will be upon us. As various candidates begin to qualify, we trust the momentum that is building in the mindset of citizens across Tangipahoa Parish in continuing to realize positive change must happen; as transparency continues to come to full fruition, the main focus will be on getting elected officials in place who will do what is right for the sake of all of our children in seeing to it the best that can be offered to all students is given to them.
Many things are beginning to happen, and certainly those things are finally getting the attention of all needed to make this change together. As I watched the latest interviews on Actionnews17 done from Livingston Parish this morning, the most important focus was on education, and what is offered to students in our neighboring parishes in seeing to it all students get what is needed, and the best is offered to them. School systems who offer a good, solid education is paramount. Big business want to know they can locate to an area with an educated workforce, and with schools that will offer the employees who will relocate with the company good schools that will continue to prepare their children in what the children are accustomed to receiving educationally. Who could blame them?
Tangipahoa Parish sits at the hub of what could be one of the most progressive and prosperous parishes in Louisiana. As I watched and listened to the interviews done in Livingston Parish, I could not help but wonder what life would be like in Tangipahoa Parish if edcation was the focus, as opposed to personalities and conjecture, and how many white collar jobs would locate to Tangipahoa Parish if our schools were what they needed to be. God has blessed this parish to have all that is needed to bring industry, as well as corporate jobs to this part of our world, however, we continue to allow a few people to dictate what will and will not happen in the school system, thus, a hinderance continues to be shown in a failing school system.
As the NAACP continues to get a phone call from an out-ot-state attorney each Saturday questioning, "How are things going?" because corporate and industrial jobs want to locate to this parish, we must answer, our schools continue to fail. Just maybe, when this next school board election is over, and when new school board members are elected who will say as we have contended since 2004, let's settle this deseg matter and move on, then will those businesses who truly want to locate to Tangipahoa Parish will come, and we will begin to see positive change happen, not only in the lives of our children, but in our communities as well.
As the caption reads, "One Parish, Once Voice, One Dream," it is believed the importance of coming together for a common cause in saving a generation of children will finally come to full fruition.
Simply stated, we can do this, "Yes We Can."