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Two-year colleges needed to help train, maintain a skilled workforce Wadley, Alabama is hardly considered a "destination" community. In the last census only 640 people called this little town on the banks of the Tallapoosa River in the southwest corner of Randolph County home. But last Tuesday, mamas and daddies and husbands and wives from all over east Alabama made Wadley their destination as they came to be a part of the graduation ceremony at Southern Union State Community College. Lately Alabama's two-year college system has made the news frequently- for all the wrong reasons. But Tuesday was a far more fair representation of this system than recent headlines because nearly 200 students, both young and not so young, marched in their caps and gowns and picked up degrees and certificates. They had completed studies in child development, computer science, engineering graphics, electronics technology, automotive technology, industrial maintenance technology, radiography, surgical operating room technology, nursing and much more. President Susan Salatto bragged on the college in her remarks. She had every right to. Last year the Surgical Technology program was the No. 1 program in the nation. The school has an outstanding nursing program as evidenced by the fact that they awarded 100 associate nursing degrees on May 8. As I watched the proceedings, I knew I was seeing higher education at the grassroots. The same way you see it when you go to Evergreen or Rainsville or Fayette. This is not about mother and father buying their daughter a condo and a SUV and shuttling her off to join a sorority. This is about someone who lost their job in a textile mill and is trying to set their life on a new course. Unfortunately, this is not the picture most Alabamians now have of the Alabama College System. Instead, we see a system rife with politics, financial mismanagement and cronyism. And all of it "governed" by what can only be seen as a dysfunctional board. How else can you label a body that has now seen four different people occupy the chancellor's office in the last 12 months? There are eight elected members of the State Board of Education. (Governor Riley is the ninth.) They have oversight over the two-year system. They are where the buck stops. All the headlines of the past year have been written on their watch. All the accusations of misuse and mismanagement have been made on their watch. They may all be wonderful people filled with good intentions. But there is little to indicate that they work well together or ask the right questions or pursue the right topics with vigor. Instead, some are too shrill. There is too much "us" and "them" and not enough "we." The most honorable thing each of them could do is to resign. The Governor has now come forth with another chancellor, State Senator Bradley Byrne, a former member of the State Board of Education himself. Let's hope this one works out better than the governor's last selection, Dr. Tom Corts, the retired president of Samford University. Though a person of great integrity, he was from the wrong side of the higher education tracks. Just how much was apparent Tuesday when a bluegrass band warmed up the crowd before the Southern Union ceremony. It's highly unlikely that a bluegrass band has ever played at a Samford University commencement. Alabama continues to make great strides economically. But with each step and the increasing demand for a better-trained and higher-skilled workforce, the need for our "grassroots" education system becomes greater. Hopefully Bradley Byrne is the right person to lead an organization with more employees than Alabama Power Company. Hopefully his experience as both an attorney and a member of the legislature will serve all of us well. And hopefully soon, the fine men and women who taught and nurtured those who graduated in Wadley last Tuesday, will again feel proud of those who guide them in Montgomery.
Larry Lee is a rural community development consultant in Opelika. larrylee33@charter.net
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