May 28, 2016 2 min read

“Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,” said the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954.

Economically, Greene County ranks among the lowest 4 percent in the commonwealth. Yet, with a population of less than 40,000 residents, our public education program is basically made up of five separate, autonomous, inherently unequal school districts.

However, we do have one highly successful consolidated and centrally-located offshoot that serves all the school districts – the Greene County Career and Technology Center (GCCTC).

News articles regularly appear in the Observer-Reporter regarding student achievement in all of our schools. The most glowing, it seems to me, are the articles reporting the successes of the GCCTC students. For example, the May 8 edition of the newspaper contained a half-page report about the remarkable achievements of culinary arts student Richard Sager. Among those achievements is his being selected for a trip to Germany through the Congress Bundestag Vocational Exchange Program.

Sixty-five years ago, I was at the point where Sager is today. Back then, vocational classes were part of each school’s curriculum. The sad thing is, except for the GCCTC, the county education program is virtually unchanged since then.

The time is long overdue to lift the yoke of “divide and rule” off our school systems in order to make sure each of our students has access to the best education Greene County has to offer. After all, isn’t that the American way?

Paul Lagojda

Cumberland Township