Better Schools, Brighter Futures: Literacy special edition

Reading is the gateway to every other subject and to opportunity in life. Yet in Bibb County, only about one in five elementary students can read on grade level. Yes, you read that correctly – according to the Macon Newsroom, roughly 18% of our kids are proficient in reading by elementary school. This is a crisis that affects all of us, from our classrooms to our community’s future workforce. But there is a solution on the table, one that needs our voices and support.

Tomorrow June 10th and next week on Tuesday June 17th, the Bibb County Board of Education will hold public budget hearings to decide how to fund our schools. One option (“Option A”) includes a critical investment: hiring an English Language Arts (ELA) Coordinator for our district’s elementary schools. This might sound like bureaucratic jargon, but it could make a world of difference for our students.

What is an ELA Coordinator, and why do we need one? Think of this person as a literacy champion for our school district, someone whose sole job is to get all our kids reading on grade level. They would ensure teachers have the best training in phonics and reading instruction, coach teachers in the classroom, choose effective reading programs, and use data to help struggling readers. In short, an ELA coordinator provides leadership and focus so that all the moving parts of teaching reading work together for our kids.

Right now, Bibb County does not have anyone in this role. And it shows. While our teachers and principals work hard, they are stretched thin. We have introduced new “science of reading” training (which emphasizes phonics, a positive step), but without a dedicated expert to guide implementation, it hasn’t yielded big gains yet. Many other Georgia districts do have literacy coordinators or similar specialists, and they are seeing better outcomes. For example, according to the Muscogee Muckraker, in Muscogee County (Columbus), about 37% of students read proficiently, which is still low, but double our rate, and they credit some of that improvement to a strong literacy team that supports teachers. Atlanta Public Schools, which also serves many disadvantaged students, recently posted rising reading scores after placing a huge emphasis on phonics-based instruction led by district literacy coaches. We want Bibb to be the next success story on that list.!

Let’s be clear: this isn’t about blaming anyone, parents, teachers, or students. It’s about giving our schools the tools and leadership they need to help children succeed. Reading is a complex skill to teach, but decades of research have shown what works. Our district has already started moving in the right direction by training teachers in proven methods. Now we need to take the next step and put an expert at the helm to coordinate these efforts. An ELA coordinator will focus day in and day out on one question: “How do we get all Bibb County kids reading on grade level?”

The coordinator can also better tap into resources we already have. For instance, Georgia’s Early Intervention Program provides extra help to K-5 students who struggle in reading. With proper coordination, those interventions can be tailored and monitored so that kids truly catch up rather than fall further behind. We also have wonderful community volunteers and programs (like Read United and others) working to tutor young readers. A district literacy lead can partner with these groups to maximize their impact where the need is greatest.

What happens if we do nothing? If we accept the status quo, 80% of our children not reading well, we are accepting a dimmer future for Bibb County. Low literacy leads to higher dropout rates, and later on, it’s linked to higher unemployment and even incarceration. That’s not the future we want. Every child who learns to love reading is a child who can self-educate, who can qualify for better jobs or college, who can break cycles of poverty. We can turn our literacy crisis around, but it requires intentional change.

The good news is the Board of Education can reconsider a plan to fund real change. Option A of the budget would allocate funds for an ELA coordinator. It’s an investment in an expert who will ensure every dollar we spend on books, curriculum, and training actually translates into results in the classroom. This role is not some administrative luxury, it’s a missing piece in our district’s strategy. If we fill it, we join the ranks of proactive districts nationwide that are doubling down on early literacy.

Now it’s up to us as citizens and parents to voice our support. I encourage everyone who cares about education in Macon-Bibb to attend the public budget hearings on June 10 and June 17. The hearings start at 5PM at Professional Learning Center 2003 Riverside Drive, next door to Red Lobster. If you want to speak come at least 15 minutes early to signup. When you attend, you don’t have to be an expert on education policy. Just speak from the heart. You might say, “I’m here to support any measure that will improve our children’s reading. Please fund the ELA coordinator position, our kids need that help.” Our school board members are our neighbors; they listen to what the community values.

If you cannot attend in person, consider emailing or calling your Board representative to express support for Option A’s literacy funding. Let’s flood them with encouragement to be bold for our kids.

In a time when budgets are tight, it’s important to prioritize. We believe literacy must be at the top of that priority list. Reading is fundamental; it is the foundation upon which all other learning is built. By funding an ELA coordinator and related literacy efforts, Bibb County will be saying loud and clear: we will not accept failing our kids in reading. We’re choosing to invest in success.

Imagine a few years from now, third grade classrooms where virtually every child is reading confidently, libraries bustling with eager young readers, our test scores climbing, and eventually, high school graduation rates rising because those students got the support they needed back in elementary school. This can be our reality if we take the right steps now.

Our local officials need our backing to make this happen. Let’s show up for the children of Macon-Bibb. Please join us at the budget hearings on June 10 and 17 and voice your support for Option A – the option that invests in an ELA coordinator and in our children’s future.

Together, we can turn the page on our literacy crisis and write a new chapter of success for Bibb County’s kids. Every child in our community deserves the chance to say proudly, “I love reading!” and to carry that gift for a lifetime. Let’s make it happen.

Public Hearings:

June 10th - 5PM
June 17th - 5PM

(Next to the Red Lobster)
Professional Learning Center
2003 Riverside Drive
Macon, GA 31204