With comments about a domed stadium, urban revitalization and other things, concern about our local educational system is rampant and dominating everything else, especially after word that the state wants the ctiy’s board of education to shut down 20 schools. There will be many that ask whether or not the closings need to happen, pointing to the same heartstrings that seem to control a great deal of the decision making that occurs in our region. There are those that do not want to see things to change; they like the way that things were. Unfortunately, we will only see the Birmingham that we want to exist if we allow ourselves to let go of certain “rules,” including those that keep us pining for the past while preventing us from reaching out for a new standard.

There are many that question whether or not Mayor Langford’s plans for a laptop in every school-age child is a good one. They say that there are more pressing issues that should be solved. It is an idea, and if nothing else it is something that will force the conversation about what needs to be done with not just our school system, but several suffering systems throughout the country, into the limelight (which is where it truly needs to be). It seems to be doing the job right now.

The focus of the forums, blogs and websites in recent weeks is the idea that a program for that was aimed at third-world countries will be tried in Birmingham. If we cannot help our own children, it makes us look just a little hypocritical to want to help others while turning a blind eye to our own problems.

The bigger issue is that the topic of education is one that people love to point to as one of great concern, but very few are willing to really make very hard decisions about what needs to be done for the good of the children and the city. The issue definitely ranked high among young professionals in our poll from earlier this month. A solution that many have looked to often is running to the next town over, not realizing that the problems will eventually follow them, if not in a different form. An overcrowded school is just as detrimental to a child’s educational future as a school that is not adequately funded. The problem continues to be one of our own making.

While Birmingham’ declining population has led to the need for these schools to be closed down, that does not mean that we need to lose the schools. If we can’t afford to run them and provide a quality education for our children, then we need can always reduce the financial strain by closing them and focusing on larger student populations with excellent resources. The closings may also allow us to renovate those “closed” schools during this period preparing them for a return to use later on, though on a much slower schedule than would have been necessary before.

The eternal optimist in me believes that if we’re successful in doing what needs to be done with those schools that are left open after this round of closings, that we’ll need to re-open those other schools. The immediate desire to sell them off or tear them down for new development opportunities will remove the ease at which the problem that we all want to see occur, an overcrowding problem, can and would be easily solved in the coming years in Birmingham than how it must be addressed with each shovel that must be turned in the ground of our surrounding neighbors.

The issue of laptop distribution is one that I think may serve a greater good. If all of the students have access to a laptop, they have a key to knowledge that is undoubtedly beneficial to our city and region. They may be willing to share ideas with each other and, with proper supervision, with others outside of our immediate area.  It’s also something that’s a bit selfish as the more people with access to a laptop, the more that become more comfortable with the notion of sharing information online and eventually carrying that conversation into action through Jones Valley and over the mountain. It’s a long term benefit to a long term solution to a long term problem.

What are your thoughts about the future of education in our region and what can be done to help it improve? Do you believe in the plan proposed by Mayor Langford?

André Natta is the publisher and managing editor of The Terminal. To submit letters in response to this commentary or to contact for general information, use any of the methods listed on our contact page.