Local control of schools has long been a hallmark of American education. That puts a lot of responsibility on local citizens to prepare their own children for the future. In the best cases, citizens make wise decisions with that future in mind; in the worst cases, they put little emphasis on education and provide little economic or moral support for it. With that in mind, it’s interesting to see how the Colquitt County system performs and how it rates relative to others.  

Most public school systems in Georgia attempt to develop their students both physically and academically. One aspect of physical development is student athletics, of which football is the leading example. According to MaxPreps, a football ranking website, the Colquitt County High School (CCHS) 2021 football team ranked in the upper 5% of all Georgia high schools. That ranking has been consistently high, a testament to the long-term quality of Colquitt County’s football coaching, its players, and its public support. 

In the arguably more important area of academic performance, rankings are done annually by organizations including U. S. News and World Report (USNWR). The USNWR survey puts a strong emphasis on things like the college readiness of high school seniors and their proficiency in math and reading. Those are important markers for whether or not high school seniors are ready for their next level of training, whether that be technical training or university education. Other data like graduation rates or performance of minority students are given less weight in the assessment. While each ranking component — there are six of them — can be argued about, the survey is done the same way for all schools; thus, it is one way to assess a school’s performance relative to others. 

According to the 2021 USNWR survey, CCHS ranked in the bottom half of Georgia public high schools (221 out of 472 schools).  Whether that is less than, the same as, or better than should be expected is an open question.

It is only fair to acknowledge that locality matters in the USNWR rankings. Performance rankings in Georgia were led by schools from the metropolitan Atlanta, Savanah, Augusta, and Macon areas where the population and economy provide not only a tax base but a source of skilled teachers and many parents with high expectations. CCHS is not in those areas; it is in a largely rural county immediately surrounded by six other largely rural counties. How does CCHS fare when compared to those counties’ schools? 

The two high schools in Thomas county and the one in Tift county scored significantly higher in the USNWR survey (the highest, Thomasville High, ranked 166 out of 472) and the schools of Mitchell, Worth, Brooks, and Cook scored significantly worse (the lowest, Mitchell County’s school was 328). CCHS was near the middle of that range. 

An important factor negatively affecting the CCHS ranking was that its seniors’ college readiness index was only 8% whereas top schools have readiness indexes over 90%. Further, only an approximate third of CCHS seniors met expected proficiency standards in math and reading. While the school claimed a 2021 graduation rate of nearly 90%, with those academic performances one has to wonder what graduation really means. That might be a question that has some high-expectation parents sending their children for schooling elsewhere.

In 2018, Colquitt County voters approved a $3.7 million indoor football practice facility. A $3.7 million boost for academic support has not been suggested, which some might think an inversion of priorities given the CCHS ranking and that the county’s future depends more on education than football.

Terry Turner, Ph.D., a Colquitt County native, is a veteran, author and professor emeritus of the University of Virginia.