The Tri-County Journal
& Chattahoochee Chronicle
PO Box 850,
71 Webb Lane
Buena Vista, GA 31803
229-649-6397
tjournal@windstream.net

At some point in life everyone has probably found himself or herself stuck between two friends who didn’t see eye-to-eye. In such cases, the safest course of action is probably to avoid both of them until they patch things up, but that’s not very practical and when you get right down to it, it’s not being much of a friend to either of them anyway. Knowing exactly what to do can be difficult at best.

I recently found myself, as an editor, in a similar situation, as I was sort of stuck between two groups of people I admire – parents who are concerned about their children obtaining a quality education, and the dedicated people who strive to provide that education.

A Grand Jury Committee made some observations and recommendations dealing with Chattahoochee County High School that caused no small amount of concern for many parents. I took no joy in preparing the Grand Jury Presentments for publication in the newspaper, but it was simply the only thing I could do, as well as being the right thing to do.

Afterwards, I received a number of letters to the editor from concerned parents, as well as a letter from a member of the School Board.
I printed two of the parents’ letters and the letter from the school official. I am sure some (probably all) of the parents whose letters were not printed feel like I was not fair to them. I also am sure that some members of the school system feel I should not have printed the parents’ letters that I did publish.

I believe letters to the editor are an important part of the newspaper, because it is a way to give a voice to the public. For that voice to be the legitimate ‘voice of the people’ the editor should be willing to print letters even when they include comments that the editor doesn’t necessarily agree with. Otherwise the Letters to the Editor section would be a sham – merely a way for the editor to voice his own opinion in a way that makes it look like it’s the opinion of the public at large.

I have had the good fortune of knowing many people who are a part of the school system, including School Board members, and I personally believed that they would take all appropriate actions to address the concerns of the Grand Jury. However, I did not believe I should tell concerned parents that they should just “trust me” that there was no need to voice their opinions in letters to the editor.

I especially understand the parents who are also soldiers (or spouses of soldiers) stationed at Fort Benning. They are making sacrifices that include relocating their families to wherever their country deems they should be, and sending their children to whatever public schools the country says they should attend. Asking to have a voice in the local newspaper seems to be a reasonable request.

My hope as an editor is that I struck a good balance by printing a couple of the letters, while not going overboard and filling up an entire page with them.

My hope as an area resident is that while there were legitimate concerns, the soldiers who send their children to the Chattahoochee County School System will come to believe, as I do, that their children are fortunate to be a part of a good school system in a supportive community. Go Army & Go Panthers! If I had to be stuck between two groups, those are at least two good ones!