So, how important is it that local third graders in both public school districts scored average or above in the recent third grade reading test?

Ninety-four percent of South Panola’s third graders passed. Superintendent Tim Wilder said those students “Exceeded all expectations with these results in my opinion,”

Veteran school board member Lygunnah Bean, who has served as president of the state school boards association and currently is serving on that organization’s board, said, “It’s (the third grade gateway reading test) one of the best laws ever passed.”

The law states that third graders reading below a certain level would not be allowed to advance to the next grade.

“It puts emphasis on an area where I think it’s needed and makes us do what we needed to do anyway,” Wilder stated at Tuesday night’s board meeting.

Skeptics think the bar was set too low and that many who passed the test will still need remediation.

Maybe so, but that’s not the point. The point is only 10 of 144 districts scored higher than South Panola and as Wilder said Tuesday, “Our district can compete with the best in the state.”

Those scores also prove teachers are teaching and students are learning in the  South Panola District.

Meanwhile in the North Panola District, scores ranged between 80 and 90 at the different schools with the district average of 85 percent passing the third grade gateway test. That’s quite an accomplishment considering that district has just recently come from under years of conservatorship and unlike South Panola, there are no pre-kindergarten classes.

Great schools are a key element for having a thriving community. For too long our county’s schools have been rated either poor, borderline or average.

It appears we are heading in the right direction.