Well, it's official! Clayton County Schools will lose its accreditation as of September 1, 2008, which was announced on Thursday, August 28, 2008 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Clayton County Schools had failed to meet eight out of nine requirements to keep its accreditation status. Four Clayton County school board members who, earlier this year, had been blamed for the school system's accreditation problems, have been permanently removed from their positions, and thousands of students are now left to wonder what will become of their immediate futures, as many were on track to graduate from high school in June of 2009 and attend college later that year.

Coming from a family where there are currently three college graduates that I know of (myself included and two cousins), I find what happened in Clayton County to be a tragedy of epic proportions. I don't have children, but I'm just as angry as the parents of these children. Do you realize how hard life is or can be with no education or minimal education beyond high school? I have a two-year degree, which in today's slave labor market really isn't all that wonderful. There are people in Atlanta with a Bachelor's Degree that is having a difficult time finding employment in the very field that they attended college for. Therefore, many of them are often forced to take jobs that pays a considerably lower salary than what they would've made had they landed a job in the field that they attended college for.

Education is only part of a key to success. The other part of that key is parents instilling within their children the value of a good education.

Even if a child attends a horrible school system, he or she can still make it if his/her parents invest their time, effort, and energy into the education of that child. Even by encouraging a child to pick up a book and read, or encouraging a child to read one book per month, this alone with increase that child's reading scores.

There are students in Clayton County with a 3.0 to 5.0 grade point average and who would've gotten scholarships before graduation to attend some of the best colleges/universities in the United States whose immediate futures as far as graduating on time, and getting that athletic or academic scholarship when they expected to that are now in jeopardy. Some of these students have worked too hard to see their futures or dreams deferred. Some have worked too hard to be told that their school has lost its accreditation. Some have worked too hard for three years at one high school only to be forced into another school (in a different county) just to be able to graduate on time and with an accredited diploma.

Within a year from September 1, 2008, Clayton County Schools has a chance to regain its accreditation status if current school board members meet all nine of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools requirements, which were first reported in February of this year. It was four years ago when Clayton County Schools were first in danger of losing its accreditation. Obviously, mistakes within the school system and with its board members were never fully corrected, which eventually cost an entire school district. Not only have students been affected by this school system accreditation nightmare, but Clayton County residents and business owners have also paid the price for the errors, misjudgments, and lack of consideration for Clayton County students on the part of a few school board members.

Not all children can graduate from high school, and go straight into professional sports (as a player) or the entertainment industry (as an actor, singer, songwriter, musician or rapper). Therefore, college is really the only other option that most high school seniors across the country have (unless they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth). And even in this, most multi-millionaire families still require their children to attend college. Let's hope that within this year Clayton County Schools regain its accreditation status so that high school seniors (who still live in the school district) can graduate with an accredited diploma in June of 2009, and go on to do marvelous things in life.