Natchez-Adams Schools Superintendent Anthony Morris understands how important his schools are to the entire community.

That’s why, he said, the school district reached out to parents and community members Thursday with a luncheon to explain the new federal No Child Left Behind Act, a complex series of laws designed to improve educational accountability.

Among the new mandates are instituting a parental involvement policy and hiring &uot;highly qualified teachers&uot; based on certain criteria for different grades.

Thursday’s luncheon was mainly designed to instruct parents about No Child Left Behind, but members of the community should be interested as well.

We have just as much stake as anyone in what happens at our public schools &045;&045; not only because our tax dollars support them but also because they hold such an important place in our community’s economic and social future.