Being a good Southerner, admitting that I could learn anything from a Northerner can be a bit difficult at times.

Perhaps the fact that they choose to live in cold, often snowy climates causes me to discount their general common sense. But today I can admit I’ve learned much from a man I never met. In fact, he died when my own grandfather was just 8 years old.

Clarence Herbert Woolston isn’t a household name, but I’d wager $20, if my preacher wouldn’t be upset with me for gambling, that you know Mr. Woolston’s work.

You see he wrote a simple song that many of us memorized before we could ride a bicycle without training wheels.
Jesus loves the little children,

All the children of the world.

Red and yellow, black and white,

They are precious in His sight.

Jesus loves the little children of the world.
That song popped into my head this week, springing back from many, many vacation Bible schools from years’ past.

You see I’m the product of two good Christian parents and three good Christian grandparents (my paternal grandfather was dead long before I was born).

I’m also the product of a public school education. Growing up, I didn’t really know much more existed in terms of school choice — except for a few Catholic friends I knew who went to parochial schools.

The simple “Jesus Loves the Little Children” song popped in my head this week not at church or even when I was with my own children.

Instead it came to me when thinking about, of all things, taxes.

Many people in our community think the word “tax” has four letters.

And I’m among the first to get flaming mad when I see government spending run amok.

But I also know taxes pay for good and useful things, too. Things such as police and fire protection and public schools.

In the coming months our community will be asked to support a building plan for the Natchez-Adams School District. The plan — which is, in some ways, still being forged through public comment and feedback — calls for rebuilding or renovating aged school buildings in the public school district.

Working at the newspaper off and on since 1993, I’ve been in and out of every school building at one time or another, and they’re all woefully outdated. They were so in the 1990s and to my knowledge, aside from basic upkeep and maintenance work, they still are.

The public schools in Natchez-Adams County are easy to pick on because they’ve been poorly performing for many, many years.

Once among the top in the state, the Natchez-Adams District is now much closer to the bottom than the top of the list of academic achievers.

Unfortunately, that gives ammunition to the opponents of building new school buildings.

Their argument is: Why should we invest in a nearly failing system?

On the surface, their argument makes a little sense. Most folks would not keep plowing money into an old car that proved to be a lemon. Instead, they’d simply trade cars.

But schools aren’t cars, and we cannot trade up. We must build up from the most basic, even failing level if we ever want the district to regain its dominance.

Public schools are not optional for us. If Natchez-Adams County ever hopes to become a booming area of the state economically, we must have top-notch schools.

This will not happen overnight. It’s much like trying to turn a barge 180-degrees in the middle of the Mississippi River. It will take skill, patience and time.

But mostly for the school district’s sake, turning things around will take community support.

Will providing the district with new and renovated school buildings fix the district’s woes? Certainly not, but the new buildings could be a move to show community support and create an atmosphere of excellence again.

Using the car analogy again, would you feel better driving around in a beat-up, decades old jalopy or would you feel better in a new, modern, safe car? That’s the difference between existing school buildings and a construction and renovation plan.

If you love Natchez’s children — as the song goes — and want our community to succeed, you must support a plan to build new schools.
Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.