Education candidate Ford touts parental involvement

Get parents, even grandparents, involved in their children's education, said Melvin Ford.

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Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff

Melvin Ford: Augusta city councilman says parental involvement is key for a child to succeed. He also touts reducing teen pregnancies.

The candidate for the Board of Education's District 2 seat said that would be his focus if elected.

"One of the main things is to get parents involved and to re-instill the value in education and to tell them education is not immediate gratification, it's a long-term investment," Ford said.

One of the biggest challenges resulting from a lack of parental involvement, the substitute teacher said, is teen pregnancy. Teens who become parents are less likely to graduate and more likely to drop out of school, he said.

"Teen pregnancy is rampant," Ford said. "What is the answer to that? To abstain from sex? Primarily yes, but we know that they're going to do these things, but ... we have to do something to stop this teen pregnancy."

Ford said eight years of Republican leadership in Atlanta has led to steep funding cuts for public schools, something he said he hopes will change. He added that more money doesn't automatically lead to a better education system.

"I sort of understand that they're doing something to make the budget the best that they can," said Ford, a former Augusta city councilman who also has run for Augusta Commission and state House of Representatives. "Hopefully, we can do something to circumvent furloughs, though. ... We look at the budget every year. It gets a little more, but money is not always the answer to education."