Hopefuls plan help for schools

Web posted October 17, 1998

By Faith Johnson
Staff Writer

Kingsley Riley, incumbent for the District 9 seat on the Richmond County Board of Education, says the district needs more motivated teachers.

Her challenger, Venus Cain, says teachers are using up their energy in overcrowded classrooms.

Mrs. Cain will try to unseat Mrs. Riley at the Nov. 3 election.

Mrs. Riley, 71, has served in the at-large seat since she retired from teaching in 1981.

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She says she was called by God to teach and called by teachers to run for the school board.

``They asked me to run for the school board because they said they needed someone to go out and speak for them,'' Mrs. Riley said of her peers.

Her goal, if re-elected, will be to help the district motivate its teachers.

``Teachers have to be motivators, not dictators,'' Mrs. Riley said, adding that teachers need to ask students a question: ``It goes back to (the biblical scripture) `do you want to be made whole?' -- do you want to learn?''

Mrs. Riley taught school for 30 years in Richmond and Columbia county schools. She spent the last 17 years of her career teaching language arts at Levi White Elementary School.

``I would like to help children understand that life is not fair,'' Mrs. Riley said. ``To help prepare them for change.''

Mrs. Riley moved to Augusta in 1949 from Southern Pines, N.C., at a time when blacks could only become teachers, preachers or nurses, she said.

If she had a different choice, she still would have chosen education, she said.

``I was called (by God) to be a teacher,'' Mrs. Riley said. ``I've been doing it all my life.''

Mrs. Cain, 42, said she would like to see classroom sizes decreased.

``Some classes are too large for children to get the individual attention they need,'' Mrs. Cain said. ``We have a lot of disruptive children in the system, and we're not identifying the children who need an extra push. We can't continue to put demands on teachers who have overcrowded classrooms.''

Mrs. Cain has lived in Richmond County for eight years. She was born in Los Angeles. She moved here because her husband was stationed at Fort Gordon. She, too, served in the U.S. Army and now works as a business supply clerk at Fort Gordon.

Mrs. Cain's two sons attend Richmond County schools and are part of the reason she's running.

``I want to make a difference,'' Mrs. Cain said. ``To be successful, we need more parental involvement.''

Mrs. Cain said she would work on the board to build cohesion on the board.

``I want to be the first person on the board to show that I genuinely care and am not arrogant,'' Mrs. Cain said, adding that some of the board members are arrogant. ``If I'm elected I will keep parents informed ahead of time on decisions made that affect their children, so whether or not they agree, they will understand.''

The winner of the at-large seat receives a $4,000 yearly salary. Voters in Districts 2, 3 and 6 also will choose trustees to fill those vacancies.

Faith Johnson covers education forThe Augusta Chronicle. She can be reached at (706) 823-3765 or faithj@augustachronicle.com.