Man works to erase school disparity

Bill Lockett is a man driven by an unwavering obligation to make life around him better.

From his experiences growing up in 1950s segregation, his dedication is evidenced by his continued service to the community.

As a child, a tragedy uprooted him from his small home in rural Texas. He was 4 or 5 when his father, who drove a logging truck, was involved in an accident, which killed several people. Mr. Lockett's father was taken to Houston, about a hundred miles away for medical treatment. The family soon followed and relocated there.

"If it hadn't been for that accident, we would have spent our whole life in the country," Mr. Lockett, now 69 and living in Augusta, said. "I see it as God allowed that to happen."

In Houston he attended a segregated school where every student, educator and staff member was black and children used hand-me-down textbooks. But just a few years before, Barbara Jordan, who would become a U.S. congresswoman, had walked those same hallways.

"Even back then, we were encouraged to do the best that we can," Mr. Lockett said. "We were just a poor family in Houston living in a shotgun house."

More than 50 years later, he finds himself still encountering disparities between schools.

Mr. Lockett serves as president of a special oversight committee that oversees the school board's spending of sales tax revenue for non-building projects.

"Everywhere he's been I think he's trying to do an outstanding job," said school board Vice President Joe Scott, who nominated him for the position. "I think he's a right down the line kind of guy. I think he's a person who calls it as he sees it."

In his capacity on the committee, Mr. Lockett said he wants to end the technology disparity between schools and distribute tax dollars in the most equitable fashion.

Education is as deep-seated in him as his service to his community and his country. His family's strict upbringing ensured he and his five younger siblings each graduated from college.

Mr. Lockett's youngest son, Aashir Nasim, recalled how, without his knowledge, his father asked his high school teachers to make classes tougher on him.

"Every college I applied to senior year I got in and this was the result of this," Dr. Nasim, now a college professor in Virginia, said. "No matter where we go in the city, there are always students coming up to thank him."

Mr. Lockett's family also instilled a sense of patriotism in him. When he graduated high school unsure of a career path, he enlisted in the Marine Corps.

"I was supposed to be on active duty for two years, but I enjoyed it so much I stayed five years," Mr. Lockett said.

Assigned to service at an embassy, he learned that people can look beyond the color of a person's skin. Once Americans are overseas, they stick together.

"I was in a place where 95 percent of Americans had never heard of at that time," he said of Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1959, where he learned to enjoy country-western music, the only American music available there. "The number of black people in the country I could count on one hand."

After his time in the Marines, he continued his military service, entering the Army as a private in 1962 and retiring as a master sergeant in 1978.

He didn't rest long and soon became an investigator for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Federal Investigative Services Division, performing background checks on people applying for sensitive government positions, such as at the Savannah River Site.

But Mr. Lockett said he became bored. Also, the travel kept him away from his family.

In 1995, he followed his wife's lead and became a teacher, working at Butler High School until 2005. But the longer he taught, the more he found students refused to learn.

"You can't just liquefy learning and pour it on them. They'll refuse it," Mr. Lockett said.

Although he has retired a third time, he hasn't stepped far away from education. He has been the district director of the Georgia Association of Educators and the legislative chair of the Richmond County Association of Educators.

Mr. Lockett said he wants things to get better. Anyone who is physically able to should contribute to the community, he said.

While others are leaving Augusta, Dr. Nasim said his father refuses to budge. His father hurts when he sees people not seizing opportunities and does all he can to improve his community.

"He's always done public service types of things, but now it seems like his call," Dr. Nasim said.

Mr. Lockett also serves on the Augusta Board of Tax Assessors.

"I guess it's because I like people. I try to bring out the best of everyone," Mr. Lockett said of what keeps him going.

Reach Greg Gelpi at (706) 828-3851 or greg.gelpi@augustachronicle.com.