In order to “leave no child behind” academically, it is essential that the vast majority of a struggling region’s adults be given an achievement boost too. That’s just one reason that this week’s news about Newberry County leading the state in success rates for first-time GED test takers is encouraging. Seventy-nine percent of Newberry County’s GED test takers pass it on the first try. That is a breathtakingly good result, and proves our residents’ good aptitude and attitude toward success when tested.

Lieutenant Governor André Bauer made his points very badly when he was talking to the group in Fountain Inn (and subsequently the nation, due to the nature of his statements) in late January about the current state of South Carolina’s welfare situation, and the people who use those services. However, if there was a nugget of value in those statements, it was this, that just propping people up is not a long-term solution. Helping South Carolinians to move forward and to aspire, that is where real change and hope live.

America to South Carolina to Newberry — our community, large and small, is changing its working profile from one of agriculture and industry to that of highly-skilled labor, or service jobs. Agricultural and industrial jobs still exist, but they are fewer and farther between and none of us need a multiple-choice question to decide where we want to fall in the selection between “highly-skilled” and “service industry.” No, the question for most American workers is not “Do we want to be highly-skilled?” but one of “How do we become highly-skilled?”

South Carolina set ambitious goals for its schoolchildren more than 10 years ago, recognizing the changing times. Those goals have not always been easy, or even medium to difficult, to meet. One of the things that has been a hurdle to success was our lack of academic ambition in the past. Students come to school and learn, and return home to a very thin support structure when it comes to academic achievement. As a group, South Carolina’s adults are not highly-skilled or educated and do not have robust resources to drawn on to support student achievement. How many adults have a hard time helping schoolchildren in their household with homework, coaching them in a research project or quizzing them for a test? Even if that adult is able to provide that sort of backup learning at home, how many are working multiple jobs or odd hours to pay the bills and cannot physically be present to do these things?

These are large hurdles that South Carolina faces to success — both the success of its schoolchildren and that of its workers. One of the best first steps to leaping this hurdle is furthering your education as an adult. And thankfully for Newberry County, it has an excellent Adult Education/GED program working to help boost its adults over that hurdle.