To the editor: The Chamber of Commerce with the support of Newton County and the city of Covington has made a lot of progress to bring manufacturing jobs to Newton County. It takes a community effort to show Newton County as a place to work, shop and raise a family.

It is disturbing to see an Associated Press report on the 11 Alive website titled "The 78 worst schools in Georgia" and that the Challenge Charter Academy that the Newton County Board of Education runs is on that list.

It disturbs me that our children are not getting the education they need to be prepared to enter life. Also it becomes an economic issue when failing schools hurt the Chamber when it is looking to bring new jobs to the county. Our property values are hurting because no one wants to buy a house where the school system has a bad reputation.

It is time for the board of education to close this failed experiment. It is also time we all come together and make sure that our county's most precious resource (our children) is first.
Thank you,

Mark G Harrah
Covington