BY ROBERT MCFARLAND, JR.
Delta Business Journal

    "A lot of progress has been made in our public school system in the Delta during the past few years," says Dr. Cassie Pennington of Indianola who has 30 years of experience within the Delta educational system. "Young people today in the Delta are being exposed to a better educational system than ever before, however there is still a lot of progress to be made."
    Pennington is superintendent of the Indianola public school district and is a Board member of the Institutions of Higher Learning - a 12 member board that governs Mississippi's eight institutions of higher learning.  He has been involved with the Delta educational system for 30 years serving in many capacities. There are only a very few that know education in the Delta like Pennington does.  He is an overseer and protector of the system and still a student himself within the system living by the adages that it is never too late to learn and one never knows enough. Pennington's contribution to public education in the Delta as well as his community service to the Delta is well known. His service to education has been valuable to Mississippi. Although education in the Delta is improving, along with Pennington, others agree that in many ways the Delta is at the crossroads in education.
    "One of the main problems that we face today in education is the challenge of trying to recruit and maintain good teachers," says Pennington. "This is a major issue and I have to say that it is not just limited to the Delta, it's statewide and also nationwide problem. Our brightest and best young people today are not going into education as a career like they once did because there are so many other opportunities out there.  Twenty years ago, the brightest students and best went into education because we didn't have as much competition in terms of career opportunities. Young people today are exposed to so much and students are actually being recruited at a very early age into medicine, technology, law, and and a variety of other fields.  Education today has an abundance of competition. There are so many other things that young people can do now other than teach that pays more.  Students are recruited today in very much the same manner as star athletes are recruited."
    Pennington says that teacher pay raises will help recruit young people to the education field, however it will take time.
    "The big factor is that it will take time for us to see the dividends," says Pennington. "For example, the Teachers Shortage Act was passed which will encourage young people to enter the teaching profession.  If a young person enters this program, his college education will be paid for provided they teach in an under served area for a certain amount of time. But, it's going to take time for programs like this to be effective because today it takes five years for an individual to obtain a degree to become a teacher. So, it is going to be a while before we see the results of programs such as this. I think that the legislature and state has done some good things and made some positive steps toward improving our educational systems, but we must do more."
    Pennington's enthusiasm for education is contagious and many around him have caught what he has. In his view, education is the key to everything especially to the Delta's future.
    Born and raised in Hollandale, Pennington went to college at Jackson State University where he received his B.S. degree.      After college, Pennington entered the teaching profession by accepting a position in Crystal Springs where he taught social studies and coached basketball. One year later, Pennington was asked to come to Carver Elementary in Indianola and was transferred in 1969 to Indianola Junior High School teaching social studies, history and coaching the eight grade basketball team.
    "After teaching for eight years, the legislature passed a bill that organized a statewide program whereby every school district would have a drug education specialist that would work with drug abuse prevention and I took this position," says Pennington.
 At this same time, Pennington went back to school at Tennessee State in Nashville during the summers working on a master's degree that he received in 1973. In 1975, Pennington received his education specialist degree from Delta State University and in 1987 after commuting two nights a week for fours years to Starkville he received his doctorate from Mississippi State University.
    Pennington's career choice came from an older brother who had gone into education and encouraged Pennington to do the same.
    "During high school, my brother encouraged me to go to college and to think about going into the education field," says Pennington. "It was one of the best decisions that I have ever made and it has been a very rewarding career. I feel like I've done a lot of positives things in education."
     Education continues to be very important to the Pennington family. His daughter is a pediatrician in St. Petersburg, Florida.
    "I encouraged her to go into medicine because by being a doctor you can find a job and work practically anywhere in the world," says Pennington.
    In 1989, Pennington was appointed by Governor Ray Mabus to the Board of the Institutions of Higher Learning. It has been a position that Pennington has worked very hard in and of which he is very proud.
    "When asked about discipline problems in our Delta public school system and how this problem might be solved, he responds, "This has to be a top priority within our schools. We must have safe and orderly schools and this costs money in regard to additional personnel, equipment, and other things. People don't realize it, but you have to spend money to create safe and orderly schools. In the Indianola school district, this has been our top priority and we have done a good job with this. School business in general is very expensive and this is just one more expense besides the other expenses like maintaining and repairing buildings, utility bills, paying competitive salaries for an adequate staff, instructors, and everything else that goes along with operating a school. There's almost no end to how much money you really need in order to do a good job. What you need today and what you need tomorrow are never the same."
    For many years, education has been in the forefront as one of the Delta's major issues and Pennington will reiterate his stand time and again that the Delta's educational systems have improved dramatically from what it was just a few years and he cites examples of school districts around the Delta that were almost in ruins not long ago but have been restructured graduating students with honor grades. A long way to go and a long way the Delta has come.
    As for any advice he might have for our young people in the Delta, he says, "First and foremost, grow up to be a good citizen. Learn and follow and obey rules because you cannot live in society if you can't practice good citizenship. Secondly, get a good education and learn to use good common sense and go to church and become a good Christian."