Schools of Decatur County go back into session Friday, and considering the story in today’s edition about hiring practices questioned and other questionable actions, you would think that the governing board of our educational system would be more preoccupied with more substantial matters.

Never mind that the school system had to absorb more than $4 million in funding cuts this past year.

Never mind that the school system didn’t make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) during the 2010-2011 school year, and that the high school and two middle schools didn’t receiving passing grades as judged by standardized testing.

Never mind that the school system is the county’s largest employer, with most of its personnel rather handsomely compensated according to state salary scales. And that the system must—must—hire the best and brightest to teacher our children.

Nope, like the shenanigans of Congress where personal points of privilege seem to be front and center instead of faded in the background, and the critical tasks of governing over critical matters are set aside, Board of Education members need to ‘fess up, move on and get down to substantially and seriously addressing the real issues that our local school system faces.