Lots of people talk about the problems facing the Natchez-Adams School District, but few people stop to spend the time to understand not only the source of the problems, but also the possible solutions.

Public schools are like mirrors. They reflect the community. If you don’t like what you see, don’t blame the schools or the administrators. It’s not their fault.

Problems with the public schools reflect greater problems with the community.

If fixing the problems facing Natchez-Adams School District were easy, they’d have been solved by now.

Earlier this year, the NASD went through a detailed review process by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The accreditation process resulted in a list of seven challenges the district must surpass to earn re-accreditation in five years.

Community members often are split — unfortunately along economic lines, which often translate into racial lines — among the people who can afford to send their children to private schools and the people who must send their children to the public schools.

But despite what some private school parents may think, the problems hurt us all, even if you don’t have a student in the NASD.

From economic development prospects that simply don’t bother looking here because the schools are not top-notch, to the countless children who aren’t given the very best education possible, we all feel the impact.

Students who don’t get a good education wind up being residents and taxpayers who statistically don’t earn as much and who may struggle to find a means of supporting themselves.

Today we begin a series of stories looking at each of the seven challenges pointed out by the SACS accreditation team. Solving those challenges would be a great start to removing the impediments facing our public schools.