ince I will be retiring at the end of June, this is my last issue of From the Commissioner. I think it is appropriate to use this final issue to remind you of our focus on workforce development and our core principles.

I’ve always tried to keep our energies focused on these themes. As I’ve said before, workforce development is our only business. Our three business units – adult literacy, Quick Start and the technical college system – have evolved into an efficient and effective team, with all three units playing critical roles, complementing one another and working together to support this goal. And all of you within these three parts of our system have embraced that mission and have dedicated yourselves to creating a world-class workforce. You all are essential to the operation of our agency, and by working together the whole truly becomes much greater than just the sum of its parts.

In the past few months, many people have generously praised my role in the development of Georgia’s Technical College System. It has been moving to receive these accolades, and I accept them with heartfelt appreciation. But it is you who provide the opportunity and hope for Georgia’s citizens. It is you who provide support and inspiration for that person who is anxious about taking the GED or passing a final exam.

You are the ones who stand side-by-side with students struggling with new concepts, new tools, new ways of thinking, helping them learn the skills they need to find good jobs and support their families. You are the ones who keep our agency focused on our customers and workforce development. And you are the ones who have grown our system to become an internationally acclaimed model for technical education and workforce development. You all have played as critical a role in building our system as I have. None of us could have done it by ourselves. But by working together as a team, we have done something great, and I am exceedingly proud to have been part of it.

But as I leave this agency, I also want to make sure you know that there are still many challenges to face. We’ve accomplished a lot, but there is still an enormous gap between those who need technical education or adult literacy training, and those who are getting it. We can’t fool ourselves. We’re not close to where we ought to be. This will continue to be a great challenge in the future, and you will have to face it with limited resources. Responding to this challenge will continue to require commitment, dedication and creative thinking. But I have faith that the team we have built will be able to meet the challenge.

I know this because there are many good signs. Consider this: In the fall of 1990, Georgia’s technical colleges had just over 26,000 students. In the fall of 2003, our technical colleges served 92,000 students. In fact, last year we served 25,000 students through Georgia Virtual Technical College; nearly as many students were served online last year as our whole system served in 1990.

But the most important number is that last year more than 8,000 young people got technical college credit for courses they took in high school. Also, nearly 2,000 students received a certificate or diploma from a technical college while earning their high school diploma.

Recently, we celebrated the considerable accomplishments of our very young system. We looked back over the past 20 years and saw how far we’ve come. Now, moving forward, we have a responsibility to ensure that the lessons we have learned and the successful principles that we have followed are not forgotten. We need to remember that a commitment to quality and customer focus got us to where we are today, and those principles will take us to where we need to go tomorrow. Our system will continue to respond to challenges with innovative solutions. We will help Georgia grow and prosper, and we will provide opportunity for thousands of Georgians who are hungry for a chance to learn new skills to get good jobs.

I will always be very proud of what we have accomplished together and will continue to do whatever I can to further the brightest hopes of this system. This system will always be in my heart – and its best interests my first concern.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you as Commissioner of the Department of Technical and Adult Education. To end on a personal note, I just want to say that I will miss you all!