After less than four months on the job, Achieve Escambia’s Director Greg Voss has resigned.
Achieve Escambia was founded in early 2016 by Navy Federal Credit Union, Gulf Power and other community leaders to improve public education. It’s mission has been to improve the lives of “every child, every step of the way, cradle to career.”
“While we are disappointed, we understand and support Greg’s decision,†said Debbie Calder, executive vice president of Navy Federal’s Greater Pensacola Operations and chair of the Achieve Escambia Executive Leadership Team. “I am confident that the Achieve Escambia Operational Support Team will continue to build the foundation of a successful collective impact that will help local children achieve success, cradle to career.â€
Achieve Escambia has focused on meetings and team building exercises with representatives from the fields of education, business, faith, parents, students and non-profits. No concrete initiatives have been launched.
In August, Inweekly challenged Achieve Escambia to take five steps that would get the group beyond the talking stage and into accumulating data that would spearhead solutions:
1. Research whether it’s time for an appointed superintendent.
2. Hire experienced educators to investigate why Montclair Elementary and Warrington Middle failed to achieve the promised results.
3. Survey teachers and principals about what is working in their schools and what isn’t.
4. Perform “exit†interviews with teachers who have left the school district and of parents who pulled their children out of public schools.
5. Investigate the impact of school closures on their neighborhoods and the academic performance of the children transferred to other schools.
Two Achieve board members met with us, but nothing happened.
Meanwhile, the Studer Community Institute has used the past year to develop a partnership with the University of Chicago, called the “Pensacola Project.”  Their mission is help parents better prepare their babies for  kindergarten and life.
The program is done in cooperation with Sacred Heart, Baptist and West Florida hospitals. It’s based on science. Results will be measured and tactics adjusted as the pilot program is implemented.
John List, the Homer J. Livingston Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, said yesterday at meeting host by SCI, “The world is watching.”
The “Pensacola Project” isn’t a “magic bullet” but it’s inspirational, life-changing for children, families and our community.