M.D. Collins
Originator of Ag Education in Georgia
Mauney D. Collins, noted proponent of public education in the first half of the 20th century, was born in Union County, Georgia in 1885. He became State School Superintendent and headed the Georgia Department of Education for 25 years--longer than anyone in history. He was first Director and originator of the new State Vocational Agriculture Education Program in 1933. Under his leadership, Georgia public schools got a twelfth grade, school lunch program, rural school libraries, a teachers retirement system, increased vocational education, a nine-month school year, and many other progressive changes.
M.D. Collins also is remembered for his motto,
Education does not cost -- it pays.