Is there is anyone out there who still believes the S.C. School Boards Association (SCSBA), S.C. Association of School Administrators (SCASA) and the S.C. Education Association (SCEA) maintain a cadre of lobbyists out of a burning desire to see children succeed?
If so, think again …
Education is a $9 billion-a-year business in South Carolina, and these special interest groups are all about carving out their piece of the pie. Just look through the S.C. Comptroller General’s spending transparency website if you want to get an idea of how much “education advocacy” actually costs taxpayers. We did.
Just for fun, we clicked through the check registry for Charleston County’s school district seeking all payments made out to the SCSBA in 2012. All told, the district paid out a jaw-dropping $6.7 million in education dollars to the SCSBA.
And that’s just one district – for one year.
When you consider there are eighty-five school districts across the state, you pretty quickly realize SCSBA is making some serious money. Amid all the caterwauling about schools not being equitably funded, the SCSBA has been wringing money out of them hand over fist – vacuuming up cash for things like “training” and “insurance” and other items which may or may not have been competitively bid.
It’s no wonder they have lobbyists constantly looking to increase school revenues …
And so while teachers and students continue to be underserved by our government-run education system, you can bet SCSBA executive director Paul Krohne will continue to pull in his $200,000+ annual salary as he keeps pretending to care about the best interest of our state’s classrooms.
You know, because all of this is “for the children.”
This isn’t advocacy, people, it’s shameless profiteering off a system that lets thousands of children slip through the cracks every year …
And yet these are the voices “Republican” South Carolina Senators like John Courson, Larry Martin and Wes Hayes cite as authorities on education issues.
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22 comments
Charleston County School District’s annual operating budget is about $250 million, so I presume the Board members figure they can quietly take that $6.7 million from its “reptile fund.”
Charleston County School District’s annual operating budget is about $250 million, so I presume the Board members figure they can quietly take that $6.7 million from its “reptile fund.”
Actually, I am glad you pointed out the S.C. School Boards Association web site it has some interesting information. They provide a number of services besides lobbying. That said, whatever they are paid is a fraction of what you and Howie want the state to dump into South Carolina’s “worst in the nation” Private Schools, and you don’t give a damn about SC’s children.
Also, why have we not heard about the study reference below your site. Why did I have to find out about this elsewhere???
“A study released by the Southern Education
Foundation (SEF) in Atlanta, Ga. on June 7 on Georgia’s tax credit
scholarships for private schools program finds
that the program has failed to achieve its primary public aim of providing the
state’s low income children attending troubled
public schools with new, affordable opportunities for a good education. During
the last three years, the state program has diverted more than $72 million of
Georgia’s tax revenues to private organizations operating virtually in secret. “
Check out the education section of NYT and search something like Georgia school vouchers or tax credits and you will see exactly the kind of stuff Howie and his Cato/Koch buddies have in mind for SC…public money down the hole of education/corporate welfare.
You know that Virtual School District that used to advertise on this site? Those kinds of businesses are real rackets with zero accountability. Washington Post has had a story or two about one of the big internet schools.
Actually, I am glad you pointed out the S.C. School Boards Association web site it has some interesting information. They provide a number of services besides lobbying. That said, whatever they are paid is a fraction of what you and Howie want the state to dump into South Carolina’s “worst in the nation” Private Schools, and you don’t give a damn about SC’s children.
Also, why have we not heard about the study reference below your site. Why did I have to find out about this elsewhere???
“A study released by the Southern Education
Foundation (SEF) in Atlanta, Ga. on June 7 on Georgia’s tax credit
scholarships for private schools program finds
that the program has failed to achieve its primary public aim of providing the
state’s low income children attending troubled
public schools with new, affordable opportunities for a good education. During
the last three years, the state program has diverted more than $72 million of
Georgia’s tax revenues to private organizations operating virtually in secret. “
Check out the education section of NYT and search something like Georgia school vouchers or tax credits and you will see exactly the kind of stuff Howie and his Cato/Koch buddies have in mind for SC…public money down the hole of education/corporate welfare.
You know that Virtual School District that used to advertise on this site? Those kinds of businesses are real rackets with zero accountability. Washington Post has had a story or two about one of the big internet schools.
I belive the school boards people want kids to succeed about as much as Howie Rich does.
Really, and whose fault is that? Our school board is elected. I know a number of people on our local school board. They are my friends and neighbors. They are very committed to our local schools, and we have excellent local public schools.
If you don’t think your school board cares about the children in your school district, why don’t you run; or at least find out what people believe and vote for people you think care. School Board members are not paid. All their meetings are open to the public. Do you go and tell them you don’t think they care about the students in the district and should not be on a school board?
You mean you dont believe Howie Rich wants kidsto succeed?
Succeed at what? Realizing his pipe dream of government-sponsored private education that he has worked very hard buying politicians with various puppet organizations in order to skirt campaign donation limitations and to attempt to conceal the source from whence those funds came, in which he targeted South Carolina due to how economically depressed the state is, and therefore how cheap the politicians are to buy, all to further the agenda of him and his buddies on his various think tanks? Of course!
Succeed at getting a proper education for all children in order to increase their chances at leading successful, fulfilling careers? Oh, yeah, whatever, I guess.
Oh, by the way the report can be accessed here
http://southerneducation.org/getattachment/135f0b35-4738-441e-a2ac-013eaa255183/Georgia’s-Tax-Dollars-Help-Finance-Private-Schools.aspx
I belive the school boards people want kids to succeed about as much as Howie Rich does.
Really, and whose fault is that? Our school board is elected. I know a number of people on our local school board. They are my friends and neighbors. They are very committed to our local schools, and we have excellent local public schools.
If you don’t think your school board cares about the children in your school district, why don’t you run; or at least find out what people believe and vote for people you think care. School Board members are not paid. All their meetings are open to the public. Do you go and tell them you don’t think they care about the students in the district and should not be on a school board?
You mean you dont believe Howie Rich wants kidsto succeed?
Succeed at what? Realizing his pipe dream of government-sponsored private education that he has worked very hard buying politicians with various puppet organizations in order to skirt campaign donation limitations and to attempt to conceal the source from whence those funds came, in which he targeted South Carolina due to how economically depressed the state is, and therefore how cheap the politicians are to buy, all to further the agenda of him and his buddies on his various think tanks? Of course!
Succeed at getting a proper education for all children in order to increase their chances at leading successful, fulfilling careers? Oh, yeah, whatever, I guess.
Oh, by the way the report can be accessed here
http://southerneducation.org/getattachment/135f0b35-4738-441e-a2ac-013eaa255183/Georgia’s-Tax-Dollars-Help-Finance-Private-Schools.aspx
Leave them be, they are simply lobbying for their “fair share”(of other people’s money).
Leave them be, they are simply lobbying for their “fair share”(of other people’s money).
Snake oil? “For the children” racket? I thought this was going to be a story about Howie or ALEC or other cretins pushing “school choice” on people who live in another state.
Snake oil? “For the children” racket? I thought this was going to be a story about Howie or ALEC or other cretins pushing “school choice” on people who live in another state.
I never realized how political a school board race is until the school board race in Lexington Richland V this past fall. It was a dirty campaign set out to “smear” anyone but the team of Watson, Gantt and Loveless. Loveless, truly had no background to be on a school board. Couldn’t even answer basic questions at the forums. But the whole team approach was to defeat Kim Murphy, who they dislike because she questions them on spending, building projects, etc. And if you question this Board you are against them.
After they were all 3 elected, they set out to get rid of Murphy. They knew her property was near the Lexington/Richland line and so determined she lived in another county. And then they hired a RETIRED JUDGE, using tax payer money to PAY HIM, for an opinion. Of course he sided with the “paying” side and the Board “ousted” Murphy, an elected official. Now she has appealed her ouster and unbelieveably they are now blaming her for the “legal” costs they will incur when she fights :”their ouster.”
It makes you wonder why they so desperately want to get rid of Murphy. They had stacked the Board so her vote didn’t matter. So why spend all of this tax payer money to do this. What are they going to be doing they don’t want known? They also just voted to increase the amount of money in the “fund balance.” This is an account they can spend as they wish. Murphy suggested in a radio broadcast last week that they are over taxing tax payers to build up this fund. I believe she reported that they had $31 million dollars currently in this fund.
I never realized how political a school board race is until the school board race in Lexington Richland V this past fall. It was a dirty campaign set out to “smear” anyone but the team of Watson, Gantt and Loveless. Loveless, truly had no background to be on a school board. Couldn’t even answer basic questions at the forums. But the whole team approach was to defeat Kim Murphy, who they dislike because she questions them on spending, building projects, etc. And if you question this Board you are against them.
After they were all 3 elected, they set out to get rid of Murphy. They knew her property was near the Lexington/Richland line and so determined she lived in another county. And then they hired a RETIRED JUDGE, using tax payer money to PAY HIM, for an opinion. Of course he sided with the “paying” side and the Board “ousted” Murphy, an elected official. Now she has appealed her ouster and unbelieveably they are now blaming her for the “legal” costs they will incur when she fights :”their ouster.”
It makes you wonder why they so desperately want to get rid of Murphy. They had stacked the Board so her vote didn’t matter. So why spend all of this tax payer money to do this. What are they going to be doing they don’t want known? They also just voted to increase the amount of money in the “fund balance.” This is an account they can spend as they wish. Murphy suggested in a radio broadcast last week that they are over taxing tax payers to build up this fund. I believe she reported that they had $31 million dollars currently in this fund.