Friends,
There is good news, bad news and worse news.
The good news is last night the Senate, in a historic vote, finally took up school choice. Although the amendment was defeated we finally know who supports the failed status quo system, and who wants to move South Carolina forward.
Senator Larry Grooms, who authored this amendment, explained how his amendment would not take money away from government schools, and would help low income families give their children a quality education.
The bad news: nine “Republican” Senators voted with Democrats to table the school choice amendment. These nine Senators decided to keep school choice out of South Carolina, making us one of the only states in the South where children are stuck in failing government schools.
Who are these nine so called “Republicans”?
Senator Thomas Alexander
Senator Paul Campbell
Senator John Courson
Senator Ronnie Cromer
Senator Wes Hayes
Senator Hugh Leatherman
Senator Larry Martin
Senator Billy O’Dell
Senator Luke Rankin
It gets even worse. Last week nine Republicans voted for an expansion of pre-kindergarten – the same universal program that President Obama pushed for in his 2013 State of the Union address. Yesterday, eight of those same self-proclaimed “Republicans” voted against school choice, an idea President Reagan promoted in his 1984 State of the Union address, and called, “a remarkable advance in American education, an idea whose time has come.”
You read that correctly. Eight of the self-proclaimed “Republicans” that voted against school choice, voted for Obama’s pre-kindergarten expansion. Who are the eight Senators against a proven Reagan education plan, and for an expensive program Obama program?
Senator Thomas Alexander
Senator Paul Campbell
Senator John Courson
Senator Ronnie Cromer
Senator Wes Hayes
Senator Hugh Leatherman
Senator Larry Martin
Senator Luke Rankin
We are especially disappointed that Senator Courson and Senator Cromer voted against school choice. In the past, Senator Courson proudly touted his support for the Reagan presidency in 1980 and 1984 but no longer does. Senator Cromer claimed to support school choice, but balked when the chance came up to implement a very basic version of it.
South Carolina took a step forward when school choice had a vote on the Senate floor. Unfortunately, these nine “Republicans” don’t want education in South Carolina to move forward.They continue to defend the failed government schools – while turning their backs not only on families who need it the most, but on the greatest conservative icon of their lifetime.
Today the Senate will take up more budget amendments. Senators will have the chance to pass school choice.Please call and tell them the government school system in South Carolina has failed our children for too long. It is time to give parents a choice.
Sincerely,
Phillip Cease
Executive Director
South Carolina Club for Growth
16 comments
I wonder what those 9 received for that support. Must been a lot if voting against party. It’s big price to be in office but to stay is very expensive. Where are the statesman? Wonder what is said when luring a company to SC. Sure cant say anything about education. So you give them the farm.
It sure is expensive to stay in office. That’s why Howard Rich spent more than any other entity in the last election to push his radical ideology on a state that has repeatedly made it clear that they do not want it. Public school choice polls at a 2-to-1 advantage over tuition tax credits/vouchers in SC.
It is no exaggeration to say that he wants to shut down the public school system. His ties to groups like the Alliance for the Separation of School and State and his funding of Club for Growth go hand in hand and are well-documented.
It’s not just him. Lee Bright was very clear with me personally that education should be privatized. Guess that’s why Howard Rich gave him $17,000, even though the spending limit is $1,000.
That’s fine. It’s a free country. Just know that SC is not with you. A majority in both parties want to keep on educating all children, not just the profitable ones.
Don’t act surprised when the votes aren’t there, even though you use phony corporations to trample over campaign spending limits.
Corporations that produce and sell nothing have no business buying influence in our state.
People who want to shut down public education have no business being in the Statehouse.
http://www.edfirstsc.org/content/evil-inc-howard-richs-effort-destroy-public-education-sc-its-going-pretty-well
As for “Can’t say anything about education [in SC]”, that’s true.
You can’t and shouldn’t, unless you have the good sense to research the facts, before running your mouth.
NAEP scores (“The Nation’s Report Card”) are the gold standard of
education data. In 2011, in every subject and grade level tested, South
Carolina students ranked between 34th and 39th in the country. That’s not head of the class, but it’s not bottom of the barrel, either. It was even better before we cut $700 million from education. Our average ranking was 32nd in 2005. Fourth-grade math plummeted from 21st in the nation to 37th during those years.
Now let’s put those figures in context: SC has 28% child poverty. Only three states have higher rates. More than a quarter of our children literally did not know where their next meal was coming from. Child poverty is the best predictor of academic failure. Nothing else comes close. Kids in poverty face challenges the rest of us cannot imagine.
The truth is that SC public schools are vastly outperforming their demographics. Our 4th graders who are not poor are reading better than or equal to peers in 21 states. Our teachers are working miracles under intensely challenging conditions. They’ve proven that they can do better with proper resources, but they have nothing to apologize for.
So why does the myth persist that our schools are bottomless pits of failure? Who benefits from that kind of thinking?
The answer is pretty clear: anyone with an agenda that involves defunding public education, siphoning public dollars into private schools and for-profit charters, or disempowering educators.
http://www.edfirstsc.org/content/sc-students-outperforming-expectations
Why is it on tweet I write a post and try to sign in to post the page please wait and gears are turning. I lose the post and my post is deleted. I want to use account through you. I go to your site and it shows I am signed in but no post. Trying to follow friends on tweet that have info that is important to me.
Jim
I have two children in public school and follow propaganda real close. In this state you have an escape and it is used every time to defend yourself. Seems to me , the stupid one, Boy from SC. It is state law for children to come to school and the state responsible for them. Where does it say anything about the 28%. Who said it was going to be a rose garden. I found out when I had to do my job with live rounds shot at me. All government people have big egos. The numbers do not count in real world. It is simple. How many kids can read, write, and do math at their grade level. That is the gage. The answer is you do not know. It’s like the VA saying they saw x number of people last year. No one never ask how many are well and able. There is no relation between the science of your numbers and people having capability to do something. I am 64 and been around the system a long time. I can walk in store and talk with hired help and see how prepared they are.
I wonder what those 9 received for that support. Must been a lot if voting against party. It’s big price to be in office but to stay is very expensive. Where are the statesman? Wonder what is said when luring a company to SC. Sure cant say anything about education. So you give them the farm.
It sure is expensive to stay in office. That’s why Howard Rich spent more than any other entity in the last election to push his radical ideology on a state that has repeatedly made it clear that they do not want it. Public school choice polls at a 2-to-1 advantage over tuition tax credits/vouchers in SC.
It is no exaggeration to say that he wants to shut down the public school system. His ties to groups like the Alliance for the Separation of School and State and his funding of Club for Growth go hand in hand and are well-documented.
It’s not just him. Lee Bright was very clear with me personally that education should be privatized. Guess that’s why Howard Rich gave him $17,000, even though the spending limit is $1,000.
That’s fine. It’s a free country. Just know that SC is not with you. A majority in both parties want to keep on educating all children, not just the profitable ones.
Don’t act surprised when the votes aren’t there, even though you use phony corporations to trample over campaign spending limits.
Corporations that produce and sell nothing have no business buying influence in our state.
People who want to shut down public education have no business being in the Statehouse.
http://www.edfirstsc.org/content/evil-inc-howard-richs-effort-destroy-public-education-sc-its-going-pretty-well
As for “Can’t say anything about education [in SC]”, that’s true.
You can’t and shouldn’t, unless you have the good sense to research the facts, before running your mouth.
NAEP scores (“The Nation’s Report Card”) are the gold standard of
education data. In 2011, in every subject and grade level tested, South
Carolina students ranked between 34th and 39th in the country. That’s not head of the class, but it’s not bottom of the barrel, either. It was even better before we cut $700 million from education. Our average ranking was 32nd in 2005. Fourth-grade math plummeted from 21st in the nation to 37th during those years.
Now let’s put those figures in context: SC has 28% child poverty. Only three states have higher rates. More than a quarter of our children literally did not know where their next meal was coming from. Child poverty is the best predictor of academic failure. Nothing else comes close. Kids in poverty face challenges the rest of us cannot imagine.
The truth is that SC public schools are vastly outperforming their demographics. Our 4th graders who are not poor are reading better than or equal to peers in 21 states. Our teachers are working miracles under intensely challenging conditions. They’ve proven that they can do better with proper resources, but they have nothing to apologize for.
So why does the myth persist that our schools are bottomless pits of failure? Who benefits from that kind of thinking?
The answer is pretty clear: anyone with an agenda that involves defunding public education, siphoning public dollars into private schools and for-profit charters, or disempowering educators.
http://www.edfirstsc.org/content/sc-students-outperforming-expectations
Why is it on tweet I write a post and try to sign in to post the page please wait and gears are turning. I lose the post and my post is deleted. I want to use account through you. I go to your site and it shows I am signed in but no post. Trying to follow friends on tweet that have info that is important to me.
Jim
I have two children in public school and follow propaganda real close. In this state you have an escape and it is used every time to defend yourself. Seems to me , the stupid one, Boy from SC. It is state law for children to come to school and the state responsible for them. Where does it say anything about the 28%. Who said it was going to be a rose garden. I found out when I had to do my job with live rounds shot at me. All government people have big egos. The numbers do not count in real world. It is simple. How many kids can read, write, and do math at their grade level. That is the gage. The answer is you do not know. It’s like the VA saying they saw x number of people last year. No one never ask how many are well and able. There is no relation between the science of your numbers and people having capability to do something. I am 64 and been around the system a long time. I can walk in store and talk with hired help and see how prepared they are.
And we are to belive the Club for Growth supports ‘choice’ because they have the best interests of students in mind? That’s a stretch.
And we are to belive the Club for Growth supports ‘choice’ because they have the best interests of students in mind? That’s a stretch.
Club for Growth – a flaming special interest PAC. Quick, hide the identity of the special interest donors who pay legislators ‘consulting fees’ and other bribes to enact laws that
benefit donors. Cease worked for ‘a gov and a state treasurer’. Which exemplary officials did he learn from? Sanfraud? Trikki Nikki? TRav?
Hmmm, what do media whores do? Pimp out stories for their funding john (or howie or alan or… ). Issue of school choice notwithstanding, touting PACs as if credible support for any issue, is transparent hooking.
Club for Growth – a flaming special interest PAC. Quick, hide the identity of the special interest donors who pay legislators ‘consulting fees’ and other bribes to enact laws that
benefit donors. Cease worked for ‘a gov and a state treasurer’. Which exemplary officials did he learn from? Sanfraud? Trikki Nikki? TRav?
Hmmm, what do media whores do? Pimp out stories for their funding john (or howie or alan or… ). Issue of school choice notwithstanding, touting PACs as if credible support for any issue, is transparent hooking.
It is really simple, your school gets money from the state then your school is no longer a private school.
It is really simple, your school gets money from the state then your school is no longer a private school.