MORE MONEY, MORE FAILURE …
A little over two years ago, a South Carolina legislative audit proved what everybody already knew: That “First Steps,” the Palmetto State’s government-run “school readiness” program, was a colossal and costly failure.
“The percentages of children at-risk for not being ready to succeed in school have not decreased since 2000,” the audit noted, referencing the first full year of the program’s implementation.
The audit also accused the agency of reporting “questionable statistics” to the public and failing to disclose data that would have painted its efforts in a negative light.
Shocker, right?
More government spending on education failed to improve outcomes – and then the government tried to cover it up to keep the gravy train flowing.
Who’d a thunk it?
Anyway, in June of 2014 – despite reams of evidence attesting to the futility of this program – state lawmakers decided to reauthorize it again. First Steps was supposed to go away in 2007, but as Milton Friedman once said there really is nothing quite so permanent as a temporary government program.
Not only do lawmakers keep reauthorizing it, the program received a bureaucratic bailout from S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley in 2012 – and several “Republican” State Senators joined Democrats the following year in voting to dramatically expand it, per U.S. President Barack Obama’s suggestion.
And of course Haley didn’t veto that funding … because Haley never vetoes anything.
As of this writing, First Steps is reauthorized through July 1, 2016.
How much is it costing taxpayers? Glad you asked …
According to the latest budget information, First Steps is receiving $46.6 million a year from government sources – $29.1 million directly from state sales taxes, $10.5 million in federal grants and $6.5 million from the state’s general fund.
And that’s just to pay for one year of this program …
Make sense? Of course not.
A liberal “Republican” lawmaker named Raye Felder is leading a panel that’s supposed to be providing “oversight” of this troubled agency, but you can guess how that effort is going. And while lawmakers have concluded First Steps is a “stressed entity in need of immediate intervention and or modification,” it appears their definition of intervention and modification appears to be perpetually reauthorizing the agency and throwing more money at it.
Insane, isn’t it? Indeed. All this waste – at a time when lawmakers claim they have no money available to pay for core government functions like road and bridge repair (for the latest on that, click here).
Enough is enough.
This program must be eliminated.
Not only is it ineffective and expensive, but it doesn’t work.
Cut it. Now.
140 comments
Close First Steps and give the money to us!
Close the blood banks and give the blood to us!
DAMN STRAIGHT.
Must you constantly and incessantly run stories about public schools vs private schools ad nauseum? It’s getting very tedious and monotonous..like the background droning of my wife blathering on while I’m trying to watch football.
I don’t want my tax dollars going to support private institutions that teach kids the earth is 6,000 years old. Is that what you want?
yeah, what khunt said
I hate explaining jokes, but my comment was comparing shutting programs like these down in favor for subsidized private schooling is like letting the foxes run the hen house.
Surely you’re not serious. Once the government starts to give money to private schools, then the government has a hand in how they are run. Then, well, they are no longer private schools.
I agree Mom, I sent my boy to private school through high school. The last thing that a good private school needs is government oversight(interference).
Yes! And look what happened when college kids were offered $5000/yr lottery money. Guess what the colleges did – they raised tuition by more than that. Why? Supply and Demand. The private schools would raise tuition if the government paid for a portion of it.
LOL…private schools teaching the earth is 6,000 years old and humans lived with dinosaurs passes for education?
Home schooled kids until jh and then private school.Never regretted it.
There are private colleges that receive federal money, student loans, grant aid.
Yup. Private colleges that receive federal grants must adhere to affirmative action terms in the admissions process, employment policies and, of course liberal ideology.
Yes. Bob Jones had to allow White women to date Black men.
That was not bc they received government money. It was bc it was discriminatory and morally wrong.
ALL A COINCIDENCE
Wikipedia -Bob Jones University – Although BJU had admitted Asians and other ethnic groups from its inception, it did not enroll Africans or African-American students until 1971. From 1971 to 1975, BJU admitted only married blacks, although the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had already determined in 1970 that “private schools with racially discriminatory admissions policies” were not entitled to federal tax exemption. In 1975, the University Board of Trustees authorized a change in policy to admit black students, a move that occurred shortly before the announcement of the Supreme Court decision in Runyon v. McCrary (427 U.S. 160 [1976]), which prohibited racial exclusion in private schools.[15] However, in May of that year, BJU expanded rules against interracial dating and marriage.[16] In 1976, the Internal Revenue Servicerevoked the university’s tax exemption retroactively to December 1, 1970 on grounds that it was practicing racial discrimination.[17] The case eventually was heard by the U.S. Supreme Courtin 1982. After BJU lost the decision inBob Jones University v. United States(461 U.S. 574)[1983], the university chose to maintain its interracial dating policy and pay a million dollars in back taxes. The year following the Court decision, contributions to the university declined by 13 percent.[18] In 2000, following a media uproar prompted by the visit of presidential candidate George W. Bush to the university, Bob Jones III dropped the university’s interracial dating rule, announcing the change on CNN’s “Larry King Live”.
Thumper, i have known steve petitt and his family since i was 3 years old, i am very impressed with his children, but he is about power. he has bared false witness against me and as far as i know he has not asked for forgiveness.
I had someone bare false witness against me. I realized that if he would’ve stuck to the truth he could’ve said a lot worse.
lol
Showing my age here – but there was no such thing as preschool when I was little. It was straight to kindergarten. Possibly you could consider my attending Sunday School before age 5 as some sort of preschool activity. My child didn’t attend a preschool, but the daycare she went to had learning and social skills activities. Both of us turned out fine.
Exactly. First Steps should be called what it is – “Government-Run Daycare”. Everyone should take care of their own kids or pay for their own damned daycare. Childcare is not a core government function.
When I entered the first grade in my hometown, there were eight grades divided into three classrooms, three teachers and two outhouses.
I remember my first day of school, an old dirt farmer showed up with his fifteen year old son and requested one thing from the first grade teacher, “Just learn him to write his name.” During the winter, the teacher put him in charge of starting and keeping the pot-bellied wood burning stove going. For keeping the heater running, she allowed him to chew tobacco, and supplied him with a spit can.
Fuck, you’re old as dirt.
But I feel good, That’s all that counts.
As usual, excellent.
That’s what she said.
Between the moans and groans of pure ecstasy?
yep things were different back then, when i was in the second grade there was this stray beagle that showed up and played with us at recess, after a couple of days the principal called the law to pick up the dog, the cop showed up called the dog over and shot it in the head, he left it there for the janitor to take care of.
Yeah, some of those memories of early schooling are so clear.
I can remember the first grade teacher telling everyone to ask her politely to use the outdoor facilities, “May I be excused,” not “Can I go pee or poop.”
pledge of allegiance first thing every morning and we had a cloak room. oh yeah, if you had a davy crockett hat, you were styling and profiling.
I’m a kindergarten drop out.I saw Mrs Lola tie a kid to his chair one day(with a rope!),and never looked back
“The percentages of children at-risk for not being ready to succeed in school have not decreased since 2000,”
Unfortunately, the state state could triple , quadruple,.. etc… the amount of money spent on this program and they would suffer the same results. This is not an educational problem, it is a social problem. Until some sense of responsibility can be instilled into the family and culture of families that have children not achieving, this will be a program that can’t produce.
I don’t agree with you on much, but you are absolutely correct.
Nobody gives a fuck who you agree with or not.You are wrong on every issue.
What a narcissist.
what a radicalized mean spirited tbagging dick
He’s an angry, old troll.
Mutilating babies, and claiming to care about Black Lives, when you sell their children down the river, for votes, is pretty fucking Dirty, if you ask me. Mean spirited is just a cliche used by the ignorant because they told you to.
tar personally i’m against abortion
What I’m seeing in his rant is he resents tax money being shoveled out to help these lower income kids – but also rages against women who do not want or can’t afford a baby for having an abortion. Doesn’t make sense. Read everyday about some poor child being murdered by a parent that was horribly neglected and abused. Just like the bitching about fetal tissue being used in medical research. I wish all of them up in arms about it could have their childhood vaccines yanked from their bodies, plus their children and grandchildren’s and any pets they had be refused rabies vaccine.
It’s the neo-con way…let’s save the babies in utero, but once they’re out…fuck ’em.
Let’s not forget the children who are killed by guns–cause their elders have RIGHTS and will fight for their FREEDOM–to commit negligent homicide by leaving guns accessible to children or having the nerve to get in the way of their bullet.
Then why do you vote for Democrats, who Blame EVERYBODY white for black fathers who fuck over their children, and Democrat-voting mothers, who fill the kids with debilitating HATE toward white people, so you can feed your Liberal Greed??? Dumbass.
there was no hate in her post, on the other hand there is nothing but hate in yours.
No, you disguise the hate, and claim you do it all FOR THE CHILDREN. When really, it’s just to feed your greed, and maintain your corrupt power base.
I’m just being honest about who, and what, you are…and you take that as hate, because you are so hideous.
And let’s not forget that it “creates jobs”, which btw is NOT a core function of government.
The btw, why do you insist that political debates focus on what the candidates are going to do to create jobs? Are you really asking, given your post, that you just want to know about what handouts the government is going to give businesses and corporations to continue to increase profits while refusing to cut workers a fair deal?
well she said to erneba on this we agree, why on earth did you feel the need to call her a dumbass? what is your problem with that? is erneba a dumbass too?
Relax SYNTwist.
“why on earth did you feel the need to call her a dumbass?”
My patient feels a constant need to project his own failings on others. I’m still cycling through various medications to find the right cocktail that will make him a productive member of society.
Read his body of work on this site. Nothing but personal attacks especially when he is confronted with his own hypocrisy.
Wait until he hacks your disqus
All part of being a good Christian, I guess.
This must be Big Fetus. You write (barely, in big block letters) like Big Fetus. You really need to Cut That Cord and Flush!!
Speaking of debilitating HATE. Holy shit.
TARDevolution is a lost cause. GrandTango needs another spankin’ from his momma.
Trying to take my very accurate description of you, and regurgitate it. You have nothing of your own, and you’re too stupid to think of anything, right? So typical of you.
?
The incentive to learn has been stripped out of our culture. Pre Great Society and “The War on Poverty” , if you didn’t learn you had a crappy job and might have to skip a meal or two. Parents were harder on their children to learn so the family’s station in life could enjoy upward mobility. Now, all you have to do is breathe and everything comes to you. And with Government freebies, your freed up to pursue cash in the underground economy. Hell we can’t even offer/bribe our teachers to excell, Atlanta ring a bell? Culturally, that should have been a life changing shame for those cheaters but instead they are viewed as Social Justice heroes.
it is a piece of shit problem taz, i agree, but the only innocents in this equation are the children, do we or do we not keep trying to help our children, they are americans you know.
All I know is it is going to get worse before it gets better. The trajectory we are headed, when the bubble busts we will have either leftist anarchy or right wing fascism and that can’t be considered a choice. I don’t want to trivialize poverty, but as long there are training wheels on the bike your kid will never learn the joy of doing it themselves. That involves some heartbreaking crashes sometimes. We have to place real knowledge and even craftsmanship as a value back in our culture. Do you honestly think that racist, demeaning punk in the mac & cheese video comes from a Conservative family.
Taz i am not the boogie man, i want the best for you, more than likely the truth and the best way forward is somewhere between our opinions
Implementing a $46million a year tax for a worthless program HURTS our children.
it does not hurt them, but it is not working either other than poor mothers have a baby sitter so they can work a job
Uhm… Massive, permanent tax hikes do indeed HURT the children. It tanks the economy which in turn costs jobs for their parents.
that is just speculation, George Bush raised taxes, did not get re elected, but it was the foundation of the great economics of the Clinton years.
You obviously are not an Econ Major. Bless your heart.
i’m a pragmatist, try it some time
You are a pedophile.
I am not either, but Clinton was the source of the housing problem that sent the economy into a tailspin for Bush. The Clinton administration produced the program to allowed everyone to buy a house that did not qualify until Clinton lowered the lending requirements. All the details, over time, have elude me, but a little research would prove the point.
I’m calling off the dogs momentarily…the entirety of the GFC and the responsible parties is a vast network. I agree that people purchased homes or property that was beyond their means but that’s only one leg of the stool.
Let’s not forget Wall St.’s risky lending and cover up of toxic assets….of which taxpayers still don’t really have any justice for to this day. Not only that, Wall St. continues to subvert efforts to make the necessary changes to prevent this type of thing happening again.
Lastly, gov’t is responsible for letting Wall St. off the hook (Paulson I’m looking at you) while at the same time advocating the risky borrowing practices of families for homes they shouldn’t have qualified for.
erneba, it was the banks, i was selling real estate at the time, they were giving 100% loans to everybody, as God as my witness an agent for a loan company visited me and told me he would finance anybody and jokingly called it the “dope dealer loan” promised no questions asked
Yes, you have proved my point, Banks were giving money to everyone because the government said they had to make those type loans available to practically everyone that applied..
The banks, without coercion from the federal government would have never made those loans.
don’t be foolish, they did it to make money, they knew they would be bailed out, i dealt with the loan officers, the got a commission on every loan they originated, they did not give a fuck about color, it was all green to them
Yes, the government bailed them out, but the government also forced them to loan the money in the first place..
erneba, they did not feel forced, they were lining their pockets, the banks took advantage of the situation and made billions at our expence, i was there, no loan officer was bitching about originating a loan, they were making money hand over fist, and buying beach property
I know, they were being paid off by the Federal government.
Got to go now, catching the Falcons versus the Saints in a couple of minutes.
nice to have met you
Wrong. They did it to make money and dreamed up different ways to make money off the bad mortgages – by pawning them off on investors, retirement funds etc as an investment vehicle. Bunch of crooks. They should all be in prison.
The gubmint said that? Maybe Rush said that. Who said that were the finance companies who had a shitload of money that wasn’t invested and they told their people to do whatever it takes to make maximum profit. After the the gubmint deregulation of the banking industry, it was a free-for-all
The government was backing the loans.
Sorry…you can’t get away with blaming just the gubbmint for the GFC.
Google GFC and have a field day reading about the involvement of private enterprise and big banks’ complicity in the GFC. It’s established fact.
The majority of defaults were adjustable, interest only and balloon which came into being by a law passed in 1982. If Clinton is to blame for anything IMO, it is signing to repeal Glass Steagall – which let the banksters run wild.
finally the truth comes out
I bought my first house when Clinton was in office. Had to jump thru hoops, show proof of income, job, etc and a hefty down payment. Second house in 2000 – same thing. There was no just sign your name and you get the house going on at that time.
Well Ernie, don’t feel bad. You really don’t need an Econ degree to understand basic Econ. Clinton mandated the banks to loan money to pp who otherwise would not qualify for mortgages. Surely, I don’t need to explain what happened from there.
you know that was mostly white people right? stupid white people and greedy bankers took advantage of the situation. you do have your facts and figures in order don’t you, or are you trying to bullshit your way to a blame it on the blacks? i’m fucking ready.
tic tic tic
you can run but you can not hide, welcome to me mom, i’m sure we will talk again
Entirely correct, what happened at the banks would never have occurred if for Bill Clinton lowering the standards for loans.
And you are an econ major? Half of the shit you’ve written makes me think you didn’t even take economics in high school.
Think again.
That would be hard to know since we haven’t had massive permanent tax hikes, but in theory, you MAY be right. Then again, doesn’t a huge deficit tank the economy and hurt children? Yeah? Then why did your tribe do 2 unfunded wars on the govt credit credit, create massive tax cuts during war (read: reduced revenues), and started Medicare Part D without funding to pay for it? Mom: just stop now.
Yes, we have been told throughout the years that government programs, the schools, the welfare agency could correct all of our social ills. It is just not possible, a stable home and family is the first line of defense against unwanted outside interference.
we don’t need to be fighting about welfare, the children need it, we need to be working, hell even fighting about how to best implement it.
Pssst…he’s referring to black families again.
for me Khunt, i’m not ready to call him a racist, but i am proud to be a fellow progressive as you are
Don’t be fooled. Conservatives LOVE to trumpet “having a father in the home” as the cure to all that ails ya…which is code for black people.
What I’m saying is that S.C. is not the only state in the union with black people in it, yet S.C. (and to a greater extent the old Confederacy) is always on the bottom end of metrics and scales of prosperity, quality of life measures, etc. They want to blame black people for it….as a first excuse.
The real culprit in my humble opinion is governance. Look at the map of “red” states vs. “blue” states and cross compare against those same measures. Red states are generally poorer, less educated, fatter, more criminally prone….well, you know the drill. Yet, they stay in gov’t b/c all they offer is anti-gay marriage, anti-abortion and putting 10 commandments on gov’t property and the rubes down here eat it up.
i’m with you on that, but i’m not seeing that in him
If people need welfare they should get. It should not become a means for generation after generation depending on it to sustain a lifestyle.
Children brought up in that environment need an outside social influence, something a school environment can not provide.
It’s a tough problem, very few kids without appropriate social influence in the home can excel in academic tasks, some can, and good for them.
i don’t blame the black middle class for not going back and giving a hand up to unfortunate black children, white people who raise themselves out of the white trash culture don’t do it either, but if you are going to protest it, get some skin in the game
You betcha! Those gubmint freebies give me everything in life I want. That $219 a month in TANF goes a long way in making a quality life for my child. I would love to get some of that free money for a house, but only 19% of poor people who qualify are able to get that in SC. At least we get to eat most of the time. When the SNAP money runs out about the 3d week of the month, I just go park myself down in the waiting room at Harvest Hope and see what they might have that day. Yeah, it’s the life I dreamed of when I was young. But I was pretty young then–before I learned how the world works
You’re talking about the years pre-early 1960s, which included and involved the great American expansion. There is no denying that our culture was dramatically different then, but to attribute the cause to a single reason, “government handouts” is pure simple, reductionism–in addition to being grossly inaccurate. Have there not been economic shifts, technology shifts, distribution of wealth changes, the introduction of new and/or worse social problems, e.g. drugs, wars, a shift in beliefs about individual and collective security, etc
You mean black families right? Just say it.
Why are you bringing race into this discussion?
I just ignore this turd.
okay Ernie.
See TAR’s post above…that’s the sort of obvious racism you should aspire to and stop hiding behind the code speak.
GrandTango, or TARDevolution and his many socks, and flip and his many socks, are just plants here to make Republicans look bad. They jump on all the other commenters here, all of them. Bad examples.
That is what he does when he shows up drunk in the evening.He says he has children however apparently has no interest in spending time with them in the evening.
If you’d take your mouth from around GT’s anus for one second and think about the issues here…you might save yourself the constant embarrassment you mete out to your profile every time you comment.
right on khunt, i’m trying to give him a big download
Opening my mouth.Go.
sorry man i ain’t a ho
erneba comes on here most everyday expressing his opinion in a civil and intellectually balanced way. Never have I seen him attack anyone.He always turns the other cheek.
All he did was express an opinion and you call him a racist.We are tired of your shit when you get drunk!
Thanks…
It’s the neo-con way. Using “code” to refer to black families rather than just saying black family units are the problem with education “cause da baby daddies done took off”.
Newsflash, S.C. is not the only state with black people living in it.
Is this what you teach your children? Teach em to be haters when you get home from work and all drunked up?
You are one sic SOB.
You are the one that called your bi-racial grandchildren “smart like whites” so I really do think you are racist. What a shame they have a racist piece of shit grandfather.
Your words, not mine.
i’ll say it yes, i would volunteer to be a roll model, but there is too much racism for me to be effective.
No he didn’t-although it is true.72% of black homes don’t have a father. The rate is rising in white and hispanic households.
You are morally and intellectually bankrupt.That is why you call EVERYONE a racist that disagrees with your socialist bull shit.
no you are a racist
Define racist,faggot?
bend over and i will whisper it into your ear
Don’t do it Flip.You ought to see what he downloads.
flip needs a big download
He definitely needs to get laid.
any port in a storm baby, i’m ready to download
I bang flip every night, I guess his sex drive is higher than mine.
Wow, a racist and a homophobe. You are so ignorant.
You Democrats can blow the dog whistle to burn down buildings or shoot down white police officers in the streets…and it gets done.
You have mindless drones risk jail for voting multiple times, so your Liberal Lords can live lavishly like Kings.
But you REFUSE to tell the sperm-squirters who vote for you, generation after generation, to care for the precious innocent children, you fill with HATE against the only people who care for them…
The mothers in your Community accept men who impregnate them, then leave to go find another host for a pleasure roll, leaving more offspring to illegitimacy.
And ignorant, backward Motherfuckers- like FITS- sit around blaming the government, that spawned him and the lecherous immoral and privileged do-nothing politician that he served.
Any wonder it’s like it is?
you’ve got some thoughts in there…..
shifty henry should be banned from disques, he shagged mary poppins rotten and left her in the elevator passed out
?????
don’t play the innocent card, YOU BUGGARD MARY POPPINS!
You are an idiot. Maybe if you had been provided some early childhood education we wouldn’t have to put up with your idiotic rantings.
All this to keep from flunking stupid kids. Why was that a bad policy again?
?
This entire idea of a government school for 4 year olds is ludicrous!
It’s a well known fact that regardless of early education, kids are not educationally effected later in school by classes that started earlier than the 2nd or 3rd grades.
So, any education earlier than 1st grade does not help kids education later in school.
First Steps is nothing more than a Government Run Day Care Program. That’s what it is and always will be. Just another way to get around funding for something that might be a good idea for working parents. But, don’t call it education: it’s not.
These type programs are rampant, for example: it is similar to how Irmo got it’s much wanted Performance Center by getting the crooked Lexington School District 5 to incorporate it into their building plans. Then they stuck the taxpayers with the bill without even giving them a vote on it. Even after the taxpayers repeatedly voted it down in past referendums. It happens all the time.
If you can’t get something you want then get the Schools to get it for you. Because, they have the votes to get anything they want. Regardless, whether it makes economic sense at all!
This entire idea of a government school for 4 year olds is ludicrous!
It’s a well known fact that regardless of early education, kids are not educationally effected later in school by classes that started earlier than the 2nd or 3rd grades.
So, any education earlier than 1st grade does not help kids education later in school.
First Steps is nothing more than a Government Run Day Care Program. That’s what it is and always will be. Just another way to get around funding for something that might be a good idea for working parents. But, don’t call it education: it’s not.
These type programs are rampant, for example: it is similar to how Irmo got it’s much wanted Performance Center by getting the crooked Lexington School District 5 to incorporate it into their building plans. Then they stuck the taxpayers with the bill without even giving them a vote on it. Even after the taxpayers repeatedly voted it down in past referendums. It happens all the time.
If you can’t get something you want then get the Schools to get it for you. Because, they have the votes to get anything they want. Regardless, whether it makes economic sense at all!
Yo…Will…Raye Felder…”a liberal Republican?”…really?…you mean like…wet water, fishy fish, raisiny grapes and sunny sun?
Thanks to I-Lie-To-Conservatives-Joe Wilson ripping the flag and voting for FELLOW RINO Boehner—need a liberal?…Joe’s the one
That’s right—along with ALL SC’s U.S. House delegation (except Duncan) they’ve removed all doubt about the scum liberals they all are
But voters are loading them ALL up in a long sedan for a one-way trip in 2016 into the floodwaters—and THEY will be driving the car
First Steps is a glorified babysitting program for SNAP-grubbing black parents who never met an entitleMENT that they didn’t expect us to pay
Like Diamond Jim and Reggie stealing 50 mil of TAXPAYERS’ money and T-Bone Ben hiding his D U I s—can’t let the law get in their way
Like the payday-grubbing SC legislators who give us corrupt Jean Toal to shop the Lexington gang to an equally corrupt judge for no jail time
But that long Tea Train IS rolling—in 2016 voters go bowling—and
we’ll load yet another long sedan with these worthless legislator slime !!!