Comments on: South Carolina Schools: Up In Smoke

By: Creating Second Class State Employees | FITSNews For Now

Creating Second Class State Employees | FITSNews For Now — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:45:26 +0000

[...] all, we consistently fake accountability reform in this state and do a ridiculously shitty job of getting money to the classroom where it’s needed [...]

By: old bike dude

old bike dude — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:06:54 +0000

Rod Shealy says the guy on the left is an illegal immigrant. That’s me on the right.
Dave’s not here!

By: Not Only That

Not Only That — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:10:01 +0000

Yeah, Willie. We don’t know where your side’s money comes from either, except they’re sure not from ’round here.

By: Sollicitus Civis

Sollicitus Civis — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:00:06 +0000

When looking at measures, you have to consider who is doing the measuring and for what purpose. Sick Willie and his neoliberal pals use these numbers in order to advance elitist policies to maintain their power and capital. Get rid of the “socialist” schools and social programs so that they (the wealthy) can experience reverse welfare- tax cuts. Yea, yea, yea, call me a communist. Tell me that tax cuts for the wealthy trickle down to people making minimum wage (products of this state’s power-elite making sure that the vast majority of students in this state are undereducated to take low wage jobs). Yes, there is an Easter Bunny, just ask George Bush.

By: fitsnews

fitsnews — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:54:28 +0000

#7,

You forgot dues for the SC Association of School Administrators so they could continue attacking school choice. Yeah, the taxpayers pay for your side’s propoganda.

-FITSNews

By: A teacher

A teacher — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:46:02 +0000

Please also consider that teachers have no control over how the money is spent. We do quite a lot with what little we are given, and unlike private schools, have no control over the clientele we work with. Additionally, while the SATs are one comparison tool, another is the NAEP, by which SC ranks averate or better than average at 4th and 8th grades. One other thing to consider – our graduation rate went to last once we enacted “zero tolerance” policies and started kicking kids out right and left, rather than sending them to alternative schools or providing homebound. It is important to clarify that while the issues you raise are very important, the blame for them lies with the “educrats”, as well as the socioeconomic status of SC’s families…not the teachers.

By: Not Only That

Not Only That — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:33:48 +0000

“So what the hell are they spending the other $6,349 per student on?”

Let me help.

Buses, bus maintainance, bus drivers, and enough fuel to travel hundreds of thousands of miles every year.

Libraries, books, and librarians.

Cafeterias, cafeteria workers, and lunches for hundreds of thousands of students.

Guidance counselors.

Computers, software to load on them, and people to keep them running.

Athletics programs, coaches, and equipment.

Teacher training.

Programs for learning-disabled and physically handicapped children, whom private schools are happy to send elsewhere.

The only thing Willie’s sources count as a “classroom expense” is the actual teacher. All those other things are spent on kids, #6, but it’s all over the school, not just in the classroom.

Willie very seldom tells the whole truth about anything, especially education, because it’s a lot easier to screech about things if you won’t see anything except what you agree with.

He has nothing to contribute to the education debate in this state, and that’s so few people pay him any mind.

By: PalmPwnd

PalmPwnd — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:35:17 +0000

S. Garcia,
you are comparing PROJECTED revenues determined at the state level:

http://ed.sc.gov/agency/offices/finance/HistoricalData.html

with ACTUAL expenditure data collected at the district level by the Budget and Control Board:

http://www.ors.state.sc.us/economics/economics.asp

so it looks like 44 cents per dollar is what really gets spent on the kids, despite the spin of Rex and others at the State Department of Education.

By: O'RLY?

O'RLY? — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:14:13 +0000

“compare apple to apples!?”
yeah, sure – if Rex wants to compare apples to apples he should talk about last in the nation SAT and ACT scores (exact same test in different states) or last in the nation on-time grad rate (standardized method of dividing 8th grads with 12th grades four years later)
all this “toughest standards in the nation” clap trap is getting old

By: Ron

Ron — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:11:12 +0000

It’s really sad that even with the dismal scores that we have and the statewide 50% high school dropout rate, our government schools still insist upon spending more time “teaching our kids about condoms than about the constitutions.”