Ironically, Mandy serves on the advisory board for Lancaster’s Charter school: The Discovery School where her children attend. Yes, by definition it is a public school because it is funded by the state, but has every benefit of a private school, including exclusions and limitations on who may attend. Does anyone really think that it was “luck of the draw” that her children attend Discovery? I think not. Fifteen students to a class and siblings of current students are automatically accepted thus lowering the avail. seats tremendously.

Also, Mandy serves on the Crisis Pregnancy Center’s Board in Lancaster even though as stated in the above article, she has consistently supported abortion rights. Typical liberal stance.

In conclusion, Mandy Powers-Norrell DOES NOT represent Lancaster Citizens well and we true Southern, conservatives are tired of her hypocritical claims to be included as a moral Christian. Shame, shame Mandy.

The best thing on the post is that Stanly Smith supports her. He was the WORST County Council member Lancaster ever had. His endorsement will sure “help” Powers-Norell.

A few thoughts on this one:

1. “But wait….” Is it really a violation to make a campaign announcement at a public school? If I recall correctly, former GOP education superintendent candidate Karen Floyd made her announcement at a local public school here in Spartanburg. By the way, Floyd came out in support of private school choice and lost — in her own part of Spartanburg.

2. Again, Will Folks points to some things that make Mandy Powers-Norrell’s campaign sound pretty unattractive. Of course, it’s pretty absurd for someone who’s pals with SCRG to complain about squirrely campaign tactics.

3. Does Will honestly believe that McClatchey will determine the reporting and editorial approach of the Rock Hill Herald, just because he doesn’t like it’s sister paper The State. I think Will’s savvy enough to know better — indeed, he’s praised the NYT-owned Spartanburg Herald-Journal for its conservative editorial page.

4. Of course, the Spartanburg Herald-Journal has ripped Will’s friends at SCRG for their tactics and has come out against spending public money for private school choice (whether through vouchers or a tax credit arrangement).

That is to say, yes, it’s possible for conservatives — not just “RINOs” — to see the many practical problems with school choice plans such as “Put Parents in Charge.” Mick Mulvaney is a very intelligent and thoughtful guy. I trust that he understands the hurdles to making PPIC or related plans viable for “fixing our schools” and providing real choice for the state’s neediest families and most struggling students….including: transportation to and from private school; admission requirements at most private schools based on test scores and behavior records; lack of available seats as well as difficulty creating viable start-ups with only tuition dollars that wouldn’t come close to covering all costs; the fact that Mark Sanford’s proposal, PPIC, guarantees nothing to our state’s poorest families.

So, Mick is clearly the stronger candidate in this race. And as is the case with the Herald-Journal editorial page, it’s great for the state to have leaders on the Republican/conservative side who have the common sense and good judgment to seek deeper and more practically workable ways to reform and improve education than schemes like PPIC.