Perfect Sense

Why does accountability in government matter? And why does transparency in terms of enforcing that accountability matter?

Because as difficult as this may be to fathom, every once in awhile a member of the S.C. General Ass-embly manages to walk (upright) and chew gum at the same time – putting forward an idea that not only escapes the bounds of borderline retardation but actually makes sense … for a change.

Take the oft-proposed but never-adopted idea of creating a Board of Regents for South Carolina’s hopelessly wasteful, inefficient and duplicative system of higher education, a bloated bevy of bureaucracies that consumes nearly 18% of our state budget (compared to the national average of 10%).

These exemplars of excess manage to attain such a disproportionate percentage of our public investment by attempting to be all things to all people – including the personal “economic development” army for House Fuhrer Bobby Harrell.

Anyway, the notion that we should actually coordinate our higher education efforts in this state around a core mission has been fought tooth-and-nail by the State Legislature, as well as the three blind mice … err, stooges … err, research universites, who have lived higher on the hog than anybody during the recent taxpayer-funded government boom times.

Simply put, these hypocritical fiefdoms of multi-billion dollar boondogglery thrive on scamming government money at ever-escalating levels while sending tuition costs for S.C. parents soaring through the stratosphere.

Seriously, people.  When they’re not hiding $140 million slush funds, these higher ed chieftains are jetting off to conferences in the Virgin Islands – all while South Carolina parents pick up the tab.

In fact, a recent national higher education report card gave South Carolina an “F” in affordability, saying that “poor and working-class families must devote 34% of their income, even after aid, to pay for costs at public four-year colleges.”

Meanwhile, South Carolina’s top three research universities spent nearly $30 million on travel costs alone last year.

Of course, one might wonder where the demand for all this “higher education” is coming from, because the same report card noted that “the likelihood of (South Carolinians) enrolling in college by age 19 is low, primarily because the state has one of the lowest high school graduation rates in the country.”

Exactly.

In light of all this, no wonder S.C. Rep. Murrell Smith (R-Sumter) has introduced a bill to stop the madness by creating a Board of Regents – a true governing body for higher education that would be granted the authority to set tuition, fees and enrollment levels at all state-supported colleges and universities, as well as do away with unnecessary programs and (ideally) entire campuses.

Smith introduced the same bill last year, but it never saw the light of day. The former House Education Committee Chairman, Rep. Bob Walker, was in Speaker Bobby Harrell’s pocket, and was specifically instructed to bury the proposal in his committee.

Walker has since been defeated, and Rep. Phil Owens has taken his place as Chairman of the Education committee, so we’ll have to wait and see if he tries to stick the proposal in a drawer, too.

Whatever you think of the idea, this is precisely the sort of proposal that state lawmakers should be forced to take up – and state their position on the record.

Either they’re for the status quo with respect to higher ed in this state or they’re not – simple as that.

Given the fiscal situation we’re facing as a state, continuing to allow them to ignore these cost-saving ideas or shoot them down on unrecorded votes is no longer an option.

Props to Rep. Smith for sponsoring legislation in support of such an eminently-sensible idea (again).

Let’s hope his bill gets its day on the floor this year. That way not only the taxpayers, but the South Carolina parents stuck with these skyrocketing tuition costs can see where each one of their elected officials stands on the issue.

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