In government-speak, everything everywhere is always hunky-dory, no matter what.
In fact, things would have been extra hunky-dory if Superintendent Jim Rex had gotten his way and been able to name South Carolina’s unsatisfactory (i.e. “failing”) schools by a new name – “schools of academic priority.”
Fortunately, that pathetic little PR ploy – part of Rex’s broader attempt to gut acadamic accountability in South Carolina – died on the vine after our website uncovered it last year.
Many of the other “dumbing-down” provisions passed, however.
Whatever we’re calling our failing schools these days, though, twenty-five of them were added yesterday to yet another cleverly-named “Adventure in Bureaucracy.”
It’s called the “Palmetto Priority Schools” project, and it’s (surprise) a “new government program” that was created two years ago by Superintendent Rex.
The program, which has already “incorporated” sixteen failing schools, aims to create “a more productive path than a state takeover of the schools,” which is what South Carolina’s utterly useless Education Accountability Act provides for in these situations.
Of course the “state takeover” concept, like every other government proposal to fix our schools, has proven to be yet another abject failure, as Allendale County parents can attest.
What is the “more productive path?”
Yeah … therein lies the rub.
Instead of a state takeover, we now have this “collaborative” of state and local officials that is supposed to magically fix these failed institutions “through collaboration and teamwork.”
Awww, how sweet.
In fact, judging from the language of the “collaborative” press release, everybody’s already on the same page and ready to start singing R.E.M.’s “Shiny Happy People …”
Each Palmetto Priority School is represented in the collaborative’s leadership team by its principal, district superintendent and school board chair. State Department of Education leadership team members include Rex, project director David Rawlinson and liaisons assigned to each school. The group meets together regularly.
Rex met with the superintendents of each participating school’s home district and got “buy-in” at the local level before agreeing to recommend that school for the project.
“Buy-in.” Jesus.
This is insanity. To say nothing of expensive.
And beyond that, it’s just more of the same “responsibility avoidance” by Rex.
State takeovers obviously don’t work, but neither will this educrat circle jerk.
Of course when the “circle jerk” approach fails, Rex is smart enough to realize that he won’t be the only one left “hanging.” Plenty of locals to pin the blame on.
Seriously, is this nonsense the best plan Rex can come up with?
To throw more money at an administrative collaborative?
He’s basically proposed nothing more than putting the same educrats who have created this failure at the local level into a room with the people who are creating the conditions for failure at the statewide level.
That’s too much failure in one room, if you ask us.
South Carolina needs real education solutions, not more of this hand-holding, PR-themed garbage.
By No Voucher Left Behind April 9, 2009 at 10:13 am
It’s not very difficult to understand how this works.
Failing schools turn out stupid students who become ignorant voters who then believe all the crap that comes out of Jim Rex’s Department of Non-Education.
Lather, rinse, repeat. The neverending cycle of stupidity is maintained while the educrats line their own pockets.
By Earl Capps April 9, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Takeover as a means of forcing change was never seriously tried. It turns out that the school districts that would have been taken over were in Democratic areas. The reason why Democratic School Superintendents wouldn’t take them over is the same reason a shark won’t eat a lawyer – professional courtesy.
This route is much more to everyone’s liking – a Democratic Superintendent channels more pork money to Democratic areas with no strings or accountability attached. It’s a pretty sweet deal, unless you’re a parent who has dreams of a better life for your kids, or a child in those schools who is about to be given a life sentence by the virtue of an inadequate education.
By BIN News Editorial Staff April 9, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Earl, we expected better. Frankly, we are ashamed of you now for making this a political issue. How shameful that you interject politics into education.
Why everyone knows if there is one thing the republicrats and democrublicans can work together on it’s educating all of our chilrens. Right? :)
sic(k) willie’s solution to public education’s problems is advancing one of the voucher scams (what’s the latest scam named?) using our hard earned tax dollars to fund private business. Tax dollars for private business! Scream!
Everyone knows the voucher scams would only leave those who need help the most even further and farther behind. But voucher clowns don’t care.
Besides, everyone knows vouchers are dead. Particularly in this economy.
BIN News Editorial Staff
Flair and Balanced
By Earl Capps April 10, 2009 at 8:39 am
BIN, politics and education go hand-in-hand. Go down to Sanfordville, see the Democratic party operatives and candidates and tell me they’re not politicizing education.
I’ve always supported vouchers as one of a number of approaches to try to give our children a better education. Your argument that if we screw the families just one more time to put a few more bucks into our schools, we’ll finally see some change, is bankrupt.
But unlike the Kool-Aid drinkers on the right, I don’t see it as the only option. Allowing public schools to customize their instruction to meet the needs of their communities, giving schools more freedom to remove troublemakers, and more charter schools are among the ideas I would like to see.