More On The Averted “Crisis”

By fitsnews • on June 8, 2009

To hear educrats and most South Carolina politicians tell it, our state’s worst-in-the-nation public school system was on the verge of collapse prior to the S.C. Supreme Court’s decision last week forcing Gov. Mark Sanford to accept $700 million in disputed “stimulus” funds.

Of course, what they didn’t tell you was that this pot of money represents less than a tenth of the “stimulus” (a.k.a. “bureaucratic bailout”) money that South Carolina is slated to receive over the next eighteen months.

Or that it amounts to a paltry 1.6% of the state’s $20.7 billion budget, which is the state’s second-largest spending plan ever.

Or that an alternative budget which didn’t spend this controversial pot of money would’ve actually funded public schools in South Carolina at their highest level ever.

Or that those same public schools currently have nearly $800 million sitting in the bank in carry-forward reserve accounts.

Apparently, none of that relevant info was as sexy to politicians like House Speaker Bobby Harrell as the ability to threaten widespread teacher firings and furloughs.

But since the fear pimping paid off, what are S.C. public schools doing with their latest cash windfall?

Well, Horry County – which administers one of the largest public school districts in South Carolina – is putting the extra $5 million it will collect from last week’s Supreme Court ruling and putting it into a reserve fund that has more than quintupled its value over the previous six years.

From the Sun News:

Horry County Schools will likely put their portion of the stimulus money freed up by a state Supreme Court ruling back into the district’s reserve fund, while other area agencies aren’t sure how much they’ll get or how they’ll spend it.

Gov. Mark Sanford, who had refused to request a $700 million piece of the state’s funds unless legislators offset state debt by the amount, said he would request the funds following Thursday’s ruling. The court said he didn’t have the power to reject the money, most of which is targeted for public education.

Horry County school board Chairman Will Garland said he has heard preliminarily from state officials that the district’s portion of the stimulus money may be close to $5 million. He said even if the number changes, it won’t be used to buffer anything in next year’s budget.

“Most likely that money will carry right into the reserve fund for next year and the year after,” he said. “Unless the board votes to spend it, it won’t get spent.”

In 2003, Horry County had $12.3 million tucked away in its reserve accounts. That figure had soared to over $60 million last year.

In addition to the $5 million freed up by the Court ruling, the county had already received $16 million in stimulus funds directly from the federal government.

Comments

By CNSYD on June 8th, 2009 at 2:17 pm

All this “worst public school system” talk needs clairification. In the hierarchy of lies, damn lies and statistics, you have to pay close attention to statistics. We need someone (who has no preset adgenda)to lay out the measureable attributes and compare them district to district. Juxtapose this against the demographics of the districts and I believe you will see a pattern. The harsh way to say it is the old computer axiom, garbage in, garbage out. If we were to look at school districts nationwide, where do you think you will find the highest average SAT/ACT scores? This is NOT the fault of the students. They had no choice in to whom they were born or where they live. The problem is not entirely the schools. There is a multiplicity of factors.

By UpYers on June 8th, 2009 at 2:32 pm

On another note, SCSU announced June 4 in the T&D that due to it’s “tough financial year” it was raising tuition by 8.4%. Two days later another article appeared in the T&D announcing that SCSU was confused as to how to spend the $6.4 million surplus it suddenly gained from the stimulus funds. Isn’t it ironic?

By Nobody Knows on June 8th, 2009 at 2:40 pm

“The problem is not entirely the schools. There is a multiplicity of factors.”

Doesn’t change the fact that we’re last and that what the status quo is doing ain’t working.

By Checking In on June 8th, 2009 at 3:08 pm

I have never seen a spin job like the one FITS has been doing on the stimulus and the reserves etc…distortion, trickery, jedi mind tricks, and clever use of words to make you want to but into his argument…when in reality, he is upset that in 1.5 years this site and his boy will both be gone

By FITSNews on June 8th, 2009 at 3:15 pm

“Checking In,”

You mean the “spin job” in which we use numbers and MSM-sourced quotes to prove our point?

-FITS

By Liberty for me on June 8th, 2009 at 3:23 pm

CNSYD ..I finally (scary) agree with you.That if you have a majority of hoodlums in your school that you will have lower scores.Though I dont know how they come up with the stats so I dont know if that is taken into account.That being said.Public school in any state is a huge inefficient propaganda machine.We could get twice the level of education for half the money from private schools.

By CNSYD on June 8th, 2009 at 3:30 pm

Nobody knows, you must be the personification of leading a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. I will use an axiom that might help you. You can’t make chicken salad from chicken $hit. Give me the “best” school district in SC and give me the “worst”. Now tell me the demographics of the two. You do know what demographics are, don’t you? I will bet you dollars to donut holes that the “best” is a majority white, affluent suburb district and the “worst” is a majority black, rural district. So, if that is true, does all the blame lie at the feet of the “educators”?

By enough already! on June 8th, 2009 at 3:40 pm

“Or that it amounts to a paltry 1.6% of the state’s $20.7 billion budget, which is the state’s second-largest spending plan ever.”

Sic, is that the first sentence you write everytime you are writing about the stimulus money and then write the remaining article around it?! how many times do you need to say it?! sheesh, you’ve made your point!

By FITSNews on June 8th, 2009 at 3:51 pm

“Enough Already,”

We’re just getting warmed up. Bobby Harrell and the MSM played the “teachers fired/ criminals running wild” record till the sacred cows on the Supreme Court, duly bribed, came home.

We’re just getting warmed up.

-FITS

By CNSYD on June 8th, 2009 at 4:00 pm

Liberty for me, I will tell you what is more shocking. I have familiarity with a nation wide professional licensing examination. Graduates of HBCUs perform absymally. Yet these schools are all “accredited” by the same organization that accredits the rest of the US schools. To me this means this organization and these schools are doing a huge disservice to their students by making them think they have attained a first class education when it fact they did not when compared with peers on a nationally normed examination. I think public schools will work fine if students are segregated (not by race) such that those wanting to learn and achieve are grouped together and those who don’t are put into other ciriculum such as vocational or some such. Those who want to do neither and cause trouble are the ones I have a hard time deciding what to do with.

By GnuBerry on June 8th, 2009 at 4:14 pm

You seem obsessed with vouchers.

By Smelly Cat on June 8th, 2009 at 4:22 pm

CNSYD,

Parental involvement is the factor that is lacking. When you have no direction at home, how can you have direction at school.

We also have a very clear and distinct discipline problem in our schools. When I went to school, if I acted up I got spanked. It didn’t take this hard headed redneck long to learn that you respect the teacher, do what they say, and you won’t be spanked.

Pretty simple. Incorporate discipline and teachers will be respected. Get the parents bought into the system and the “learning” will come. Plus, I think if the parents are more involved, the discipline will take care of itself. It helped in my situation.

By Liberty on June 8th, 2009 at 4:42 pm

SAT scores arent objective?

It is a freaking test that at its most difficult contains questions up to an 8th grade level of education.

My god you education apologists are retarded.

No seriously…..mild retardation is not horrible to live with…or as Will would say “a whiff of Down.”

Keep up the good work Jim Rex and BIN…..you guys are the very definition of success in Education.

By CNSYD on June 8th, 2009 at 4:58 pm

Liberty I don’t know who said it but it wasn’t me. Who said the SAT was not objective? Compare SC SAT scores with those of Iowa. Big difference but what makes it more clear is when you look at the demographic differences.

By CNSYD on June 8th, 2009 at 5:05 pm

Smelly cat you are dead on. In the olden days when I was in school there was a demerit system. Accumulate 16 demerits and you were sent home for 3 days. Get suspended 3 times and you were gone for the year. BTW if you were suspended you could not return until your parents met with the constituent board to explain how you were going to behave in the future. Demerits were easy to come by as heinous crimes like chewing gum would get you 2 per offense. Get caught smoking and it was automatic suspension. And as you hinted you got punished in school and again when you got home. I know families can’t operate without both working nowdays but that is a cause of discipline problems also.

By Liberty for me on June 8th, 2009 at 5:51 pm

CNSYD,Your right again on one point.They should be segregated .Ones that cant and don’t learn should not hold the others back.They used to do this by using a system..HMMM,What was it called..??Oh yeah Failure…They should fail if they cant pass a grade level test period.If they are 16 and still in 6th grade so be it…Just don’t send an illiterate person to me for a job with a high school diploma.Congress is already full of them(maxine waters..etc)

By Liberty for me on June 8th, 2009 at 5:58 pm

The biggest difference of private school is they dont have to bow to political correctness.You dont have students holding others back…I can send my child to Catholic school for half of what it takes per each public student.That makes no sense!!….While we are talking about it.Schools need to start teaching tech skills again instead of worrying about things like trig..etc that most of us dont use

By CNSYD on June 8th, 2009 at 6:13 pm

Liberty for me, as I understand it the system in the UK, it tests at certain points and the students are shunted into schools that fit their abilities. Tech skills are great but so is trig. We need them all. How? Expand the school day and year. The capital expense for the buldings/equipment is the same. Students are no longer needed on the farm in the summer. Now don’t get me started on what has happened in higher education, public and private. The body of knowledge has increased but credit hours for a degree has decreased.

By CNSYD on June 8th, 2009 at 6:15 pm

Snide comment. I notice the pic accompanying this article is from Horry County. Apparently concern over obesity has not yet hit the Grand Strand.

By me on June 8th, 2009 at 7:43 pm

horry county has been pretty much over ran with yankees and mexicans, i love the fact we just passed another penny tax for the local schools and people STILL fell hook line and sinker for this stupid stimulus BS. those people are fucking idiots.

By Eat this on June 8th, 2009 at 8:12 pm

Is that, wait, is that Jake Knotts in the aqua shirt? Anywho, lets face it SC will always be last and looked at as a southern ass backwards state as long as Harrell and Leatherman are involved. Hold down the poor, lie and cheat to the middle class, and join the ranks of the rich off taxpayer money!