A year ago (while the rest of the South Carolina mainstream media snoozed), a little paper in the Upstate called the Greenville Journal decided to investigate S.C. Superintendent of Education Jim Rex’s claims that our state’s “best and brightest” schools were showing dramatic gains in academic achievement.
It turns out (surprise, surprise) they weren’t, but each year Rex still gives himself a hernia from his aggressive pimping of this fiction.
This year – with public school SAT scores in South Carolina down for the third consecutive year – Rex’s spin machine has once again kicked into high gear, attempting to gloss over our state’s systemic failure and widening achievement gap with more of this “best and brightest” nonsense.
Enter Randy Page of South Carolinians for Responsible Government (SCRG), who like the rapper Positive K is “not trying to hear that.”
From Page’s column in The (Columbia, S.C.) State newspaper:
Not only has South Carolina developed local and state educational policies that are characterized by massive inequalities in student achievement (despite the fact that schools in Allendale receive nearly twice the state funding per pupil enjoyed by Lexington 1 or District 5), but the unjust polarization in student accomplishment actually skews the public perception of success at the state’s “best” schools.
Taking a step back and comparing SAT scores of students in the best Midlands districts with those of public school students in North Carolina is enlightening. Students attending the four high schools of the Chapel Hill/Carrborro district earned average SAT scores of 1,751.
That’s a breathtaking 228 points above the scores of Lexington 1 students — roughly the same as the gap between Lexington 1 and Barnwell or Dillon.
At the Watauga School District, located in northwestern North Carolina, the average SAT score was 1,630, or 107 points ahead of the Lexington 1 and 111 points above District 5.
Public school students in Chapel Hill and Watauga are primarily white, mostly middle to upper income and mostly the children of parents with a high degree of educational attainment. They are, demographically speaking, the peers of students in Lexington 1 and District 5. They are the children with whom the students from these Midlands districts are directly competing for acceptance into (and scholarships at) top-rated colleges such as Duke, the University of Virginia, Emory, Vanderbilt and Clemson.
Ah, numbers … the mother’s milk of making your point.
Of course, it would be nice if The State (a.k.a. La Socialista) actually did its job and reported these revealing discrepancies on its own rather than relying on its guest columnists to do so, but that’s another story.
At least the paper is printing opposing (i.e. factual) views these days.
By utah September 8, 2009 at 9:50 am
Did Randy page really include clem tech with UVA, Emory, Duke, and Vanderbilt?! What a maroon.
By Red Bank Bar September 8, 2009 at 10:04 am
Yessir, Mr. Rich, anything else I can do for you, Mr. Rich?
By ohara September 8, 2009 at 10:12 am
Great post-thank you!
By Eye Can Haz September 8, 2009 at 10:24 am
That is a hard-hitting editorial.
Just shows how out-of-touch the government school zealots really are, and that the local media cherry picks their numbers each year when they report on the “accomplishments” of local public schools.
By Charles September 8, 2009 at 10:45 am
How much did the NC schools spend per student when compared to the SC schools?
Does NC provide a voucher for children to go to private schools or pay for children to go to private school?
By Stop Pimpin' Your Kids September 8, 2009 at 11:19 am
Maroon is a color, moron. This parochial fascination with dissing the state university you did not attend is an exemplar of the “bread and circuses” approach that the top 3% that rule our country adore. Government schools lack quality because they’re not important to the “ruling class” for whom the president is a figurehead. By the way, which public schools do his children attend?
By Todd September 8, 2009 at 11:37 am
Let’s look at the facts. Chapel Hill High School has an ethnic background similar to Irmo High School. Chapel Hill High has 71% white, 16% black, 6% Asian, and 6% Hispanic. Irmo High has 54% White, 39% Black, 3% Hispanic and 4% Other. Where the numbers differentiate is on the Free and Reduced lunches. Chapel Hill High has 9% Free and Reduced lunch. Irmo High has 34% Free and Reduced Lunch. These figures are from each school districts websites. If you are going to compare apples to apples, then look at all the apples. Free and Reduced lunch numbers show that there are almost 4 times as many students who are coming from parents who struggle to make ends meet. However, even our own president says that this should not be an excuse, “But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.” No real answers I am just tired of “journalists” twisting the numbers on both sides. Everybody wants to blame. Nobody wants to get in and help.
By B-side September 8, 2009 at 11:50 am
RBB,
Attacking someone for presenting another opinion is moronic. Especially considering they have a compelling, data-driven argument.
By baker September 8, 2009 at 1:13 pm
B-side…..You’re right about respecting a data-driven argument.
And, fortunately, Todd stepped in to take care of things for you folks. What he showed is that even one of the supposedly elite high schools in South Carolina has a much higher percentage of poor students — the kind of youngsters who have tended to struggle nationally for years. Sure, Irmo High School isn’t Allendale or Bamberg…..but it apparently isn’t too demographically similar to the high school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, either.
I figured Randy Page’s “data” were off-target. I was considering doing a little simple research myself to find out….but Todd got the job done. Anyway, claims made by Randy Page, Will Folks and others on the hard-right edge of the school choice stuff usually put forth arguments based on sketchy facts. And, as is this case this go-round, it’s usually pretty easy to find the holes in their logic and/or data.
As for Irmo students competing to get into top universities, I don’t know where Irmo graduates of 2009 are going. I can say that Spartanburg High School, a public high school, had two students last year named Presidential Scholars. SHS was one of only two schools in the nation to have more than one student honored. I’m pretty sure that both these students are now freshmen at Yale.
By Wordie September 8, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Charles – NC spends $8,500 per kid, in SC it’s $11,200
NC also has a really good Charter law, unlike SC
By HMMM September 8, 2009 at 2:06 pm
B-side: Shut up. You’re a moron.
By utah September 8, 2009 at 2:40 pm
SPYK:
In reference to your calling me a moron because of my “maroon” comment, please go watch a clip of Bugs Bunny.
Further, I did not attend any SC school (there are more than 2 state-funded colleges in SC, you know), but to include any institution of higher learning in this state (excepting Furman) in a category with UVA, Emory, Vanderbilt, etc. is a joke.
By Toyota Kawaski September 8, 2009 at 3:36 pm
YEsah Mr.Rich Sirs right away! We”s get Master(bater) Page another sandwitch so hims can maintains thems triple chins Yeash
By Toyota Kawaski September 8, 2009 at 3:38 pm
and Clempson HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
By RT September 8, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Exactly why we need Brent Nelsen as Super!
By 2 Much Lulz September 8, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Oh no! Mr. Page wants schools to improve.
He must by a damn Yankee with cloven feet!
Quick… hide the children and lock the women in the basement
By Cheraw Citizen September 8, 2009 at 11:34 pm
I have a child in a Chesterfield County school. I have volunteered many hours and honestly believe that a big issue within the faculty is that they think the students they teach simply cannot learn skills requiring higher thinking.
Is there a reason that kids 4-10 years old, at least, cannot be introduced to a foreign language, Shakespeare and other literary giants, philosophy, artistic technique, music scales, etc?
Since the beginning of my child’s school year, so far what has been covered has consisted of what was learned from kindergarten to 2nd grade.
There is no competition in the classrooms. Few challenges are involved in their studies, but a great effort is put into honing sporting skills.Furthermore, standardized testing involves the use of higher thinking skills. Students, at least in SC, are scoring poorly on such a scale because the skills aren’t being taught.
By the way, what happened to the approximate $25 million our district just didn’t figure into this year’s budget?
One, and possibly the most important issue, is that of child abuse. I cannot understand why our society is not addressing this issue full force. Yeah, a handful may overcome poor upbringing, but has anyone viewed the statistics lately? A child cannot learn if they’re being beaten, sexually abused, or if mom or dad is spending more time with the local crack dealer than their kids. I believe this is perhaps the crux of the issue.
While
By Toyota Kawaski September 9, 2009 at 8:45 am
BI 2 Much Lube yes he is
By Mike September 9, 2009 at 11:16 am
We can twist the numbers and watch Rex (et al) self-flagellate forever and nothing will change until we ditch the hyperbole used by both sides. The public education “problem” stems from two separate cultures: the public education establishment culture (which fears change and marches almost lockstep in its adherence to the party line), and the broken culture found within the lower segments of the socio-economic strata.
Unfortunately, if you talk about changing the public ed establishment you’re immediately labeled “anti-education.” Heaven forbid you make a comment indicating that even poor families could become more involved in their kids education (or lives, period); you’ll be labeled much, much worse…
By scott May 26, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Greenville County Schools spend roughly $8,000 a kid. One of the lowest in the state by the way. I don’t know if using the SAT argument works anymore. Many colleges, elite colleges have gone away from having the SAT be even a pre-req for applying. The argument used by colleges is is that it does not convey a true image of how the student will do at their school. Much the same I don’t think a school’s SAT average should have so much focus given to it.
That 1452 mark from 2009 can be misleading as well. South Carolina is has one of the highest participation percentages when it comes to the SAT. 67% of seniors in 2009 in SC took the SAT. That to me is a pretty good step in the right direction as far as focusing on getting kids to college goes.
It could be worse. Years ago when LIFE Scholarship qualifiers were used as one of the 4 school report card variables, principals would intentionally tell their less gifted test takers to not take the SAT or take the ACT instead so they could skew the results.
Yes the state SAT composite has declined 7 points since 2003 but oh wait…..shit!!!! the national average has dropped 10 points!!!! in the same time frame. So nationally kids are getting dumber quicker than kids in our state??? ;). just saying is all folks. SC’s declines are not nearly as bad as other states and the nation in general.
Average SAT Math scores from 2003 to 2009 have had no change in fact, while nationally its been a -4 decrease across the country. Again SC is just fine compared to the nation as a whole.
http://ed.sc.gov/topics/assessment/scores/sat/2009/documents/REPORT2009.pdf
By scott May 26, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Anderson District 3, Crescent High School more than passes the national average and Anderson 3 is incredibly rural / low end of the economic spectrum.