As record amounts of tax dollars are being blown on South Carolina’s worst-in-the nation public school system, the educrats who are making bank off of this anti-competitive abomination are using your money to help preserve their stranglehold and keep the gravy train flowing.
According to our friends at The Voice, numerous public school districts openly lobbied against the parental choice bill that was temporarily blocked last week by four “Republicans in Name Only.”
“The entrenched public school bureaucracy in South Carolina is using public time, resources and money to lobby against the reform effort,” The Voice notes in its story. “Part of their ‘system over student’ strategy involves mobilizing public school employees to directly pressure lawmakers to vote against the legislation.”
Sadly, government using public funds to advance a liberal, anti-competitive ideology is nothing new in this state – although with each passing year these efforts escalate.
From Chester County – one of the state’s most wasteful, more secretive districts – here’s the taxpayer-funded spin …
(Click to enlarge)
Now, here’s some government-funded lobbying from Spartanburg County School District 4, one of the most persistently underachieving districts in the Upstate (and home to one of the state’s highest paid Superintendents) …
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Finally, here’s a publicly-funded missive from Lexington-Richland School District 5 that seems to indicate one of our state’s RINO Senators – John Courson – was practically begging for some government-funded PR assistance …
(Click to enlarge)
Note how Courson – who the letter says “would appreciate the support” of these educrats – is described as a “very influential position.”
Translation?
“Propagandize or else.”
Amazing …
As we’ve said before, if our state’s “education leaders” spent half as much time attempting to educate our children as they did fighting to protect their perks, perhaps South Carolina might advance academically for a change.
Obviously that’s not happening, though. In fact, it’s becoming obvious that the chronic failure of our public system is forcing more aggressive efforts on the part of these bureaucrats to defend their dysfunctional system – one in which less than half of every dollar spent makes its way to the classroom.
According to the latest data, our state’s overall graduation rate remains among the worst in the nation – improving by a meager 1.5 percent over the last decade (one of the worst percentage improvements in the entire country). That’s consistent with our rural graduation rate (which currently ranks dead last in the country) as well as our declining SAT and stagnating ACT scores.
No wonder there’s so much pressure to provide left-leaning politicians with cover!
South Carolina has tried the more money route and the government-run accountability route only to fail spectacularly on both counts – relegating generations of South Carolina children to second-class status.
The outlines of that failure are now forcing extreme measures – particularly as Republican politicians are facing pressure from the Tea Party on this issue.
Speaking of the Tea Party … we wonder how they’ll react when they learn that the same people who are currently spending all of this money to block parental choice will be taking a nice taxpayer-funded vacation in a few shorts months.
(To read our exhaustive recap of the proposed parental choice bill, click here. To learn more about the bureaucratic forces seeking to block the bill, click here. To see for yourself the undisputed failure of our state’s current status quo’s current approach to public education, click here).
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By Who do you think you are? April 29, 2011 at 12:02 pm
You’re not entitled to any of your money back. Shut up and do what you’re told. Everything is fine in our public education system; you and the other freedom lovers(or let’s just call them tax cattle) are going to hand over your money and shut up about it.
If you want to home school your kid and rail for this bill we are gonna make you jump through a million hoops to get your tax refund-by the end of it you’re gonna wish you never tried to collect it anyway when we are done with the “accountability” portion of getting your refund.
We don’t have to be accountable, but you private schools and homeschooler do…so piss off!!!
We’re gonna make your lives miserable because we didn’t go to school to get Masters and PHD’s for nothing you twits. We are worth every penny extracted from you plebs.
You’re gonna learn that we’re getting your money one way or another-either the easy way or the hard way…that’s gonna be your “school choice”.
We aren’t even gonna pretend that it’s “about the children” anymore. It’s about our paychecks and retirements and you’re not threatening that you assholes.
By Edward Gray April 29, 2011 at 12:30 pm
This from the genius who represents Sumter:
Most points in school choice letter were wrong
Mr. Gray said many things uncomplimentary about me in his April 22 letter: most were absolutely wrong or without basis at all. I have known Mr. Gray for years. He is a fine person. While he is entitled to his opinions, he is not entitled to his facts.
Here are the facts. First there are thousands of dedicated professional educators in South Carolina. There is no teachers’ union. These dedicated people go to school every working day. South Carolina schools are not last in the nation and haven’t been for a long time if they ever were. Boeing, BMW, Amazon, Sykes. and the list goes on, did not move to South Carolina because our schools are bad. They know our public schools produce people who can make them successful in a competitive world market. And standard national test scores taken by students in public school across the country show this as well.
The study of the Florida system was done by advocates for using public money to fund private schools. The study has been called into question – in other words it was junk science composed to supply support to the outcome that was predetermined based on advocacy. The proposal Gray advocates would allow corporations to pay money to private schools instead of paying their taxes to South Carolina.
The study talks about competition yielding better public schools. Private schools will not take any and all students nor do they want to comply with requirements public schools must.
Mr. Gray failed to mention that the vote against the bill was bipartisan.
The proponents were not willing to test private or home school students to the same standards and with the same tests the public schools have to.
There are many other reasons why both Republicans and Democrats voted against this bill. And I will be delighted to tell you more, and as I always do, listen to you as well. My cell number is (803) 968-6185. Mr. Gray has it but never called to discuss the facts.
SEN. PHIL LEVENTIS
Sumter
By Your Doin' It Wrong April 29, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Come on Will!
The Superintendents of local School Districts are paid lobby for state level policies, not to administer the schools within their realms.
Geeesh, you must hate kids! after all more money for government schools = loving children.
By OhNoNotAgain April 29, 2011 at 1:24 pm
School choice is crap legislation. It takes money away from public schools, which are, as you say, already doing poorly. There aren’t enough private schools out there to serve all the children in this state.
The children of rich kids will take all the slots in the good schools. Where are the parents of kids in the Allendale County School System supposed to go to exercise their “choice”? If you can demonstrate that any school choice plan helps kids like those, I’ll cease my opposition and might even become a proponent. But until then, it’s just a dodge to give rich people who can already afford private school a little money back that they don’t need.
By Jan April 29, 2011 at 1:25 pm
If a school district has to spend some of my taxpayer money to fight this special interest handout legislation, fine with me. I would rather them waste a few million tax dollars fighting this crap legislation, than the tens of millions it will cost the state if they lose. Just another special interest handout. School Choice people are hypocrites.
By victor April 29, 2011 at 1:41 pm
When the SCRG pulls this stuff out to energize their base, you know they’re desperate. I guess folks are supposed to sit by and let Howard Rich take over.
By Billy Bob April 29, 2011 at 1:43 pm
You are pushing policies favored by a few rich and quite a few ignorant – you should be ashamed – but you have shown you have no shame, haven’t you?????????
By baker April 29, 2011 at 3:59 pm
I want to get this straight:
Rallie Liston’s sending an e-mail suggesting the people read a linked article is “lobbying”? So, school superintendents shouldn’t be allowed to push for policies they believe to be beneficial to their students (or push against what they see as bad education policy)? And they shouldn’t even be allowed to send along an e-mail?
That’s pretty harsh.
Meanwhile, the one from Lexington/Richland 5 said “fellow board members.” Was that from a district trustee — an ELECTED official? Surely, SCRG can’t say that elected officials should be restricted from communicating their ideas to the General Assembly and to the public. ?!
By Coastal Livin' April 29, 2011 at 5:00 pm
It seems to me that all of this “public school money” is from the “public” in the form of taxation. The bottom line is that kids have to get an education. Why should not parents have a say in where their tax money goes to educate their kids? If the public schools and their employee unions cannot do the job, get out of the way. We need not bow to the throne of educrats who have had a monolopy for decades. They have failed our kids and will continue to do so. Either they lead, follow, or get out of the way.
By Brakeman April 29, 2011 at 5:32 pm
The only thing blowing is you Will. Our local district has lost over twenty percent of it’s funding over the last three years, largely due to the ignorance of Act 388. Making school funding based on sales taxes right before a double digit unemployment recession makes about as much sense as giving a tax credit to a home schooling mom that prints her child’s transcript on a Big Chief tablet. This is the crowd you want to believe about the tax credit lie you disguise by calling it choice. Speaking of public money, wasn’t Nikki at one of their conferences in Utah when she had her other extramarital romp?
By Joe April 29, 2011 at 5:46 pm
“Why should not parents have a say in where their tax money goes to educate their kids? If the public schools and their employee unions cannot do the job, get out of the way. We need not bow to the throne of educrats who have had a monolopy for decades. They have failed our kids and will continue to do so. Either they lead, follow, or get out of the way.”
Are you serious? Give parents a say where their confiscated tax dollars paying for public education should go? Why, that might put some professional educrats, stuffed shirt administrators and less-than-stellar teachers out of work and the teachers union NEVER stand for that.
Cause it’s all about the kids…you know?
By MUSC April 29, 2011 at 7:39 pm
I realized there was a problem when I attended the PTA meeting and the bulletin board had two misspellings by the teacher. We need choice!
By FunkyChicken April 30, 2011 at 12:00 am
Not buying it Willie boy. These vouchers you are supporting are going to raise our taxes by over 800 million dollars. I do not want my taxes raised to pay for somebody else’s kids to go to private school.
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By baker April 30, 2011 at 11:06 am
Does someone have an answer to the question about L/R District 5 — was that message sent by a board member?
If so, do people like Will Folks and Randy Page and Howard Rich honestly think that democratically elected board members shouldn’t speak out, send e-mails, etc. about things they feel strongly about?
By baker April 30, 2011 at 3:24 pm
As for the Chester piece, it largely emphasizes the money the state economist says the Education Opportunity (primarily for the affluent) Act will cost the state. So aren’t the Chester folks doing the taxpayers a favor by passing this information along?
By BIN News May 1, 2011 at 12:05 pm
sic(k) willie knows Howie’s voucher scam is dead in S.C.
You see, a Midlands’ elected official has said so.
And the wise members of the Legislature (meaning those who have not been bought off by Howie the Voucher Clown) continue to vote it down in flames.
Howie can call them “vouchers,” or he can call them “tax credits,” or he can call it “parental choice” or he can call this pig what it really is: a scam.
Our Funding Editor is confident that Howie the Voucher Clown’s stooges will be back again next year.
The “pig” will have a new dress, some new perfume and a new name.
But it will still be the same voucher “pig.”
A pig with lipstick is still just a pig.
By CriticalMass May 2, 2011 at 3:25 am
I love how when anyone mentions anything that the ivory tower of public education believes might threaten their entrenched entitlement to continue doing a sucky job, the vipers come out and start hissing like a bunch of vampires being shown a cross.
Especially telling is the first comment from “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?” who apparently felt no shame in saying, “You’re not entitled to any of your money back. Shut up and do what you’re told. Everything is fine in our public education system.”
It’s easy to tell that was written by an entitlement mentality libtard educrat.
“Everything is fine in our public education system.”
Seriously? Care to try to back up that claim? Hilarious.
By Lance Riprock May 2, 2011 at 5:12 pm
CriticalMass, What half-assed private school did you attend? Apparently one that was unaware of a literary device called sarcasm. You’re just another oxygen thief with a computer and too much time on his hands.
By CriticalMass May 2, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Dear Lance,
I went to public school. Public school used to be quite good.
I notice you have nothing with which to defend public education *or* WDYTYA’s silly claims.
But by all means, keep trying. You’re another laughing stock with nothing substantive to say. Oxygen thief indeed.
Inhale Bubba, there’s enough for everybody. Even you.
Sincerely,
Your Pal and Worst Nightmare: “CM”