SC

SC Academic Standing Plummets

In 1998 South Carolina elected an “Education Governor,” Democrat Jim Hodges. In 2000, it approved an “Education Lottery” (ostensibly “for the children”). And over the course of the last decade its “Republican-controlled” S.C. General Assembly has pumped billions of dollars in new money in government schools – all the while…

In 1998 South Carolina elected an “Education Governor,” Democrat Jim Hodges. In 2000, it approved an “Education Lottery” (ostensibly “for the children”). And over the course of the last decade its “Republican-controlled” S.C. General Assembly has pumped billions of dollars in new money in government schools – all the while fighting tooth and nail against even modest expansions of academic freedom.

What have been the results of this massive (and ongoing) taxpayer investment? A government-run monopoly that continues to fall further behind the rest of the nation in every measurement that matters.

The latest evidence of this trend? A new report published by the Palmetto Policy Forum – a conservative think tank formed earlier this year by U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint.

According to the PPF report, South Carolina’s academic standing has plunged precipitously in recent years compared to Florida – a state which has embraced market-based reforms.

“While gains were made, 2011 NAEP scores showed only 48 percent of low-income South Carolina fourth graders were functionally literate,” the report found. “Meanwhile, from 1998-2011, low-income Florida students scoring ‘Basic or Better’ on reading in the fourth grade surged from 37 percent to 62 percent, leaving room for additional progress but showing a large improvement.”

Ready for the kicker?

“In fact, low-income Florida students outscored all South Carolina students on the NAEP fourth grade reading exam in 2011,” the report revealed.

Ouch …

What about black students?

“In 1998, Black students in South Carolina significantly outscored those in Florida in reading,” the report found. ” In 2011, Florida’s Black fourth graders were reading a full grade level ahead of their South Carolina peers.”

Talk about flipping the script … of course so far only one black leader in South Carolina has had the courage to stand up in support of more choices in the academic marketplace. The rest apparently prefer their future generations to remain shackled by the chains of failed bureaucracies.

Of all the issues we cover here at FITS, nowhere are common sense solutions more glaringly self-evident than on the issue of education. Yet despite the painfully obvious failure of our state’s status quo (and the proven efficacy of parental choice), taxpayers are forced to pump billions each year into the same failed system.

Funding in the current budget is more than $11,000 per child … for one year … an amount which doesn’t include bond issues. Additionally, school districts are ripping off even more money from local businesses per the terms of an ill-advised 2006 “tax swap …” even as they’ve squirreled away hundreds of millions of dollars into their “reserve” accounts.

It’s a multi-billion dollars scam that continues to produce diminishing returns, in other words.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: South Carolina can either embrace market forces (as Florida has done) or continue blindly believing that an ever-increasing investment in the same failed bureaucracy is one day going to turn things around.

Anyway, to read the report for yourself click on the link below …

“Transformation” – Public Policy Forum

***

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44 comments

Elea Phat In The Room March 13, 2013 at 5:50 pm

That’s wonderful blacks continue
to be the anchor around the neck of the public school systems. Their animal
like behavior in the class has done them quite well. The result, guess what
wait for it………the education market creating segregated schools? All this money and we had it right the first
time. I just feel sorry for the decent Black
Americans trying to work hard but can’t get anywhere because their race has
been hijacked by clown car driving baggy pant thugs! As they say “err body be
noin a mout fulla folded money be good from rappin and trappin all day” What SHITHEADS!!!! But please keep it up
somewhere in a chamber near you lurks a .38 with “yo name on it”!

Reply
That Who I Think It Is? March 13, 2013 at 6:00 pm

I feel sorry for idiots that don’t think their racist.

Reply
That Who I Think It Is? March 13, 2013 at 6:02 pm

Edit: They’re

Reply
Elea Phat In The Room March 13, 2013 at 7:01 pm

Point proven….thanks!

Reply
That Who I Think It Is? March 13, 2013 at 9:38 pm

BTW! Na is used in the wrong context above, smarty…edit it to nah.

Elea Phat In The Room March 13, 2013 at 6:59 pm

Racist??? Hmmmm……Na….
I am all for interracial relationships. I wish the best of luck for all the
young black fellows who love “dem fat nasty white ho’s” that way they
can breed themselves out of existence……MUHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply
BigT March 13, 2013 at 6:36 pm

Blacks are not the anchor. It’s the power mongers in the democrat party who exploit them for votes and recycle stays in elected office….

Sanford was good a pandering to race. And Republicns like him are just as guilty as the Shameless and Filthy liberals who use the poor to eat phat…
Blacks are Stupid to keep voting for the people pimping them…but Racism has bad consequences…Obama proves that…

Reply
Elea Phat In The Room March 13, 2013 at 5:50 pm

That’s wonderful blacks continue
to be the anchor around the neck of the public school systems. Their animal
like behavior in the class has done them quite well. The result, guess what
wait for it………the education market creating segregated schools? All this money and we had it right the first
time. I just feel sorry for the decent Black
Americans trying to work hard but can’t get anywhere because their race has
been hijacked by clown car driving baggy pant thugs! As they say “err body be
noin a mout fulla folded money be good from rappin and trappin all day” What SHITHEADS!!!! But please keep it up
somewhere in a chamber near you lurks a .38 with “yo name on it”!

Reply
That Who I Think It Is? March 13, 2013 at 6:00 pm

I feel sorry for idiots that don’t think their racist.

Reply
That Who I Think It Is? March 13, 2013 at 6:02 pm

Edit: They’re

Reply
Elea Phat In The Room March 13, 2013 at 7:01 pm

Point proven….thanks!

Reply
That Who I Think It Is? March 13, 2013 at 9:38 pm

BTW! Na is used in the wrong context above, smarty…edit it to nah.

Elea Phat In The Room March 13, 2013 at 6:59 pm

Racist??? Hmmmm……Na….
I am all for interracial relationships. I wish the best of luck for all the
young black fellows who love “dem fat nasty white ho’s” that way they
can breed themselves out of existence……MUHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply
BigT March 13, 2013 at 6:36 pm

Blacks are not the anchor. It’s the power mongers in the democrat party who exploit them for votes and recycle stays in elected office….

Sanford was good a pandering to race. And Republicns like him are just as guilty as the Shameless and Filthy liberals who use the poor to eat phat…
Blacks are Stupid to keep voting for the people pimping them…but Racism has bad consequences…Obama proves that…

Reply
Stephan March 13, 2013 at 6:32 pm

Guess you can’t fix stupid.

Reply
BigT March 13, 2013 at 6:32 pm

Until politicians quit pouring our money into Horrible Social behavior, expect it to keep nosediving…
Teen-aged mothers, single-parent (baya-daddy) homes, free luch dependency, welfare and all the other liberal social trophies are nests to generational failure..just as liberalism is…
These democrat politicians don’t care about improving life for these poor children. They care about the perks of power…
Years of clowns like: Dick Riley, Inez Tenenbaum and Jim Rex have just about torn the education structure to the ground…
And the GOP, by not pointing the finger at all the Race-Bait haters and leftwing demagogues have some responsibility…

Reply
Smirks March 14, 2013 at 4:41 pm

lol! “free lunch dependency” eh?

Remember, Big(o)T? This is where that whole “I care enough about children to fight abortion but not enough to protect programs that are built for their general welfare” comes into play. You are the best person to display the conservative kindness and compassion directed towards children of poverty by stripping them of the one free meal they get at school, which could be the only meal they get to have that day, not only “for their own good,” but “for the good of their bum parents.” Sure, losing the one meager state-provided meal and going without might suck, but it’ll force the 8-year-old to pull himself up by the bootstraps at some point, right?

Suffering builds character, and this nation needs more character, ergo more suffering!

Reply
Stephan March 13, 2013 at 6:32 pm

Guess you can’t fix stupid.

Reply
BigT March 13, 2013 at 6:32 pm

Until politicians quit pouring our money into Horrible Social behavior, expect it to keep nosediving…
Teen-aged mothers, single-parent (baya-daddy) homes, free luch dependency, welfare and all the other liberal social trophies are nests to generational failure..just as liberalism is…
These democrat politicians don’t care about improving life for these poor children. They care about the perks of power…
Years of clowns like: Dick Riley, Inez Tenenbaum and Jim Rex have just about torn the education structure to the ground…
And the GOP, by not pointing the finger at all the Race-Bait haters and leftwing demagogues have some responsibility…

Reply
Smirks March 14, 2013 at 4:41 pm

lol! “free lunch dependency” eh?

Remember, Big(o)T? This is where that whole “I care enough about children to fight abortion but not enough to protect programs that are built for their general welfare” comes into play. You are the best person to display the conservative kindness and compassion directed towards children of poverty by stripping them of the one free meal they get at school, which could be the only meal they get to have that day, not only “for their own good,” but “for the good of their bum parents.” Sure, losing the one meager state-provided meal and going without might suck, but it’ll force the 8-year-old to pull himself up by the bootstraps at some point, right?

Suffering builds character, and this nation needs more character, ergo more suffering!

Reply
BIN News Editorial Staff March 13, 2013 at 7:19 pm

Yep. sic(k) willie is right.

There are issues with public education in S.C.

You know. Poverty.

Latent racism (sometimes not even latent).

Funding.

The shameful “minimally adequate” standard.

And, honest folks are working hard to address them.

On the other hand, sic(k) willie and Howie the Voucher Clown’s other voucher pimps just want to rob tax dollars from the poor to help the rich.

You see, they know that the voucher scam would only leave those who need help the most even further behind.

They know their claim that the voucher scam would help all students is just cr@p.

Call your elected officials, particularly those Howie the Voucher Clown has bought, and tell them to do the right thing. Flush the voucher scam, again.

Listen for the giant sucking sound again this year.

As Howie the Voucher Clown’s latest version of the scam heads to the sewer..

BIN News Editorial Staff

Reply
Squishy123 March 13, 2013 at 8:45 pm

I don’t care… but if I did I’d say the major portion of the problem is black kids who have parent(s) who worry more about their hair and their rims than they do about their fuck trophies.

Reply
Squishy123 March 13, 2013 at 8:47 pm

What is BIN? Something that if it were WIN it’d be considered racist?

Reply
Smirks March 14, 2013 at 4:30 pm

+1 for “Howie the Voucher Clown”

Reply
BIN News Editorial Staff March 13, 2013 at 7:19 pm

Yep. sic(k) willie is right.

There are issues with public education in S.C.

You know. Poverty.

Latent racism (sometimes not even latent).

Funding.

The shameful “minimally adequate” standard.

And, honest folks are working hard to address them.

On the other hand, sic(k) willie and Howie the Voucher Clown’s other voucher pimps just want to rob tax dollars from the poor to help the rich.

You see, they know that the voucher scam would only leave those who need help the most even further behind.

They know their claim that the voucher scam would help all students is just cr@p.

Call your elected officials, particularly those Howie the Voucher Clown has bought, and tell them to do the right thing. Flush the voucher scam, again.

Listen for the giant sucking sound again this year.

As Howie the Voucher Clown’s latest version of the scam heads to the sewer..

BIN News Editorial Staff

Reply
Squishy123 March 13, 2013 at 8:45 pm

I don’t care… but if I did I’d say the major portion of the problem is black kids who have parent(s) who worry more about their hair and their rims than they do about their fuck trophies.

Reply
Squishy123 March 13, 2013 at 8:47 pm

What is BIN? Something that if it were WIN it’d be considered racist?

Reply
Smirks March 14, 2013 at 4:30 pm

+1 for “Howie the Voucher Clown”

Reply
Gonzo March 13, 2013 at 8:12 pm

Teacher’s tits, ass and legs are as sublime as our fair governor’s. I’d eat her alive.

Reply
Gonzo March 13, 2013 at 8:12 pm

Teacher’s tits, ass and legs are as sublime as our fair governor’s. I’d eat her alive.

Reply
Strickland March 13, 2013 at 8:31 pm

One issue worth noting whenever comparing Florida’s education system to that of other states are the number of English-language-learners in Florida compared to other states.

Because No Child Left Behind divided students in categories and required that each group (including ELLs) perform better on standardized test with each year, Florida had a substantially lower rate of schools achieving “Adequate Yearly Progress” than South Carolina did in 2011 (11 percent in Florida versus 24 percent in SC).

Reply
Please March 13, 2013 at 10:23 pm

Thanks for the context. The agenda of this propaganda blog – not “news” by any means – becomes clearer all the time.

Reply
Strickland March 13, 2013 at 8:31 pm

One issue worth noting whenever comparing Florida’s education system to that of other states are the number of English-language-learners in Florida compared to other states.

Because No Child Left Behind divided students in categories and required that each group (including ELLs) perform better on standardized test with each year, Florida had a substantially lower rate of schools achieving “Adequate Yearly Progress” than South Carolina did in 2011 (11 percent in Florida versus 24 percent in SC).

Reply
Please March 13, 2013 at 10:23 pm

Thanks for the context. The agenda of this propaganda blog – not “news” by any means – becomes clearer all the time.

Reply
lowcorider March 13, 2013 at 9:30 pm

Sometimes these threads just take a wrong turn. This is one of those times. Well sic looks like your Rich shill has attracted the Klan.

Reply
Lowcorider March 13, 2013 at 9:30 pm

Sometimes these threads just take a wrong turn. This is one of those times. Well sic looks like your Rich shill has attracted the Klan.

Reply
baker March 13, 2013 at 10:51 pm

Another misleading column on education, which is the norm here. Will wrote: “In 2000, it approved an “Education Lottery” (ostensibly “for the children”).”

It was not so much “for the children.” At least not the young ones. Will, I suspect you know good and well that the vast majority of lottery money goes to college scholarships, not the K-12 system.

And are SC lawmakers really spending “billions” more of state taxpayers’ money on our schools? Or would that include federal No Child Left Behind and/or Stimulus money (if “billions” more is really being spent at all)?

Finally, while private school choice is (of course) the crux of Will’s column, it is listed as just ONE of the things going on in Florida. There are five other initiatives listed….all of which could be having more impact than private school choice (indeed, are the NAEP test-takers in FL public or private school students?).

Reply
baker March 13, 2013 at 10:51 pm

Another misleading column on education, which is the norm here. Will wrote: “In 2000, it approved an “Education Lottery” (ostensibly “for the children”).”

It was not so much “for the children.” At least not the young ones. Will, I suspect you know good and well that the vast majority of lottery money goes to college scholarships, not the K-12 system.

And are SC lawmakers really spending “billions” more of state taxpayers’ money on our schools? Or would that include federal No Child Left Behind and/or Stimulus money (if “billions” more is really being spent at all)?

Finally, while private school choice is (of course) the crux of Will’s column, it is listed as just ONE of the things going on in Florida. There are five other initiatives listed….all of which could be having more impact than private school choice (indeed, are the NAEP test-takers in FL public or private school students?).

Reply
CNSYD March 13, 2013 at 10:56 pm

Howie’s check cleared Sic Willie’s bank.

Reply
CNSYD March 13, 2013 at 10:56 pm

Howie’s check cleared Sic Willie’s bank.

Reply
9" March 14, 2013 at 1:30 am

deja vu (we can’t even think of a word that rhymes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmpCAkB1euM

Reply
9" March 14, 2013 at 1:30 am

deja vu (we can’t even think of a word that rhymes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmpCAkB1euM

Reply
idiot March 14, 2013 at 12:56 pm

reports of huge educational gains must always be treated with skepticism. there are many easy ways for a state to alter its reported achievement. one party rule tends to further encourage and enable this practice.

Reply
idiot March 14, 2013 at 12:56 pm

reports of huge educational gains must always be treated with skepticism. there are many easy ways for a state to alter its reported achievement. one party rule tends to further encourage and enable this practice.

Reply

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