South Carolina Ping
Posted on 01/05/2005 12:24:32 PM PST by StarCMC
A new legislative year is here and SCAIHS will begin sending you regular updates regarding legislation which will affect home-school families. The main bill to be followed is the Put Parents in Charge bill, legislation promoting parental choice in education. Much misinformation is being disseminated about this bill, so SCAIHS will regularly send updates with correct talking points, editorials, and studies.
To that end, South Carolinians for Responsible Government (SCRG) is conducting issue briefs on this bill in four locations. Please mark your calendars and attend one of these meetings if at all possible. They need each of us to turn out at one of the following locations:
Rock Hill at York Tech at the Baxter Hood Center on Jan. 10th, Florence at the Civic Center on Jan 10th, Greenville at the Main Library on Jan. 11th, and Columbia at Embassy Suites on Jan. 11th.
All of these meetings will begin at 7pm and are free to the public. They will have refreshments and will have lots of information for us to take home and hand out to our friends. David Limbaugh will be in Rock Hill and Greenville, and a very high-ranking official in the Bush Administration's Department of Education will be at the Columbia and Florence events.
Please take a minute to read the Editorial that follows.
TRIP TURNS SKEPTIC INTO BELIEVER By Senator David Thomas
Certain media are pulling out all the stops to discredit Governor Sanford's education reform proposal "Put Parents in Charge." In the past several weeks, there have been editorials that condemned Governor Sanford for having ventured to Milwaukee on an education fact-finding mission, as well as deceptive headlines and articles "reporting" on the trip.
Some have gone so far as to say that the governor was "wasting his time" (and by extension, those who accompanied him). Meanwhile, certain articles would have one believe that none of the participants were impressed by Milwaukee's turnaround and that school choice was not a viable option for South Carolina. Quite to the contrary. Governor Sanford accepted an invitation and organized a visit to Milwaukee because it was an opportunity for him and members of the General Assembly to learn more about a school system that has turned from troubled to successful through innovative reforms that expanded parents' options, increased student achievement, and lifted public school performance.
I went on the trip to Milwaukee with a number of my fellow legislators. Before going, I was lukewarm at best on the topic of school choice. Upon returning, the vast majority of those who attended, me included, can be counted as staunch advocates for school choice. After seeing and hearing firsthand how their school choice program benefited these kids and their families, as well as the public schools, any skepticism I had was erased.
These are the facts:
I learned that school choice improved graduation rates. I had this explained to me again and again by people in the system. When I returned from Milwaukee, I learned that researcher Jay Greene, a former Professor at the University of Texas and currently an analyst at the Manhattan Institute, had found that students who exercised school choice were almost twice as likely as others to graduate high school. Since South Carolina has the lowest high school graduation rate in the nation, perhaps we could learn something from a system that has dramatically curtailed the number of dropouts.
The kids who stay in school seem to be learning more. Large scale increases in reading, math, science, and social studies scores have been documented by researchers from Harvard, Princeton, and the University of Wisconsin. And in speaking to parents and children participating in school choice in Milwaukee, they all say that their grades have improved. That's what impressed me the most - having a parent and child tell me directly that this reform is working. Poor and minority parents can make choices just as well as wealthy or white ones if given the opportunity.
A particularly nasty charge being leveled against Governor Sanford is that his school choice proposal benefits the well-off while neglecting the concerns of poor and minorities. This is absolutely false. "Put Parents in Charge" gives them that opportunity, something they don't have under the current system. Many defenders of the status quo say that these populations can never reasonably expect to produce high achievers. On my trip to Milwaukee, I saw classrooms filled with well- disciplined, attentive, enthusiastic students of every color. When I asked their teachers about achievement levels, I was shown their results. They were rock solid. What was the secret? Involved and empowered parents made all the difference, I was told.
Every parent I spoke to said that school choice had improved the schools and that reactions to their concerns were more attentive and responsive. When I got home, I checked the Federal Education Resources and Information Clearinghouse (ERIC) and found that studies had proven parental satisfaction was increased in Milwaukee. In short, everything that I saw and heard was true - this was no dog and pony show.
Everything that I learned about school choice in Milwaukee reinforced that it was a good idea. School choice lowered dropout rates, raised student achievement, and gave parents new options while increasing their satisfaction. Competition has improved the schools in Milwaukee and could do so here. If the opponents of choice would approach the education problem in the spirit of inquiry and thoughtful analysis, they too would be converted - just as I and others who went on the trip have been. David Thomas represents District 8 in the SC Senate. He is an attorney and lives in Greenville. SCRG has submitted this oped at the request of Senator Thomas. He can be reached at 864-271-6371.
Here is is Uncle! :o)
SwampFox - Uncle would like me to ask you to ping your SC list! :o)
Many defenders of the status quo say that these populations can never reasonably expect to produce high achievers.
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Nice to know what kind of folks are in charge of educating our youth. If you are poor, you're automatically stupid. I can't even number the amount of people that can refute that asinine statement...there are far too many.
Grrrrr.
Thanks so much for posting this timely article.
As an eight year homeschooler in South Carolina I will help Gov. Sanford as he's fighting for parents and choice. Sanford is a strong leader but he's fighting the MSM and entrenched "educators".
Whether he runs for the job at 1600 Penn Ave. remains to be seen. This battle may just be the platform from which he gains national attention for a jump into the ring.
He'll need help though from all the FReepers in the Palmetto state and dollars for his war chest.
Grrr is righr exnavychick!
It's been downhill since forever.
Well, here's a chance to change it.
Believe me, I am working on learning what I need to know in order to do just that.
:)
You have how many children! lol!
Are you home schooling now?
No, not yet. My eldest son lives in Ohio and goes to a Catholic school. My other boys are 4, 4 (this is only temporary, until the next birthday in two weeks, one has a birthday TODAY!!) and 6 months...too young for homeschooling, formally. We do some lessons every now and then, but I am keeping more of my focus on their language and social skills for right now.
Schools will improve when they are allowed to become competitive. School choice is a start towards this goal.
Would you purposely search out an under performing school for your child? I didn't think so!
The public schools are hamstrung in so many ways.
There are attorneys that specialize in suing school districts I am told for any kind of disciplinary action.
There is the NEA which is run from the top by outspoken Marxists, told by friends who used to work at their HQ in DC. The NEA is viewed as speaking for the teachers of America by the DC political establishment.
If we get school choice and government money goes to private schools, I am not so sure that we will clean up the public schools as much as introduce the private schools to government control via the receipt of tax money. This might allow the state input into the private schools, via the NEA, and do to them what they have done to once excellent public schools.
You've both heard about the two trains that collided in Graniteville if you have the television on at all in our town. Residents of that town are told to stay indoors and turn off their ventilation systems.
I've heard sirens for hours and the scene at the University, which is a staging area, looks like when we had the anthrax attacks. The chlorine is of the most concern so beware if you experience difficulty breathing or burning eyes.
A lot of roadblocks out there. The FBI has been called in it was just reported but it isn't known if that's standard operating procedure or something more ominous.
Thanks Peach. I heard a few minutes ago. Guess it's not a good day to go into Augusta via Highway 1.
Good morning. I was supposed to mentor today in Augusta but we had to call it off.
Just said on the news that fumes are smelled as far away as Route 20. Stay indoors today.
...your on this program!
It's good that Freepers keep close tabs on Homeschooling news. I've read more articles on this trend here than in any of the lamestream media stories.
We have been discussing inexpensive ways to fast track kids through high school to avoid the liberal agenda:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1315730/posts?page=84#84
The thread title was not well thought out, because some parents might instinctively skip over it due to attached stigma, whether real or imagined.
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