The Hodges Record

Education Lottery. After more than a decade of debate, Governor Hodges convinced the legislature to let the people vote on an education lottery. On November 7, 2000, the people of South Carolina responded overwhelmingly in favor of the governor's education lottery plan. Over 700,000 South Carolinians voted "yes" to eliminate the constitutional ban on lotteries. This 54 percent landslide victory will increase the number of college scholarships, provide free tuition for everyone attending technical and two-year colleges and universities, and make South Carolina first in the nation on per-pupil spending on classroom technology.

SAT Improvement. South Carolina now leads the nation in SAT improvement. Since 1998, South Carolina's SAT scores have gone up 15 points. Under Governor Hodges' leadership, South Carolina has experienced a bigger increase in SAT scores over the last two years than in the last ten years combined.

School Readiness. Governor Hodges has championed early childhood education since he led the fight in the legislature to enact full-day kindergarten in the mid-1990s. As governor, Hodges has created a new preschool initiative, First Steps to School Readiness. Thanks to full-day kindergarten and First Steps, more children than ever are testing ready for the first grade. In 2000, South Carolina set a new record in school readiness, with 83.9 percent of kindergartners testing ready for the first grade on the Comprehensive Skills Assessment Battery.

School Construction. Governor Hodges successfully won passage of a school construction initiative that provides $1.1 billion for new schools without raising taxes. This effort represents South Carolina's largest school construction initiative since the early 1950s.

Teacher Quality. According to the Quality Counts 2001 Report of Education Week Magazine, South Carolina ranks fourth in the nation for improving teacher quality. In his 2000 State of the State Address, Governor Hodges set the goal 500 nationally-certified teachers in South Carolina by the end of 2002. Last year, South Carolina increased the number of nationally-certified teachers by more than 800 percent -- from 39 to 370.

Parental Involvement. Governor Hodges launched the "Compact with Our Children," an effort to boost parental involvement in their children's education. Since 1999, over 100,000 parents have signed compacts pledging to provide a supportive learning environment and take an active role in school activities.

Economic Development. The last two years have been the best two years for economic development in South Carolina history. Governor Hodges has posted a two-year record of $12.5 billion in capital investment and over 65,000 new jobs. This includes all-time records of $6.38 billion in capital investment in 1999 and the creation of 35,132 new jobs in 2000.

Tax Relief. Governor Hodges has cut taxes for seniors and working families. His innovative and popular sales tax holiday gives South Carolinians the opportunity to shop tax-free every six months. Governor Hodges also supported raising the homestead exemption for seniors from $20,000 to $50,000, effectively eliminating the property tax burden for half of the seniors in South Carolina.

Prescription Drug Coverage. With a portion of funds from the national tobacco settlement, Governor Hodges launched the SilverCard prescription drug initiative. SilverCard now provides affordable prescription drug coverage to over 33,000 qualifying seniors in South Carolina.

Protecting the Environment. Governor Hodges has kept his promise to end South Carolina's unwanted status as the nation's nuclear dumping ground. Governor Hodges enacted legislation enabling South Carolina to join the three-state Atlantic Compact, which will prohibit waste from the remaining 47 states by 2008.