Governor's Conference on Education
April 22, 1998
Note: The Governor sometimes deviates from text.
Thanks Bob for that kind introduction. Bob, you did such a tremendous job serving on our PASS Commission.
You and all our commissioners deserve a medal, because your work has brought us to one of the most monumental moments in South Carolina education.
As you know, we're right on the edge of bringing about a true system of standards and accountability to South Carolina's public schools.
The PASS bill has been approved by both the House and Senate. It's in conference committee right now, where all the details are getting worked out.
But when that bill passes...and I've been assured that it will pass...it's going to be a revolutionary step toward lasting reform from the inside out.
Contrary to those folks who have made a cottage industry of beating up on our schools, you and I know that there's lots of good news to talk about in South Carolina education these days.
I see about a thousand reasons right here why South Carolinians should take heart: and that's you...our dedicated educators, superintendents, administrators and school board members.
You get up every day...and you devote yourselves anew to our children and their learning.
And you're taking part in the state's largest meeting on education, not for a field trip...but because you care. Because you want our schools to excel. Because you want to get new ideas, learn from each other and take your students to heights of achievement they've never seen before.
So I'd like to thank the state Chamber and the School Boards Association for hosting this forum each year. 1998 brings us close to 40 years together...and there will be many more to come, I'm sure.
But 1998 also marks the closing of a chapter in South Carolina education...as the final year Barbara Nielsen will serve our state as superintendent.
It's been a tough job, and I appreciate her long years of dedication. She's worked hard to give the next generation the very best education we can possibly give.
Academic excellence is the goal that everyone here is working for. And I believe 1998 could very well be the year that puts South Carolina on the road to achieving it.
Of course, when we set for students concise, world-class, back-to-basics standards...when we measure achievement at every level...and when we finally get honest with parents on how schools are doing...that's going to shake up the system.
It's going to shed light in some dark corners. It's going to push us out of our comfort zones. And yes, it will make your jobs harder. I won't try to tell you otherwise.
But we all know that the status quo is not an option.
The information age is upon us. The jobs are tougher, more complicated, more high-tech. And those are exactly the kinds of jobs we're recruiting.
So if the world is working harder, all of us have to work harder, too. And that means me, you, teachers, students, legislators, parents...all of us.
Our accountability system will be a great help to good teachers...and it will also be a great challenge. But I wouldn't have pushed it if I didn't know you were up to it.
Let's think back on just the short list of challenges we've already met together:
· Every school in this state now has access to the Internet.
· Eighty percent of our children tested ready for first grade this year the highest number since we started testing in 1979.
· Students will have to work harder and earn four more credits to graduate.
· We started a fund that helps send our brightest scholars to college...and helps renovate and build schools across the state.
· For the first time, we're customizing teacher evaluations through ADEPT.
· And to recruit and retain the best, we're finally paying our teachers above the Southeastern average.
Those are some huge steps we've taken on the road to academic excellence...and they're steadily registering an impact in classrooms across this state.
There's another step that you're hearing a lot of discussion about...and that's reducing class size. Like you, I've been studying the issue for several years now.
And I'm looking for answers to questions that we all share, like where will reducing class size make the biggest impact? Will it have hidden costs or become another unfunded mandate? Are your districts prepared to provide the extra facilities and competent teachers that will be needed?
It's an expensive endeavor, and I just want to make sure that we're actually accomplishing what we want to do with that money.
One answer may be to start with schools where our challenges are the greatest...and proceed from there.
There are any number of ways we could do this. And I fully support the concept of smaller classes for our children.
But as you know, class size is just one piece of a larger puzzle. And we'll never realize the full impact of making classes smaller...until our standards are higher. That's where change has to start.
It has to start at the local level...from the teachers and parents who know best what the answers are in your community.
Education can't be cookie-cuttered, and it can't be dictated from on high.
So we're going to give you the roadmap of clear-cut, world-class standards, and then we're going to turn over the wheel and let you steer exactly how to get there.
You've already shown us heroic efforts day in and day out at our public schools. And let's not forget: we've already got some of the finest schools, teachers and students anywhere on the face of this earth.
Our challenge is to take those successes statewide...to make them not the exception, but the rule. And I know you're just the folks for the job.
Of course, we also have to consider the long-term impact of higher standards.
If students rise to the challenge we set...if they study harder and perform better...they're going to beat a path to the door of our colleges and universities.
And that's where the next component of our strategy for excellence comes in: the Palmetto LIFE scholarship.
Essentially, if high school students work hard and get good grades, we will reward them with free college tuition to state schools.
That would give students an added incentive to study hard, which can only boost SAT scores. It would help keep our scholars here at home. And it would give hard-working families a real shot at the dream of college.
But for some reason, the plan is stalled in the Senate. Why, I don't know. If you'd have told me that anyone would stand in the way of a college scholarship program, I wouldn't have believed you!
As the frontline workers in education, your opinions carry a lot of weight. So I ask you to go home and let your guidance counselors and principals know what's happening. They may think the scholarship plan is a done deal, but clearly it's not.
Your senators need to hear from you on how much a scholarship program of this magnitude will mean to our children.
I'm convinced that if the education community rallies behind this plan, the General Assembly will have no choice but to listen.
And in the end, we'll have one more piece of great news for families and students to add to our list.
The scholarship, standards, technology and teacher pay...all of it is raising the bar inch by inch...higher and higher.
With all the momentum that's building...with the team we've put together...with all our efforts to improve the quality of life, I believe our students are getting the boost they need to soar.
Sure, it takes hard work. It takes faithful study. But at the end of their long years
of school, it is my vision and yours that every South Carolina child...rich or poor, black
or
white, urban or rural...will one day proudly count himself among the capable ones of
this generation.
It's possible. It's our job. It's our dream. And 1998 could be the year that starts bringing it all within reach.
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