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Tenenbaum campaign stops here

Touring the fairgrounds

Bringing her campaign to the Orangeburg County Fair on Wednesday, Inez Tenenbaum received adoration from supporters and inquiring questions from passersby.

A couple dozen supporters enthusiastically waved signs and repeated chants of "I-N-E-Z" as the U.S. Senate candidate arrived at the Democratic Party's booth shortly after 6 p.m.

It was, she noted, the last stop of the first day of her "Red Dress Express" RV tour.

"For the next two weeks ... we are taking our campaign to every corner, every neighborhood, every part of the state," said Tenenbaum, who is currently South Carolina's superintendent of education.

Mindful of that fact, a man asked her a question that's on the minds of many voters — why South Carolina fares so poorly on educational achievement measurements.

While South Carolina's ranking of 49th in average SAT scores is frequently cited, "there are all kinds of ways to look at education," and in many ways, South Carolina ranks considerably higher, Tenenbaum replied.

The man then asked a question that has been on the minds of many educators.

"My wife taught school for 30 years," he said. "In the last two or three years, she had so much paperwork that she didn't have time to teach. Why is all that?"

"Teachers are inundated with trying to collect data necessary to keep up with all these records with No Child Left Behind," Tenenbaum replied, referring to sweeping federal accountability legislation.

"It's a lot on our teachers and they deserve all the credit they can get," she continued.

Later in an interview, she said, "South Carolina's teachers need to be built up, not torn down."

Tenenbaum rejected suggestions by her Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Jim DeMint, that she has failed to provide educational leadership as superintendent of education.

"Look, I inherited a system from Barbara Nielsen (former state superintendent of education and most recently education adviser to Gov. Mark Sanford). She raised SAT scores 11 points in eight years. I raised them 35 points in six years. And guess who's advising him (DeMint) on his education policy? Barbara Nielsen," Tenenbaum said.

"I'm very pleased with the results we've made," Tenenbaum said. "It has been phenomenal what we've done to improve our PACT scores and to improve our standing on national and international tests."

"I think that parents are happy with the progress we've made. Teachers have worked harder than ever before in our state's history. It's a shame that, in order to try to work against me, (DeMint) attacks our schools and our teachers. That's what's he's done."

Tenenbaum said she "led the way to get the $750 million bond bill passed which gave money to areas like Orangeburg so they could build their schools, and I did this without raising taxes."

Now that the schools' facilities needs have been largely addressed, it's time to provide more money for operations, she said.

"The schools have made progress, but you need extended early childhood education, you need reading math and science grants to help with the professional development of teachers, you need summer school and you need money for year-round school," she said.

"I want to continue to be a leader in education. That is our way for South Carolina to develop. It is economic development," she said.

If elected, "the first thing I'm going to do is work with state and local officials to find ways to increase jobs in South Carolina," Tenenbaum continued.

"We have an initiative called the Competitiveness Council that's looking at all the economic engines in our state. I want to work with these people to bring state, federal and private resources together and develop our economy," she said.

Tenenbaum said having "somebody who understands agribusiness" as a U.S. senator will help The T&D Region in terms of economic development.

"There are so many areas in which agriculture is under-utilized. One is the pharmaceutical industry. Another is alternate sources of fuel. Those are ways a U.S. senator who is really aware can steer economic development in those areas," she said.

Tenenbaum said another priority is "to sincerely work with Democrats and Republicans to look at ways to resolve the health care crisis."

DeMint "thinks these private Health Savings Accounts will be the answer to health care, and they are not," Tenenbaum said.

"It's not going to help the people who have no money to put into an account — the people who are chronically ill and have to use their money every day to live on and pay their medical bills," she said.

"And it's not going to solve the issue of the 500,000 people in South Carolina who have no health insurance."

Tenenbaum said another big issue where she differs with DeMint is Social Security. "I'm against privatization," she declared.

"I've made a pledge that I will not raise taxes on the middle class," Tenenbaum said. "I have pledged to cut taxes on the middle class by doubling the child tax credit, doing away permanently with the marriage penalty and extending the 10 percent (income tax) bracket."

She vowed to "fight against any effort to have a national sales tax," which she asserted "would raise taxes on 95 percent of South Carolinians."

Her repeated assertion that DeMint has endorsed a 23 percent sales tax is one of several disputed claims made by both candidates that have raised the campaign to the boiling point.

"He says we're running a deceptive campaign," Tenenbaum said. "I just point out what his record is. Somebody's record is not deceptive. When you have your name on a bill and you have recorded votes, it's public record. We're not doing anything that we don't have the information to stand behind."