The Hodges Record

South Carolina's public schools are improving, but don't take our word for it… South Carolina is drawing the attention of national publications for its positive educational progress. The Princeton Review recently rated South Carolina’s academic accountability system as among the top ten in the nation. For example, Education Week’s “Quality Counts 2002” national survey characterized South Carolina’s system of early-childhood education as “more substantial than ever before.” The same survey also gave South Carolina the 3rd best grade nationally in improving teacher quality and 11th for raising academic standards. And when Time magazine went looking for the best middle school in America, they came to South Carolina.

Education Lottery. On November 7, 2000, the people of South Carolina responded overwhelmingly in favor of the Governor’s education lottery plan. The South Carolina Education Lottery will provide $170 million annually to improve education in South Carolina and to make college more affordable for South Carolina students and families.

SAT Improvement. South Carolina now leads the nation in SAT improvement. Since 1998, South Carolina’s SAT scores have gone up 23 points -- which is seven times the national average. Under Governor Hodges’ leadership, South Carolina has experienced the largest 3-year gain in the nation.

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-1990’s. As governor, Hodges has created a new preschool initiative, First Steps to School Readiness. Thanks to full-day kindergarten and First Steps, the number of South Carolina first-graders scoring “ready” for school set a new record. Nearly 50,000 first-graders – a record 86.4 percent – met the state’s readiness standard. That’s a 14.5 percentage-point improvement from 1995, the year before the state began a three-year phase-in of full-day kindergarten.

School Crime. Under the Hodges Administration, hundreds of officers have been put into public schools. The results are showing. In the last school year, the number of criminal incidents and the rate of crime in South Carolina schools declined for the first time in a decade.

Student Performance and Testing. Our students are pushing up state averages on the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test and national tests, such as the National Assessment of Education Progress. The number of high school students passing all three state exit exams on their first try has experienced its greatest gains in a decade. And South Carolina high students scored above the national average in reading, language, and math in 2000 and 2001 on the nationally standardized TerraNova test of basic skills. South Carolina eighth graders met or exceeded the international math and science average in TIMSS (Third International Math and Science Study).

Accountability. Under the Hodges Administration, school accountability has been fully-funded. South Carolina's accountability system is now recognized as one of the nation's best and serves as a model for other states.

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 2002 Report of Education Week Magazine, South Caroline ranks third in the nation in improving teacher quality. Among the Governor’s efforts to improve teacher quality are incentives to increase the number of nationally certified teachers. South Carolina now pays nationally certified teachers a bonus of $7,500 annually. In 3 years, the number of South Carolina teachers receiving national certification has risen from 16 to 1,300, making the Palmetto State fifth in the nation for nationally certified teachers.

Teacher Pay. Teachers are professionals. That's why Governor Hodges raised teacher pay above the southeastern average. Now he's launched an ambitious initiative to push teacher salaries in South Carolina to the national average.

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.

Reading. Governor Hodges and First Lady Rachel Hodges have championed the cause of reading in South Carolina. Through the Governor’s Institute of Reading, over 2,000 teachers and school leaders have participated in the development of best practices in reading. In addition, 30,000 free books have been distributed to children.

Economic Development. Governor Hodges has overseen record economic development in South Carolina, including the state's first "Billion Dollar Day." The last three years have seen more than $18 billion in capital investment creating 87,000 new jobs in the state, improving the lives and opportunities of many South Carolinians. In the mission to further economic development in all regions of our State, Governor Hodges’ leadership has provided water and sewer grants totaling $80 million to South Carolina's rural and underdeveloped areas in order to provide jobs and increase economic development opportunity. Additionally, the Economic Development Bond Act was signed by Governor Hodges in 2002 to increase the State's ability for economic recruitment in today's competitive business environment.

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 August. 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 ($20 million) from the national tobacco settlement, Governor Hodges launched the SilverCard prescription drug initiative in January 2001. Currently, SilverCard provides affordable prescription drug coverage to over 40,000 qualifying seniors in South Carolina. In July 2002, the Hodges Administration received approval from the US Department of Health and Human Services to use these state funds to match an additional $57 million of federal funds in order to expand SilverCard. It is estimated that as many as 90,000 additional South Carolinians will be eligible for pharmaceutical assistance starting January 2003.

Protecting the Environment. From initiatives that protect our natural habitats and historical heritage to those that prevent us from being the nation’s nuclear dumping ground, Governor Hodges has fought to maintain South Carolina’s enviable quality of life. His appointments to the governing boards of our environmental management agencies reflect this desire and have assured that these agencies work toward that goal on a daily basis. By investing in our natural resources, Governor Hodges is safeguarding economic growth and the health of our communities now and in the future.