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Date Published: February 19, 2004
It might be time for stand against unfunded mandates
It comes as no surprise that about a dozen states are starting to buck the system when it comes to conforming to federally mandated legislation like the No Child Left Behind Act.
These states are complaining that such legislation imposes costly new obligations without providing the money to carry them out.
The Republican-controlled Utah House took a firm stand recently, voting 64-8 to not comply with any provisions for which the federal government has not supplied enough money.
This problem is not unique to federal legislation. There continues to be more mandated state legislation handed down to the local level that communities like Sumter, Lee and Clarendon have a hard time funding as well.
In our state’s efforts to “fix” our education system, more and more legislators are coming up with grand ideas on how to make our children achieve at higher levels in school. Of course, they all cost more money than we have to give, which in turn depletes some of the already struggling programs we already have in place.
Every school is different. Every student is different. Every teacher is different. To try and hold all students and teachers accountable to the same standards on the national and state level would be extremely challenging for any community regardless of size and allotted dollars.
According to a recent Fordham Foundation Study, South Carolina’s standards have been rated as third best in the nation.
On the other hand, we are consistently ranked near the bottom in other studies when it comes to overall education performance.
Perhaps our state system should be somewhere between tough standards and overall education needs on the radar screen.
South Carolina is not yet one of those states challenging the No Child Left Behind Act but our demographics show that we might want to consider it. We don’t seem to have a problem moving at a snail’s pace when it comes to lowering the alcohol blood level for DUI enforcement or raising cigarette taxes.
As far as education goes, a strong economic platform in our state might consist of focusing more on job-related skills using today’s technology for those students unlikely to pursue college or post-high school studies.
Not to take away from the fact that Sumter would greatly benefit from making USC Sumter a four-year university, but pushing more students toward specific job-related programs will benefit the people of our state far more than many of the initiatives in the No Child Left Behind Act.
As South Carolina struggles to make up one of the largest budget deficits in the history of our state, we will continue to have a hard time funding the lofty goals and ideas of both national and state lawmakers for years to come.
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March 29, 2004
