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Web posted Tuesday,
January 27, 2004
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Editorial: Governor right to chastise
Beaufort County
Carolina Morning News
Gov.
Mark Sanford made an example of Beaufort County in
his State of the State Address on Wednesday, and
it wasn't flattering.
But it was on the
mark.
Local citizens know very well that
the governor, who grew up in northern Beaufort
County and still has family in the area, opposes
the construction of a big new high school north of
the Whale Branch River.
In his speech on
Wednesday, he made his feelings clear to the rest
of the state.
He first ripped "remote mega
schools that have proven themselves to be less
effective as learning environments."
Then
added the real ouch: "I know of one such situation
in northern Beaufort County. Unless we want to
continue this costly practice of using schools as
an excuse to drag infrastructure across the
countryside, all I can say I that I would
encourage voters to demand schools are built in
communities that reflect the size of that
community." (The proposed new school would
accommodate about 1,000 students, or about twice
as many students as currently live in the
attendance area.)
The governor brings a
statewide perspective to the debate, and that can
be very helpful in framing the issues.
He
sees that open space has already vanished in much
of the state, and that the Lowcountry is fast
following suit.
He hears all the excuses
and alibis and promises concerning South
Carolina's dismal SAT scores, but at the end of
the day he knows the bottom-line number has barely
budged in three decades.
We hope the Board
of Education and Beaufort County Council were
listening to the governor. The decision about
where to build schools should never again be based
on politics.
More importantly, we hope
local taxpayers took note of the governor's
challenge and will in the future demand that local
officials consider quality of life issues in every
vote they take.
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