May 11, 1999
To South Carolina Newspapers, Editorial Boards.
Equality in Education?
In over 33 years of public service, I’ve seen a lot of great programs built on speculation. I have witnessed programs travel the river of our legislative process, and I have seen many good intentions filter through the political prism only to become poor public policy. At the same time, I have witnessed significant objectives become realities and many progressive programs blossom through the efforts of our state government, the General Assembly, and the citizens of our state.
Saying we are at a crossroads would be trite, too much an understatement for the debate the General Assembly is engaged in concerning education in South Carolina. The debate over the meaning of a School Facility Bond Bill to the educational system in our state could lead anywhere. Presently, it appears that the legislation is headed to Conference Committee. As State Treasurer, I suggest that if we are truly going to have equality in education, we as citizens must support the School Facility Bond Bill.
Throughout my travels across the state last year, I was constantly reminded and "re-educated" about the needs of local school districts, especially concerning educational facilities. During the campaign, I visited several schools in our state. I commented to the vice-principal of one school about how wonderful the new expansion was going to make the school look. To my surprise, she informed me that the school was growing at such a rapid pace that the new expansion would only meet half of the school’s needs. The school population had already outgrown the new expansion. As a result, the fields, which are supposed to be used for physical education, will continue to house several dozen portable classrooms. This is only one of the facility dilemmas which confronts local school districts almost everywhere in South Carolina.
Do we want a generation of children who do not know what the inside of a real classroom looks like? If we as South Carolinians expect our schools to maintain competent teachers who will lead in producing an educated workforce and the competent leaders of tomorrow, then, we must help provide an environment that is conducive to teaching and learning. The majority of South Carolinians certainly prefer to work in technologically advanced and modern buildings. Unfortunately, many of the young people who attend public school in South Carolina do so in asbestos ridden school buildings established in the 30’s, 40’s, and the 50’s. As South Carolina tries to leap into the new millenium, this is unacceptable. If our state does not spend the end of the 20th Century improving our education system, then, we shall inevitably spend the 21st Century trying to catch up with the rest of the world.
We as a state must come together along with Superintendent of Education Inez Tennenbaum and every Senator in the General Assembly and recognize the need for the School Facilities Bond Bill. Financially, the time is right! South Carolina’s economy is steadfast and interest rates are at an all-time low; however, according to the Board of Economic Advisors, the cost of construction materials is on the rise. In view of this, it makes practical business sense to allow South Carolina and local school districts the opportunity to build classrooms at a lower cost and issue bonds at a lower interest rate. As the state’s chief financial officer, I can assure the people of our state that investing in bonds for our schools is safe, and South Carolina still has more than enough room under the statutory debt limit cap. It seems logical that the potential long-term benefits outweigh any shortsighted criticism. Financially, everyone seems to win…local economies from new construction, the business community that cries for an educated work force, the children of South Carolina from better schools, and the people overall from a government that works together to put their children first.
Now is the time for us to face the inequality that exists in our schools, all districts are not equal! South Carolinians have heard many individuals talk about equality in education. What does this mean? I do not have the complete answer to this question, but I know a starting place is with a School Facilities Bond Bill. I do believe that inherent in the solution is the quality of a local school district’s buildings. We must be realistic that we have some rural and extremely poor counties. Simply put, the tax base does not exist to support schools in these areas, so there is little building of new facilities. As a result, rural and poor counties will never be equal to the schools in Charleston, Greenville, Columbia, nor in the other major cities until we take specific action to help these schools.
The last election told us that the voters of this state gave a clear mandate to their government representatives to focus on education and to hold local schools accountable for the various academic performances of their pupils. Every school must be on equal footing if accountability standards are to work. This is our state’s opportunity to help poor and rural schools gain equal footing. How can we force standards for accountability on local schools unless we assist the poor and rural school districts that have fallen behind simply because of their location in this state? South Carolina will never have a solid educational system unless we provide a means by which schools in rural South Carolina can achieve at the same level of education which schools in the Upstate and in major cities in South Carolina perform.
My own pragmatism prohibits my believing that new schools will be the only solution to the educational problems in South Carolina. However, I strongly believe that the School Facilities Bond Bill will help provide poorer districts with an opportunity to catch up with the rest of South Carolina. It is truly a step in the direction of the pursuit of the ideal we call equality in education.
###
For more information contact:
David A. Adams, 803/734-0380