(Published October 4‚ 2004)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Gov. Mark Sanford questioned the allocation of teachers and whether Educational Television in South Carolina is making the most of its airtime and money during a budget hearing Monday with the heads of those agencies.

Sanford met with leaders of the state Education Department, First Steps, the Education Oversight Committee and S.C. ETV as part of his ongoing meetings with state agencies as he prepares his executive budget for next year.

Sanford focused on the Education Department, one of the state's biggest annual expenses.

State Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum, who also is a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, was peppered with questions by the Republican governor and his staff about topics ranging from consolidating school districts to changing the state's standardized test.

The Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test is given annually to third- through eighth-graders, but some teachers have complained that because scores take so long to get back, it's hard to gauge progress.

Education Oversight Committee director Jo Anne Anderson said it would be expensive to convert to a national standardized test, and Tenenbaum said the state has worked too hard to develop the PACT to throw it out.

"Yes, all of this is expensive, but to convert to some other system throws out six years of a tremendous amount of work," Tenenbaum said. The PACT costs about $11 million, or $39 per student, to administer each year.

Sanford also wanted to know why nationally certified teachers, who get a $7,500 bonus annually for up to 10 years for completing that training, aren't required to work in poor or rural school districts.

"Are we going to put those resources into the places that are most needed?" Sanford said. "Why don't we make that change?"

Teachers have said requiring them to work at disadvantaged schools could discourage them from seeking the certification. About 3,225 teachers in South Carolina are nationally certified in a program pushed by Tenenbaum and Sanford's predecessor Jim Hodges.

S.C. ETV president Maurice Bresnahan said teachers are using his agency's distance learning programs in their classrooms. And, he said, a Web-based version will soon be available.

He defended some of the agency's programs such as "Antiques Roadshow" and broadcasts of news conferences for South Carolina and Clemson football coaches, saying as many as 500,000 people tune into state programming each week.

"But the question we are constantly trying to get at is ... relative to early childhood education or relative to immunization, is it maximizing the investment," Sanford said.

Sanford also questioned Bresnahan about ETV's excess office space - about 20,000 square feet. Bresnahan said the agency is working with the Budget and Control Board to find a user for that space.