Cooperation essential in legislative year

Fri, Jan 19, 2007

The rhetoric was good, now let's see if the governor and General Assembly actually work together this year.

Gov. Mark Sanford issued his state-of-the-state address on Wednesday and with it came conciliatory words in which the governor seemed to be reaching out his hand to legislators. The two were at odds during the governor's first term, and at times there seemed to be no chance for the executive and legislative branches to work together. Wednesday's words were different. Let's hope that cooperation can bring with it some solutions to the problems that face our state and its citizens.

Gov. Sanford reached out to legislators, saying it would require the House, Senate and governor to work together to accomplish what is in the best interest of the people.

Restructuring an archaic state government was at the top of the governor's list of things to accomplish this year. Already legislation has been proposed that would change some state positions from elected to appointed. The legislature may find it difficult to give the governor more authority, but positions such as secretary of state and comptroller general should realistically be appointed ones. Most South Carolinians would be hard pressed to describe the duties of those positions, much less the people who hold the offices.

Among the governor's more interesting ideas was to change school district alignments to have one school district for each of the state's 46 counties. There are currently 85 school districts in the state, some of which have only a few hundred students. While this is not an unreasonable proposal, it is not one that will necessarily bring about great change in educational results that our schools need. Neither will Gov. Sanford's continuing request for more school choice.

Gov. Sanford did not mention putting public money in the hands of private schools, but with his history of such notions it can be presumed that this would be part of his ultimate plan. Unfortunately in his four years in office, Gov. Sanford has offered no real guidance to improve the public education system and thus the future of hundreds of thousands of South Carolina children.

Other issues pale in comparison if the legislature, the governor and the new superintendent of education do not collaborate to solve some of the problems in the way we educate our children. This must be the top priority for state government and the future of South Carolina.

What is the best way to solve South Carolina's problems in education? Is the governor's idea of school choice appropriate? Will having a single district in each county help? Send comments to letters@aikenstandard.com