Charleston Currents

Post Tagged with: "education"

From “Civic Government,” a statue in Ohio by George Danhires. Source: Wikipedia.

BRACK: Let’s have a national media campaign on civics

Commentary by Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Americans – liberal, conservative and in-between — need to be reminded of what it means to be American. For role models, they don’t need to look to just about anyone in Washington or state capitals like Columbia.

All that seems to be coming from Washington is nonsense that spans from a presidential administration in constant crisis mode to a Congress that ping-pongs from outrage to shock to digging in their heels about things petty and consequential. And then there are the tell-all books and anonymous opinion columns that shine spotlights on all of the dysfunction.

by Andy Brack · 09/10/2018 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views

MY TURN, Read: Our education system is failing our children

By John C. Read, special to Charleston Currents | Our responsibility at Tri-County Cradle to Career Collaborative (TCCC) is to report on the state of education across Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester, as we have done for the past five years.

Read
The data we analyze and the collaborative work we do all say the same thing: public education in our region is failing to educate substantial numbers of our children. The differences among counties, districts and schools are only differences in degree; the cost in human potential is excessive.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 08/27/2018 · Comments are Disabled · My Turn, Views

8/27: Prints in Clay coming; New voting machines; Failing in education

IN THIS ISSUE of Charleston Currents

FOCUS: Prints in Clay events at Gaillard to celebrate spirituals, culture
COMMENTARY, Brack: S.C. should buy new voting machines now
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Charleston International Airport
MY TURN, Read: Our education system is failing our children
GOOD NEWS: Clemson to host world energy conference her Nov. 12-14
FEEDBACK: Send us a letter
MYSTERY PHOTO: Loggerhead turtle area
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Rainbow Row
CALENDAR: New exhibit is open at City Gallery in Charleston

by Charleston Currents · 08/27/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue

FOCUS: Public school teachers are stewards of our future

By Caroline Mauldin, special to Charleston Currents | South Carolina’s public school teachers are indeed stewards of our future. By fostering young minds to be critical and creative thinkers, they are preparing an agile workforce that will be able to adjust and thrive in a changing economy. By showing up every day for our children, they are pillars of every community in the state, especially those that are increasingly under-resourced and struggling to survive. And by choosing a career of service and leadership, they are doing more to ensure the state’s prosperity than most—and certainly more than we give them credit for.

South Carolina can and should be proud of our public school educators. We should also be proud of how we celebrate them at the Teacher of the Year gala every May. What we need to work on is how we, as a society, treat them the rest of the year.

A recent study shows that teacher salaries have actually declined in past decades as cost of living has increased. In South Carolina, we’ve seen a 6 percent decrease since 2000, whereas salaries for other college graduates are increasing.

by Charleston Currents · 04/30/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

BRACK: If you want prosperity, you’ve got to invest to build talent

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | If you’re a little overweight, you know – in your heart of hearts – what you really need to do: Eat less, get rid of junk food and exercise more.

For states like South Carolina that are underweight in terms of education, economic disparity, health outcomes and poverty, we know – in our heart of hearts – what we really need to do: Invest more in our future, throw off the shackles that still hold us back and increase opportunities for our people.

by Andy Brack · 04/16/2018 · 3 comments · Andy Brack, Views

An aerial view of Pacific Mills and Olympia Mill village in Columbia. Copyrighted image courtesy the Richland Library.

4/9, full issue: On I-526; Likely friendship; Not wasting time

IN THIS ISSUE

MYSTERY PHOTO: Gold top
FOCUS: Interstate 526 completion isn’t actionable plan, but smoky scheme
COMMENTARY, Brack: S.C. friendship touted in new book isn’t all that unlikely
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
CAREERS, Fanning: Video on how to stop wasting time
GOOD NEWS: New education report seeks to provoke education change
FEEDBACK: Send us a letter
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Mill villages in South Carolina
CALENDAR, April 9+: Beers with dogs and books, more

by Charleston Currents · 04/09/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue

The S.C. Supreme Court building in Columbia, S.C.

BRACK: High court lets legislature off the education hook

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Shame on a majority of the legislatively-elected S.C. Supreme Court for letting the General Assembly off the hook on funding poor, rural schools. State leaders haven’t yet spent enough money or done enough work to upgrade these neglected schools so that they’re on par with urban and suburban public schools.

On Nov. 17, the court ruled 3-2 to dismiss the 24-year-old Abbeville v. State of South Carolina school equity funding lawsuit. The order, however, is premature because state legislators only started moving these schools toward parity after a 2014 order by the court. Now without the court’s oversight, there’s no pressure on the General Assembly to make good on its promises.

With gazillions of dollars of state funding needs, do you really trust legislators not to continue a legacy of inattention in the so-called “Corridor of Shame” area where a multitude of challenges persist?

by Andy Brack · 11/27/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

MORRIS: Let’s toot our horn

By Kyra Morris, contributing editor | 2016 spoke loudly of the desire for change. The message is real. Unfortunately, the answers are being overlooked.

The answers do not reside in the divisive behavior and climate that sells media and creates emotional drama. The answers can be found by looking at what positive things exist in the communities around us. There is concrete evidence that positive change can happen – is happening. I have witnessed innovative ideas that are making a difference in Nashville, Tenn., Greenville, S.C., Raleigh, N.C., Indianapolis, Ind., San Antonio, Texas, and right here in Charleston. It often is a choice we have to make to see the good over the bad.

by Kyra Morris · 01/02/2017 · 5 comments · Money, Views

BRACK: High court should keep holding state accountable on education

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Boy, the S.C. legislature’s lawyers have some gall.

In a state where public education has been underfunded by about $4 billion since 2010, lawyers for the General Assembly and Gov. Nikki Haley essentially say they’ve done enough to comply with a state Supreme Court order to do more for poor school districts.

Yeah, right. More than two decades ago, a handful of poor school districts brought suit against the state seeking more equitable education funding. Referred to as the Abbeville case, the lawsuit wound its way through a too-slow judicial process until late 2015 when the state Supreme Court finally ordered the General Assembly and school districts come up with a way to pay for the state’s failure to provide adequate public education opportunities, especially in poor, rural districts. The court said it would provide oversight on the case until the state got its act together.

by Andy Brack · 09/12/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

Winter, center, at a Mississippi church service. Images courtesy of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation.

BRACK: We need more inspirational leaders like William Winter

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Whenever there’s a letter or card in the mail from Mississippi, it’s bound to be inspirational. And it’s bound to be from a guy you might not have heard of but should know more about.

Meet former Mississippi Gov. William F. Winter, a public sector healer whose decency, goodness and vision for a better South gently motivates people to be kinder and more accepting of each other.

by Andy Brack · 08/15/2016 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views