Education
Your Comments (send to yoursiteSC@comcast.net)
March 31, 2009
From:  School vouchers in the real world

Whenever I get stuck trying to figure out which side of the ideological fence I am sitting on when it comes to a government policy, I try to boil it down to the numbers.  I’m an
accountant after all.  And when I say numbers, I don’t mean billions of dollars or thousands of people or percentages of red states and blue states.  I mean the family budget.

So when Senator Ford found school voucher religion, I thought I’d apply it to the family budget and see what happens.

I have a template for the family budget.  I don’t know where it sits in relation to national or state averages.  But in my mythical family budget, adults are educated, fortunate,
responsible, and comfortable but not wealthy.  By fortunate I mean that they haven’t lost their jobs; they have health insurance; they work for much more than minimum wage.  
They bought a home that they could afford with a traditional 20% down payment and a reasonable fixed interest rate.  They save what they should – six percent for retirement and
four percent for a rainy day fund, college, vacation.  They drive fuel efficient reasonably priced late model used cars.  One is paid for.  The other is financed.  Amazingly, they have
no other debt – no credit card debt, no home equity line, no student loans hanging over their heads.

My comfortable and fortunate mythical family has two working adults that both make $48,000 per year.  This version of my mythical family also has two kids, because, if you don’t
have kids, you won’t get a school voucher (or “state income tax credit” as Senator Ford is calling it).

So my family makes a very comfortable $96,000 per year.  They pay about 25% of their take-home pay in state, federal, and payroll taxes and, like I said, they save about 10%
total.  That means they bring home about $5,200 per month.  Their mortgage, with taxes and insurance is about $2,000 per month.  They have a $300 per month car payment.  
Electric, gas, water, phone, cable (yes they have some premium channels), and internet service cost about $500 per month.  Now they have $2,800 per month.

They have two growing kids, so groceries run about $600 per month.  Clothes for the family of four are about $200 per month (that’s about $600 per year…not a fashionista’s
budget).  There’s gas, auto insurance, maintenance for the cars.  There are dental bills and insurance co-pays, fees for school sports and activities, and a little bit for after-
school care of their school-age kids.  Let’s call all that $600 per month (remember, we’re talking about four people here).  About two times a month, the parents like to send the
kids to Grandmas for the night and have a dinner out.  Another two times a month the family likes to go out for pizza and a movie.  Those treats total $400 each month.  They also
like to give 5% to church or charity (another $400).  They wish it could be 10%.  

They have $600 per month left over.

Remember, our family is responsible, frugal and very, very fortunate.  They pinch pennies, make good decisions, and they have not been dealt the blows of medical bills, job
loss, additional dependents (aging parents, disabled or medically fragile siblings or children), natural disaster, accident or any other unexpected financial event or additional
financial burden.

They have $600 per month left over.  That’s $7,200 per year.

Now let’s say they get Senator Ford’s tax credit of $2,500 per year for each child.  They add that $5,000 to the $7,200 they have each year and get $12,200.  That’s $6,100 per
child.  They don’t qualify for additional financial aid, because if they did, EVERYONE would qualify.  Howard Rich isn’t going to pay their tuition.

Does Senator Ford know what private schools are charging?  Bishop England gets $8,600 per year.  Porter Gaud gets $13,000 per year.  Christ Our King gets $6,900.  The
State of South Carolina spends $11,400 per pupil.

So how is our very lucky family supposed to pay this?

And, of course, how is everyone ELSE supposed to pay this?  What if our mythical family made a very respectable $60,000 per year?  What if they make a more likely $40,000
per year? What if one parent stays home with younger kids?  What if they have a few of those burdens or surprises? Better yet, what if they can’t afford a car and the “school of
their choice” requires a commute that they can neither afford nor logistically provide?

Governor Sanford has always lived in a bubble where everyone has a great job, a nice car, few financial burdens and even fewer financial surprises.  After all, they could have
just married well like him, if they’d just played their cards right.

You would expect Senator Ford to be a little closer to the people.  Could he afford to send his kids to school with a voucher?  I doubt it.  When Senator Ford’s house caught fire
last year, he sent out an appeal for financial assistance to replace the personal belongings his insurance settlement didn’t cover.   I think Howard Rich must have helped
Senator Ford buy some new ties.

But without a little more help than his $2,500 tax credit, I doubt he’d have the extra $4,000-$11,000 a year he’d need to take advantage of “school choice.”

He may have had “change of heart” but I don’t think his head was involved at all.


CHARLESTON BOOK BUDDIES NEEDS YOU!
Contact Jill Braddock at jbbraddock@earthlink.net if you can help

1. Volunteers:  Over the course of 4 weeks in mid-November we enlisted 90 volunteers to help at our two Book Buddies pilot schools, James Simons and Mary Ford.  If, as we
hope, we are able to open additional school during the next school year, we will need at least another 100 volunteers.  So, we'd like to begin a list now of people who might be
interested in tutoring during the next school year.  The commitment is for one semester, one or two days per week, for approximately one hour(tutoring itself lasts for 45
minutes).  Before children begin participating, two training sessions for tutors are scheduled during what will become their regular tutoring time.  A reading specialist/coach
writes all lesson plans for the students and is in the room offering assistance during all tutoring sessions so there is plenty of support for volunteers.

2. Books:  All the books and materials needed for tutoring are in place.  However, we are also trying to incorporate a book give away with the Book Buddies program.  One of the
biggest barriers to children's literacy is access to books.  We'd like our student participants up to one book per week to read, report upon and then KEEP at his home.  We are
collecting books for this purpose.  We will arrange to pick up books from people and/or organizations who would like to donate gently used books.  The Charleston Volunteers
for Literacy at the Coastal Community Foundation will also accept donations to purchase new books to give away.  (Through an organization called FirstBook, Charleston Book
Buddies is able to buy age and level appropriate books at substantially reduced prices.)

3. Donations: We hire reading specialists to work half-time at each school. They test children, write lesson plans for each child, each session and assist volunteer tutors.  We
are collecting donations to sustain our current schools and expand the program at other Title One schools in the CCSD.



Harvey B.
There's a man, sponsored by Republicans in the state, who wants to destroy public schools.  Check here.  Who Is Trying To Destroy Public Education In South Carolina

Linda K
If you care about kids and don't know about Wings for Kids, you're missing out big time

Take Action by signing:  A PETITION From Superintendent of Education, JIM REX, FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

Dear public education supporter:

The petition to support a constitutional amendment establishing "high quality education" as our standard for public education instead of "a minimally adequate education" has
reached 50,000 signatures.
You can help us take that number to the next level on the way to 1,000,000 signatures.
Please take a few moments right now to add one more person to our growing list of supporters.  Forward this email now to at least one other person, and ask them to sign the
petition today at www.goodbyeminimallyadequate.com !
Let's say goodbye to minimally adequate education.

Sincerely,
Jim Rex
Robert Ford, Howard Rich, School Vouchers and Tax Credits

Opinion:  Linda
Senator Robert Ford is my friend. But, friends disagree, and I strongly disagree with Senator Ford on school vouchers and tax credits. And I strongly object to his taking money from
Howard Rich, a billionaire New York real estate developer who has poured money into South Carolina supporting candidates who will vote to destroy public schools.   

Rich has bypassed state contribution limits by using some 30 LLC's, and a network of cronies, to fund local candidates to the tune of $500,000 in the last election.  He also hides
his contributions from public scrutiny by making contributions after the candidate's final public disclosure.

Senator Ford know all that, and Senator Ford knows that no poor student's parent can take a tax credit worth $2,423 from the public school system (or even the $3,650 from a
failing school) and pay tuition at a private school. Private school tuition with fees in our area run about: $9,300 at Mason Prep Elementary, $15,000 at Porter Gaud, $14,250 at
Charleston Day, and $20,000 at Ashley Hall. Horry and Georgetown private schools are a little more reasonably priced, but still beyond the allowance.

And the idea that there is enough scholarship money to make up the difference for poor students is totally ridiculous in a state where over 20% our children live in poverty (191,000
children).

Let me repeat, SENATOR FORD KNOWS ALL THAT.  He knows it when he says: "The money is to educate little Johnny. If the school's not doing its job, then we're supposed to
take the money and give it to little Johnny's mama to go to any school that she wants to send him to, (to) make sure little Johnny grows up to be one of y'all one day."   Senator Ford
knows darned well that "Little Johnny's mama" doesn't have a spare $2,000-13,000 laying around to make up the difference between the tax credit and tuition costs at her school of
choice.

AND, if Little Johnny's mom is at the poverty level, she doesn't have the kind of income to write off a tax credit!!
So I'm throwing down the Bogus Sham Flag.  

If South Carolina is ready to dismantle it's public school system, I'm going to fight it. Public school, for those of us not born wealthy, is the source of the American Dream in this
country. Public school is the only way to level the playing field.  

If the public school system is broken, then let's fix it.  But, dismantling the system will do nothing BUT engender even more of a class system than we already have in South
Carolina. It will assure that this state will never be able to compete in a global economy requiring better education for ALL students.   It will also require John Q. Taxpayer to carry
the burden for more entitlement programs, jails, police, and exodus of smart people due to a lack of economically viable industries in South Carolina --- all of which are end-
results of an under-educated South Carolina now and will only get worse with this Voucher, Tax Credit nonsense. (see your comments further below)

Public education: We get what we pay for
The State
By JON BUTZON
Guest Columnist

Sheri Few is right when she points out that “minimally adequate” is not in the state constitution (“Constitutional amendment won’t improve schools,” March 18). It is a phrase
conjured up by the courts. It is sufficiently vague and ill-defined that it allows maximum flexibility and minimal accountability for those who should be held to the exact opposite
standard.

It should be clear to anyone who is paying even casual attention that there are children in South Carolina who receive quite a bit more than a “minimally adequate” education;
Newsweek says we have the seventh-best high school in the country.

At the same time we have the best of public schools, we also have a plethora of schools that arguably do not provide even a minimally adequate education. The data are clear.
You can go to these schools and see it and hear it. Substandard, inadequate education persists for hundreds of South Carolina’s children. How does that happen?

There are many causes. One is that South Carolina has not staked itself out for its children. A constitutional standard would do that. We have not stood up as a state and said
“Enough!” Our leaders have rationalized and equivocated. Our children, our business and industry, our social fabric and our state have paid the price.

Ms. Few is also right that the answer ought not to require litigation. The millions of dollars that the state already has spent in court preserving its right to do less than it should,
less than it must, for its children is money wasted. The leadership of this state should not have to be forced to do what is not only the right thing, but the smart thing. History
suggests, however, that without an unequivocal, loudly proclaimed standard for the education of the children of our state with the heft and impact of the state constitution, we will
continue to educate some children very well while horribly under-educating many others.

I share Ms. Few’s concern for the inadequate quality of education afforded too many of South Carolina’s children. I admire her passion. I challenge her — I challenge us all — to
use our passion and our influence to require the leadership of this state to forego inaction and to avoid the pathways of least resistance — such as vouchers and tax credits —
and instead do the heavy lifting necessary to make any and every public school a school that reliably provides a complete and competitive education for every child.

Butzon is executive director of the Charleston Education Network in Charleston, which advocates for children and accountability to achieve excellence in public education.

South Carolina Rise (click here):  Advocacy Group For Reforming Public Education

The State - Opinion - Editorial Columns - Thursday, Mar. 26, 2009
The plan to help poor kids that doesn’t help poor kids
By CINDI ROSS SCOPPE - Associate Editor  

“You’re damn right I’m hurting public education, because public education is hurting our kids.”

— Sen. Robert Ford on his bill to provide tax credits to parents who send their kids to private schools

ALTHOUGH SEN. Robert Ford is the first prominent African-American in our state to support using public dollars to fund private schools, his argument is no different than any of
his predecessors, black or white: He just wants to help poor kids, and black kids, who are trapped in failing public schools.

No one with a good conscience — or even a hint of a big-picture, self-preservation mentality — would not want to help those kids. Poor kids who don’t get the education they
need drag down our entire state. And while our schools are doing a much better job than critics acknowledge, there are indeed too many schools that fall far short of giving
children a shot at a good education. Those schools enroll almost exclusively poor children, many of whom are black.

The funny thing is, the bill Mr. Ford has introduced (S.520) won’t help those poor kids unless rich people donate money to help them. What it will do is accomplish Mr. Ford’s
other goal — hurt public schools, by diverting money away from them, and by lulling people into believing there’s no reason to support them, since anyone who wants it has this
new “escape” route available. (The escape-route argument is pure fantasy, but if we ever create one of these programs, many will regard it as gospel, just as many are
convinced there’s no reason to spend tax money on the schools now that we have the lottery — which Mr. Ford also hawked.)

Since there’s no reason to think that more than a few of the poorest kids will be able to use Mr. Ford’s bill to “escape” to private schools, that reduced financial and political
support for the public schools really will trap them — in schools that will never possibly get any better.

If this were the first time the “choice” legislation failed to match the save-the-poor-kids rhetoric, I might write it off as a drafting error. It is not the first time. Mr. Ford’s bill follows
the pattern of all the bills that have come before it.

Anyone whose goal truly was to use private schools to “rescue” poor kids from “failing” schools would propose that the state pay their tuition and fees to attend a private school,
likely through vouchers. They also would have the state pay for or provide transportation, because the poorest of the poor do not have the money to get their children to and from
school every day, absent the school bus. Many don’t even have a car.

That’s not what Mr. Ford’s bill would do. Instead, it would give a state income tax credit to people who send their kids to a private school or home school them. This won’t
accomplish the senator’s goals for several reasons:

1) Parents have to pay the tuition up front, and then claim the tax credit the next year. Poor people don’t have the money to front the tuition.

2) Even if they could somehow find the money up front, parents would be eligible to claim a tax credit for, at most, 75 percent of the amount the state spends per student in the
district where they live. This varies widely from district to district, but with the rarest of exceptions, it’s not going to be enough to cover the costs of a decent school — or, in many
parts of the state, any school.

3) Even if they found the up-front money and the 75 percent reimbursement covered their costs, poor people wouldn’t benefit from this bill because they don’t pay state income
taxes. In fact, most South Carolinians don’t pay enough income taxes to benefit: A third of the people who file state income tax returns pay no income taxes. Half of the filers pay
less than $250. Two-thirds pay less than $800.

The people who would benefit from this legislation are some — but by no means all — of the people who already can afford to send their kids to private schools or who can
almost afford it. These are, for the most part, not the parents whose kids attend the worst schools in our state.

The legislation does have a convoluted provision that allows people who donate money to provide scholarships to poor kids to claim a tax credit of up to 50 percent. But there’s
no guarantee that “student scholarship organizations” would even be established and, if they are, no guarantee that they would provide scholarships large enough to do
recipients any good, or that the scholarships would go to the kids who need them most.

It was no surprise to see this sort of proposal coming from the suburban Republicans who introduced these bills in the past. They might honestly not realize that the families
they say they want to help can’t afford to spend a single dollar to send their kids to private schools. (I’m being charitable here, not naive.)

Mr. Ford does realize this, which makes it hard to escape the conclusion that his legislation doesn’t help poor kids because the people who are bankrolling the defund-the-
public-schools campaign don’t want to help poor kids. There’s a whole column on the campaign donations Mr. Ford received from those bankrollers last year, and the help they’
re providing him in getting the word out this year and the “political cover” he says he’s asked them to provide, but that’s for another day.

Now that this would-be governor is the new black face for the private “choice” movement that has been desperately seeking a recognizable black face, the most important thing
to understand is not his motives, but his rhetoric. Particularly when he starts peddling an agenda that sounds very different from what it is in reality — which is precisely what he’
s doing.

Ms. Scoppe can be reached at cscoppe@thestate.com or at (803) 771-8571.


We Have 37.5% of the Worst

We have 42%% of the top 24 worst performing public schools in the United States.

What are we going to do about it?   Please don’t send suggestions about how to avoid the public
school system.  Send suggestions about fixing it.   Because until we fix it, we can’t - and won’t -
compete economically in the 21st Century.