End of Education Part 2

The End of Education

Part 2:

Getting Ready to Make a Difference

September 30, 2006

INTRODUCTION TO PART 2

In Part 1, I urged you to register to vote in the coming elections. The last day to register is October 7, 2006 – and that is less than a week away. If you have not yet registered, please do so right now. Click this link to open and print the Voter Registration Form: http://www.state.sc.us/scsec/vr/VR_Blank_Form.pdf. [1] While the form is open on your screen, click the last line of text to open the list of addresses for each county’s Voter Registration Office. Find yours and mail your form today. It must be postmarked before midnight, October 7.

There are significant issues relating to public education – in the Governor’s race, the State Superintendent of Education’s race, and in the races for the seats on the Budget and Control Board. And, of course, all members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are to be elected. We will talk about all of those between now and Election Day – but none of that talk will do you any good if you are not registered to vote by Saturday.

Please do something about that now.

Then, let’s talk about education and why educators must absolutely vote in November – because the coming election can absolutely mean the end of education in South Carolina. Unless enough smart people come out to vote – rather than letting those with only one issue to argue have their way.

It’s “put up or shut up” time for educators – and other community members who know that public education is the most essential part of keeping our democracy alive. Education should be for everyone – not just the privileged.

It’s time to do something…

WHAT EDUCATION MEANS IN SOUTH CAROLINA

In Part 1, I pointed out that politicians don’t pay attention to educators because educators don’t vote. [2] I listed a dozen important things that have happened in education in South Carolina over the last dozen years – important things that point out the folly of letting politicians micro-manage public education.

The Governor

One of the things I left off the list in Part 1 was the Governor’s appearance on national television – an appearance that he used to bad-mouth South Carolina’s schools and, by association, South Carolina’s educators. [3] His performance on that program showed everyone exactly what our Governor thinks about our public schools – and about the educators who work so hard to get the job done. And, obviously, those educators are working hard without any support from the Governor’s office.

In almost four years, Governor Mark Sanford has made it clear that he does not support public education in any way. He has undermined public education at every opportunity, including his pre-presidential [4] performance on ABC News.

The Governor has proposed plan after plan that would take money from public schools and give it to private schools. He uses the lamest of arguments – that all students should go to private schools – knowing full well that there are not enough private schools and not enough seats in existing private schools. He also knows that existing private schools have student enrollment policies that exclude more than 95% of South Carolina’s public school students. He also knows that existing private schools will simply raise their tuitions by the amount of any voucher or tuition tax credit – meaning that families will not benefit from those vouchers or tax credits. Only the private schools will benefit from your tax dollars.

If you don’t vote for your next Governor, the end of public education is a likelihood – because all those other people are gonna vote for their next Governor and they want you to stay home so they can have their way.

The Money

The State Budget and Control Board runs state government. The members of that Board manage all the money – every cent that comes and goes through state government. The members of the Budget and Control Board are the Governor, the State Treasurer, the Comptroller General, the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. [5]

For the last two years, educators and other state employees have been hearing that the South Carolina Retirement System does not have enough money to meet its obligations. That was part of the discussion of TERI [6] and continues to be part of the campaign rhetoric in the races for State Treasurer and Comptroller General.

In the private sector, other retirement systems have been discussed in similar terms over the last couple of years – Enron, Delta, United Airlines, General Motors, DuPont, and more [7] – all of which have folded up, busted, or moved their employees’ retirement systems to higher risk models.

Members of the Budget and Control Board are starting to talk the same talk – for one simple reason. Business – and the State of South Carolina – have realized that jobs will be so scarce in the future [8] that they won’t have to offer incentives like retirement plans and health benefits where the employer contributes to the system.

The State of South Carolina will begin the dismantling of the South Carolina Retirement System in the near future – if not already. The retirement system, as an incentive to being an educator, will disappear – and like Delta, DuPont, and GM – retirees will begin getting pennies on the dollar for what they have in the retirement system now. [9].

The same thing is about to happen to health insurance plans that are partially funded by the employer – including the State of South Carolina.

The elections for State Treasurer and Comptroller General – as well as the election for Governor – will be important in the stability of the state’s retirement systems. In addition, the November ballot will have a proposed amendment to the South Carolina Constitution that will have an impact on the way retirement system funds are invested – higher risk with potential greater gains. [10]

Money is the only issue in the coming changes. And, in the end, there will no longer be a middle class in South Carolina to which educators can belong. (But that’s a topic for another day…soon…)

The Carpetbaggers

The folly of letting politicians manage education is brought about because those who complain about the schools – with their agenda for trying to take money away from the state’s public schools – are constantly fussing at the Legislature, are constantly talking to the press, and are constantly bad-mouthing public schools everywhere they go. They are spending other people’s money to be able to move public school money to private schools.

Those people are constantly in the face of the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives and the South Carolina Senate. Those folks are so loud and so shrill that members of the Legislature could begin to believe that those folks are in the majority in our state. They are not.

Groups like South Carolinians for Responsible Government [11], Conservatives in Action [12], the Club for Growth [13], and others are constantly attacking education and educators while trying to sell their greed for vouchers and tuition tax credits to our Legislators.

So – What Is Education in South Carolina?

For the Governor, the Budget and Control Board, the Carpetbaggers, and others with special agendas, public education in South Carolina has become the pilot program for moving tax dollars to private schools. Based on insider information about what is happening “to” our schools – not “in” our schools, as they would have you believe – based on the business model of disenfranchising employees at all levels, and based on the big dollars being spent by out-of-state groups, they are laying the foundations for turning our education institutions (K-12 and higher ed) into training schools while sending tax dollars to their “private public schools” to educate (instead of train) the children of the well-to-do.

These days, that’s all education is in South Carolina – according to our leaders. They are wrong – but they continue to listen to the Loud Few in making decisions that affect the rest of us.

WHAT MUST BE DONE

This article, like Part 1, was written for one purpose – to convince you to register to vote, if you are not registered already. If you are already registered to vote, I want to convince you that you should actually vote. There are important issues to be decided.

If you are an educator, a state employee, a relative or friend of an educator, a parent or a grandparent of a child for whom you want a real education – or if you are a citizen who is concerned about the re-making of our state into a third-world country [14], you must do something.

You must register and vote. There’s nothing else that politicians understand. If you don’t make them aware of what you really want, you will get what somebody else really wants.

The Loud Few are always voting. The Loud Few are always lobbying. The Loud Few are always trying to get everyone else to stay home – so they can have their way. The Loud Few have privilege and position to protect – at your expense and at the expense of your children.

The Loud Few are very organized and they always speak with one voice. And that voice is heard at the ballot box.

Please plan to vote – and part of that plan must be to register to vote. Mail in your Voter Registration Form today – right now, so you don’t forget. If it’s not postmarked by midnight Saturday, October 7, you will not be able to vote.

If you don’t vote, the Loud Few will get what they want. And you? You will get what they want too…

WHAT’S COMING NEXT

Before October 7, I’ll have one more article for you to consider (but go ahead and register now – don’t wait). That article will be about organizing – about how those who bad-mouth education are so well organized and how those of us who believe education is important to our democracy are not very well organized. And, how those who bad-mouth education work so hard to keep the rest of us disorganized – as well as unorganized – in their efforts to be sure we don’t do anything before they get what they want.

After October 7, additional articles will address the key issues in each of the important elections. There will be more about how South Carolina is being turned into a third-world nation – and what that means for education – and what that means for our democracy.

You’re gonna wanna vote. So be sure to get registered.

Now, forward a copy of this article to anyone else you know who might not be registered or who might not vote. You can help them do the responsible thing.

Endnotes

[1] You can also find the online voter registration form at http://www.state.sc.us/scsec/votereg.htm; click that link, then click your county name; you will see the address and other information about your local voter registration board; see the link “click here to fill out an application”; right now, you’ll see another link called “NEW Voter Registration Form”; click it; then click the “open” button; when the form opens, print it, fill it out, and sign it; attach one of the accepted forms of ID; then mail it to your local voter registration board. Please do it now.

[2] The National Council on Economic Education; “The Mystery of Voters Who Don’t Vote”; http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.cfm?lesson=EM181.

[3] ABC News; 20/20; January 13, 2006; http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=1500338.

[4] I use the term “pre-presidential” only because of a bunch of silly stuff on the Internet. Do a quick Google search on “Mark Sanford”+president (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Mark+Sanford%22+president) – you’ll be surprised. All I can say is: If Governor Sanford were one of South Carolina’s schools, his Absolute and Improvement Ratings over the last four years would be substantially Below Average – and would be totally Unsatisfactory if based on his getting his agenda put into place. He’s done more talking and less getting things done than any Governor in our state’s history. And, yet, you’ll find a dozen links to websites with petitions to get him to run for President. Do you think these folks with the money from other states are just stroking his ego with these kinds of sites – just to keep him plugging away at bad-mouthing our schools?

[5] The Budget and Control Board (http://www.bcb.sc.gov/BCB/BCB-about.phtm). The Governor (http://www.scgovernor.com/) is Mark Sanford, who is up for re-election in 2006. The State Treasurer (http://www.state.sc.us/treas/) is Grady Patterson, who is up for re-election in 2006. The Comptroller General (http://www.cg.state.sc.us/) is Richard Eckstrom, who is up for re-election in 2006. The Chair of the Senate Finance Committee is Hugh Leatherman. The Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee (http://www.scstatehouse.net/members/bios/0390909044.html) is Daniel Cooper, who is up for re-election in 2006.

[6] See http://home.earthlink.net/~garywwest/id63.html.

[7] Delta’s pilot’s pension plan folds (http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/08/news/companies/delta.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes); United Airlines walks away from pension obligations (http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2005/05/10/afx2016620.html); GM pension plan status report (http://mph-online.com/web/news/00377); DuPont’s pension changes (http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/7851664/c_7146188); “The Rush to Shut Down Pensions,” BusinessWeek Online, http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/7851664/c_7146188; “Are Pension Plans in America the Next Enron?”, WiserAdvisor.com, http://www.wiseradvisor.com/university-article~artId~725~title~are-pension-plans-in-america-the-next-enron.asp; more information on pension and cash balance plans (http://edworkforce.house.gov/democrats/pensioninfo.html).

[8] Mike Thompson, editorial cartoonist for the Detroit Free Press summed up the future for American worker in his editorial cartoon from September 19, 2006; http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060919/COL25/60918029/1106. The following text from the cartoon comes from The Paramus Post: “In the first of three insets, a man in bluejeans, pink T-shirt with U.S. flag and tennis shoes walks with his hands in his pockets. He thinks: 'Lost my high-paying manufacturing job, forced to take low-paying service job.' In the next inset panel, he wears a beat-up hat and scarf and thinks: 'Can't afford to feed my family despite working long hours for a greedy employer.' In the third inset, he wears a gray jacket with tails and leather shoes as well as hat and scarf, and thinks: 'Who offers no pension or health care benefits.' In the main cartoon, the man stands on the threshhold of 'Scrooge and Marley.' Snow falls and covers the ground. A voice from inside says: 'Mr. Cratchit, you're late.' The man thinks: 'Good gawd! America's morphed into a Dickens novel!'” (http://www.paramuspost.com/mediagallery/media.php?s=20060920110101336). It’s actually being morphed into a third-world country.

[9] Federal retirement system insurance – the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (http://www.pbgc.gov/); new U.S. pension law (http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/08/bush-signs-pension-reform-bill-into.php).

[10] Proposed amendments to the South Carolina Constitution; see numbers 3a and 3b for the language of the amendments and a brief explanation of what the language really says; http://www.scvotes.org/election_information/2006/08/07/2006_statewide_constitutional_amendments; note that the amendments eliminate the existing “civilian” advisory panel – which is the only link between retirement system participants and the people who make investment decisions for the retirement system funds.

[11] South Carolinians for Responsible Government; http://www.scrgov.org/content.asp?catID=8088; for more about the strategies used by SCRG during the primary elections, see http://home.earthlink.net/~garywwest3/id22.html and http://home.earthlink.net/~garywwest3/id25.html. Find out about funding for SCRG and other anti-education groups at http://home.earthlink.net/~garywwest2/id26.html.

[12] Conservatives in Action; http://www.conservativesact.com/; for more about the strategies used by CIA during the primary elections, see http://home.earthlink.net/~garywwest3/id25.html.

[13] Club for Growth; http://www.scclubforgrowth.com/index.asp; for more about the strategies used by Club for Growth during the primary elections, see http://home.earthlink.net/~garywwest3/id25.html.

[14] Part 3 of this series will be sent to you in a few days. Part 4 will be sent to you a few days after that. It will start with the sentence, “In a global economy, American workers cannot compete by making American wages; they can compete only by making third-world wages.” In the meantime, see if you can find a way to refute that statement. Will education – or training – be part of your answer?

About the Author

Gary West has lived in South Carolina for more than 30 years. He has been an educator for all of those years. He believes that the education of every child is the most important thing in our democracy. He believes that our democracy is at risk and that South Carolina’s leaders have no intention of educating every child – despite the rhetoric. Mr. West believes there should be more than two groups of citizens in our state – more than just the “haves” and the “have-nots.”

You can reach Mr. West at garywwest@earthlink.net.

This article and others can be found online at http://home.earthlink.net/~garywwest/. Permission is granted to share this article in electronic or printed format as long as you don’t change it or charge for it. Read responsibly.