Ahh, the Good Ol’ Days:

Separate-and-Unequal in South Carolina -- Again
Gary West

October 17, 2006

When public tax dollars are used to send well-to-do students to private schools, only the economically and socially disadvantaged will remain in the public schools – and those students will never have the opportunity to go to private schools.  Financial resources will enrich the private schools – and will, thus, enrich the educational experiences of students in private schools.  Reduced funding for public schools will leave fewer resources.  Different testing programs will mean only “apples-to-oranges” comparisons with no real means of education accountability – thus, no competition.  South Carolina will systematically widen the achievement gap between well-to-do students and poor students – leading directly to widening the gap between economic and social opportunities after the school years.  This model will lead back to the “separate-and-unequal” system that existed from 1865 until 1975.  And the South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that “unequal” is legal as long as it’s “minimally adequate” – which means that the Governor and the Superintendent of Education can send more money – per student – to private schools than they send to public schools.  

Governor Sanford and Karen Floyd have made it clear that this is what their elections will mean.  They want to return to the “good ol’ days” of “separate-and-unequal” – just like the diagram shows.

Vote for Tommy Moore and Jim Rex – to keep moving our schools forward.