State Legislation
Several subjects that will be important in the South Carolina General Assembly in 2006 are as follows:
Education – This has been a major area of concern for many years. South Carolina is currently last among the 50 states in high school graduation rate and tied for last on SAT test results. 41% of our schools had SAT scores that dropped, 152 out of 196 schools had scores below the national average. South Carolina uses a test called the PACT to measure the progress of schools as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
“In the summer of 2003, Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum renewed a $54 million contract to grade the PACT, but she failed to request changes that would provide better data on specific student performance. Problems with PACT are many, and not limited to the long delay in getting the results back. Other issues are lack of diagnostic data, lack of student tracking and instruction time consumed in preparing for the PACT.
Teachers and district officials have been asking the Department of Education to address the shortcomings of PACT for several years. Unfortunately, Superintendent Tenenbaum refuses to address the needs of those local school officials. It is interesting that the aforementioned editors overlooked the fact that about 75 percent of the school districts in South Carolina have been forced to purchase diagnostic tests out of local funds to get the critical information to meet yearly student progress. Teachers and students are getting short changed because of inaction of the Department of Education and education leadership in the General Assembly.
The current cost to administer and grade the PACT is about $25 million annually, and this does not count the additional thousands local districts find it necessary to spend to meet AYP. Many of us who want a change in the testing believe that a diagnostic test similar to the one that Idaho uses could be purchased with a potential savings to the state of some $9 million a year while saving the local districts hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.” [19]
The Governor has pushed a “Put Parents in Charge” act which emphasizes school choice. (H.3652). Parents could select the school for their child to attend and would receive a tax credit if it were a private school or home schooling. Scholarships would also be encouraged.
State spending for schools for 2006 will be “A $315 million increase in public education spending. That raises the base, per-pupil spending to $2,290 and meets a state spending standard for the first time since 2000.” [20] It should be noted that the majority of the school funding comes from local taxes and federal funds. The total costs for education, including new schools, is about $9000 per student including service and capital. [20A] The largest school district, Greenville County, is currently in a major building program that, with interest, will amount to over a billion dollars. Some 70 schools are involved.
In the new budget “Teachers get raises that help their pay stay an average of $300 above the Southeastern average. They also will get $250 to buy school supplies, a $50 increase.” [21] The average public school teacher salary in South Carolina in 2003-2004 was $41,162 which was 31st highest in the country. [22]
Another Act involving education is S.638. “Equal Access to Interscholastic Activities Act: Description/Action: This bill would allow home school students to participate in interscholastic activities under certain conditions. It was taken up by a subcommittee of the Senate Education committee on May 12, 2005.” [23]
“With great fanfare the South Carolina Department of Education announced that the State’s SAT scores had risen by 7 points this year. Despite this gain, the unfortunate truth is that the vast majority of South Carolina students are still not being prepared for college.
Here are the facts: 41 percent of our schools had SAT scores that dropped; 152 out of 196 schools scored below the nation’s average (77.5%); only two schools have met the competitive SAT averages for admittance to the University of South Carolina and Clemson University; and, South Carolina still ranks last in the nation.
Coupled with the lowest in the nation graduation rate and the recent ACT results that place South Carolina 49th in the country, it is obvious that progress in South Carolina’s education statistics remains dismal when compared to national counterparts.
Some Policy makers believe that South Carolina should be doing more to improve public education, including reforms that empower parents, teachers, and students. ‘The 2005 SAT scores show that real reform is needed,’ said Policy Council President Ed McMullen. ‘Considering that 41 percent of our schools had SAT scores that dropped from the previous year, it is clear that we must do more as a state to provide educational opportunities for all children,’ he added.
South Carolina is tied with Georgia at 49th – which is the lowest in the nation. South Carolina’s SAT score is 993 – 35 points below the national average. [23A]
“Governor Mark Sanford – Unfortunately incremental change in SAT scores isn’t going to get us where we need to be in terms of competing with other states, let alone in competing with the rest of the world. That’s why this administration will continue pushing for fundamental reforms to the current system that give parents more choices and kids more opportunities. We believe stimulating charter school creation and giving families more educational options are key to competing in the 21st century economy and to bettering education in South Carolina.” [24]
Other Acts that are being considered include the following:
Medical Reform (S.0305) – “With over 700,000 low-income South Carolinians receiving Medicaid benefits, the program currently consumes 20 percent of the state budget annually. …Governor Sanford’s solution was to seek a waiver from Washington to establish a real marketplace for the delivery of Medicaid services. Sanford’s plan deals with the three major areas of Medicaid: care for the poor, care for the disabled and nursing home care. The plan provides a solution to Medicaid’s escalating costs and empower beneficiaries, while providing real competition in the market place.” [25]
Eminent Domain – “in the wake of the United States Supreme Court decision that significantly expanded the powers of local governments to seize private property, Governor Mark Sanford and members of the General Assembly announced plans to address eminent domain issues in the 2006 legislative session. The move comes in response to the Supreme Court decision, Kelo v. City of New London, Connecticut. In the Kelo case, the Supreme Court allowed a local government entity to use eminent domain powers in the condemnation of private homes…Even though our state already has some strong protection on this front – and a state Supreme Court whose rulings consistently favor property owners – the Kelo decision means that we have to take a new look at and shore up existing laws rather than be forced to react later on down the road.” [26]
Right to Life Act (H.3213) – “On April 13 the house passed the bill making pre-birth human beings ‘persons’ at fertilization by a vote of 95-18. Because of the Supremacy Clause in the U.S. Constitution that makes Roe v. Wade the law of the land (ugh), the bill won’t affect abortions unless Roe is overturned. However, Attorney General McMaster and national legal scholars agree that the law would allow the state to charge a perpetrator with murder if during an assault on a pregnant woman an unborn baby were injured or killed. The Senate version (S.111) has been taken up by a Judiciary Subcommittee.” [27]
Release Time Credit Act (S.148) –“This bill allows a school district to award high school credit for completing released time religious (Bible) instruction. The bill remains in the Senate Education Committee, where it has been since December.”(2004) [28]
Unborn Victims Act (S.479) – “This bill would create a civil cause of action if in the act of harming a pregnant woman the unborn child is harmed. ‘Child’ would be defined as a fetus at every stage from conception until live birth. The bill was introduced in the Senate on February 10 and the subcommittee began work on May 4. This bill passed the House and a Senate committee but died on the floor of the Senate last year.” [29]
Human Cloning Prohibition Act (S.590) – This bill prevents human cloning and provides penalties. A hearing was held last week.” [30]
Ten Commandments Posting (S.109/H.3817/H.3015) – “This bill would authorize an object containing the Ten Commandments to be placed on property owned by the state along with other documents that have influenced the American legal and governmental system.” [31]
Property Tax Relief (H.3264) – “South Carolinians continue to pay record high property taxes. To address this burden, members of the House sponsored H.3264 to reduce property tax rates. This bill would eliminate increases in the fair market value of owner occupied residential property attributable to quadrennial reassessment in the counties, and would provide the period for which this exemption applies; and also would repeal section 12-37-23, which relates to a county option property tax exemption. This bill passed the House and is currently residing in the Senate Finance Committee.” [32]
Income Tax Reduction Act (H.3007) – “This bill was a priority for Governor Mark Sanford and in its original form which was passed by the House cut the income tax rate from 7 percent to 4.75 percent for all taxpayers. However, the final version of the bill only provided income tax reductions for small businesses. The passage of the Income Tax Reduction Act was seen as a major limited government victory and will lead to increased economic development in South Carolina.” [33]