Did that headline grab you? I thought it might. It seems pretty bizarre from a recent South Carolina perspective. But I promise, I did not make this up.
I can certainly understand your suspicion to the contrary. For the last couple of years, I’ve been marveling at the way some S.C. Republican leaders (yes, that means you, governor — and some of your ideological kin) have been badmouthing our schools. This has amazed me because:
- Our state has actually been making remarkable educational progress by most objective measurements; and
- Much of this progress is thanks to Republicans having pushed the Education Accountability Act into law over the objections of many Democrats and "educrats," to use the patois of the anti-school crowd.
Why, I have wondered, don’t they just take credit, rather than trying to paint the situation as worse than it is, and blame a Democrat? The credit is there to be taken — or at the very least shared (and that might be the problem, it not being in the nature of partisans of any stripe to share credit). Why don’t they get that?
Well, at least some Republican leaders in Washington get it (something you won’t see me say often). I got an e-mail today from the House Committee on Education and the Workforce bearing the exact same headline as this posting: "Republican Leaders Hail Student Achievement Gains."
If you don’t believe me, go read it yourself. If you don’t have the time, here’s an excerpt:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Republican education leaders today highlighted improving student test scores on mathematics and reading based on 2004 long-term data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often referred to as "the Nation’s report card." The results reveal significant improvements in overall student achievement, with noteworthy gains among minority students. Gains in student achievement are particularly striking over the last five years, and student achievement is up overall within the three decade comparison.
…"I’m encouraged to see the progress being made in our nation’s schools on improving student academic achievement and closing achievement gaps. This is a credit to the hard work of parents, teachers, and school personnel who are committed to student academic success," said Education Reform Subcommittee Chairman Mike Castle (R-DE). "We’ve injected accountability into America’s schools, and students are making academic gains as a result. We still have work to do to finally rid our schools of achievement gaps between disadvantaged students and their peers, but these results are a promising sign that we’re on the right track."
The great irony here is that No Child Left Behind isn’t nearly as good at promoting accountability and good outcomes as the EAA. So why is it that more Republicans in South Carolina don’t step up and take credit? It remains a mystery.
Oh, and by the way: You know the test that is prompting the boasting by the GOP congressmen. That’s one of the measures South Carolina has done quite well on. So why not brag about it?
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I share your puzzlement over why Republicans don’t take more credit for the progress we’re making in South Carolina schools. In my role as a PR flack and political hack, I worked with the business leaders who formed the core of Gov. Beasley’s PASS Commission in their efforts to bring about the Education Accountability Act. That legislation would have never been possible without the leadership of the man who is now Speaker of the House, and our biggest PR challenge was overcoming the misgivings of legislative Democrats and “the educacrats” (many of whom I now work with in opposing PPIC.
After the legislation was passed and the EOC came into existence, I can remember that one of the things that most concerned us was how the incoming Democratic governor and superindent of education would handle implementation of the law — and again it was Republicans’ willingness to work with the “opposition” that made the transition smoother and led to the success we’re now seeing.
I tend to believe that the majority of Republicans in the General Assembly really are pro-education and pro-accountability. But because of the nature of our, once again, one-party state, what they fear most is being outflanked on the right in a GOP primary.
Because of the low interest and participation in primary elections, idealogues can dominate, and to stay in office, lawmakers get drawn to catering to the extremes, whether they’re Democrats or Republicans.
In the case of education, those who bash it the most in South Carolina right now are, of course, the PPIC crowd – and for the most part, their “real” agenda isn’t improving education or even expanding school choice. It’s to shrink the size of government, and since education is the biggest slice of state government, they’re looking for ways to relieve government of its educational responsibilities. School choice isn’t a goal, but rather step one in their government devolution.
Thanks for your comments, Tim. I especially appreciate them coming from your perspective from having worked with the PASS commission.
One small refinement, I would make, however: The problem of pols playing to extremes is not the result of “the nature of our, once again, one-party state,” but of our one-party DISTRICTS. Because of the way redistricting is done, independents and voters who favor the opposing party are not a significant factor in most lawmakers’ calculations.
It’s also a function of our polarized TWO-party system overall. If there were no other party to demonize and shun, party orthodoxy would not be such a factor in primaries. If a Republican, for instance, did not have to fear being labeled a closet Democrat, he could be more of a centrist.
Now if you’re talking about governors, speaking of the one-party STATE might be more relevant — except that we are not a one-party state. Republicans represent a plurality, not a majority. Either party can win a statewide election, if the candidate can attract enough of the independent vote. This means the candidate can’t appeal to much to the extremes in his base during a primary, for fear of losing the general election. This has a moderating effect on statewide elections.
Primaries are problematic, though like you, I’m also opposed to voter registration by party. I’d be tempted to say Louisiana’s open primary system is worth looking at, except that state probably has worse state government than we do.
Oh, Louisiana is certainly notorious, but I don’t think there’s a cause-and-effect relationship between that and their open primaries.
So, Brad, South Carolina’s schools are doing great, huh?
Actually, a better blog has documented that this isn’t true.
Check out these three posts to learn the truth.
Thank you, “Please.” I think it would be quite helpful for folks to visit that site. They would learn a lot about the thought processes of the kind of people who spread the lie that our schools aren’t improving. That’s helpful, in that perhaps reading that sort of stuff will shake good people out of their complacency and get them to stand up more strongly for our schools.
Well, Brad, thanks for not taking that post down. Let me fix the two links that I mis-posted.
This is The better blog.
And this is the first post about Allendale schools.
Ah, the notorious Bill – who blogs under an assumed name – strikes.
Granted, I’m biased about this, but I do wonder what would have happened had David Beasley been re-elected. I’d like to think as a senior staffer I would have urged that we spend time focusing on implementing the Accountability Act and touting what schools could do to make sure they complied and could move forward. I don’t really know how much Mrs. Tenenbaum and Gov. Hodges focused on the implementation, since its creation wasn’t their idea, but it would have clearly been Gov. Beasley’s responsiblity to do that. I think it may have suffered from lack of attention. Just a thought.
I am in favor of giving poor children more options in schools, so don’t misunderstand my comments. But I don’t have an opinion on what the Governor or others propose to do about that because I’m not following it closely enough.
Gary
There is an alternative- Oscar Lovelace is running in the Republican primary. He’s a homegrown, 4H country doctor. All 4 of his children are publicly educated.
Lovelace is a rare breed. He opened a familiy practice medical center in one of the state’s poorest communities in the mid 80’s. He has fought hard for better healthcare for all South Carolinians.