On an alternative Earth, with an alternative history, this is what we would be hearing from our governor as school started back. I got this from Vincent Sheheen earlier today:
This month Joseph, Austin, and Anthony went back to Camden High and Camden Elementary for the 2011-12 school year. We can’t believe we have two 15 year olds with their driving permits!
We are so blessed for our sons to attend the same schools as their father, grandfather and great-grandfather. South Carolina’s public schools have helped give our family the opportunity to succeed!
We are proud of our schools and thankful for the great teachers who care so much about our children. And we are proud to stand up to the extremist agenda that wants to take public dollars out of our schools and send them to private schools. Like Thomas Jefferson, we believe that a democratic nation cannot exist without a public commitment to education.
Thank you to all the teachers who have blessed our lives and the lives of our children- especially Rose Sheheen (Now better known as Mommia!)
So, join us in thanking a teacher- your child’s or grandchild’s or a teacher you know. Let them know how thankful you are for what they give.
All the best, Amy and Vincent Sheheen
Alternative reality — that’s the ticket! Where’s Harry Turtledove when we need him? Outside of his kind of world, there’s little hope for South Carolina in the foreseeable future. No, he couldn’t actually change reality, but we could pretend for a while…
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One can always dream. And that’s coming from someone who’s voted Republican more often than not.
I appreciated VS’s post very much.
And you are all welcome! 🙂
As I know Vincent sheheen to be someone who tends to care about policy in general, I sure wish he’d refrain from the needless recitation of hackneyed cliches like “extremist agenda that wants to take public dollars out of our schools and send them to private schools.” This is the standard Democratic Party talking point, and it’s a tired one. And as Sheheen knows, it’s not even necessarily true – especially when the most recent incarnation of school choice legislation would have provided a windfall to public schools (i.e. more money to educate less children). If we really want intelligent political discourse in South Carolina, let’s get the facts correct and dispense with the talking points.
Sheheen speaks as someone who lives in a community where public education is a reasonable alternative. I wonder if he’d make that same speech if he lived in Estill or Allendale. I doubt it. Instead he would pay to put his children in private school, because he can….and not do anything for those parents who want that same option for their children, but can’t afford it.
Kinda like how The West Wing was an alternative reality wherein a competent, thoughtful President had been elected….
Idea: an ETV show called The Governor’s Mansion, where a sensible, communitarian governor handles all kinds of crises with aplomb, figures out how to provide necessary state services at at least minimally adequate levels and tells the same, truthful story every time!