Category: Education

EDUCATION OR INDOCTRINATION? We recently laid out answers to some frequently asked questions about Common Core in South Carolina. To recap: Common Core is already being implemented in our state;…

WE HATE TO SAY WE TOLD YOU SO, BUT WE DID In September 2011, a week after President Obama announced that states could apply for waivers from some No Child…

HOW S.C. KEEPS ITS CITIZENS IN POVERTY The New York Times recently reported on a new study finding that income mobility in South Carolina is severely limited. Income mobility, as…

THE REASON HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IDEOLOGY It’s a tale of two legislative sessions. In one state, lawmakers passed significant tax reform that lowers tax rates across the board,…

 WHAT IS IT? HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? AND WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT? Over the past several weeks, a great deal of controversy and discussions have arisen on…

INCREASED FUNDING FOR 4K EDUCATION SOUNDS GOOD. BUT DOES IT IMPROVE RESULTS? When it comes to public education the prevailing opinion among those in power is: More is better. More…

IF LAWMAKERS WANT TO IMPROVE A BADLY FLAWED “SCHOOL CHOICE” BILL, HERE’S WHERE TO BEGIN We recently released our initial analysis of S.279, the most prominent “school choice” bill currently…

  NEW SESSION, NEW SCHOOL CHOICE BILL – SAME BAD IDEA  As was the case last year – and just about any year over the last decade – the current…

OR: WHERE’S ALL THAT MONEY GOING, ANYWAY? State agencies submitted their budget requests earlier this month, as state law requires, and all but one higher education institution that submitted a…

Before lawmakers try to “equalize” education funding among school districts, they’d better examine the premises of the proposed plan. The South Carolina School Boards Association has recently released a new…

NEXT TIME LAWMAKERS CLAIM THEY’VE DONE SOMETHING ABOUT SCHOOL CHOICE, TAKE A CLOSE LOOK If you’re a parent, you’ve probably had this experience. You give your child a minimally difficult…

HOW ABOUT A LITTLE GOVERNANCE? Here’s an interesting exercise: Go to the Budget and Control Board’s website and download an Excel file containing the names, positions, and salaries of all…

A LOT OF TALK. ALMOST NO RESULT. There are essentially two strategies in diplomatic negotiations. One is to ask for more than you know you’re likely to get, then to…

ACTA's hope is that this report will be an urgent call to action to help the citizens and policymakers of South Carolina strengthen the state's public higher education system and…

The Policy Council and the American Council of Trustees and Alumni recently took a look at the state’s higher education system. What we found was bad news for taxpayers .…

At issue, of course, is the law Now Child Left Behind (NCLB), now in its tenth year. To understand what the news is all about, you need to understand what…

Online learning can help address South Carolina’s high dropout rate. The vast majority of dropouts – 88 percent – don’t drop out because of failing grades. They do so largely…

Online learning allows the public education system to move beyond brick and mortar buildings and connect with students on a one-to-one basis – making a high-quality education accessible to students…

The S.C. Budget and Control Board recently announced a moratorium halting construction at four-year public institutions that raised tuition by 7 percent or more for the 2010-2011 school year.

While South Carolinians can take pride in our state’s higher educational system, costs and tuition have skyrocketed in recent years, even as graduation rates remain below 40 percent. At the…

In case you weren’t able to attend the governor’s summit on higher education (held September 28, 2010), we are posting Dr. Michael Poliakoff’s PowerPoint presentation. Dr. Poliakoff is director of…

This is the final report in our ongoing analysis of the state’s 2010 SAT scores.

Last week, the S.C. Department of Education almost suggested the state’s second-lowest-in-the-nation SAT score was excused by increased participation rates. At the very least, let’s say they focused on increased…

Fewer South Carolina students took the SAT in 2010 than in 2009, as participation rates for African-American and white students fell. This finding raises questions about the S.C. Department of…

    As reported earlier, the statewide results of the 2010 SAT have been released by the College Board. Districtwide results are also out now. These are the results:  …

South Carolina student performance on the 2010 SAT declined by 5 points to a lowest-in-the-South average composite score of 1447. Students from private schools and religiously affiliated schools again scored…

As education policy makers across the state await the release of the 2010 SAT scores, it's worth reviewing how South Carolina fared on the 2009 SAT. In Part I of…

The ongoing practice of keeping state spending high, especially in the midst of the “Great Recession” that has lowered the standard of living for many South Carolinians, depends upon the…

As we review the best and worst education legislation of 2009, it’s also time to begin to consider what ideas are likely to resurface during the 2010 session. There is…

HOW SCHOOL CHOICE CAN CREATE JOBS FOR SOUTH CAROLINA AN EXPERIMENTAL CASE STUDY OF FIVE COUNTIES   Sven R. Larson, Ph.D. Our findings are based on the research of Russell…