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Wisconsin, South Carolina: Two Teachers Die of COVID-19
Yesterday, I posted an article by an economist who wrote that schools are not super spreaders, and that the rate of transmission of COVID has been very low among students and teachers. Some readers...
View ArticleReport from South Carolina: Rasheem and LaRonda
Arnold and Carol Hillman were educators in Pennsylvania. They retired to South Carolina and, instead of golfing and relaxing, they became involved with rural public schools. They created clubs for...
View ArticleACLU: Mask Bans Are Unfair to Students with Disabilities
The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against the state of South Carolina for its law banning mask mandates, on grounds that such a ban jeopardizes students with disabilities. The ACLU...
View ArticleDark Money in the Holy City: A Short History of School Privatization in...
Paul Bowers was the education reporter at the Charleston Post and Courier. He wrote this post at my request. A reader alerted me to the billionaire-driven attack on public schools in Charleston, and I...
View ArticleGood News in Charleston: School Board Delays Privatization Effort
It is great when good things happen, especially when they prove the power of the pen. Backstory: an anonymous reader of this blog left a comment asking whether I was aware that a billionaire (Ben...
View ArticleGOP Plans to Use Pandemic to Push for School Choice
Politico reports that Republicans view the pandemic and school closures as an opportunity to promote school closures. This should appeal to the 30% of the population who are unvaccinated and oppose...
View ArticleCharleston, South Carolina: The Collapse of a Federally-Funded Teacher...
When I was writing The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education (2010), I researched the history of merit pay. I learned that it has been...
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“Left Behind: The Unintended Consequences of School Choice”: Kids with...
Jennifer Hawes Berry of the Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina, wrote this account of a Charleston high school struggling to improve and raise its graduation rate, even as its enrollment...
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South Carolina: Don’t Defund Our Public Schools With Vouchers!
Paul Bowers, previously the education journalist for the Charleston, South Carolina, Post & Courier, writes his own blog. In this post, he calls on the state legislators not to pass voucher...
View ArticleSouth Carolina: It Doesn’t Matter What’s Taught If There’s No One to Teach It
Patrick Kelly, director of governmental affairs for the Palmetto State Teachers Association, warned in an opinion piece in the Charleston (SC) Post and Courier about the state’s teacher shortage....
View ArticleCharleston: The Power of Parents and Communities Blocked Privatization
The following article describes a victory for parents and communities, which blocked a privatization plan to close 23 schools. It appeared on “Parent Voices for Public Schools,” which is sponsored by...
View ArticleSouth Carolina Legislature Fails to Pass Anti-CRT and Anti-Abortion Bills
Good news sometimes comes in small victories. I this case, the good news is that the legislature in South Carolina did not pass bills banning teaching about race and restricting abortion. The...
View ArticleToday at 2:30 PM EST: South Carolina “Anti-Truth” Town Hall
This should be a fascinating event, and it starts in only 2 1/2 hours! Educators and concerned citizens in South Carolina are holding a Town Hall zoom at Furman University about the new legislative...
View ArticleSouth Carolina: Republicans Choose Unqualified Foe of Public Schools and...
South Carolina’s public schools, teachers, and students are in for some tough times. Republicans went to the polls and selected a rightwing ideologue as their candidate for state superintendent. Ellen...
View ArticleArnold Hillman: South Carolina’s Cruel Culture of Low Expectations
Veteran educator Arnold Hillman and his wife Carol retired to South Carolina. But instead of golfing, they devoted themselves to a high-poverty high school and worked directly with the students to...
View ArticleSouth Carolina Advances Bill for Near-Total Ban on Abortions
South Carolina may soon have one of the cruelest bans on abortion in the nation. The affluent women who want an abortion will fly or drive to another state to get an abortion. Those who can’t afford...
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Arnold Hillman: Save the Children of South Carolina!
Sit down and prepare for a long but very important read. You might conclude that the elected officials of South Carolina–Governor Henry McMasters, Senator Lindsay Graham, Senator Tim Scott, and the...
View ArticlePaul Bowers: “We Are Not a Threat; We’re Just People”
Paul Bowers is a journalist in South Carolina who blogs at “Brutal South.” This post is a story of a young person who realized he was transgender. He wrote an essay about his discovery that was...
View ArticleSouth Carolina: Voucher Advocate Elected as State Superintendent
South Carolina elected private choice advocate Ellen Weaver as state superintendent. She defeated a full-time teacher, Lisa Ellis. Republican Ellen Weaver, one of the state’s foremost champions of...
View ArticlePaul Bowers: What Happens When Rightwingers Wiin Control of Local School Board
Paul Bowers writes about what happened when a slate of extremists took control of a local school board in South Carolina. He described their actions as “vandalism.” He begins: A hard-right faction...
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