Who Is In Charge of Education in SC?

We, in South Carolina, over-test our students! Then, once teachers and students start performing well – we change the tests; change cut scores; change standards! We no longer respect teachers nor support their discipline in the classroom. SC teachers are paid at the lowest levels in the country. Teachers have seen their “planning time” disappear. Class sizes increase. And our state laws now require teachers to spend more time testing & doing paperwork, than teaching our kids! Meanwhile, the General Assembly has not funded “Base Student Cost” (per pupil) funding... not one time (even at a “minimally adequate level”) in the last eleven years!

Who is responsible for this mess? Who can we hold accountable for providing leadership for public education in South Carolina? In SC, who knows?

We have a State Superintendent – elected by the voters (Molly Spearman). She works with a State Board of Education – elected by the General Assembly (Fairfield Superintendent, Dr. J.R. Green represents Fairfield, Chester, and Lancaster). These two are required in our state Constitution. And in other states, this is who would be in charge of the state’s public education system. In other states, these are the folks responsible for providing a vision and leadership… and who we can hold accountable for failures.

But not in South Carolina! Here, for the last twenty years, we have not one, but TWO State Education Agencies charged with governing and providing oversight to our public schools. In addition to the State Board/Supt. of Education, here in SC we also have the “Education Oversight Committee” (with paid EOC Director & agency staff). We are the only state in America with, not one, but TWO State Education Agencies. The only state with this wasteful duplication. Excessive Bureaucracy! We know what the State Board, Department, & Superintendent do. But what does this “EOC” and it’s Executive Director - with its well-paid staff, researchers, etc. - do?

Originally the PASS Commission in 1997, the EOC was created simply to develop new state standards and accountability system. Once complete, the EOC was supposed to “sunset.” But the “sunset” never occurred. And, for the last twenty years, the EOC’s role has expanded drastically... so much so that the “Accountability Tail is Now Wagging the Education Dog!”

Over the last 20 years, the EOC has grown far beyond its original legislatively created mission. Since 1998, it was the EOC that pushed to continuously increase the high-stakes, statewide, standardized testing of our students. So much so that our students now spend almost one month out of the school year taking standardized tests. (Time we used to spend actually teaching students).

And every time our students and their teachers start mastering state standards and tests? Our EOC continuously CHANGES the standards. Changes cut-scores. Changes (or adds) tests. Further, for twenty years, the EOC has issued “report cards” –grading schools on student standardized test scores – constantly changing the “cut scores” necessary to achieve a higher “report card” rating.

The EOC is a second (duplicative) governing body charged with setting important public policy here in SC. Millions of taxpayer dollars flow through the EOC every year – with no direct accountability to SC citizens.

How can that be? How can a body - created for the purpose of “accountability” (EOC) – not be accountable to the voters?

While the State Superintendent is elected by the voters and the State Board is elected by the 170 members of the General Assembly, the EOC has NO such direct elected accountability. With no public screening or normal vetting process, only six (of the 170) members of the SC General Assembly (leaders of both houses) choose who they want to serve on the EOC. And the only requirement of the membership of the EOC? The majority can NOT be educators!

How can that be? How can a body - created for the purpose of “accountability” (EOC) – not be accountable to the voters? While the State Superintendent is elected by the voters and the State Board is elected by the 170 members of the General Assembly, the EOC has NO such direct elected accountability. With no public screening or normal vetting process, only six (of the 170) members of the SC General Assembly (leaders of both houses) choose who they want to serve on the EOC. And the only requirement of the membership of the EOC? The majority can NOT be educators!

While every voter in SC has a specific representative on the State Board, no one has a specific representative on the EOC. While out State Superintendent is accountable to the voters; the well-paid EOC Executive Director is accountable to no one... except the 18 EOC Board Members.

Both the State Department of Education and the EOC agency have paid staff, researchers, number-crunchers, curriculum experts, administration, and accountability experts. Both perform similar functions. Functions that – in other states – would be performed solely by the State Department of Education (under the State Board/Supt.). For a state that believes in small, limited, streamlined government, SC is leading the way in extra layers of educational bureaucracy.

Speaking with One Voice? Since both entities are charged with similar education oversight, there are often conflicting visions. For example, many of you will remember the debate over “Common Core” standards a few years ago. In a normal state, you would have such a debate (“Common Core” vs. our own State Standards) at the State Board level. But not in SC. Here, standards must be approved by BOTH the State Board AND the Education Oversight Committee. Since each body consistently has differing visions, this fight went on for a year. The result? While our two agencies were fighting, teachers were teaching without knowing what standards they were supposed to teach!

“The buck stops here!” President Harry Truman’s famous words illustrate the need for leadership to speak with one voice. To have one entity in charge... someone we can hold accountable... someone to provide a vision for us to follow. More than one leader can lead to confusion and chaos. The children of South Carolina and their teachers deserve better. We, the citizens of South Carolina deserve better. To address this critical educational leadership issue, I have introduced S.242. This bill would immediately abolish the EOC and provide for a process to shift former EOC responsibilities to the State Board of Education or State Superintendent of Education (as in other states). I am so proud of my Fairfield legislative delegation teammate – Representative Annie McDaniel – for filing an identical “companion” bill in the House (H.3255). The intent of this legislation is to streamline decision-making, responsibility, and accountability of government in SC... making sure we speak with one voice. “The Buck Stops Here!”

Senator Fanning represents District #17 in the SC Senate. He represents Fairfield & Chester counties... and the southern half of Rock Hill/York County. Senator Fanning serves on the Senate’s Judiciary, Corrections/Penology, Agriculture, Family & Veterans Services, and Fish, Game, & Forestry committees.