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It’s no secret that public education in South Carolina is terrible. And a report released Tuesday by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center called Diplomas Count just done gone and proved it. According to the report, South Carolina has the WORST high school graduation rate in the nation at 53.8 percent; more than 16 percent below the national average.
High-five!
Utah topped the list a full 30 points better than the Palmetto State at 83.8 percent. Fellow southern states Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi were also near the bottom – which is confirmed by how “awesome” the south looks on the above map compared to, say, the rest of the country.
We can’t really act too surprised that the state with the lowest SAT scores would also have the worst graduation rate. But it’s still pretty sad.
However, we do question some of the results of this report because, let’s be honest, there’s no way that any of Louisiana or Appalachia should be blue. It’s just not possible.
Anyway, if we’re going to be good at something, we might as well be good at being the worst. And notice on the following statewide map that there are only three – count ‘em, three – districts in the blue (above 70 percent). Yay, South Carolina!
We’ll give 50 bucks to the first person that turns this into a “Discover South Carolina” commercial.
We used to say Thank God for Alabama and Mississippi. We were also proud to be number one – in venereal disease and adult illiteracy.
What was the west wing episode where josh says: “we need text books that don’t refer to the civil rights movement as trouble ahead”. That’s so sc.
Mighty curious that the Seattle, Washington school system stole away one of the educrats whose crowinging acheivement appears to be leaving a county system on the deep red side of the national map, Maria Goodloe.
Meddlesome statistical question, is this publick skule graddeashen rate or combined public and private school graduation rates? One also ponders the streaming of Ft. Jackson’s dependants into Richalnd District One and Two while painting the base in the no data available pleth, as is done with the Savannah River Site reservation, which crosses two county boundaries, yet has no residents…
Still, using statistics to prop up a position rather than illuminating the path brings the analogy of a drunk using the streelight’s post for support rather that its light to see a way.
These statistics will never change until “all” our elected representatives realize that if we are to compete in this global environment, then parents must be given the right to choose which educational delivery system is best for their children. South Carolina through the legislative process, “must” promote School Choice to improve through competition, the quality of K-12 education for all our children. Educational Choice simply means that parents are given back a basic American ideal of freedom to choose as it applies to education of their children.
Yes,red is bad. Just like ALL red states(are you listening George? Didn’t think so)
It’s time for us to quit blaming the politicians, and shift the focus to the parents who sit by and do nothing. An old saying goes, “When you spare the rod, you spoil the child.” Well, these parents are good for nothing, and they’re turning their children into themselves. There needs to be some type of workable PTO set up in each district, and parents need to become more active in more than the school’s Booster Club.
With all due respect, though I don’t disagree totally, the politicians are as much or more to blame than the parents. Look at the map. If the blame directed at the parents, then the map indicates that South Carolina parents are the worst in the country. Until the politicians wake up and make definitive moves on improving the education system, the learning curve will stagnate indefintely in South Carolina. Where’s Dick Riley when you need him?
The poor educational outcomes in SC are a direct result of laziness. IE: Lazy politicians, lazy parents, and lazy children. A direct result of the nanny state mentality. Our family has choosen to homeschool. We pick the books, the time, the place … This is our 3rd year homeschooling. While we sacrifice one income to homeschool, we believe that it is our God given responsibility to train our children, NOT Uncle Sam’s. We just received our children’s Stanford Achievement test results and we were pleased to see that they scored well above grade level on most subjects. We are not professional educators, we are just average folks that are doing what we think is best for our family. We are blessed that I make enough money for us to live on one income. Other’s in our state have no choice but the failing public education system. For education is SC to improve, PARENTS must demand more from politicians (school choice), more from schools, more from their children, and more from themselves.
I applaud your choice, yet, the vast majority of South Carolinians are ill-equipped to homeschool as you do(just as you stated), and, while it may well be your “God given responsibility” to “train” your children, it is the government’s mandate that they receive an education to a specific standard. Until those standards are raised and the resources provided to achieve those standards, South Carolina will contnue “bringing up the rear”. Granted, laziness is a factor, but parents cannot provide the resources on their own…they must use the only weapon they have to coerce politicians to “step up” and provide those resources…and that weapon is their vote. We aren’t that far apart except that I believe if the government is going to set the bar, they have to provide the means by which students can succeed. It is shameful that teachers are not afforded a similar professional status as doctors and lawyers.
Not to needlessly inject racial considerations, but one cannot help but notice that the lower graduation rates on the map correlate strongly with states that have relatively high minority populations. This is not to defend the South Carolina education system, it is in bad shape.
But it is at least worth noting that if South Carolina educates whites as well as Utah (a very blue state) and blacks as well as Utah, but blacks over all are not educated as well as whites, then South Carolina will have a lower ranking than Utah despite educating the various segments of its population just as well as Utah. I am certainly not suggesting that there is any attempt to lie with statistics here (though that is very easy to do in most cases). What I am suggesting is that South Carolina’s poor ranking likely has a lot to do with a national failure to educate minorities. Our ranking is not only due to statewide problems.
I would like someone in the wonderful state of S.C. who is 45 to 50 years old and who attented public schools in the state of S.C. to give me your opinion on Education standards during the late 60’s and early 70’s in this beautiful state? Thank you very much anyway, because I know exactly what you are thinking!
We can not blame the parents of the ones that have children in school. These parents were part of the 50% a generation ago. Minorities sell out to one party. The minorities in rural areas are in the same shape they have always been in. Minority politicians sell their soles to a party that has done nothing for their people. James Clyburn, number 3 in his party, is voted into office by minorities for the past 20 years and the people that voted him in are in the highest drop out rate in the state. Minorities elected Jim Hodges governor and received nothing.
We are the lowest in every category in income jobs in the United States. Tourism offers nothing for people that want to better themselves and income and have a family. There is not one politicians in this state can call himself a statesman. The reason for this statement is very simple. South Carolina would not be in the shape we are in today. The more we have educated the more everyone will prosper, because we have half dragging the rest down. Parents what we have today is a product of your vote. It is time to get rid of the Good Old Boys in Columbia.
These numbers are NOT what state Superintendents of Education Inez Tenenbaum or Jim Rex proclaimed during their political campaigns.
Why are so many surprised since education issues have turned politics into such a battleground? There are too many competing forces trying to elbow their way into the required list of subjects that society has forgotten exactly what is needed to successfully compete in today’s marketplace.
Just look at the required courses at your local university. Sex and race top the list and professors in all diciplines seem to rejoice at telling students about how unequitible SC society is towards “protected” groups.
No wonder large companies are hiring military retirees and service academy graduates in record numbers – a proven track record of success and treating everyone equally.
Wow, yes, I remember voting for Dr. Nielson from Ohio stating, we are 49th now so why not vote against the incumbant,but soon after taking office we moved to 50th. Although I do not agree with the massive restructering due to the consolidation of power and risks associated with that consolidation we do need to examine where we are the worst and try another method.
Anyone have a map of how private schools are doing? I know much better, but I would like to see.
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