First Annual VisionSC Summit Agenda

NOVEMBER 21-22, 2013
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#EmpowerStudentsSC In The News!

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Spartanburg Herald Journal New catalog outlines options for educating children in South Carolina

The State –  SC school-choice advocates share options with families

Charleston Post & Courier – Conservative advocacy group releases catalog of private, public school options
San Fransisco Gate - (AP) SC group creates school choice booklet 

The Gainsville Sun - (AP) SC group creates school choice booklet

The Charlotte Observer - (AP) SC group creates school choice booklet

The Seattle Pi - (AP) SC group creates school choice booklet

The Enquirer Herald - (AP) SC group creates school choice booklet

The Herald - (AP) SC group creates school choice booklet

The Augusta Chronicle - SC group promotes school choice

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Excellence in Ed ‏@ExcelinEd 22h
Great resource for SC families via @PalmettoPolicy http://bit.ly/18PbCLf 

SC Dept of Education ‏@EducationSC 21h
Dr. Zais at this morning's Columbia launch event for #EmpowerStudentsSC catalogue. pic.twitter.com/lER776XQYL

Garry Smith ‏@GarryRSmith 1h
Education options are growing in South Carolina! LEARN MORE: http://tinyurl.com/EmpowerStudentsSC … #EmpowerStudentsSC

Diette C. Casey ‏@Diette 18h
Conservative @PalmettoPolicy releases educational catalog of private, public options in #SC. http://bit.ly/1aeN0tL  #chsnews

jermaine husser ‏@sirjermaine06 24 Oct
Education options are growing in South Carolina! Join us -To Learn more: http://tinyurl.com/EmpowerStudentsSC … @PalmettoPolicy @StudentsFirstSC

Palmetto Family ‏@palmettofamily 23h
We just complete our Spartanburg stop on the #EmpowerStudentsSC tour hosted by Palmetto Policy Forum. We are on... http://fb.me/ZLIIEGib

Education Leaders Unveil Online School Options Catalogue

NEWS RELEASE

Education Leaders Unveil Online School Options Catalogue

COLUMBIA, S.C. –South Carolina’s new policy action-engine, Palmetto Policy Forum, completed a statewide media tour today, launching a first-of-its-kind online education resource catalogue designed to equip South Carolina families with information about how to take advantage of the education options currently available in the Palmetto State.

Empowering Students: Education Options for South Carolina Families celebrates education options – both public and private – that are promoting customized learning for South Carolina students.  The Forum was joined for the launch by a diverse group of partners: State Superintendent of Education Mick Zais, legislative leaders, local elected officials, StudentsFirst SC, the Public Charter School Alliance of SC, Palmetto Family Council, the Midlands Homeschool Resource Center, the SC Association of Independent Home Schools and the SC Association of Christian Schools.

In announcing the publication, Palmetto Policy Forum President Ellen Weaver said: “This catalogue highlights the stories of South Carolina families who are accessing the powerful opportunity of an education that is truly customized to the needs of their child.  While South Carolina has more options today than ever before, our job’s not done.  We hope this guide will help even more Palmetto State families take advantage of the range of choices available to them. We also hope Empowering Students will inspire lawmakers with information about how, through proven policy ideas, we can continue to expand these options and unleash the potential of every South Carolina child.”

State Education Superintendent Dr. Mick Zais, who joined the launch in Cayce and North Charleston, focused on the new world of education. “Fortunately, South Carolina families have more options in education today than ever before. Whether choosing between traditional public and private schools, public charter schools, virtual schools, or homeschooling, more and more South Carolina parents are being empowered to control and customize their child’s education. That’s a great thing,” Zais said.

Governor Nikki Haley’s office released a statement that highlighted her unique perspective in support of the new resource: "As a mother, I know firsthand that no two children are the same or learn in the same way,” Haley said. “That's why as Governor, I am proud to see more and more school options for children in South Carolina. Empowering Students is a great resource for parents and students."

The statewide tour featured stops at Meeting Street Academy in Spartanburg, Midlands Middle College Public Charter in Cayce, and Palmetto Scholars Academy Public Charter in North Charleston.

###

The online version of the catalogue may be found at http://tinyurl.com/EmpowerStudentsSC

Palmetto Policy Forum is a 501(c)(3) independent, nonpartisan educational foundation committed to policy entrepreneurship, consensus-building and transformative solutions to South Carolina’s policy challenges.  It represents a growing coalition of state leaders who are committed to research and promote policies that will make South Carolina a beacon of freedom to the nation and unleash new opportunities for every citizen. 

Thoughts on American Exceptionalism

By Ellen Weaver, President of Palmetto Policy Forum

This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin took to the pages of The New York Times to counsel Americans about “what is in our best interest” as a nation.  He proceeded to chide President Obama for insinuating that there is something exceptional about America, ironically, picking up a theme with which President Obama himself is all too familiar.  Compare each man’s quote:

“I carefully studied his [President Obama’s] address to the nation on Tuesday. And I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is “what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.” It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal”.– Russian President Vladimir Putin in the 9/12/13 edition of The New York Times

"I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism, and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." – President Barack Obama at a G-20 press conference in 2009

This diminution of the idea of American exceptionalism has been a popular theme among many left-leaning thinkers for the last 50 years.  We hear that America is too assertive on the world stage.  Too arrogant.  Too rich.  Too dismissive of other nations.  None of this defines American exceptionalism; it  is a clever bait and switch.

American exceptionalism is not an opinion.  It is not a warm ‘n’ fuzzy feeling of patriotism or a conceit of brash Americans trying to make ourselves feel culturally superior.

It is the sacred trust of freedom that we have inherited.  It is the untold blessings of liberty in which we live each day.  It is as much a fact of history as the D-Day invasion in 1944;  it is the very foundation of our Republic.

Thousands of years of recorded history detail tyranny, despotism, and bare subsistence as the harsh reality of humanity.  Nowhere else in the history of the world has there been another country so “conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”  Even in our darkest times, Americans of every generation have fought and died to maintain and expand this ideal.

Thanks to this exceptional founding, grounded in fundamental first principles such as the rule of law, we still stand today, shoulder to shoulder as neighbors and free Americans of every creed and color.  This idea of America is what makes it far greater than a mere sum of its parts.  This idea has been the lamp of hope lifted beside the golden door of opportunity that has beckoned millions to our shores.

If we ever cease to study, understand and defend this historic fact, we will have lost America’s exceptional essence...to the detriment of the entire world.

This September 11th

On this day, September 11, 2013, you might be transported back to the shocking horror of the Twin Towers falling in plumes of black fire and dust. Perhaps you are taken back to our Pentagon crumbling from Flight 77’s impact; maybe you hear an echo of the "Let's Roll!" bravery of the heroes of Flight 93. Wherever your mind takes you, the surrounding bustle will fade to solemn silence while thinking of so many fellow-Americans who lost their lives.

In the events that followed September 11, 2001, the world witnessed strangers, people from every walk of life as well as first responders, flooding the streets to carry the injured to safety and the fallen to a place of peace beyond the chaos.

We all remember where we were and what we were doing twelve years ago today and the love we freely offered our neighbors. The horrors of that infamous day should never be forgotten; neither should the acts of love that inspired hope when murderous malice sought to dim our nation’s outlook.

Today, may we unite once again, across every barrier that divides us, in loving memory of innocent life lost and exceptional acts of ennobling heroism. May we resolve that the ultimate sacrifices made will inspire us to strive to be the very best of who we are: blessed fellow-citizens of this "last best hope of man on earth."

May God bless America and our great state of South Carolina.

Hopeful Start for SC Special Needs Scholarship Program

By Dr. Oran P. Smith, Senior Fellow

Dr. Oran P. Smith, Senior Fellow

The word from the Statehouse is....pretty good!

The SC Senate hearing on our new Special Needs Scholarship earlier this week was notably calm and productive…a welcome change from the frayed nerves typically reserved for education freedom issues in the Palmetto State. 

The three entities charged with implementing the law – the Department of Revenue, the Department of Education, and the Education Oversight Committee – in their own official way told our State Senators that the Scholarship they crafted was indeed do-able. 

Though strictly factual in their assessment, it was clear that the hastily constructed budget proviso offered by Senator Kevin Bryant (R-Anderson) last spring faced no huge implementation barriers. 

Yes, three non-profit organizations could receive donations to send special needs children to private schools, and the donor could get a tax break for it...right here in South Carolina! 

As for next steps, the Senate Committee thought it best that the next meeting be dedicated to hearing from representatives of states where Special Needs Scholarships are working. This was music to the ears of Palmetto Policy Forum. 

Since our inception six short months ago, PPF has been in constant contact with the very best programs: Florida, Georgia, Arizona, and Louisiana. We also learned that a key player in one of those states was even educated right here in South Carolina!

There are many challenges facing South Carolina students, and the road is long if we are to catch up with our neighbors. But this year's small step could be a giant leap. Time will tell.

U.S. Probes Use of Antipsychotic Drugs on Children

Originally posted at wsj.com
By Lucette Lagnado

The effort applies to a newer class of antipsychotic drugs known as "atypicals," which include Abilify, the nation's No. 1 prescription drug by sales. The drugs were originally developed to treat psychoses such as schizophrenia, but some now have Food and Drug Administration approval for treatment of children with conditions such as bipolar disorder and irritability associated with autism.

In 2008, the most recent year for which complete data are available, Medicaid, the government health program for the poor, spent $3.6 billion on antipsychotic medications, up from $1.65 billion in 1999, according to Mathematica Policy Research, a Washington firm that crunches Medicaid data for HHS. The growth came even as pharmacy benefits for millions of Medicaid recipients shifted to Medicare in 2006.

Medicaid spends more on antipsychotics than on any other class of drugs. Abilify, made by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., appears on lists of the top 10 drugs paid for by Medicaid in various states.

Mark Duggan, a professor and health-policy expert at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, says his analysis of 2010 data on five leading antipsychotics suggests that more than 70% of the cost of these drugs was paid for by Medicaid and other government programs.

Brandon Thibodeaux for The Wall Street Journal
Rebecca Green sorts through drugs for four of her foster children.

The number of people under age 20 receiving Medicaid-funded prescriptions for antipsychotic drugs tripled between 1999 and 2008, according to an analysis by Mathematica.

Dr. Stephen Cha, a chief medical officer at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the HHS agency that foots some of the bill for drugs prescribed to Medicaid recipients, says the government wants to reduce what he termed "the unnecessarily high utilization of antipsychotics." He urges doctors to consider other approaches, including therapy to help children and families cope with psychological trauma that could be at the root of behavior issues.

A Foster Mother Struggles to Help Four
The drugs in question—in addition to Abilify, the brand names include Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa—were developed to replace medications dating to the 1950s such as Haldol and Thorazine, which produced severe side effects such as uncontrollable muscle twitching. The atypicals, introduced in the 1990s and early 2000s, were hailed as safer and more tolerable, and sales grew rapidly.

The FDA's approval of some of the new drugs to treat certain pediatric conditions, coupled with concern about possible side effects on young people and growing off-label use by doctors to treat various forms of violent or aggressive behavior, has sparked debate about whether they are being dispensed too freely to troubled children.

Spokespeople for the makers of Seroquel, AstraZeneca AZN -0.30% PLC, and of Abilify said those drugs should be used for FDA approved indications. Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., a unit of Johnson & Johnson JNJ -0.36% that makes Risperdal, noted that the drug had been approved for a number of pediatric uses. Eli Lilly & Co., LLY -0.90% maker of Zyprexa, says the drug's label guides doctors to weigh the risks and consider therapy as part of the treatment. None commented on the government efforts to reduce antipsychotic use by children in the Medicaid system.

Dr. Fernando Siles, a pediatric psychiatrist in the Dallas area who treats many poor foster children, says he sometimes prescribes such medications to treat serious behavior problems. "A child that continues to be aggressive will be kicked out from his foster home," he says. "The antipsychotic is to stabilize the behavior of the child, to keep him from being moved and moved again."

Some doctors say there is too much emphasis on medicating children instead of working with them and their caregivers to understand what is triggering their behavior. Dr. Glenn Saxe, chairman of child and adolescent psychiatry at NYU-Langone Medical Center and a proponent of trauma-focused therapy, says psychiatry has missed "big opportunities to help children. This problem has led to kids being medicated more and more."

Dr. Siles agrees that lots of children could be helped by trauma-centered therapy, "but there is no budget for it."

Children on Medicaid are prescribed antipsychotics at four times the rate of privately insured children, according to a study by Stephen Crystal, a professor of health policy at Rutgers University, that looked at data from 2004 on 6- to 17-year-old children in seven states.

The probe by the inspector general, Daniel Levinson, has been under way for several months and focuses on the five largest Medicaid states: California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas. It covers a six-month period from January to June 2011, when 84,654 children age 17 and under in those states received prescriptions for antipsychotics paid for by Medicaid. Pediatric psychiatrists will examine about 700 cases, say people familiar with the effort.

"Through medical-record reviews, we will determine whether these prescriptions were medically indicated, and whether taxpayers were being billed for inappropriate, poor-quality care," says Mr. Levinson.

Government Medicaid data indicate that some of the prescriptions are being written for very young children. An analysis by Mathematica found that in 2008, 19,045 children age 5 and under were prescribed antipsychotics through Medicaid, 3% of recipients under 20, up from 7,759 in 1999, according to James Verdier, a senior fellow at the organization.

Data from the inspector general's five-state probe indicate that 482 children 3 and under were prescribed antipsychotics during the period in question, including 107 children 2 and under. Six were under a year old, including one listed as a month old. The records don't indicate the diagnoses involved.

All five states said they have guidelines to prevent the improper use of the drugs on children in Medicaid.

In New York, a spokesman for the state health department said some children between ages 1 and 2 received antipsychotics for conditions such as autistic disorder and attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity.

Texas said about five children under the age of 1 had been prescribed antipsychotics during the time period of the probe, including two who were five months old.

"No child is getting these drugs unless they're under a doctor's care, and the doctor has to be able to defend the use of the drug," said a spokeswoman for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. "For infants, the drugs aren't being used for behavior. The infants most often have seizures or complex health issues like heart and respiratory problems, and these drugs can be prescribed to help with discomfort."

Of particular concern is use of the drugs on foster children in the Medicaid system. One study, based on 2007 Medicaid data in 13 states, found that 12.4% of children in foster care received antipsychotics, compared with 1.4% of Medicaid eligible children in general, according to Mr. Crystal, co-author of the study.

Bryan Samuels, head of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, the agency within HHS that helps oversee the nation's foster children, is pushing states to adopt tougher rules on prescribing antipsychotics.

"The medications tend to be the stopgap measure," Mr. Samuels says. "We are making significant investments in medication that have limited evidence of effectiveness and rarely address the issues of trauma."

Write to Lucette Lagnado at lucette.lagnado@wsj.com

The $4 Million Teacher

By Amanda Ripley
Originally posted at wsj.com, August 6, 2013

South Korea's students rank among the best in the world, and its top teachers can make a fortune. Can the U.S. learn from this academic superpower?

SeongJoon Cho for The Wall Street Journal

Kim Ki-hoon earns $4 million a year in South Korea, where he is known as a rock-star teacher—a combination of words not typically heard in the rest of the world. Mr. Kim has been teaching for over 20 years, all of them in the country's private, after-school tutoring academies, known as hagwons. Unlike most teachers across the globe, he is paid according to the demand for his skills—and he is in high demand.

Mr. Kim works about 60 hours a week teaching English, although he spends only three of those hours giving lectures. His classes are recorded on video, and the Internet has turned them into commodities, available for purchase online at the rate of $4 an hour. He spends most of his week responding to students' online requests for help, developing lesson plans and writing accompanying textbooks and workbooks (some 200 to date).

"The harder I work, the more I make," he says matter of factly. "I like that."

Public Pensions & The Need For State & Local Action

By Cory Eucalitto
Originally posted by State Budget Solutions on July 12, 2013

Washington is beginning to take note of the funding crisis facing America’s states and municipalities. It calls attention to the inadequacy of the response to the crisis that has so far come from state governments themselves.

Last week, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) unveiled a bill designed to give new flexibility to state and local public pension plans struggling to stay afloat. The Secure Annuities For Employee (SAFE) Retirement Act of 2013 would alter the tax code to allow plans to be transferred to life insurance companies and other annuity providers. State Budget Solutions published a summary of the bill’s key points here.

The pension funding crisis – a combined $4.6 trillion unfunded liability – is first and foremost a state and local government crisis that requires state and local solutions. Of course, those governments operate under the laws and tax code of the Federal government, so anything Washington can do to encourage solutions is a great step. Sen. Hatch’s bill may have potential as one of those steps, in a way that would signify healthy attentiveness on the part of Washington to the needs of the states.

Back down at the state level, though, the pension reform debate is often stale and recycled. True reform, which would involve a complete overhaul of the way public employees receive a secure retirement, modeled after the proven successes of defined contribution plans in the private sector, is left on the table in favor of half measures that end up stalled in a court room battle anyways.

The combination of leaders who still fail to recognize the magnitude of the crisis and entrenched interests desperate to make sure that the ignorance continues is toxic. Until more people in state capitals and city halls recognize what one Senator who has been stuck in the corridors of Washington for over 30 years has been able to, little will change. The pension crisis needs bold, innovative solutions that originate from the same source as the problem itself: the nation’s state and local governments.

Why does Milton Friedman matter?

Widely regarded as the groundbreaking leader of the Chicago School of monetary economics, Milton Friedman led a long and storied career, receiving the 1976 Nobel Prize for Economic Science, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988 and the National Medal of Science the same year. 

But he is beloved because his academic brilliance was employed in the practical service of people.  Friedman’s observance of the facts led him to a passionate belief that people truly free to choose their course in life without the heavy hand of undue government interference is the surest way forward to create hope and opportunity – a rising tide of prosperity – for all.

This is especially true in the timeless work of education freedom to which he and his wife Rose devoted themselves.  As he once famously said:

Governments never learn.  Those words ring clear to the citizens of this country who know that Washington is fundamentally broken.  Those words ring clear to the people of South Carolina where we know that while the sunbeams of economic opportunity don’t shine as brightly in every county of the Palmetto State.

Only people learn.  South Carolina has the opportunity to enrich the lives of so many children and families by innovating policy to focus on students, empower parents and strengthen our education system.

Too many of our low income and minority children are falling behind in school and at incredibly high risk to drop out of school and be caught in a cycle of poverty.  A good education is the first step on the path to solving these problems.  But too many of these children are trapped in struggling schools that don’t fit their needs.  For these children and their frustrated parents, there are no other educational options.  

Time and again, we have seen that more money and Washington mandates are not the answer.  Rather, South Carolina must embrace the kind of education innovations that are passing in states all over the country, including ideas like Opportunity Scholarships that just passed in North Carolina last week.

This year, through heroic efforts in the South Carolina Senate, we took a small but important first step towards opening up this kind of opportunity for our children with disabilities.  But the work is never done.  2014 will be our golden opportunity to cement and build on that important gain. 

And if we do, we stand on the shoulders of giants like Milton Friedman whose policy innovation, founded on a compassion for people, have left a powerful example for us to follow. 

Medicaid Expansion Debate Heats Up Furman University

Lauren Sausser, Post and Courier

GREENVILLE — The General Assembly has gone home for the year, but the fight over Medicaid expansion — a major building block of the federal Affordable Care Act and one of the most contested issues of the legislative session — is far from finished.

Survey Finds Health Care Costs Top CFOs' Worries

The Affordable Care Act's provisions for employee health care top chief financial officers' lists of concerns this year.

$3.6M Being Spent in SC to Market the #UNaffordableCareAct

By SEANNA ADCOX — Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina isn't helping promote the federal health care law to the uninsured, but millions of marketing dollars will still be spent within the state.

The federal government is distributing $3.6 million directly to community groups and health centers to promote the law to an estimated 906,400 South Carolinians without health insurance. The grants are part of a nationwide marketing blitz costing taxpayers at least $684 million, according to data compiled by The Associated Press.

The Obama administration and many states are launching campaigns this summer to get the word out before enrollment for new benefits begins in October. Beyond doling out grants directly, the federal government is also funding state-awarded contracts.

South Carolina is receiving proportionately less, as are other Republican-led states that have opposed the law.

It requires people without health coverage to pay a penalty starting Jan 1. Online marketplaces called exchanges, set to debut in October, will enable residents to compare coverage terms and prices and then use federal subsidies, if they qualify, to buy a policy.

South Carolina is not running an exchange, leaving that responsibility to the federal government. That's why the state didn't seek any of the millions available for outreach, marketing and advertising, said John Supra, deputy director of the state's Medicaid agency.

"When we chose to have the federal government operate the exchange, that put the responsibility for marketing and supporting it on the federal government," he said.

South Carolina ranks 32nd in both per capita and total spending.

The federal government is spending 78 cents per person in South Carolina, where an estimated 20 percent of the population lacks coverage. Nationwide, per capita spending ranges from 46 cents in Wisconsin — which also isn't running an exchange — to $9.23 in West Virginia. Total spending in states ranges from $914,000 in Wyoming to $174.2 million in California, slated to receive a quarter of all public money identified by the AP.

The spending in South Carolina includes $2.4 million awarded to 19 health centers statewide.

Those centers operated 157 sites and served more than 315,000 patients last year — 36 percent of them uninsured. They expect to use the money to hire 45 workers and help more than 41,000 residents enroll in health plans, according to a July 10 release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Amounts awarded range from $59,000 to Foothills Community Health Care in Clemson to about $208,500 to Care South Carolina in Hartsville.

The federal government has set aside an additional $1.2 million for community groups. The winning applicants are expected to be named in mid-August.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2013/07/24/2878370/36m-being-spent-in-sc-to-market.html#storylink=cpy

Happy Independence Day!

By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world. ~ "Concord Hymn,” Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1837

Today marks the 237th anniversary of The Declaration of Independence. After passage by the Continental Congress, a War for Independence ensued, with the insurgents risking their fortunes, their very lives and the lives of their families, all because of the truths that they and we to this day hold to be self-evident. There are few people today who would put themselves in their shoes. Imagine a citizenry willing to lay their lives on the line for principle. The great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence are what we celebrate today.

We will celebrate Independence Day as we do every year on July 4th. For most, it marks a holiday from our daily work. It’s planned around barbecues and fireworks. For some, today reopens the wounds of the brave men and women who have returned home from war to the land of the free and the home of the brave. For all, it should be day spent with family and loved ones honoring the heroes who returned and the heroes our Creator took Home.

Happy Independence Day from Palmetto Policy Forum!

READ MORE:

The Declaration of Independence
Bill of Rights

The American Founding

For Pension Funds, Higher Fees Don't Mean Higher Returns, Study Finds

Originally published in the Wall Street Journal, July 2, 2013

Report on State Pension Funds Adds Fuel to Debate on Active Investment Managers
By MICHAEL CORKERY

Public-employee pension plans paying the highest investment fees aren't generating the highest returns, according to a new study by a pair of Maryland think tanks.

In fact, just the opposite may be true, says the Maryland Public Policy Institute and Maryland Tax Education Foundation.

On average, 10 states paying the most money-management fees had lower investment returns between June 30, 2007 and June 30, 2012 than 10 states paying the fewest fees.

In recent years, many pensions have been willing to live with the high fees charged by alternative investment managers, such as hedge funds, in hopes that these firms can deliver high returns with less risk than stocks.

The report could add fuel to the growing debate over whether pensions should be moving away from higher-cost, active-investment managers and toward lower-cost, passive investments such as indexes.
The report calculates investment fees as percentage of a pension fund's total assets.

"Many states are spending millions of dollars a year in Wall Street fees and they seem to be getting very little in return," says Jeff Hooke, a co-author of the study and chairman of Maryland Tax Education Foundation, a conservative-leaning group.

The 10 state pension funds paying the most fees had a median five-year annualized return of 1.34%. The 10 state funds paying the least in fees reported a 2.38% return for the five year period.

The study ranks fees and investment returns at the largest pension funds in 35 states with fiscal years ending June 30, 2012.

The study examined fees for statewide pension funds covering a range of workers. In some states, the study looked at the largest pension plan, such as teachers' funds. South Carolina Retirement System paid the most fees in the study, totaling 1.3% of total pension assets. The Teacher Retirement System of Georgia paid the least in fees, totaling 0.09% of total assets, according to the study.

South Carolina's five-year return rate was about 1.5% while Georgia's returns were about 2.9%, the report says.

In a statement, South Carolina chief investment officer Hershel Harper said "there is no one common practice in reporting investment fees paid.''

"We understand practices vary widely, making any 'apples to apples' comparison of standard financial statement investment management fees nearly impossible," Mr. Harper said. South Carolina has a relatively large allocation to alternative investments.

A spokesman for the Georgia teachers' pension couldn't be reached.

The study grew out of the Maryland think tanks' scrutiny of the pension plan of their home state, says Mr. Hooke, a managing director at Focus, an investment banking firm in Washington, D.C. Maryland's investment fees totaled 0.64%, the third highest in the study.

Mr. Hooke says in a similar study last year, his group missed some fees paid by certain states, but those oversights have been corrected this year.

Some pension plans have been demanding lower fees from hedge funds and private-equity firms. One plan in Montgomery County, Pa. has moved nearly all of its money into index funds to lower costs.

Stories of Freedom: a “First Principles” Must Read

The current edition of Hillsdale College's newsletter, Imprimis, contains an outstanding tribute by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (TX) to freedom and the career of a lady who famously said, “I am not a consensus politician.  I am a conviction politician.”  Hillsdale President Larry Arnne, a confidante of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, also remembers defining moments in the career his friend.  Enjoy a few excerpts below or click here to read the entire publication.

From remarks by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (TX)

But most importantly, freedom produces opportunity. And I would encourage each of you to embrace what I call opportunity conservatism, which means that we should look at and judge every proposed domestic policy with a laser focus on how it impacts the least among us—how it helps the most vulnerable Americans climb the economic ladder.

The political left in our country seeks to reach down the hand of government and move people up the economic ladder. This attempt is almost always driven by noble intentions. And yet it never, ever works. Conservatives, in contrast, understand from experience that the only way to help people climb the economic ladder is to provide them the opportunity to pull themselves up one rung at a time…

Innovating SC Education Policy: Why the Need for Change?

Compelling statistics below that reinforce why education transformation is so vital to the economic future of our Palmetto State:

• Reading is not taught beyond 3^rd grade, yet 38% of our state’s 4^th graders are functionally illiterate and 72% read below grade level. (NAEP 2011)
• In Charleston County, nearly 20% of 9^th graders read at a 4^th-grade level or worse. (Charleston Post & Courier, May 18, 2010)
• Some 28% of South Carolina’s students fail to complete high school within four years, most of whom are dropouts. (SCDE Graduation Report, June 2011)
• According to ACT’s benchmarks, SC students who took the test, only 19% were deemed “college ready.” (ACT Profile Report, Class of 2011)
• Nearly 50% of SC students who enroll as freshman at a four-year college fail to graduate within six years. (SC Commission for Higher Education, 2011)
• While South has a 9.5% unemployment rate, there are extensive shortages of skilled workers for high technology manufacturing. (SC Department of Employment and Workforce; The State, Jan. 25, 2012)
• Most high school exit exams measure proficiency at the 8^th to 10^th grade levels. They are set this low to minimize the number of dropouts. (“Beyond the Rhetoric,” SREB, June 2010)
• The U.S. has fallen from 1^st in the world in high school graduation rate to 18^th of 24 industrialized nations. (“Benchmarking for Success,” National Governors’ Assoc., 2008)
• Between 2007 and 2009, teacher job satisfaction fell by 15 points to 44%, the lowest level since 1986. Additionally, 29% said they are likely to leave teaching for another profession. (The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher, 2011)

Education Alert: Universal Pre-K…Spending for Success?

In short, “No.”  President Obama’s push for massive federal spending on a universal pre-kindergarten program generated heated opposition over cost, government overreach and the questionable effectiveness of existing programs like Head Start.

But now this debate has landed on our front step. The South Carolina State Senate  is scheduled to vote early next week on Budget Proviso 1.83 that would create just such a program in SC.  This is the wrong choice for South Carolina’s hard-earned taxpayer education dollars.

New SC Poll Reveals Voter Concern About Medicaid Expansion

Voters fear rushing into waste, uncertainty and cost.

A statewide survey of South Carolina voters commissioned by Palmetto Policy Forum and conducted by Magellan Strategies reveals a divided and doubtful electorate on the issue of expanding Medicaid in South Carolina to include able-bodied adults up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level.  The survey was conducted April 30–May 1 with 940 likely general election voters and has a margin of error of +/-3.2%.

The rush to expand Medicaid under provisions of The Affordable Care Act in the face of waste, fraud and abuse is at the top of voter worries.  Key survey findings include:

1. Among active voters, when given no further facts, Medicaid expansion is deadlocked at 44% favoring and 44% opposed to expansion with a large partisan split between Republicans (who oppose expansion by 75%) and Democrats (who support expansion by 81%).  A strong plurality (45%) of independent voters opposes expansion.
2. A plurality of all voters (48%) believes that Medicaid is a “flawed program that wastes a lot of money, has problems of fraud and abuse, and is in severe need of reform.”
3. When presented with the wide variance in expert projections on the expected number of new enrollees, 45% of all voters oppose Medicaid expansion. Removing those who are Unsure or have No Opinion, a majority (52%) oppose expansion based on expert uncertainty over projected growth in enrollment.
4. When presented with specific cost estimates, 47% oppose Medicaid expansion. Again, removing those Unsure or with No Opinion, opposition rises to 56% based on estimated costs. While again, there is a deep divide between Republicans and Democrats on this issue, key swing voters think more like Republicans, with 75% of Republicans, 11% of Democrats and 51% of Independents opposing expansion over the question of cost.

Tough Tuesday for the NLRB

The D.C. Circuit issues a double smackdown to the politicized agency.

Wall Street Journal

Tuesday was a tough day at the office for President Obama's National Labor Relations Board. First, three judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, ruling in National Association of Manufacturers v. National Labor Relations Board, struck down the NLRB's diktat that businesses put up pro-union posters in the workplace. That, the court said, violated employer free speech rights in place since Congress's 1947 Taft-Hartley Act. It got worse...

Roger Pilon: Graduates, Your Ambition Is the Problem

Obama's commencement speech at Ohio State on Sunday would have perplexed the Founders. 

Wall Street Journal, By Roger Pilon

Civic education in America took a hit on Sunday when President Obama, giving the commencement address at The Ohio State University, chose citizenship as his theme. The country's Founders trusted citizens with "awesome authority," he told the assembled graduates. Really?

Actually, the Founders distrusted us, at least in our collective capacity. That's why they wrote a Constitution that set clear limits on what we, as citizens, could do through government.

The Coming ObamaCare Shock

by Daniel P. Kessler, Wall Street Journal 

In recent weeks, there have been increasing expressions of concern from surprising quarters about the implementation of ObamaCare. Montana Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat, called it a "train wreck." A Democratic colleague, West Virginia's Sen. Jay Rockefeller, described the massive Affordable Care Act as "beyond comprehension." Henry Chao, the government's chief technical officer in charge of putting in place the insurance exchanges mandated by the law, was quoted in the Congressional Quarterly as saying "I'm pretty nervous . . . Let's just make sure it's not a third-world experience."

These individuals are worried for good reason. The unpopular health-care law's rollout is going to be rough. It will also administer several price (and other) shocks to tens of millions of Americans.

How Medicaid and Obamacare Hurt the Poor

By Jim Epstein, ReasonTV

"Most physicians can't afford to accept Medicaid" patients, says Dr. Alieta Eck, a primary-care physician based in Piscataway, New Jersey. "If you're getting paid about $17 per visit, it won't be long before you can't pay your staff or pay your rent."

Medicaid is the nation's health care system for the poor. It's funded jointly by the federal government and the states. Medicaid is either the first- or second-largest budget item in all 50 states and the program is slated for a massive expansion under President Obama's health-care reform law. Despite the program's huge and growing overall cost, reimbursements to medical providers are so low that many practices refuse to accept Medicaid patients, causing long waiting periods for treatment.

Eck and her husband, Dr. John Eck, are the founders of Zarephath Health Center, a free health care clinic in Somerset, New Jersey, where they each volunteers six hours per week taking care of poor patients. While the Ecks don't accept Medicaid in their private practice, some of the patients that show up at their free clinic are Medicaid recipients who can't find a regular doctor.

"The hardest thing for a Medicaid patient to do is get a doctor's appointment," says Avik Roy, who writes a health care blog at Forbes.com and is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. One consequence is that Medicaid recipients show up at emergency rooms at nearly double the rate of the privately insured, often with accute problems that could have been addressed earlier in a doctor's office. They're also more likely than both the privately insured and the uninsured to have late-stage cancer at first diagnosis.