"Advance Carolina" Becomes 1st Special Needs Scholarship Provider

Exciting news for South Carolina students with exceptional needs!

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January13th, 2014
Contact: Access Opportunity South Carolina (AOSC)
www.IndependentED.org

“ADVANCE CAROLINA” LISTED AS FIRST SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOLARSHIP PROVIDER

This morning, Advance Carolina became the first organization authorized to issue scholarships as part of the state’s new school choice program. Advance Carolina is a Columbia-based charity supporting students with disabilities.

South Carolina’s new program, “Educational Credits for Exceptional Needs Children,” allows private taxpayers to fund grants for students with special learning needs who attend independent primary and secondary schools. Like dozens of parental choice programs in other states, the goal is to help all parents gain access to schools that meet the individual learning needs of their child.

Advance Carolina was created by leaders of the South Carolina Association of Christian Schools (SCACS) to serve students with special educations needs at SCACS-affiliated schools .The non-profit also looks to serve exceptional needs students enrolling at other independent, non-sectarian private schools. Directors and staffers have decades of personal experience as Christian educators, and are eager to target help to students with the greatest academic, financial and familial need.

Both individual and corporate donors to Advance Carolina are eligible for state income tax credits. These contributors can to claim that dollar for dollar credit for up to 60 percent of their one-year tax liability. They are not allowed to designate specific student or school as beneficiary of the grant.

“Every morning, thousands of children across South Carolina head off to high quality, SCACS-affiliated schools,” explained Edward Earwood, the president of Advance Carolina.” Those schools are proud of their high standards, community engagement and sense of Christian mission. Many also offer highly specialized instruction for students facing special learning needs. The tax credit funded scholarships will help families seeking to enroll their children at SCACS’ and other independent schools who offer special programs for students with special needs. That will give parents –particularly those facing financial hardships– real choices.”

Advance Carolina is one of two aspiring SFOs to sign the “Access Opportunity Best Practices Pledge,” a voluntary pledge that includes a disclosure questionnaire about scholarship awarding practices. The other is the St. Thomas Aquinas SFO, which is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston. Access Opportunity South Carolina (AOSC) partnered with a coalition of South Carolina private schools and respected scholarship providers around the country to develop the pledge and questionnaire. The best practice pledge includes a commitment by the signatory SFOs to hold their employees, volunteers, and contractors to the same high standards the ECENC already requires of their Board of Directors. That includes a strict prohibition against felons, bankruptcy filers and the parents of grant recipients. Access Opportunity also provides parents and the public with details of the tax credit funded scholarship program and participating schools at its IndependentED.org website.

“Holding to the Access Opportunity Pledge is just one more way we work to run an effective, efficient and ethical scholarship organization,” said Earwood. “It’s just common sense.”

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Read to Succeed Must Cross the Legislative Finish Line

by Ellen Weaver

The ability to read is a primary gateway to success in school and life-long learning. A child who does not master this fundamental skill faces daunting odds. Consider these sobering statistics from the Annie E. Casey Foundation:

• Children who are not reading proficiently in 3rd grade are 4 times more likely to not graduate high school.
•  Below basic readers are almost 6 times more likely than proficient readers to not finish high school on time.
• Poor, Black, and Hispanic students who are struggling readers are about 8 times more likely than proficient readers to drop out of high school.

Why is this the case?  Because from kindergarten through third grade, students are learning to read. Beginning in fourth grade a student is asked to use their reading skills in order to learn. If a student struggles to read when they enter fourth grade, not only are they already behind most of their peers but they are also at great risk of falling further and further off the pace.

Right here in South Carolina, the most recent National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) shows that 51% of low income 4th grade students and 40% of all 4th grade students cannot read at even a basic level.  We face a truly monumental task. 

But the good news is pioneering states like Florida have shown there is a proven path forward.  And with the “Read to Succeed” legislation modeled on Florida’s success currently moving through the General Assembly, it’s clear that South Carolina legislators understand the urgency of the need.

Two bills — S. 516 and H. 3994, sponsored by Senator Harvey Peeler and Representative Andy Patrick respectively — have the potential to profoundly change the future for thousands of Palmetto State students.   These bills put a laser focus on literacy, hands down the most critical skill our schools must teach.   By putting priority on key policy components like improved teacher training, state and district reading plans, summer reading camps and reading readiness assessments, we can help students unlock the door to reading success.

Much attention has been placed on the third-grade retention portion of the policy as if that is all these bills contain.   But that is only the last resort for struggling students.  The true power of Florida’s successful model stems from the dynamic duo of support and accountability.

To retain third-graders who struggle to read but not provide them with a new and intensive literacy action plan would not help the underlying problem at all. Indeed, it’s pure folly to ask a student to simply repeat a grade and expect a different result. On the other hand, calling for early interventions and greater literacy support for students and teachers without drawing a hard line in the sand at the end of third-grade is an inefficient strategy, since as the Casey statistics illustrate, proficient third-grade reading is the non-negotiable end goal that will enable long-term student success.  “Read to Succeed” strikes the right balance between these two critical elements of support and accountability.

Governor Nikki Haley has publicly championed the cause in her executive budget and the House has set aside $30 million to implement the policy. But while both the Senate and House have already passed their own versions of this legislation, a strong version of the bill still needs to cross the legislative finish line with both its accountability and interventions intact.

Similar, stand-alone reading bills have recently been passed by states like Mississippi with broad bipartisan support and South Carolina’s “Read to Succeed” should not be derailed by unrelated agendas.  This just might be the most important legislation for our state in the last decade.

A strong, focused “Read to Succeed” policy will open up new worlds of learning for struggling readers in the Palmetto State.  Let’s cross the legislative finish line together this year to give them that opportunity.

Private school choice will help, not hurt public education

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/05/08/3432989/weaver-private-school-choice-will.html?sp=/99/168/#story

Columbia, SC — I appreciated Cindi Scoppe’s column in support of Sen. Paul Thurmond’s efforts to streamline our process for dealing with ineffective teachers (“The cost of one bad teacher,” April 23). Teacher quality is the No. 1 in-school factor affecting student learning, and this is an important step toward our shared goal of strengthening public education in South Carolina.

What puzzles me is her argument that passing this reform is a way to beat back private-school choice. An Urban Institute study of Florida — which has some of the oldest and largest private-choice programs in the country — found that these programs contributed to increased performance in public schools, an idea borne out by the incredible gains that Florida’s most disadvantaged students have made in math and reading.

Opponents of private-school choice like to use the word “voucher” as a dog-whistle to indicate opposition to public education. But even that word is a relic. There are so many different kinds of education choice beyond vouchers: public charter schools and online education, public magnet schools, home schools — and yes, private schools, both religious and secular. Education savings accounts, tax credit scholarships … and who knows what will be the innovation of the future. The unifying theme? The idea that all parents should have the ability to choose a high-quality option for the unique needs of their child … and that a ZIP Code should not determine a student’s destiny.

I am a native South Carolinian and a graduate of public education. I have no nefarious “out-of-state agenda” to dismantle S.C. public schools. Rather, I hope we can have a reasonable, informed discussion about what “public education” actually means. Is it merely a system into which we pump more and more taxpayer dollars regardless of outcomes, or is it a well-educated student who is prepared for success as a productive citizen of our great state?

This is not some abstract battle of ideology, as opponents of private choice would have you believe. It’s about the very real future of our children: Will we continue to do the same thing and expect better results, or will we have a conversation informed by real data on proven policies that show the positive effects of more choices — both public and private — on public education?

Ellen Weaver
President & CEO
Palmetto Policy Forum

Published on May 8, 2014 in The State newspaper

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/05/08/3432989/weaver-private-school-choice-will.html?sp=/99/168/#storylink=cpy

Carolina Voices: THE POWER OF CHOICE

By Tim Lollis

“Not my son,” Marilyn calmly whispered as she listened to the local news regarding the deterioration of the neighborhood public schools. Though outwardly silent, she made a thunderous inner vow.  Her son would acquire an education and break the cycle of housing projects, violence, broken homes, and hopelessness.  It would end here.   

Poverty in America is usually encapsulated in political sound bites, gloomy documentaries or contrarily glamorized in rap videos.  But the genuine effects of poverty lie in the unspoken matters that remain tucked away in the heart.  Like a child wondering why his father won’t come visit him.  Or the spilling tears and mournful wails of a mother during the dark hours of the night.  These are the soul-wrenching realities of poverty that often evade the cameras.   

From FDR’s Depression-era safety net programs to LBJ’s War on Poverty, the growth of government dependency has been deceptive.  We have learned that government generosity is never free, but rather represents a subtle trade.  One welcomes a measly monthly stipend…in exchange for a loss of personal dignity and individual choice.

And this individual choice – especially in education – is fundamental to familial income mobility.

Just as the gospel of Jesus Christ places all men on equal ground at the foot of the cross, rich and poor alike have always hailed education as the great economic and social equalizer. However, access to a high-quality education has been elusive to many.  Too often, public education in its present form locks impoverished children into an educational prison.

Because the current structure of public education is comfortable and financed by powerful political lobbies, many people are unwilling to even consider new strategies.  The result?  Poverty and hopelessness are no longer temporary setbacks, but rather have become a generational inheritance.  In too many cases daughter, mother and grandmother reside in the same prison, reaping the bitter fruits of poverty.

We have to set aside every political agenda, past transgression, or cultural norm for the sake of unity and the future of our children.  Parents must be empowered with a myriad of choices, on how best to engage their children’s educational needs.  Choice is the cornerstone of freedom, and education is the principal instrument that should express that consecrated freedom.    

Marilyn – my mother – was given that choice.  She was offered a special school transfer.  This permitted me the opportunity to attend a school far outside of my zoned district. That solitary option has forever changed the future of our family.  I thank God every day for the freedom we have in Christ and in our nation.  But I also thank my mother for her courage to seize the choice laid before her. 

Let’s give every parent in South Carolina the same power to break the cycle of poverty and dependency.  Let’s ensure the most hallowed freedom of our nation continues to remain the most sacred: the power to choose. 
Tim Lollis is Director of Community and Public Relations at Word of God Ministries and a freelance writer.   His passion is bridging divides and strengthening relationships within the Christian community.  He previously served as a Regional Director in the office of U.S. Senator Jim DeMint and currently resides in Columbia with his wife Renatha.

Can Poor Kids Learn?

The answer, based on the evidence garnered from Florida’s transformative education reforms is a resounding “Yes!”   Demographics are not destiny.

No one would deny that there are critical factors of home life – parental education, family structure, poor nutrition and other variables that directly impact the educational readiness of children who enter school.  But far too often, these external factors become an excuse for adults in the education system to dismiss lackluster performance and reinforce what has been correctly called “the soft bigotry of low expectations.”

"Why are Florida schools moving forward and ours falling behind?"

By Tara Servatius
Charleston City Paper

They pack their families like lemmings into 1,400 square-foot houses situated on postage stamps in Mt. Pleasant and tell themselves they are doing it for their kids' education. They pay $150 a month for flood insurance on those homes to attend the highest scoring schools in the region.

Other parents choose the soul-crushing commute route. They move out to the nether regions of Dorchester County and then drive an hour each way to work through rush hour. All this to put their kids in the small handful of Dorchester Two public schools with test scores as high as those at the best public schools in Mt. Pleasant. Day in and day out they grind away, telling themselves they're doing it for their kids' education.

I know, because I am one of those parents.

"We can learn a lot from Florida"

South Carolina Radio Network
Interview with Superintendent of Education Mick Zais

South Carolina’s education superintendent says he wants this state to be more like Florida when it comes to education.

During an interview on Charleston affiliate WTMA, Superintendent Mick Zais referenced a recent study by the new South Carolina conservative think tank Palmetto Policy Forum, founded by former U.S. Senator Jim DeMint, who is now president of the Heritage Foundation.

“The difference between high poverty kids who are learning and being successful and high poverty schools where kids are not learning anything is not the demographics of the students or the education level of the parents, it’s the competence of the adults in the system,” says Zais.

Press Release: PPF Unveils Groundbreaking K-12 Education Report

Columbia, SC – Today, the newly formed Palmetto Policy Forum announced the release of its inaugural policy paper, Transformation: What South Carolina Can Learn from Florida’s K-12 Reforms.

In 1998, South Carolina students led Florida students in performance on a number of national tests, including the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), known as “The Nation’s Report Card.”  But over the last decade, Florida far surpassed South Carolina in K-12 education outcomes, most notably among traditionally disadvantaged student populations: