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)

Empower Education Summit: The Path to Transforming SC's Future

Education transformation is a topic we are incredibly passionate about.  In fact, in 2012, The Palmetto Fort Foundation (the Forum’s precursor) and U.S. Senator Jim DeMint’s office teamed up to host the “Empower Education Reform Summit.”

This event, which was keynoted by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, attracted elected, education, business and community leaders – and most importantly, parents – from all over the state.  It has played a vital role in expanding the dialogue about how we best serve the diverse educational needs of South Carolina children and prepare them for the workforce of the future.

"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.