CCSD's McGinley a Goner?

Please, oh please.

South Carolina Education Association Meets to Denigrate School Choice

Who is the SCEA, and why is it making such wild accusations at a North Charleston meeting of a senate panel? It's a liberal organization that fulfills the part of a public school teachers' union in a state where there is no teachers union. And it's hysterical over the idea that a tax-credit bill promoting some minor school choice will pass the South Carolina senate.

How hysterical? Here's a direct quote from the president of SCEA, Jackie Hicks: "“This seemingly innocuous measure opens the door to subsequent pro-segregation laws diverting taxpayer money to the private sector.” This attitude matches up well with that of Joseph Darby, who believes that every move to support choice is really a Ku-Klux-Klan-like plot to segregate schools. No doubt Darby agrees with Eric Holder, who wants to take choice away from black students trying to avoid failing schools in Louisiana.

These people live in la-la-land. How much more segregated could schools such as Burke High/Middle and Charleston Progressive Academy be? Would you please take the beam out of your own eyes?

My favorite quote comes from Kathi Regalbuto, who reports herself as a "former Berkeley County educator and parent of children who attended public and private schools": she states that "private school vouchers are 'a retreat from our collective responsibility to educate our children' in public schools."  

"Collective responsibility"? Speak for yourself. You're not speaking for parents. Their private responsibility is to get the best education possible for each child, even if that means a private school. Make your own children guinea pigs, if you wish.

EdFirstSC put in its two cents as well. According to its leader, Drayton Hall teacher Patrick Hayes, the evil one, Howard Rich, of New York, is funding conservatives who support school choice. Maybe Hayes hasn't heard yet of Bill Gates and Eli Broad on the other side? And the League of Women [read: liberal] Voters agreed that Larry Grooms's efforts are designed to avoid "a free and quality public school system" in South Carolina.

Maybe these ideologues were in the majority at the meeting, but they don't represent the majority of parents.

Tea Partier for CCSD Board

In surprise move, the Charleston County legislative delegation has selected tea partier and Drayton Hall parent Brian Thomas to replace the resigned Mary Ann Taylor. Governor Haley must act on the recommendation before Thomas can take his seat.

While readers of this blog know I hoped the delegation could see its way to select Henry Copeland, this outcome probably is about the best second choice. For one, Thomas is a charter school supporter (he is a Drayton Hall parent, after all). Also, the majority Republican delegation chose a Republican to replace a Republican (Copeland is a Democrat).

Which brings me to point out once again that the emperor has no clothes.

Our school board is (shock! gasp!) populated by partisans. Every election, the Democrat party backs its slate of "nonpartisans," and the Republican Party backs its slate of "nonpartisans."

I detest charades.

CCSD Charter Enemy Support from Riley & McGinley

As I write, Mayor Riley (he who has no legal power in the Charleston County School District) and Superintendent McGinley (she who hates Mary Ann Taylor's ideas and probably her guts) are lobbying the Charleston County legislative delegation to appoint former CCSD Board Member Brian Moody to the seat vacated by Mary Ann Taylor.

Moody has a record of serving the district all right--to its detriment. First of all, why should the Chamber of Commerce be given even more power on the school board?  Chris Fraser already gives a blank check to the superintendent. Is that what the voters wanted when they elected Taylor? No.

Second, Moody opposes public charter schools. Yes, opposes. Our legislators should pay attention to what their constituents want: more charter schools, not fewer. Take a poll of voters if you don't believe me. The present charter schools in CCSD are practically beating off students with a stick. While on the Board, Moody voted for the moratorium on new charter schools in the district.

Disgruntled voters in the sending district for Drayton Hall Elementary have just learned that their efforts for a more creative charter school in its place have been squashed by litigation from CCSD. Moody voted in favor of funding that litigation.

Supporters of Moody can point to his experience as a CPA all they want; the record shows that Moody was asleep at the switch in the 2005 train wreck that raised property taxes. Moody admitted a year later that he just took the word of administration. He didn't do the job that he was elected to do. The district raised property taxes that year by nearly 30 percent while telling the voters it was doing just the opposite.

Administration has lulled the toady majority of the Board into the same shell game in 2011. Legislators, do you really believe Moody would have held his ground against the administration this time around? As legislators you should care about rising taxes--unless you wish to be pegged as in favor of them!

The reality of Moody's prior service to the district is that he was a place marker. If the legislative delegation chooses to appoint him over someone like Henry Copeland, who will take his position seriously, it deserves defeat in the next elections.

Call or email your representatives now to give them some backbone to repel Riley's and McGinley's attempts to put a travesty back on the Board of Trustees.

Senate: Larry Grooms 803-212-6400; Michael Rose 803-212-6056; Glenn McConnell 803-212-6610; Robert Ford 803-212-6124; Chip Campsen 212-6016; Paul Campbell 803-212-6016; Clementa Pinckney 803-212-6148

House: David Mack 803-734-3192; Chip Limehouse 803-734-2977; Wendell Gilliard 803-212-6793; Mike Sottile 803-212-6880; Seth Whipper 803-734-3191; Bobby Harrell 803-734-3125; Peter McCoy 803-212-6872; Robert Brown 803-734-3170

Anyone with email addresses for this delegation can append them in a comment. Time is of the essense!

CCSD's Pyrric Victory over Drayton Hall

Pyrric--a battle that is won at too great a cost to the victor.

For now, the Charleston County School District can crow over the latest legal ruling against Drayton Hall Elementary's charter application. For now they can hope that no rebellion breaks out elsewhere in the district, say at Wando High School.

Parents at Drayton Hall excited about separating themselves from our esteemed School Board's guidance now are both disappointed and angry. And they have resources and influence.

Charter school supporters know that the winds of change are on their side. It's only a matter of time.

CCSD Board Cuts Off Nose to Spite Face

Needlessly self-destructive. That's the attitude of the majority of the Board of Trustees for the Charleston County School District. Sheer stupidity (or greed, I'm not quite sure which) prevents them from seeing that the way to keep the public school system alive and to regain public confidence is through public charter schools.

Anyone following the shenanigans of the Board recently (and its henchmen at 75 Calhoun) knows only too well its delay-linger-and-wait /dagger-in-the-back attitude towards the establishment of more public charter schools in CCSD--a certain elementary school in West Ashley waits on the front lines of this struggle; a certain District 20 charter high school engaged the enemy on many battlefields in order to exist, and its skirmishes with the enemy continue. The present Board won't even send a representative to the SC Association of Public Charter Schools conference being held on its doorstep.

McGinley's half-baked partial-magnet (that's a magnet that attracts on one side and repels on the other) schools represent the Board's attempt to stave off the inevitable. The illegal moratorium on new charter schools in CCSD is the other half of the attempt.

So, here comes Sen. Robert Ford. [Ford Pushes School Tax Credits] His ideas ought to be CCSD's worst nightmare. Let's see--a Democratic candidate for governor who wants school tax credits versus a Republican candidate for governor who wants school vouchers.

Nancy, Gregg, and Toya--that's called a lose-lose situation for you.

Lawsuits Over Stupid Decisions Plague CCSD

Can you blame them? Drayton Hall Elementary has requested the same process of becoming a charter school that was afforded by the Charleston County School Board to Orange Grove Elementary several years ago. [See Drayton Appeals Denial for Charter in Saturday's P & C.]

It's all about power, not money, despite what the CCSD School Board says. The Board has not made its case legally to reject Drayton Hall's request. Merely stating that other students will be hurt does not meet the requirements to reject the charter.

You'll see.

School Board Thinks It Supercedes SC Legislature

My conscience is clear. I didn't swallow the promises made by Collins, Fraser, Green, and Oplinger to support charter schools. I wonder how all those parents at Drayton Hall Elementary who voted for them feel now. Cheated? Betrayed? [See Drayton Hall Denied Charter]

Meanwhile, the Charleston County School Board has decided to rewrite the rules for charter schools set down by the state legislature. Six members of CCSD's Board don't like the law, so they've decided to ignore it until someone forces them to pay attention. Fortunately, this time they're not dealing with those with no money or influence, so repercussions will be forthcoming. Prepare yourself for seeing more school budget money going to defend lawsuits. Sigh.

This law-breaking decision became entirely predictable when these four cheerleaders for 75 Calhoun were elected. Hold onto your hat. It's going to get worse.

They're so dense that they don't realize that every time they oppose charter schools they add more support for school vouchers.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

P & C Editorial Sense on Drayton Hall Charter

Soon we will know if today's meeting of the Charleston County School Board of Trustees to reconsider Drayon Hall's charter status made any progress. We'll see, in fact, if they followed the law.

A pointed editorial in Wednesday's paper [see Back School Choice Options], indicates that

"The law includes a provision that allows a district to reject a charter conversion on financial grounds but requires more than a mere declaration that the loss of funding will have an adverse impact. Charter school regulations require that districts specifically demonstrate "a direct negative impact on students." A district also must show specific options it considered to counter that negative impact, but to no avail."

Well, Superintendent McGinley? Let's hear about those options you explored.

CCSD Special Meeting Called; Oplinger Hiding

Finally.

Saturday's P & C reported the Charleston County School District Board of Trustees' vote on making Drayton Hall a charter school. The story had been held since last Tuesday. [See Drayton Hall Elementary in Limbo on $2M Charter Question.]

Perhaps the reporter spent those days trying to reach still-missing-in-action new Board member Ann Oplinger. According to the story, "Ann Oplinger, who wasn't at the meeting, could not be reached for comment." Meanwhile, member Gregg Meyers waffles.

The Board has scheduled a "Special Meeting" for December 3 at 4 p.m., presumably the one Green originally suggested for the 1st. That tidbit wasn't in the P & C, but CCSD's website now lists the notice.

Let's hope charter school supporters make it their business to be there.

P & C Ignores CCSD Board's Drayton Hall Vote

Despite an early on-line posting regarding the November 24th meeting of the Charleston County School Board, the P & C pulled from publication its coverage of the tie vote on approval of charter status of Drayton Hall Elementary. Non-coverage included Ann Oplinger's suspicious nonattendance and/or vote and Toya Hampton-Green's call for a December 1st meeting to reconsider the charter when all members would be present.

A quick look at the on-line minutes of that meeting posted on the CCSD website confirms the story. However, noticeably missing is Green's call for a December 1st meeting. Instead, the minutes show Superintendent McGinley's self-serving report of the five "partial-magnet" schools being created for parental choice. She does not mention that these schools must be restructured in some way because their NCLB results require it! The minutes neglect to report her comments against Drayton Hall's choice.

The P & C has reported all previous CCSD Board meetings. Why ignore this one? So much local news is being covered that there's no room? Has our local paper become like the economically failing New York Times--"all the news that fits [our agenda], we print"?

Money to Charter Schools Needs Explaining

Add $800,000 per year to its budget for yearly expenses? What school wouldn't go charter?
[See 1 Charter Gets Approval, 1 Must Try Again]

No doubt many readers of Saturday's P & C wonder why Drayton Hall Elementary will get $800,000 more per year when it goes charter. Just think what Fraser Elementary or Edith Frierson Elementary could do with extra bucks in the bank!

Well, Courrege isn't going to explain it for you, probably because she doesn't know the answer. She gets her information from CCSD, after all. Despite continual protests by CCSD administration and School Board alike that they really favor charter schools, CCSD doesn't want you to know.

It's up to you, charter school supporters, to get the word out. CCSD Board Chairman Hillery Douglas is about to make more noises about how Drayton Hall wants to take money from other schools in CCSD.

CCSD's Drayton Hall Elementary to Charter?

At the parent Open House Tuesday, September 2, the Drayton Hall Elementary administration announced that 100% of its teachers have voted to go charter. Parents will vote next week.

Drayton Hall is a K-5 school enrolling over 600 students that is located west of the Ashley near Shadowmoss. In 2007 roughly half of its students scored Advanced or Proficient in all four areas of the PACT. The school is four years old.