P & C Continues Campaign to Cow Charleston County School Board

Just in case you mistakenly believe that the local paper routinely prints a representative sample of opinion from its readers, please be warned.

Thursday's editorial page does not represent a sample of what Charleston County taxpayers believe. The two letters concerning the Charleston County School District, one telling us how great Nancy McGinley was as superintendent and another supporting Bill Lewis's authoritarian solution to those democratically-elected board members he perceives deficient in understanding, are merely the latest salvos from the Chamber of Commerce.

Hey, editors, what qualifies the Chamber of Commerce to control Charleston County's schools?

Bill Lewis Reveals He's the Jonathan Gruber of CCSD

Those stupid Charleston County voters! We shouldn't allow them to elect school board members! That is the basic underpinning of retired CCSD operating officer Bill Lewis's proposal in Sunday's op-ed.

Of all horrors, democratically-elected board members don't always toe the line thrown out by the Chamber of Commerce. They're too stupid. Imagine having "community activists" or "disgruntled former teachers" on the board! It's a nightmare! Only such "highly-qualified" candidates as Chris Fraser, Brian Moody, and Gregg Meyers will fulfill that mission.

Lewis apparently believes that the school district should be run as a private-sector organization. Those private-sector boards he praises for not micromanaging their CEOs really did a good job preventing the excesses that caused the last recession, right?

We wonder why Lewis could not name any of the cities where mayors have made the difference in improving schools, since he seems to believe that mayoral control is the solution to CCSD's problems. His solution would give Charleston three seats, Mt. Pleasant three seats, and North Charleston five seats, since Mayor Summey will control the County Council's choices through Teddie Pryor, a North Charleston employee, and his son Elliott.

Politicians selecting school board members instead of voters? Gee, that sounds great.

There are two major ways in which the school board elections can be improved, neither of which is on Lewis's radar screen, or, should I say, the radar screen of the Chamber of Commerce member who vetted Lewis's op-ed.

It's an open secret that these supposedly non-partisan seats are as partisan as they can be, just flying under the radar. Our local paper chooses to ignore that slates are regularly supported by the county's Democrat and Republican organizations. These seats are non-partisan for the same reason that the mayoralty of Charleston is nonpartisan: so that white Democrats can fool Republicans into voting for them. Mayor Riley not a Democrat? Please.

If races were designated partisan, political parties would vet the candidates and voters would have a better idea for whom to vote in the primary. Voters would rapidly discover that the school board generally has been the hiding place for Democrats to be elected to office in the county. Check for yourself: how many of the present school board members are registered Democrats?

Some will try to make the case that Democrats and Republicans share the same ideas about education. Really? When was that last the case? Probably in the 1950s.

The second aspect that would strongly improve the election is single-member districts. These single members would be voted upon by their own district, not by the county at large. That would make members responsible to their districts. Who can forget Toya Green's (yes, vetted as "highly-qualfied" by Bill Lewis) response to her District 20 constituency: "I don't represent you!"

It's time to stop pretending that the population of the county is so small that voters in Mt. Pleasant know who is the best person to represent North Charleston. The system as it is allows the Chamber of Commerce and its lackeys to control outcomes in many areas. What just happened in North Charleston, where Mt. Pleasant supporters (and the Chamber) put Cindy Bohn Coats over the top North Charleston vote-getter Shante Ellis, is a case in point.

Part of the solution is better communication within the county about what the candidates stand for. Evidently, we can't depend upon our local newspaper or television outlets for full information. Perhaps its lack of interest (or collusion) in local races is part of the reason that the Post and Courier has become a dinosaur.

Fed Up with CCSD Shenanigans? Vote These Three for School Board!

 Funny thing! These candidates have been ignored by the newspaper's lackeys sobbing over the demise of Nancy McGinley as Charleston schools superintendent.


Sarah Shad Johnson, 44

Occupation: Educational Advocate, Charleston Area Community Voice for Education

Goals: Give our higher-performing schools more autonomy, and help our lower-performing and rural schools become self-sufficient by recruiting strong leaders and providing additional resources; Bring the voice of parents and teachers to the decision-making table, so the actual needs of the classroom can be addressed.

Kelvin D. Curtis, 31

Occupation: City of Charleston Recreation Supervisor

Goals: Build a professional working relationship with the board members; Improve the communication deliverance between the District to our team-members, parents, students and our community; Demonstrate to our principals and teachers that we truly care by asking them, want I can do for you?

Edward C. Fennell, 64

Occupation: retired Post and Courier reporter

Goals: Reading improvements. I have always believed schools can be better at teaching reading. Reading is absolutely fundamental to education -- and without an ability to read, can not advance to other subjects. Also, it's important to equip our urban schools with the same advanced technology and vocational opportunities the suburban schools are getting.



The P&C's recommended crew will provide more of the same!

Worst Editorial Ever Laments CCSD's Loss of McGinley

Rambling. Lacks focus. Irrational. Misleading.

Friday's lead editorial over the resignation of Superintendent Nancy McGinley reads as though the writer was in the grip of hysterics or the bottle. Get a grip! McGinley's exit was not about watermelons. Her high-handed tactics in attempting to cow the duly-elected school board into submission finally played out.

Some of our most high-profile politicians have been drinking the Kool-Aid. Dot Scott's lament that McGinley couldn't control the board puts their sobbing in perspective: by law, the school board controls the superintendent, not vice versa.

No wonder we have such problems in the district. Let's take a deep breath and demand a true audit before handing $500 million over to what's left of her administration.

CCSD School Board Steps In It

Remember all those promises you made? It turns out some people want to hold the Charleston County School District to its promises. What a thought!

As a result, after foisting a 500-student building on a barrier island (Sullivans Island Elementary) because no school building could be built smaller, at a hurried last-minute meeting the school board voted to build a new school for fewer than 200 students in McClellanville. 

You can't make this stuff up.

A Letter to the Editor sums up this nightmare best:

Costly call

The 11th-hour decision by certain members of the Charleston County School Board to vote for a new $35 million Lincoln High School for, at best count, 170 kids, is an unmitigated folly of epic portions. 

Using fourth-grade math with second-grade logic should make it clear to anyone that this is a total misappropriation of public funds. 

When questioning the failures of the South Carolina education system, we should start with the failures of our local elected leaders. 

Joseph Wren
Carolina Isle
Mount Pleasant

Let's hear from our school board candidates on this decision! 

CCSD's Garrett Has Clear-Eyed View of Segregated Schools, Vague Solutions

One of the newer members of the Charleston County School Board, Todd Garrett, opined in Saturday's edition that the district has not fulfilled the promise of desegregation nearly 60 years after Brown versus Board of Education. While no one in his or her right mind could dispute Garrett's figures, other board members and district administration have tried to gloss over the details for decades. 

For sure, the disparities among schools are the result of decisions and policies of the CCSD School Board ever since its inception when Charleston schools were consolidated. The effects of decades cannot be overcome overnight. 

Most people probably assume that segregated schools in the district (15 by Garrett's count) result from homogeneous neighborhood school populations. Not in Charleston County! These schools by and large are in thoroughly integrated neighborhoods. Where homes sell for half a million dollars and up, some neighborhood schools are nearly 90 percent free and reduced lunch. We're not talking just about race here; economic background is the villain. The middle class of all ethnic backgrounds has deserted these schools for those that are succeeding. The poor would do so if they knew how.

Garrett's analysis is cogent; however, his plea that the community trust CCSD board members to fix its problems is premature. The Board needs more members such as Garrett who are willing to speak the truth and criticize blanket proposals from the McGinley administration. 

When the CCSD Board of Trustees stops rubber-stamping administration and acts as the boss, and not the underlings, perhaps desegregation will go forward.

Raise CCSD Board of Trustees' Pay Gradually for Future

Superintendent of Charleston County Schools Nancy McGinley's salary tops that of Charleston's Mayor. The district's operating budget must be the highest in the county, with the possible exception of Boeing's. If the job of CCSD's Board of Trustees is to oversee the Superintendent, which it is, the compensation of $25 per meeting appears truly out of proportion.

Why should anybody care? Compensation as now configured presupposes that elected Board officials are mere dilettantes, spending little time on their roles. Or it assumes that members taking their duties seriously must be wealthy or retired. If a single meeting takes even one hour to prepare for and merely two hours in session (and how often is a session that short?), that amounts to a minimum of three hours of work for $25, not much more than the minimum wage.

Why does Dorchester District 2 pay its Board members $600 a month and its Board Chairman $750? Why do other districts in this state pay much more than that? 

It's all very well to talk about noblesse oblige and "giving back." Board members whose compensation amounts to two or three lattes must be more vulnerable to other forms of bribery than those who are compensated well. Not long ago, Louisiana had one of the lowest salaries for its governor, but then he was expected to steal the rest. Think of Huey Long and Edwin Edwards. Human nature doesn't change.

Let's match DD2's compensation for the next round of school board elections. The amount of money involved is chump change in a district flowing with millions in operating and capital expenses.

Such a raise would be a step forward in honesty in government.

CCSD School Board Recommendations

Pay no attention to this posting if you are satisfied with the administration of the Charleston County School District and its schools.

On the other hand, the Board of Trustees needs a majority of members who are independent thinkers and actually come to the district with some knowledge of it.

West Ashley (2 seats): Bullet vote for Henry Copeland; he knows more about how the district runs than the superintendent and will be a voice for independent auditing.

Downtown (1 seat): Write in Todd Garrett. He's an ex-Marine (that counts for something with me) and has at least one child in the school system. He was also appointed by the legislative delegation to fill the vacant seat, if that means anything.

North Charleston (2 seats): Chris Collins, the only incumbent and one who looks out for the students independently. If you must vote for a second, make it Tom Ducker, who at least is a native of North Charleston and in favor of charter schools.

Ignore this nonsense about how "we all have to get along." That's code for "we all must follow whatever the superintendent wants."

 

Remember, if CCSD were a private company and the largest employer in the county, would you want its CEO selected and advised by a bunch of ignorant sycophants?

McGinley's Recommendations for CCSD School Board

Straight from a Taj Mahal office worker:

**Miller, Barter, Ducker, Lecque, and Weinstein**





'Nuff said.

Special Interest PAC Denied by CCSD's Gang of 4

Fireworks burst near the end of the East Cooper School Board candidate forum Wednesday night, but lack of time prevented the spectators from full enjoyment.

Some politically incorrect audience member questioned the independence of the four candidates--Barter, Ramich, Lecque, and Garrett--from Ginny Deerin's slate. Denials sputtered as the moderator called for closing remarks.

Where does the money for the Deerin slate come from? Much of it from the Chamber of Commerce, which has controlled the board for the last few years. With the election of these four, it will maintain control into the future.

Whose board is this, anyway?

CCSD Candidates in Person Wednesday Night

Here's your chance to ask the candidates some hard questions about the  Charleston County School District.

• What about moving the site of the new Sullivan's Island Elementary School?
• Is Nancy McGinley an effective superintendent for the community
• Is Vision 2016 more than a public relations ploy?
• Should financial deliberations of the school board be more transparent?
• Why do CCSD schools continually change principals?
• Oh, you can think of many more!

North Charleston City Hall

2500 City Hall Lane

7:00 p.m.

The event also will be streamed live at www.lwvcharleston.org , and rebroadcast on Comcast Channel 60.

P & C Editorial: On the One Hand, On the Other Hand

If voters are looking to the editors of the P & C for guidance concerning the school board election in November, FORGETABOUTIT.

Monday's editorial lays out the territory without making the case. What other multi-million dollar institution in Charleston County allows voters to determine to whom its CEO answers? Despite appearances to the contrary, the voters elect the Board of Trustees hold the Superintendent responsible for district administration, not to rubber stamp the superintendent's recommendations without having all of the facts.

The editorial writer forgot to mention that the CCSD Board of Trustees regularly violates the Open Meetings Act by deciding behind closed doors what its members should discuss in open session. Imagine the frustration of the minority of Board members over that and the manipulation of the Board's agenda to suit the superintendent's purposes.

At present Superintendent McGinley answers to no one, a dangerous situation for the voters and taxpayers of the county. She would like to keep it that way, and thus the "Gang of Four" comes forward.

And we wonder why the district has so many failures. Really.

Deerin's Group Shills for CCSD's McGinley

You think that seats on the Board of Trustees are non-partisan? When did you fall off the turnip truck?

In a thinly-veiled attempt to stack the Charleston County School District's Board of Trustees with supporters of the status quo, especially CCSD's Superintendent McGinley, Ginny Deerin, long-time Democratic Party operative, has cobbled together Citizens Working Together for Great Schools, or CWTGS.

CWTGS' main plank is pro non-charter schools, or to put it another way: anti-charter schools. Anti parental choice.

Deerin recently attended the Democratic Convention in Charlotte as a delegate along with her close friend, Mayor Riley. Let's not kid ourselves. This slate is an overt try to elect Riley supporters, and thus McGinley supporters, to the School Board, no matter what Deerin claims.

Two of the slate, John Barter and Jim Ramich, will be delighted to vote, if elected, on the Kiawah TIF desired by Riley: both of them own homes, if not reside year-round, on Kiawah itself.  Chris Fraser, present Board Chair and another TIF supporter, already is congratulating them for running.

Mattese Lecque was defeated for the Board in the last election but hopes the "second time is a charm" by joining the Democrats' team, so difficult for her, since she is a former officer of the Charleston County Democratic Committee. Also, as a Charleston County employee she knows on which side her bread is buttered.

Todd Garrett, the fourth member of the team, already has the political edge given to him by the Charleston County legislative delegation: they appointed him to fill Toya Hampton-Green's empty chair for a month. No politics there. We wonder if Garrett knows he's being used.

Too bad the Post & Courier is on the mayor's payroll. The taxpayers at large will never know what's going on, if the local rag can prevent it.

Kandrac: CCSD's Uppity Woman

If there is one thing that makes Brian Hicks see red , it's an uppity woman. In particular, an uppity woman on the CCSD Board of Trustees. Who could disagree?

After all, Elizabeth Kandrac had the insolence to sue the Charleston County School District over racist treatment she received as a teacher in the district! Other teachers would have faded away quietly because they didn't have the money to sue. Then Kandrac had the temerity to accept the monetary damages when she won the case (by trickery, no doubt). Why, she should have immediately turned the cash over to the superintendent "for the children."

How infuriating!

Then, Kandrac, assuming the role of uppity ex-teacher, ran for a North Charleston seat on the CCSD Board of Trustees. Talk about adding insult to injury! Ex-teachers should know their place, after all, and these Board seats are the honorary purview of the rich, not the hoi polloi! Teachers don't know any more about education than members of the Chamber of Commerce!

It only goes to show, as I'm sure Hicks would agree, just how ignorant and red-necked the residents of Charleston County are, given that Kandrac was actually elected to that seat. Why, she wasn't even endorsed by the Democratic Party!

Suitable to her low status, Kandrac should have followed the more experienced members of the Board and learned to "bootlick, be seen and not heard" or, even better, "bootlick, be not seen and not heard," since they know that the Board trustees are mere figureheads serving in an honorary capacity. Ask Ann Oplinger or Toya Hampton-Green.

This misunderstanding on Kandrac's part led to her ridiculous attempts to attend as many training sessions and meetings as possible to educate herself on how school boards (and districts) should run. Why does she think trustees should have opinions? Why doesn't she understand that what the administration of the district says doesn't need challenges?

Hicks must be greatly relieved that his headache named Kandrac isn't running again.

But wait. . .

Has he noticed Elizabeth Moffly (see, they even share the same name!), who's developing another case of not knowing her place in the hierarchy?

Stay tuned.

Thinking Outside the Box on Stall and Greg Mathis

Sadly, both Stall High School and Greg Mathis Charter are on the list of Palmetto Priority Schools, those South Carolina schools that are failing so badly that the state has taken a special interest in them. The Charleston County School District now has nine out of the 35 schools on the list. Is that the most of any school district in the state? Probably.

The administration and boards of trustees of CCSD have brought us to this sorry place over many decades of problems. No one has any reason to believe that somehow Charleston County lacks the resources that other districts have to be successful. Perhaps we go to the top of the list in our excellent facilities, but we go to the bottom in academics.

The upcoming school board election is another chance to fix the problem by electing trustees that actually know how the district works and can hold administration accountable.

Principals at Stall and Greg Mathis have their hands full, but tweaking the lessons taught by teachers, as one suggests, is not the answer. Greg Mathis is a charter school; therefore, why should its charter be renewed if it is failing? Stall has a beautiful new state-of-the-art building. Now, if Superintendent McGinley allows its administrators and teachers to use experience and common sense to address its problems, perhaps they will arrive at solutions that state "experts" couldn't possibly imagine. One might be to throw out edublob thinking.

Foot-dragging on Audits in CCSD

No doubt the average taxpayer in the county will be surprised to learn that the Charleston County School District has never had a comprehensive audit. The state requires audits of the procurment departments only. That may have worked in the days when procurment was where the money was, but today's multi-million dollar capital programs and general operations deserve to see the light of day.

For two years members of the Board of Trustees have pushed for a performance audit strongly opposed by the administration and the Board Chairman, Chris Fraser. The struggle continues this summer as four trustees attempt to get the item on the meeting agenda.  Fraser has reneged more than once on his promise to put it on the "next" agenda.

Also, no system exists to review responses to even the minor audit taking place now. For example, the auditors selected and tested 40 credit card purchases to determine if they were being managed in compliance with the District's own stated policy; nearly half were not in compliance. Over 23,000 transactions were made. Has the District corrected this sinkhole or not? Who knows?

Fraser and Superintendent McGinley will continue to delay, linger, and wait because they know they have a five-member majority to push through any idiocy they wish and defeat any attempt at more transparency. After, it's OPM.

Ask your school board candidates where they stand on this issue.

Is Brian Hicks Naive or Ignorant?

Following the party line?

So it seems with P&C columnist Brian Hicks in his latest column on the support of Charleston County's charter schools for Henry Copeland's appointment to replace Mary Ann Taylor on the CCSD Board of Trustees. Hicks echoes an article published earlier this week attempting to suggest those schools were illegally pushing for Copeland.

Has he been paying attention? Hicks goes so far as to suggest, based on her affirmation, that Superintendent Nancy McGinley is pro-charter.

Excuse the horse-laugh.

Maybe Hicks needs to visit a few public schools during school board elections. Oh, that's right! No politicking goes on there!

Please!

McGinley-Meyers Candidates for CCSD Seat

Pay attention.

The P&C has not only put forward the obvious candidates--Seabrook, Moody, Miller, Copeland--for the recently-vacated seat on the Charleston County School Board. It has leaked the plans of the McGinley-Meyers nexus.

The long arm of former Board member Gregg Meyers has reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out the name of William L. "Sam" Hiott, who the reporter mentions formerly served on the District 23 constituent board.

And now the rest of the story.

Meyers recruited Hiott to run against Sandi Engelman in the 2006 school board elections. After all, Hiott thought Engelman was "too divisive."

We all know those code words.

He had difficulty finding enough signatures for his petition to be valid, so the Taj Mahal found some more for him. Despite Meyers's plans, Ruth Jordan won that election.

No doubt Hiott has the common touch, since he made over $18 million dollars in 2009 in his last year as executive vice president of the Bank of South Carolina. He won't need to worry about this "salary" business. Now that he's semi-retired, he can mingle with the hoi polloi.

At least he's from the Low Country's "front porch."

Such cannot be said for McGinley's choice, Rew A. "Skip" Godow, whose Facebook page sports a 25-year-old picture, reveals no family, and states his interest in women.

The College of Charleston and Trident Technical Center employ this native of Chicago (well, Oak Brook, its tony suburb) in various administrative capacities. Who better to take McGinley's side than another member of the edublob? His Ph.D. in the Psychology of Philosophy (or is it the Philosophy of Psychology?) should come in handy on the Board.

Godow has served and continues to serve on multiple boards of directors--the Chamber of Commerce, the United Way, the Charleston Education Network, the Education Foundation, and even the Community Advisory Committee to CCSD.

You get the picture. Just the type of bureaucrat McGinley wants--can be counted on to show up for meetings and not ask too many questions.

Let's see if the Charleston legislative delegation has any common sense.

Wrong Referendum on Sullivan's

Those who want a smaller elementary school built on Sullivan's Island have the sympathy of many others who have been steam-rollered by Charleston County Schools Superintendent Nancy McGinley and her hand-chosen Board of bootlickers.

We have no difficulty understanding why a referendum has been organized to put the community on record as supporting the smaller outcome.

Problem is, the Sullivan's Island town council has signed off on the larger school, having been bamboozled by McGinley and Bill Lewis. Furthermore, the hoodwinked voters in the last election validated the McGinley-Lewis plans for a larger school (and no second high school in Mt. Pleasant) despite community opposition.

You see, you've been had. Even if the parents and staff of Sullivan's Island Elementary decide at this point to take the school the charter route, you're going to end up with the monster building.

What to do? Can you remember this debacle long enough to vote out the town council members who approved the plan? Will your memories stretch long enough to throw out the CCSD Board of Trustees members who jump as high as McGinley and Lewis ask?

History says you won't, and McGinley and Lewis are counting on your faulty memories.

Prove them wrong.

Report Card Design for McGinley

Can you imagine what your child's report card would look like if you let him design it? Then why would the Charleston County Schools Board of Trustees allow the Superintendent whom they are evaluating to design her own report?

It's report card time for Nancy McGinley over the next couple of weeks, but she need not worry. The report-card deck is stacked so much in her favor that even if all members of the Board vote against her, she still gets a passing score.

But they won't all vote against her. Approval will follow the 5 to 4 pattern established since the last election. Watch while they give her a raise, too. In fact, the Board is stacked with bootlickers recruited by her cronies, who when asked to jump, respond, "How high?"

Only another election with candidates who represent taxpayers' interests instead of McGinley's will settle this farce.