News and Press Releases for March 2006

Back to March 2006 Releases

03/15/2006

Gov. Sanford Receives Education Reform Council Report

Group Issues Report on Steps to Reform State's Public Education System

Columbia, S.C. - Gov. Mark Sanford today received his Education Reform Council's report on improving South Carolina's public education system, after the group completed its top-to-bottom review of the state's K-12 system. Headed by Columbia attorney Steve Matthews and consisting of a diverse group of parents, students, business owners and educators, the group today reported on a number of concrete steps that should be taken to improve educational outcomes in South Carolina. The governor formed the group last year after a speech given by Bill Gates to the National Governors Association's High School Summit, during which Gates offered a stark assessment of the current status of our nation's educational system. The governor said many of the group's recommendations would go a long way toward improving South Carolina's educational system's competitiveness in the 21st Century.

"Given where we stand as a state with respect to graduation rates and a host of other indicators, it's time to act if we're going to have an educational system that's competitive in a global marketplace," Gov. Sanford said. "Much of what this report lays out goes back to what we've been saying from day one are keys to an educational system that better prepares our children for the 21st Century - more flexibility for local communities to run their schools in a way that best fits with local needs, and more choices for families so children can get an education that best fits with their needs. I applaud the work Steve and his group have done, and ask for their continued help in implementing these recommendations."

Among the recommendations made by the group are: more choices for students and parents including charter school expansion and open enrollment; more funding flexibility for local school districts similar to the governor's SMART funding proposal; school district consolidation; teacher merit pay, which the governor proposed in his Executive Budget; and better feedback for teachers and parents on standardized testing results.