IT’S TIME FOR ACCOUNTABILITY & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION

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Shane Massey today released the third of his 5 Point Plan to Shake Up Columbia. Shane’s third point concentrates on education, which he says is “the single most important issue facing South Carolina.”

Shane said “the future of South Carolina depends on our ability to education our children. Everything from economic development to crime to family values depends on education. Unfortunately our education system is too top heavy to the detriment of our students and teachers. It’s time to demand accountability, get money out of bureaucracy, and into the classroom.”

As a mentor and tutor at J.E.T. Middle school and an attorney-coach for Strom Thurmond High School’s mock trial team, Shane also believes that our schools need more community involvement. “Education is the key to job creation. We must have an educated workforce to recruit new companies to our area. That’s why we must get our area business leaders and workers involved in education,” Shane says.

SHANE ON EDUCATION SPENDING

Some experts will tell you that we have one of the worst education systems in the nation because our test scores are lower than nearly every other state. Other experts will tell you that we have one of the best education systems because we have more stringent standards and most public schools are consistently improving. Regardless of which “experts” are right, we can all agree that South Carolina will prosper only when our children succeed. Currently 85% of South Carolina’s students are educated by South Carolina’s public education system. That’s why we must concentrate on supporting and advancing our public schools.

I believe that public schools succeed when money is spent on actually educating our children. That means getting money out of bureaucracy and into the classroom. As State Senator, I will demand that money be used more effectively and efficiently, and I will hold our education department accountable for every dollar spent. I will work to get money out of administration and into the classrooms to hire more teachers and decrease teacher/student ratios.

Conservative columnist George Will advocates a plan pushed by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue and passed last year by the Georgia legislature. That plan creates a state law demanding that 65% of education dollars be spent on classroom instruction - meaning teachers and students, not bureaucracy. According to the Department of Education, only about 59% of our education dollars are being used for classroom instruction. A similar program in South Carolina would provide more resources for teacher raises and classroom technology without increasing the burden on taxpayers.

EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

We all know that there is a direct link between education and the economy. While we try to compete in a new global economy, we must have an exceptional work force ready to meet the new demands of growing technologies. I will work to implement more workforce training programs in our K-12 schools.

As an attorney, I have used my background to speak at school career fairs and help coach the mock trial team for students who are interested in the legal profession. I believe that more folks from our community should use their backgrounds to help educate our children. Mechanics, plumbers, doctors, business leaders…everyone.

I will use my position to get more ordinary residents involved in education, increase community involvement, and create more public/private partnerships in Aiken, Edgefield, McCormick, and Saluda public schools. Having a prepared workforce will help recruit new employers to our area, increasing everyone’s quality of life.

Posted September 12, 2007 

Comments

One Response to “IT’S TIME FOR ACCOUNTABILITY & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION”

  1. Daniel on September 27th, 2007 1:19 pm

    I couldn’t understand some parts of this article COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION : Shake Up Columbia with Shane Massey, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.

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