My first job after graduating from South Carolina State University was as a high school history teacher in Charleston County.  During those years, I served as a Scout Master, and founded a Big Brothers program on Charleston’s eastside.  I later established a Talent Search program that sent over 700 needy high school graduates to college with full financial aid.

            Today, despite the best efforts of many, too many of our students are falling through the cracks, and too many of them live in rural communities.  I have talked before about Clarendon One School District with a debt in excess of $1 million, and Calhoun County’s school district that has announced the closure of two predominantly black schools due to a lack of funds.

            I previously focused on the critical need to enhance economic development and improve health care in predominantly African American communities.  As the Calhoun and Clarendon County situations illustrate, there is critical link between the quality of education and the quality of life in a region.

            Although blacks are 42% of our public school students, only 16% of the state’s teachers are African American.  This fact causes an unfortunate gap in expectations.  According to the Miles To Go report recently released by the Southern Education Foundation, a white student is over four times as likely to be placed in a gifted and talented program as an African American student.  And these numbers only apply to schools that have the funding for such programs.

            The Miles To Go study also concludes “the lack of adequate college preparatory courses in low-income schools and the concentration of out-of-field teachers in low-achieving schools are consigning low-income and minority-group students to an unequal and inferior education in South Carolina.”  And the same problems that prevent many black students from excelling in primary and secondary school also thwart their attendance and achievement in college.

            A recent national study ranked South Carolina 34^th in the nation for the number of low-income high school graduates who go on to attend college.  The state provides only 24% of the financial need as measured by the federal Pell grant distribution while the national average was 51%.  It is clear we must do more in low-income, rural communities to break the cycle of poverty.

            At all levels of education in South Carolina, there are obstacles that prevent African Americans, especially those from low-income families, from succeeding.  Clearly the data is available that points to the root causes of the disparities between black and white, low-income and high-income students.

            There is a critical need for programs like Head Start that help prepare children for school.  We must reduce class sizes in all public schools, and help fund technology and upgrade buildings in aging, economically depressed school districts.  We should make more Pell grants, tax rebates and other financial assistance available for those who want to pursue a higher education.  All of these initiatives reflect my belief that education should be a national priority.

            The quality of life gaps that exist in personal income, health care and education among people in this state stem from generations of systematic discrimination which were followed by decades of neglect.  As we continue to ignore these disparities they continue to fester and grow.  I wanted to do this series to shed light on these issues because all families are seeking a good quality of life.  Seeking that for my constituents means opening the doors of opportunity.  I am committed to working toward a better future for all of them, not just those whose circumstances allow them to afford it.

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