South Carolina editorial roundup

Recent editorials from South Carolina newspapers:

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March 13

The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg on a federal law passed recently to preserve Reconstruction-era sites:

U.S. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn spoke to guests and reporters at Zion Baptist Church in Columbia recently to celebrate the Reconstruction Era National Historic Park Act and the establishment of the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network.

The act was passed by the House and Senate in February as part of the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act. The law redesignates the Reconstruction Era National Monument as a national park in Beaufort County. It also establishes the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network, which will be operated by the National Park Service and managed by current site owners, whether federal, state, local or private.

“South Carolina will be the hub of a new national network that will stretch across the country,” said Clyburn, who represents South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District. “Any place that indicates a relationship to the Reconstruction era will be able to participate, allowing small and rural communities throughout South Carolina to participate in our number one industry - tourism.”

The historic network concept has been utilized in the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom and the African American Civil Rights Network. With the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network in place, communities can make their case for federal recognition and assistance for their significant sites without the National Park Service having to take on the obligation of owning or managing the sites. The congressman expects the new legislation to have a significant economic impact in South Carolina.

“We are told that over 500,000 people every year plan their vacations through consulting the National Parks Service,” Clyburn said. “This means that South Carolina will be well-positioned to have new people coming to our state and helping our economy. And I hope that they will come back time and time again.”

Clyburn sees the Reconstruction Era National Park and Reconstruction Era National Historic Network providing an in-depth understanding of the diverse experiences of the nation’s history and more opportunities for heritage tourism, which is the fastest growing area in the tourism industry.

Zion Baptist Church is just one example of a site that could be eligible for the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network. The church was first organized in 1865 and moved to its current site on Washington Street in 1871. Another potential site in the state capital is the Woodrow Wilson Family Home, which was built in 1869 and is currently the nation’s only museum dedicated to interpreting the post-Civil War Reconstruction period.

With Clyburn’s guidance, an equally important piece of legislation also was approved in February as part of the Lands Package: the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Historic Preservation reauthorization.

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The focus on preserving history is not new for Clyburn. And as longtime advocates of preservation and restoration, we join in thanking him for making history a priority.

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Online: https://thetandd.com/

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March 12

The Post and Courier of Charleston on education funds and the $1.5 billion Mega Millions lottery:

The $61 million in tax revenue the state is expected to reap from the winner of the $1.5 billion Mega Millions lottery ticket sold in October should go toward improving education in South Carolina.

That’s the stated purpose of the lottery, after all, but apparently there’s no law that says what can and cannot be done with tax revenue flowing from big winners. That needs to change.

At Gov. Henry McMaster’s request, some lawmakers want to use the $61 million, packaged with an additional $35 million in other revenue, to give each taxpayer a $50 rebate.

Spread so thin, that money would have a negligible effect on the state economy or on individual households. It would be better to use it to shore up South Carolina’s many education-related funding needs.

That $61 million would pay for more than 8,000 Palmetto Scholarships at $7,500 per year, for example. Even before relaxing eligibility requirements last year, lottery proceeds were not keeping up with scholarship costs, and taxpayers were filling the gap.

The lottery windfall would also be more than enough to help freeze in-state higher education tuition for a year (estimated at $44 million). It would cover the cost of hiring 120 additional school resource officers (estimated at $10 million per year), bring more mental health services to students ($2.2 million per year) or cover most of the $85 million needed for consolidating underperforming rural school districts.

Those and similar proposals are being considered by the state Legislature this year as part of the larger budgeting process, which includes a total of about $1 billion in surplus funds for lawmakers to choose how to spend.

But education is rightly the focus this year in the wake of The Post and Courier’s “Minimally Adequate” series. And no doubt state schools Superintendent Molly Spearman could put the one-time lottery windfall to good use.

So far, lawmakers haven’t made clear where the other $35 million for the proposed income tax rebates would come from or how much it would cost the state to process about 2 million tax rebates. The expense and complexity of such an effort are also strikes against it.

Besides, much of the $61 million to be paid to the state comes from multistate ticket buyers who helped grow the jackpot to a record-breaking $1.5 billion. So it’s somewhat disingenuous to suggest South Carolina taxpayers are owed a cut of that money anyway.

Even if the House passes its lottery rebate plan, senators should have the common sense to redirect that money into education.

Online: https://www.postandcourier.com/

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March 12

Index-Journal of Greenwood on raising pay for teachers:

Lawmakers might be a tad giddy in Columbia. Or so it seems.

As they look to overhaul a public education system that, while not broken is in need of repair, there is talk of across-the-board pay raises for teachers. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? The House has eyes on setting up a 4 percent pay bump for all teachers. And the following year, if passed, the budget would call for at least a 6 percent bump for all teachers with fewer than five years on the job.

That’s mighty generous, especially given how financially strapped the state has been in recent years. And given the fact that we cannot yet address the fact that some school buildings are borderline condemnable. And given the fact the fleet of public school buses is not up to par across the board.

Now, before a group of teachers takes up signs to picket outside our doors, we are absolutely in favor of bringing teacher pay up to a level where it’s far more competitive nationally than it has been. We agree that better pay should equate to getting better teachers in the classrooms.

That’s the point. We have good, we have better and surely have some of the best. But we can always use better, we should always seek the best. That’s not a given, however, by virtue of a pay raise that’s across the board.

“Our main focus was to get more money for good teachers,” Rep. Bill Whitmire, R-Walhalla, said this past week.

Good teachers certainly need to be rewarded, but it’s also true that some teachers need to be weeded out. Just as is the case in any workplace, there are some under-performers. Rewarding them with a pay bump makes housecleaning a bit more difficult. We’d like to see a combination in which pay raises are driven more by merit and less by what wins points among the constituency.

Again, we know South Carolina has some of the best and most dedicated teachers of any state, and we know of the difficulty statewide that districts are having with teacher retention, but a repair does not automatically come by throwing money at what’s broken.

Online: http://www.indexjournal.com/