South Carolina lags in citizens with college degrees

Poor South Carolina can't catch a break -- but until we decide to join America and move forward, should we expect something different?

This time, it's new Census Bureau figures that show us lagging in higher education. A story from Florence uses a 29-year-old non-traditional student to illustrate the data: "30 percent of the nation's population, aged 25 or older... hold a bachelor’s degree or higher."

And -- I hate to ask -- how do we compare?

The 2010 American Community Survey (also by the Census Bureau) reported that only 24.5 percent of South Carolinians held college degrees. The state ranked in the middle of 14 southern states. Just more than 84 percent of the residents had high school diplomas.

Nearly a third of all Americans hold college degrees. Here in South Carolina, we can't break a full quarter.

Florence-Darling Technical College President Charles Gould tried to rationalize the data.

“Many of our students are the first one in their families to be going to college,” Gould said. “Secondly, this state is really just beginning to value education. We were primarily an agricultural state, not high-tech, so education wasn’t valued the same as you would find in other parts of the country.”

Now, Gould said, those times have changed.

Companies such as BMW, Boeing, GE and others are seeking employees for high-tech manufacturing jobs with more than a high school education, but not necessarily a bachelor’s degree. That inbetween area is why a college like FDTC, that offers specific, engineering-related education, have seen “a radical increase” in enrollment.

“With the recession, low-level manufacturing jobs have disappeared, so there’s a limited environment for which someone can make a living who has not attained a level of post secondary education,” Gould said. “The message is getting through: if you want to make a good living you have to have a bag of skills.”

Ah, so our state's corporate owners rear their heads again. What they want, they get. They don't want expensive degree-holders, but they do want people who have enough discipline and training to be compliant employees.

So South Carolina's lawmakers follow suit, at a cost to South Carolina's children.

Though some may argue that the value of a college degree is falling, or the amount of money to obtain one is so prohibitive as to make it less attractive, the survey shows a clear income difference for higher degree holders. Bachelor’s degree holders nationally had median annual earnings of $47,510 compared to a high school diploma holder’s $26,776 — a 77 percent difference. Additionally, bachelor’s degree and advanced degree holders weathered the Great Recession much better, with a lower unemployment rate than those who have a high school diploma or less.

Moral of the story: Live in South Carolina, and you can get a lower paying job for something less than a college degree.

Maybe we should change our state motto: While I breathe, I work for less.

Globetrotter brings encouragement to Florence students

It's nice when people who draw public attention use their fame in constructive ways. Archie Talley of the Harlem Globetrotters is one example, but so much more could be accomplished if celebrities of greater wattage made South Carolina a publicity magnet as they have for New Orleans.

A former Harlem Globetrotter met with youth June 23 at Southside Middle School in Florence to speak with students about having talents both inside and outside the classroom. Archie Talley met with students at the school in conjunction with the Florence Police Department Educational Basketball Camp and Personal Pathways to Success Pee Dee Regional Education Center.

Talley showed off his basketball skills before telling students about his story of success, including receiving undergraduate and master’s degree from Salem College in West Virginia.

Cheryl Lewis, a coordinator with Personal Pathways, helped coordinate the event with help from the S.C. Commission on Higher Education’s College Access Challenge Grant. “They were really in tune to his voice and his message,” Lewis said. “He did the basketball tricks … and once he got their attention, he got really serious with them.”

Parts of Talley’s message included letting students know that the words “I can’t” shouldn’t be a part of their vocabulary.

“We’re always looking for people who are willing to go out to talk to kids. … I selected him because I know that many of our black males aren’t going to college. They don’t have those black role models too often to look up to,” Lewis said.

Florence Police Cpl. Jerri James worked alongside Lt. George Mack and Officer Gloria Howard for this year’s free basketball camp.

“Not only is it a basketball camp, it’s educational,” James said. “We wanted him to talk about his career and the educational part about what it takes to get to the next level.”

James said Talley stressed the importance of having the right mindset, respecting others and working toward goals.

“We wanted them to see that everybody has an equal chance. It’s up to you about how much time and motivation you want to put into that,” James said.

Talley plans to visit the Pee Dee again Wednesday at Mt. Zion Chapel Baptist Church and Darlington High School and Thursday at Chesterfield-Ruby Middle School and Marlboro County High School.

All quiet in Florence, payroll process still in doubt

A number of parents attended the Florence District 4 school board meeting in Timmonsville last night, but the board went into executive session and kept the public in the dark.

Surely the board discussed the epic malfunction that kept school district employees from being paid on time last week -- receiving their once-a-month paychecks by bank deposit or by physical check -- but since no notes are kept of executive session, and no one is compelled by law to report what was discussed, there's no way to know.

Action is supposed to be taken though, once the board meeting is back open to the public. Some parents who showed up for the meeting Tuesday evening said they anticipated they would be allowed to listen in on the matters involving the education department and wanted to know exactly what was going on inside the district.

Clearly, those parents thought wrong.

"We're not fighting against them, we want to be able to come together and come to a quick resolution because this is a problem that's really escalating day by day fast," said concerned parent, Vernon Davis.

"We must keep showing up to let the board know that the community is dissatisfied with the direction they've taken, but we also have to make sure that we turn the tide around and make sure we head back in the right direction," said concerned resident Butch Hodges.

Plenty is already known about the problem at hand, namely the funding cuts that have led to layoffs, which led directly to last week's payroll mess.

In recent months, Timmonsville's school district has faced a series of problems stemming from a lack of finances.
The problems began in early March when the district announced that it would have to eliminate 19 positions in an effort to try to make up a large budget shortfall.

Those layoffs resulted in a reorganization within the district, where several school activities were combined and where in some cases, faculty took on additional roles.

On Friday, the layoffs resulted in another problem according to district officials, when paychecks were not deposited in district employees accounts because of what officials called a "timing error" that was the result of no longer having a finance director for the district.

That position was one of many lost in the layoffs in early March.

There may be a silver lining, however. Media reports suggest that Florence parents may be organizing themselves to take action. (If I might offer a suggestion for one such action: Electing new leaders that choose to make investment in public schools a priority is always a good start.)

They say that they realize now, more than ever, that any action taken to address some of the issues facing the district may have to be taken by them and have banded together to form a united front.

"We're just here to show them that we're still here, we're not dying, we're not going away we're trying to push forward," Davis said.

Those parents say that even though the process of solving the district's financial woes is a long and cumbersome one, it is a process that they will continue to be a part of and one in which they will not give up. A group of concerned parents is meeting to address many of the issues facing Florence School District 4 including the financial problems, layoffs, the matter involving payroll and possible consolidation attempts with Florence School District 1.

The group will meet at 7 pm Thursday in Timmonsville.

Location to be determined. Bring voter registration forms, y'all.

District misses payroll; Timmonsville teachers stage sit-in

You only get paid by your school district once a month. For convenience, you've set your mortgage, utilities, insurance and other payments to be drafted automatically from your checking account on the day of the month that your check is automatically deposited into your account.

Sound familiar?

Then let me add a twist.

Your district is suffering deep budget cuts. As part of those cuts, your superintendent has laid off your district's payroll clerk and no one else has been given the clerk's responsibilities. As a result, the date comes -- and goes by -- that the clerk arranges for checks to be issued, and salaries to be automatically deposited.

When you discover the damage -- bank service fees for insufficient funds begin to accrue, and still no funds are being deposited -- what do you do?

In Florence District 4, this happened, and teachers at Timmonsville High School did something about it, all together.

According to a source within Florence School District 4, teachers at Timmonsville High School staged a sit-in in the school’s cafeteria Friday morning after learning they hadn’t received their monthly paycheck, via direct deposit, after a short-staffed administration failed to deposit payroll funds in time Thursday. The demonstration, which had some parents picking up their children early, reached a conclusion of sorts when administrators told high school teachers they would be paid later that day and teachers returned with their students to class.

Florence School District 4 Superintendent Dr. Bertha McCants later e-mailed teachers saying some might not be paid until Monday, the source said.

The payroll snafu is just part of the ongoing problems in the tiny Florence County district, which just a few weeks ago laid off 19 employees and made many program cuts in a desperate attempt to balance its budget.

According to media reports, State Superintendent Mick Zais will send a financial consultant from his office.

Budget cuts have been occurring for the last few years without abatement, but it apparently took a teacher sit-in and early cancellation of the school day to stir parents to react.

David Redding, who has a child attending Florence 4 schools, said something must be done to help the district.

“Just for the fact that basically you’re dealing with 700 plus kids who may or may not get a quality education and where is the money going that is supposed to be funding the school to begin with?” he asked.

“The state legislators, they said there has to be a deficiency for them to actually act. Well hello, is this not a deficiency? I mean, what more do you need to do something, you know, at what point do you say enough’s enough and go in and fix the problems?”

Welcome to our world, Mr. Redding.

Who can blame Timmonsville's teachers for their reaction? The area isn't wealthy, the supplement can't be great, and the district employees see their profession blamed, criticized, undermined and degraded in the news media daily. They get paid only monthly -- when people in the private sector collect their pay every week or every two weeks, giving them greater financial freedom, even with meager pay -- and to have their monthly pay interrupted -- with the countless bank damages to follow -- is a stupid, unnecessary insult to their professionalism and service.

EVEN in this circumstance, the educators of Timmonsville feel "muzzled," according to another parent.

Vernon Davis, the parent of another Florence 4 student, leads an organized team of concerned parents and spent Friday in and out of the schools talking with teachers.

“Our teachers they are concerned, but they are muzzled at this point. They do have a voice, they do want to be, but at the same time they can only say so much,” he said. “Their main concern, as is all of our main concern, is our children ... but it has gone to another level today with payroll.

“Many teachers have written checks and have checks that are coming back because money has not been adequately put in place there, so as of today, that is their main concern.”

So what exactly does it take for educators in South Carolina to feel free and empowered enough to speak up when foolish leadership and unnecessary budget cuts conspire to make them second-class citizens?