Horry School Board Living in Dream World

Unemployment and closed businesses are a sad reality across South Carolina; a reality that some school officials seem to be insulated from.

Even this year, The Voice pointed out a Greenwood County district superintendent who - despite huge unemployment in the county - has benefited from regular increases in salary ( almost $30,000 in salary growth over five years).We'll leave it up to the residents of the district to say whether that superintendent is living in the real world.

An opinion - editorial in The Loris Scene by Steve Robertson points to the same bizarre disconnect between economic reality, and how the Horry County School Board behaves.

"The Horry County Board of Education recently went on a spending splurge that makes me shake my head in disbelief.Someone has lost touch with reality...In the blissful world of public education, Horry County has millions of extra dollars to spend. In my world, businesses are laying off employees, imposing involuntary furloughs and even cutting salaries. In the rarified air of the board of education, things look much better. Not only did the board give out raises, it funded pay increases from a previous year."

Needy parents - parents who actually have to deal with economic hardships - have been asking for school choice options for years. Instead of passing legislation that would provide modest educational tax credits and scholarships, some lawmakers continue to oppose the measure, claiming that it would "take money from public schools."

What should be the focus of education in South Carolina? Making sure children have the opportunity to be in a classroom that meets their needs, or continuing to turn a blind eye to wasteful spending in one of the lowest achieving public school systems in the nation?