Please: No new rules without funds!

Below is a message I received from the South Carolina School Board Association. All these bills and regulations look great. They will help our students, help our teachers, and make South Carolina a better place. I really believe those are the goals of the bill writers, but there is a problem. It is that while legislators want to help our students, help our teachers, and make South Carolina a better place, they don't want it enough to tell the truth about the costs and raise the funds. You see, scores of other regulations and bills passed over the years have required more and more work and time from teachers and administrators and students and test coordinators and custodians and assistant principals and who else? As we know, the school day has not been lengthened, and funding has not been increased. The SC General Assembly has the responsibility to consider costs before passing new laws, and convincing the public that these new rules are worth it. They haven't done so, and people are justifiably angry about taxes and new rules. Here are the new Education bills and regulations just out of committee. I urge you to call your legislators and ask them to consider costs before passing bills. Click on "Elected Officials Contacts" to get links to their phone numbers and addresses.

Driver’s license bill clears Senate subcommittee

The Senate Education K-12 Subcommittee on Thursday reported out favorably a bill to make school attendance a requirement to having a state driver's license (H.3164). Under the bill, if a student is under the age of 18 and expelled from or drops out of school, or has 10 or more unlawful absences in the previous semester, the student’s privilege to drive is suspended. Districts would be required to electronically notify the State Division of Motor Vehicles regarding a student’s attendance status. The bill will next be in front of the full Senate Education Committee.

The Subcommittee also adopted the following regulation changes: D.4201 (Gifted and Talented); D.4206 (Credential Classification); and D.4207 (Requirements for Additional Areas of Certification). Discussion on proposed regulation D.4198 (Accreditation Criteria for Public Schools and Districts) was carried over to a future meeting. 

The House Education Committee reported out favorably a bill requiring middle and high school teachers and administrators to undergo two hours of training in youth suicide awareness and prevention (H.4690) as part of the five-year teacher recertification process. The committee also reported out favorably the following proposed regulations: D.4199 (Adult Education Program); D.4200 (End-of-Course Tests); and D.4208 (At-Risk Students). See the above to view regulations.